Star Wars brought to life on cruise with Jedi Training Academy

Just weeks before the latest “Star Wars” episode hits theaters, the Disney Dream cruise ship sailed out of dry dock with two major new attractions based on the franchise. The Millennium Falcon Play Area allows junior pilots to take the Falcon’s controls and jump through hyperspace while the Jedi Training Academy teaches lightsaber techniques as well as offering lots of Star Wars related experiences on board as the ship navigates the warm waters of the Bahamas.

Millenium Falcon Star Wars Cruise. Image by Zach Everson

Millennium Falcon Play Area

Located in the ship’s Oceaneer’s Club (for 3 to 12 year olds), the Millennium Falcon play area includes replicas of starship’s cockpit, engine room, and common room. In the cockpit, the centerpiece of the play area, two pilots can plot to locations like Tatooine (the desert world, home to Luke Skywalker), Hoth (the ice world from “The Empire Strikes Back”), Kashyyyk (the Wookie world that you should never ever confuse for the Ewok planet), and the Death Star. Some of the scenes are original, while others came from theme parks’ Star Tours attractions.

The Millennium Falcon beeps, blasts, and roars while zipping through the different Star Wars worlds. Based on my not smashing the Falcon into an AT-AT Walker’s leg though, it’s clear the steering doesn’t control the simulation—a bit of a disappointment considering what video games are capable of in 2015. But as the Falcon is stationed in a kids club, that limited control may be best (otherwise counselors would probably spend most of their days backing the Falcon out of sand dunes for 3-year-old would-be Han Solos). The pilots, however, do control when the Millennium Falcon launches into light speed.

Join the Jedi training academy on Disney. Image by Zach Everson

The common room contains perhaps the most iconic feature of the Millennium Falcon: the Dejarik table (better known as the hologram chess table). On the Disney Dream though, it’s used for arts and crafts. Also encased in the common room are replicas of Luke’s training remote Luke (which randomly levitates), blast shield, and light saber from “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.”

In the engine room, there’s another Dejarik table and iPads with Star Wars games. The area also has Chewbacca’s bowcaster—thankfully out of reach for little ones. And behind the three rooms of the Falcon, keeping tabs on the scene and beeping away is R2-D2.

Adults who want to unleash their inner Chewbacca and pilot the Falcon can do so at one of the club’s open houses. And, while you’re there, if you’re looking for a Instagram-worthy photo op, the Oceaneer’s Club now sports a recreation of the Falcon’s wall Han was fixing when he and Princess Leia first kissed in “The Empire Strikes Back.” Don’t worry that the Falcon area looks dirty though—it’s just paint.

Jedi Training Academy

Learn all about Star Wars on a Disney Cruise. Image by Disney

Another new Star Wars feature on the Disney Dream is the Jedi Training Academy, in which kids who show an aptitude with The Force (which I think means any 3- to 12-year-old on board who’s not freaked out about possibly taking on Darth Vader) learn lightsaber techniques from a Jedi Master. And props to the Jedi Master for teaching the young apprentices restraint too: at no point did I see one trying his or her new fighting moves on a parent.

Other Star Wars Activities

Other new Star Wars include storytellers leading kids in a dramatic retelling of three Star Wars sagas and a quiz show about Star Wars called the Padoine mind challenge. And there’s a chance you’ll encounter a roving Storm Trooper patrol too.  Also, the Disney Dream is screening movies from the Star Wars trilogies.

The Oceaneer’s Club’s additions are just two of many new or announced Disney-wide “Star Wars” attractions in advance of the latest episode, “The Force Awakens,” which opens Dec. 17. This August the company unveiled plans for 14-acre Star Wars lands at Disney’s Hollywood Studio in Orlando and Anaheim, California’s Disneyland. Disney didn’t provide opening dates for the new areas, but BuzzFeed reported that construction on the Disneyland spot is slated to begin in 2017.