In his new memoir, the former Disney CEO says the Star Wars hotel was never going to turn a profit in year one, and that it closed because it was tied to his time in charge.
Three years ago this week, the last guests stepped off the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. Bob Chapek thinks he knows who pulled the plug, and why.
In his memoir, “Behind the Castle Walls,” out Tuesday, Sept. 29, the former Disney CEO says Bob Iger saw the immersive hotel as a Chapek project and let it go when he took back the company, per BlogMickey, which published excerpts Monday.
“I believed in the idea and its potential. Bob Iger saw things differently and, in my opinion, also saw it as something connected to my time in charge. As a result, in my opinion, it went away,” Chapek writes.
What does Chapek say about Galactic Starcruiser?
He loved it, and he defends it.
Chapek calls the two-night Star Wars experience at Walt Disney World “an outrageously bold idea,” per BlogMickey. He writes that some of the first guests cried at the end of their stay because they didn’t want it to end.
He’s upfront about the money, too. Cast Members ran the story around the clock while also running the hotel, which made labor costs “extraordinary,” he writes. A stay cost more than $1,000 per person, he notes, compared with about $500 a night for a nice hotel room.
“The whole concept was a great idea, and we were figuring out the economics. It’s a known fact that no hotel is ever profitable in the first year,” Chapek writes. “But when my time as CEO came to an end, so, too, did the Galactic Starcruiser.”
Does Chapek admit the Starcruiser lost money?
Yes. “There is no doubt that the resort and experience were not profitable at that moment,” he writes.
His argument is about timing. He says the team knew costs were high going in and was still working out the business when Iger returned.
Why did Disney close Galactic Starcruiser?
Disney said it was because of performance.
The Starcruiser opened on March 1, 2022. Disney announced in May 2023 that it would close, with the final voyage running Sept. 28 to 30, 2023, per BlogMickey. Disney expected up to $300 million in accelerated depreciation, and Josh D’Amaro, then parks chairman and now Disney’s CEO, said the experience didn’t perform the way Disney hoped.
Chapek had been fired in November 2022, about six months before the closing was announced.
What else does Chapek say Iger erased?
A sign, for starters.
Chapek writes that “any memory or symbol of my time in charge was seemingly systematically removed,” comparing it to a sign on Disney’s cruise island that was taken down.
Like most things with his name on them, he writes, “that sign, and that galaxy, went far, far away.”
That’s his version. Disney hasn’t publicly responded to the book’s claims.
What is happening to the Galactic Starcruiser building?
It’s becoming offices.
Walt Disney Imagineering is converting the former hotel into office space, a plan first reported in January 2025, per BlogMickey. Disney covered or removed most Starcruiser road signs in 2025, and Imagineering filed a new permit for the building in April 2026.
So the ship that never left Central Florida is now docked for good, as a place for Imagineers to work.
When does Bob Chapek’s book come out?
Tuesday, Sept. 29, from Gallery Books. Earlier excerpts had Chapek blaming Iger for his firing and defending Disney’s price increases, per The New York Times.
For Starcruiser fans, this chapter may sting a little. The last voyage sailed three years ago this week.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
BlogMickey (Sept. 28, 2026), the Starcruiser excerpts from “Behind the Castle Walls,” closure timeline and building conversion
The New York Times (Sept. 23, 2026), earlier excerpts from the book
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