If you’ve had your hopes pinned on living “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”, then your luck is in as Disney is giving Star Wars fans the chance to do exactly that, so long as you don't mind dropping about $6,000 on the experience.
Walt Disney World has announced more details about its hotly anticipated Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, which is set to open in Orlando in 2022, including the inside scoop on how much the “new vacation experience" will cost.
It turns out a visit to another galaxy doesn’t come cheap.
A family of four can expect to pay almost $6,000 for the two-day experience, while families of three are looking at $5,299 and two-person stays start from $4,800.
Included in the price are two nights in a cabin, all food and soft drinks, valet parking and entry to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Those hoping to stay in a Galaxy Class Suite or the two-bedroom Grand Captain’s Suites will have to shell out more.
Star Wars fans hoping to relive their sci-fi fantasies will soon be able to book the two-day immersive adventure conceived by Disney imagineers.
And a visit to the Galactic Starcruiser is set to be no ordinary adventure.
Have breakfast with Obi-Wan Kenobi and try lightsaber training
After arriving at the Walt Disney World Resort terminal, guests will board a launch pod and head off to the Halcyon starcruiser. All 100 cabins and suites come with views of "space", so guests can fall asleep and wake up to the sight of ships, planets and stars floating past on the canvas of the cosmos.
During their stay, guests will be hoping that the force is with them as they embark on individual adventures taking place throughout the galaxy.
Disney has described the experience as “part live immersive theatre, part themed environment, part culinary extravaganza, part real-life role-playing game – and yet so much more".
The experience will also use more advanced technology than any existing Disney attraction to ensure visitors feel they have been transported to the realms of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo.
As well as in-person interactions with famous Star Wars characters, guests can access special features in the Star Wars: Datapad experience on their mobile devices throughout their stay on the "ship".
The cast of characters on board will include new and familiar faces who will interact with travellers to help them create their very own Star Wars story.
Guests pick their own missions and challenges to help decide their fate, whether that means following the rule of the First Order, joining the Resistance in an undercover plot or simply sitting back to watch the action unfold from a distance. This means that no two visits are likely to be the same.
Star Wars characters will ask passengers to embark on secret missions or create alliances. All guests over the age of 7 will get lightsaber training and everyone will be able to go to the Bridge, where visitors get the chance to take control of the ship's systems and controls.
Visit planet Batuu and feast on galactic cuisine
All holidaymakers journeying on the Chandrila Star Line cruiser are invited to don galaxy apparel, with themed outfits available to buy on board for those who forget to pack their Coruscant best.
There’s also an excursion to the remote planet Batuu inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, with stays including one-time access to the Disney World attraction.
Back on the Galactic Starcruiser, there will be droid racing competitions and Sabacc card game lessons, When it comes to dining, the ship will serve an "exotic galactic cuisine", which includes a "taste around the galaxy" dinner inspired by the surrounding planets and a table-service supper club with a special musical appearance by a galactic superstar.
The first Galactic Starcruiser voyages are expected to launch in spring 2022, with Disney due to reveal more details about the experiences in the run-up to the launch.
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Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
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• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
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Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
