Galactic Starcruiser Closing Permanently In September!

[Douglas Dubh]

No, it wasn't quite that close (it's not far). The way they did it was there was a typical hotel porte cochere, where you would arrive, then you would board a "shuttle" to take you up to space where the Starcrusier was (it was just a shuttle bus with no windows). That then docked at the hotel and let you off inside, where all "windows" look out into space. So, you were immersed in the ship. There was an excursion "down" to Batuu in the same type of shuttle. The hotel building itself is just a big box - guests would never see it from the outside.

Actually the transport to and from the hotel was a themed elevator. Transport to and from Galaxy’s Edge was in the themed shuttle bus.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Just as I suspected I predicted this would happen to the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser because I basically think nobody wanted to pay the high price for a two night voyage and I think it was promoted poorly because just as I kept mentioning in the many threads on the Galactic Starcuiser that there was NO promotional commercials for it at all and I think Disney missed the mark on it. Because if you recall Disney has always had smart ideas and plans for designing resorts such as Animal Kingdom Lodge where guests can wake up to animals from their windows and the Art Of Animation Resort where guests can stay in rooms themed to Cars The Little Mermaid Finding Nemo and The Lion King. But I think from the very beginning it was announced I knew Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser would be a GIANT failure by the time it opened. Because as I mentioned in the many threads about Galactic Starcruiser people expected it to be a Star Wars version of the Grey Wolf Lodge chain that's very popular with families and feature things like Star Wars activities Star Wars character breakfasts and dinners and meet and greets with familiar Star Wars characters but I think they mainly wanted to focus on having guests role play different original characters because if you can recall when you were a child and your school used to have field trips to museum programs the museum would let you role play a historical original character and this is what Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser became. And if Disney would've lowered the price for voyages and cabins it would've been a success. I think they will have plans to turn the building into a venue designed for weddings complete with honeymoon suites for couples or they might make a Avengers themed resort where you can stay in Avengers Tower and they would have the Marvel characters do meet and greets. But either way the building will require "as Jeremy Renner says" a ton of Rennervation
Dodger

 

[a1tinkfans]

An Epic Fail on disney… out of Touch with Average Families that were Completely turned off by the Greedy Cost..Despite being Big Star Wars Fans. Curious what will be next .

 

[Lewisc]

Sure hope they can find a suitable, interesting solution to make better use of the space there - hopefully, something Star Wars related! I feel sorry for the folks who gave up a year of their kid's college fund to stay there when it opened!

The opposite, I feel sorry for guests who enjoy that kind of experience but waited to book.

 

[Fauntleroy]

Personally, I think it's awfully hard to bounce back marketing-wise from strong negative associations once they're in consumers' heads (i.e. "Disney Star Wars Hotel = rip off"). With that in mind, my guess is they shudder it for a period- before coming back with something completely different non-SW. No matter what, all this will make for one heck of a business school case someday soon (not exactly anyone's objective when you start out lol).

 

[RanDIZ]

Sad. But who called it?

Spot on! I don’t have it in writing, but I was in the same thought as you. This would be an epic failure trying to bring in guests with a price tag like that. Disney has turned into a disgrace of a company from their streaming and theatrical failures to the parks themselves. Somehow parks are the only thing keeping them afloat these days. They need to wake up and see what brought them success over the years.

 

[jo-jo]

I never even thought about going, the cost was crazy. But then again, I’ve never considered the plaid guide that cost $500-800 an hour, but others have. Or the dessert parties, thar cost $120; but others have. Etc.

I’m sure disney thought they could have found that small number of people who would think it’s amazingly worth it.

 

[reddog21]

Windowless rooms and no pool, for one. Reconfiguring if as a regular hotel would be so difficult and expensive, it would be easier and cheaper to tear it all down and start from scratch.

Interior cruise ship rooms are windowless, small but people always book those. If your anything like my family on a Disney vacation all you need is a place to lay your head at night and that's it. We rarely spent more than a couple of hours in our room so the size of the room doesn't really matter.

I just don't see Disney tearing it down there's a lot to like about the building it just didn't work as a high priced experience.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I feel so bad for the CMs especially the actors.

Highly recommend Craig’s initial 3 hour vlog of brilliance on the dis and Andrew Barth Feldman’s 20 or so minutes of hilarity in regards to the starcruiser and how great the CMs are.

 

[take36]

Just as I suspected I predicted this would happen to the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser because I basically think nobody wanted to pay the high price for a two night voyage and I think it was promoted poorly because just as I kept mentioning in the many threads on the Galactic Starcuiser that there was NO promotional commercials for it at all and I think Disney missed the mark on it. Because if you recall Disney has always had smart ideas and plans for designing resorts such as Animal Kingdom Lodge where guests can wake up to animals from their windows and the Art Of Animation Resort where guests can stay in rooms themed to Cars The Little Mermaid Finding Nemo and The Lion King. But I think from the very beginning it was announced I knew Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser would be a GIANT failure by the time it opened.

Looked like the plan was depend on the vloggers to spread the word. Disney gave them free voyages (every video was just full of people on their cameras) and they all said what usual vloggers say to stay in Disney's good graces.

 

[bloomcruisers]

Ha ha. Iger and Chapeks folly.
So out of touch with the common man and loyal Disney World fans.

Disney executives stopped caring about the common man years ago. adding more extra cost events and removing free perks/events that had been standard for decades showed how little the average family mattered. After buying tickets, most families can’t afford any after hours parties, LL and G+ every day, crazy meal prices for 10 yr old “adults”, ridiculous hotel costs (at least they brought back free parking), etc. But if you don’t pay up then “No nighttime parades for you!” Then you have losses like magical express, magic bands, etc even if you’re paying for their hotels. WDW has become a playground for the rich American families. And Disney welcomes lots of international visitors, many who get better deals offered exclusively to them that are not available to Americans.
Since all the crazy priced hotels and after hours events have been selling out though, the execs probably were surprised they managed to hit a price point that even the rich aren’t willing to pay.

 

[chekhovgirl]

We are HUGE Star Wars fans. I was hoping that this experience would stick around for a while and we would be able to experience it at a reasonable price, but honestly I don't have any feelings like we "missed out" because the cost was so high, I just never would have entertained going at the current prices. For the cost of two nights and barely 48 hours on the ship, we could pay for a week long vacation for six of us. Just not going to happen.

 

[take36]

Disney executives stopped caring about the common man years ago. adding more extra cost events and removing free perks/events that had been standard for decades showed how little the average family mattered. After buying tickets, most families can’t afford any after hours parties, LL and G+ every day, crazy meal prices for 10 yr old “adults”, ridiculous hotel costs (at least they brought back free parking), etc. But if you don’t pay up then “No nighttime parades for you!” Then you have losses like magical express, magic bands, etc even if you’re paying for their hotels. WDW has become a playground for the rich American families. And Disney welcomes lots of international visitors, many who get better deals offered exclusively to them that are not available to Americans.
Since all the crazy priced hotels and after hours events have been selling out though, the execs probably were surprised they managed to hit a price point that even the rich aren’t willing to pay.

Even the "rich" once they got to Disney and paid for everything and anything they are met with huge crowds, poor food quality, poor quality hotels (for what the rich are accustomed to), and straight up "less magic."

Why am I spending 20k to bring my family to have them be miserable waiting in line for everything, its super hot, and I can't even relax in a nice resort? I have to have my assistant book out restaurants months out? What do you mean there is no pool at the this Star War hotel? I just want my kids to go do the star war things, I just want to relax by the pool. Forget the money, this is not the "magical experience" and the relaxing luxury vacation they want.

 

[stranger706]

I wonder if they'll just let it sit there and rot like they did with AOA/POP

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I'm not sure what options are legitimately available to WDW with this building. Retrofitting it to a new attraction or land or special event space will be expensive, and TWDC would need to figure out how to make the money back from not only retrofitting the building but also the initial construction costs. What a mess.

Well, I suppose the CMs can get bought-out at their contract price and their jobs eliminated and offered a new CM job inside GE at entry-level wage, right? I'm not sure how these actors are otherwise going to be used in GE. Change the INDY theater into a SW themed show?

 

[New Mouse]

I think the big miss here is that this could have both been profitable and successful with more moderate pricing. It didn't cost Disney drastically more to run this place compared to a regular hotel. The labor costs for a voyage when spread amongst 100 paying families are not that much. Why not just price it where it should be, market it like crazy and make a reasonable profit. This could have been successful, it sounds more like a philosophical change to me.

 

[reddog21]

I think the big miss here is that this could have both been profitable and successful with more moderate pricing. It didn't cost Disney drastically more to run this place compared to a regular hotel. The labor costs for a voyage when spread amongst 100 paying families are not that much. Why not just price it where it should be, market it like crazy and make a reasonable profit. This could have been successful, it sounds more like a philosophical change to me.

I thought the same regarding lowering the prices to attract more families which makes me believe they do have a plan for the space that would be more profitable then just lowering the price.

 

[KayMichigan]

Part of it might come down to the SW universe simply not being a fun thing to experience. It's a universe at war. Being thrown into the middle of a dangerous, violent uprising against fascist oppression doesn't sound like my idea of a fun time. It's not like Narnia or Oz or Middle Earth. Sure, you've got the"good triumphing over evil" idea but you still have to go through some stressful stuff to get there.

 

[SkyGuy]

I hope that there is still a DVC or AP discount. I will do it if so.

Rumor from several bloggers is that when they reopen for new bookings after allowing everyone who already has a reservation in place to move the trip or cancel is that there will no longer be any discounts in place.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Part of it might come down to the SW universe simply not being a fun thing to experience. It's a universe at war. Being thrown into the middle of a dangerous, violent uprising against fascist oppression doesn't sound like my idea of a fun time. It's not like Narnia or Oz or Middle Earth. Sure, you've got the"good triumphing over evil" idea but you still have to go through some stressful stuff to get there.

This point does make me wonder if a Harry Potter version of this would've done well. Like, imagine if you were a student at Hogwarts and you could dine in the Great Hall, be assigned a house, play Quidditch, etc. Not like that would ever happen now but it's fun to think about. Universal is already dealing with their escape rooms not doing so hot. They've already had to reduce the price of those.