Walt Disney World’s Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel experience is only about a month away from opening. There’s a lot of hype surrounding the new location, which is equal parts hotel and theme park attraction, built on a cruise ship model. There will be a lot of eyes on Galactic Starcruiser when it opens just to see how well all of it actually works, but the location may already be dealing with one issue as it’s being reported that Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is having trouble finding experienced wait staff. But the reasons don’t make a lot of sense.
Normally when a new location at Walt Disney World opens, existing Cast Members are given first shot at the openings. Usually there’s a rush of people who want to be part of whatever the brand new thing is. Disney made a big deal when it drafted Cast Members for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and the people chosen to open the new land were clearly over the moon. But WDWNT is reporting that is not the case with the Crown of Corellia dining room in the Galactic Starcruiser.
It’s not clear where this information is coming from. The article doesn’t even reference some anonymous source, so grains of salt should be liberally applied. Especially because the major reasons being cited for the alleged lack of staff seem odd. The first is that staff are concerned about working shifts in a windowless room. The Galactic Starcruiser will have windows but they’ll show scenes of outer space rather than the outside world.
Most existing Walt Disney World restaurants have windows, but the Galactic Starcruiser won’t be the first to not have them. If you eat at the Coral Reef restaurant at Epcot you have an aquarium on the other side of the glass, not the outside. Epcot’s popular new Space 220 restaurant uses the same outer space window display that Galactic Starcruiser will use. Those servers work for a third party that operates inside Disney World, they don’t technically work for Disney, but there’s been no indication working in that environment is a problem.
Other restaurants have windows, but depending on where you’re sitting you may never know it. The Galactic Starcruiser would certainly be a change of environment for many, and maybe it’s enough to make the staffing issue happen but this wouldn’t seem like a deal breaker.
The other item of concern, which is certainly important, is financial. Potential wait staff are apparently afraid that moving to Galactic Starcruiser could mean they earn less money. The main question is if gratuities will be comparable to what they make now.
It can’t be denied that there’s a gamble here. If you’re a server at one of Disney World’s high end restaurants you probably make really good money in tips. The possibility that you might make less at Galactic Starcruiser can’t be overlooked and we know how vital tips are to people in the food service industry.
There is an upside to this issue as well, however. Since Galactic Starcruiser is using the cruise ship model, gratuities for food service are actually included in the price guests pay up front. This means that servers should end up receiving more consistent pay since they’ll be receiving the same gratuities for every table they serve. Servers won’t need to worry about bad tippers. And many guests will tip additional money on top of that. We have no idea what the pay being offered these servers is, but considering the cost of this experience to guests, one hopes it’s on par with what Cast Members get paid at other high end locations.
In the end, Disney World will certainly find the Cast Members it needs for the Galactic Starcruiser. One way or another the resort was going to need to hire new people anyway, either for the Galactic Starcruiser itself or to replace the people that left their current jobs to work there. If you think you might want to book a stay make sure you check out everything we know about the Galactic Starcruiser,