Photo Update: Star Wars hotel and Toy Story restaurant at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Disney’s Hollywood Studios has had remarkable change over the past few years and it’s not finished yet. Disney is currently working on two projects at Hollywood Studios. The largest, the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, will be a luxury multi-day Star Wars themed hotel. The second, an expansion to Toy Story Land, with a new BBQ themed restaurant. Thanks to @Bioreconstruct on Twitter, we take an aerial view above these exciting endeavors.

Disney did quite a lot while adding more Star Wars to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. They re-routed the guest entrance, added a new cast member backstage entrance, increased parking, demolished rides and shows, added a new transportation system, and more!

Their work continues with a brand new type of immersive hotel experience. The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser will take guests on a two-day, two-night vacation. When opened, it will invite guests to travel to a galaxy far, far away on a brand new adventure and include a planet excursion to Batuu.

One of the first things to notice is the relatively small size of the structure. This hotel is designed to feel like a Star Wars themed spaceship once inside. This starcruiser will be named the Halcyon. Compared to other recently opened Disney hotels, this is certainly not big. But, that is all part of the plan. This hotel is focused on immersion and storytelling. And, less guests at a higher price tag may be exactly what people are looking for when Walt Disney World re-opens.

The arrow on the bottom right of the above photo is the exit for cast members to head into parking for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. A close look shows it’s currently being blocked, as most of Disney’s Florida-based workforce is currently under furlough.

A relatively new change to the landscape of Disney’s Hollywood Studios lies right at its border. The large dirt berm on the left side of the image replaces a previous entrance to the park. Guests used to enter where the arrow points and pass Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to enter one of two entrances into the park. This old entrance is what allowed us, many years ago, to get a first look at the AT-AT construction for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

This photo, taken Oct. 27, 2019, showcases the old bridge and entrance. The large arrow is the road that exists now. You can also see a look back at the Galactic Starcruiser.

This perspective showcases Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, the new berm and a portion of the cast member parking. This also helps give an understanding as to how close the hotel is to the park. This hotel will be unlike anything Disney has done before. This experience, in fact, has been likened to going on a cruise.

Guests will cruise through the galaxy aboard the Halcyon, stay in cabins, enjoy onboard dining, and a planet-side excursion to Black Spire Outpost on Batuu (the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios).

The journey begins when guests check in for the two-night experience at the Galactic Starcruiser Terminal. There, they will be invited to enter a Launch Pod to be transported to the ship. Through windows overhead, guests will see the real world fade away as the pod jumps to hyperspace to reach the Halcyon.

The arrows above point to the path we believe Disney will use to magically transport guests from the Halcyon to the planet of Batuu. Custom busses are rumored to have been built to keep the immersion alive as guests fly through space to land in the Black Spire Outpost.

This image showcases the roads that lead to the parking area and the eventual backstage area that busses will drive to as they drop hotel guests off. It should be noted that only guests staying at the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel are expected to be able to use this entrance.

It is also rumored the hotel will be valet parking only. Guests will simply have to drive up and the real world will disappear in front of their eyes. Luggage is taken care of, the car is rolled away and guests are free to board a pod up to their cruiser.

Next, we have this look over much of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The green dot is the park entrance, pink is next to the Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and blue is Star Wars: Launch Bay. Teal is the entrance to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, red is Toy Story Land and yellow is the entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

This close-up of the Toy Story Land entrance gives us a view of the upcoming Roundup Rodeo BBQ. This expansion to the land will add plenty of air conditioned seating space. Once inside, you’ll be surrounded by all the rodeo fun, as well as western town and train station playsets. Currently, this is not expected to be a character dining location, but the area will be heavily themed to the Toy Story characters.

While Walt Disney World theme parks are closed, there are plenty of upcoming expansions to be excited about. Will you be going to the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser or the Roundup Rodeo BBQ once they open? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.