As well as spending who knows how much on a falling chandelier effect which never did its job of distracting everyone from Rey doing the obvious switch. I'm still stunned how bad that was when there were viable ways of doing that way smoother.
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser
- Thread starter Brian G.
- Start date
-
Signing up for a Premium Membership is a donation to help Inside Universal maintain costs and offers an ad-free experience on the forum. Learn more about it here.
As well as spending who knows how much on a falling chandelier effect which never did its job of distracting everyone from Rey doing the obvious switch. I'm still stunned how bad that was when there were viable ways of doing that way smoother.
'Imagineer Division' and 'Greatly Inflated Costs' are different words but mean the same. A few years ago, Mice Chat had an interview with an ex Imagineer and he documented how they extremely overcharged for everything, even mundane stuff like cardboard signs, small props, etc. A real eye opener.
- Jul 8, 2019
- 1,282
- 2,476
There’s also just the run-of-the-mill turnover that becomes a problem. The opening crew spent months training and doing test stays. The next wave gets an “earning my ears” ribbon for a few days and told to figure it out.
This happens at basically every new attraction - the best of the best get picked for opening crew, but then they get promoted out or move on to the next opening. But for something like this it’s a way bigger deal.
So back to the original plan of a dinner show connected to Oga's Cantina? That would have worked.
A Jedi academy for kids would also have been a cash machine
A Jedi academy for kids would also have been a cash machine
I think it still could, tho I think it would work better based on the original trilogy or the Mandolorian. Maye split the difference, Rey heavily featuring Chewie and R2D2.
This x1000. When kids say they want to live in Star Wars, they mean they want a lightsabre. This experience was, at its core, a Star Wars RenFaire. The most popular things at any RenFaire are combat-related. By not leaning into that more, they alienated the potential audience from the start.
In my opinion, no matter how good or bad the whole experience was, the bottom line it was the outrageous price that doomed the project. They could have had real light sabers and maybe even Mark Hamill or Harrison Ford, but if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it. I consider myself middle class and would have absolutely loved to try it, but I just couldn’t justify that price. And with inflation as bad as it is, price of food and everyday items, most people do not have the disposable income for that kind of expense. And when you have a family of four or more… wow!
And if you could afford it once, you probably couldn’t afford it twice. Even if they changed the narrative once a year to keep it fresh, I go back to the “if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it”.
I hope there is a good repurpose for it. Would be neat if they could give you tours through it until they decide what to do with it. Maybe give 40 minutes or so tours every hour for like 10 to 20 dollars each and have the bar open for a quick drink. Take reservations for the tours so as to keep the people to a minimum in there at any one time. I could afford that and get to see how it all looked.
And if you could afford it once, you probably couldn’t afford it twice. Even if they changed the narrative once a year to keep it fresh, I go back to the “if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it”.
I hope there is a good repurpose for it. Would be neat if they could give you tours through it until they decide what to do with it. Maybe give 40 minutes or so tours every hour for like 10 to 20 dollars each and have the bar open for a quick drink. Take reservations for the tours so as to keep the people to a minimum in there at any one time. I could afford that and get to see how it all looked.
- Feb 7, 2014
- 1,571
- 1,637
It was ambitious, for sure.
But the pricing was ridiculous.
If it is true that the final build budget ended up being $200 million for only 100 hundred rooms, that means from a capacity standpoint each room cost $2 million.
If that number does not include any of the operating costs once it opened (actors, game masters, food, servers, etc) then that’s even worse from a budgetary standpoint.
Further math:
With a two night stay, they could only run a MAXIMUM of 182 cruises a year. This assumes no days off for actor recovery, reset, general maintenance, etc; which we know they did factor in.
So to recoup JUST THE BUILDING COSTS in one year, you have to charge about $10,990 per room.
And again, if all my assumptions are correct, that doesn’t even cover operating costs for that year.
What they were charging ($5,000 to $6,000 per room) would have taken about two years to recoup build costs and about another year (possibly more) to recoup operating costs. They basically had to commit to it running in the red for 3 years and hope it still maintained full capacity for that time to even get into the black.
And to charge less, which probably would have enticed more people to book a stay, would have meant running in the red longer.
And this all assumes every room is booked every time (which seems impossible), they run 182 shows a year (which also seems impossible), and that there are no outside factors that intrude upon the daily operations (which also also seems impossible).
Given all of that, this thing seemed doomed from the get-go. When the capacity dropped quite a few months ago, it was basically a dead man walking.
I realize I am making a lot of assumptions, but that’s all I got.
I think the real lessons here are don’t promise people interactivity, then price them out of it and know your audience when budgeting your projects.
But the pricing was ridiculous.
If it is true that the final build budget ended up being $200 million for only 100 hundred rooms, that means from a capacity standpoint each room cost $2 million.
If that number does not include any of the operating costs once it opened (actors, game masters, food, servers, etc) then that’s even worse from a budgetary standpoint.
Further math:
With a two night stay, they could only run a MAXIMUM of 182 cruises a year. This assumes no days off for actor recovery, reset, general maintenance, etc; which we know they did factor in.
So to recoup JUST THE BUILDING COSTS in one year, you have to charge about $10,990 per room.
And again, if all my assumptions are correct, that doesn’t even cover operating costs for that year.
What they were charging ($5,000 to $6,000 per room) would have taken about two years to recoup build costs and about another year (possibly more) to recoup operating costs. They basically had to commit to it running in the red for 3 years and hope it still maintained full capacity for that time to even get into the black.
And to charge less, which probably would have enticed more people to book a stay, would have meant running in the red longer.
And this all assumes every room is booked every time (which seems impossible), they run 182 shows a year (which also seems impossible), and that there are no outside factors that intrude upon the daily operations (which also also seems impossible).
Given all of that, this thing seemed doomed from the get-go. When the capacity dropped quite a few months ago, it was basically a dead man walking.
I realize I am making a lot of assumptions, but that’s all I got.
I think the real lessons here are don’t promise people interactivity, then price them out of it and know your audience when budgeting your projects.
- Jul 8, 2019
- 1,282
- 2,476
And to put this into some perspective - the Four Seasons sold a few years back for $1.4M per key. But there you get an actual product for your $1,200 per night as opposed to the vague promise of an experience.
The rich don’t care to do it and Disney vastly overestimated normal-income Star Wars fans desire to charge that experience to their credit card.
Bingo, and you know there was a higher up or someone who were gesturing to a photo of a fan convention and going "This is our audience!"...without having a single clue about said audience.
The convention crowd wasn't going to be shelling out that kind of cash for that kind of experience, and there are those would probably want to really dress up but they can't. And a bunch of friends who have Stormtrooper outfits aren't going to pay out the wazoo to have a tupperware party in a cramped hotel room when they can just have one in a far cheaper and bigger room elsewhere.
- Jul 27, 2015
- 9,720
- 47,935
I think Disney upper-management operates on an assumption that people will pay, and the people who can’t are the people they don’t care to have.
Starcruiser was one of those rare moments where hubris bit back.
- Jul 8, 2019
- 1,282
- 2,476
You could make the argument that between concierge level or what people shell out for a two-bedroom DVC room for a week, or what they pay for a DCL cruise, there’s plenty of data that suggests people write those sized checks for Disney stays. The disconnect was between those types of people and what they’re looking for in a vacation. And obviously the repeatability - nobody is pushing Gold/Platinum Castaway Club on the Halcyon.
- Feb 15, 2012
- 17,159
- 47,142
This is why I think there IS a market for a high-end Star Wars experience, but the resort needs to back it up. Build an Ewok village resort on the moon of Endor - pools, fake tree treehouses, entertainment, outdoor relaxation, sci-fi flare, etc. The story components can be ancillary.
What always stood out to me about the complaints about never understanding what to do with kids. Like, Disney never thought that kids might want to do something besides watch TV at night.
- Feb 17, 2016
- 855
- 1,655
Disney made it very clear that they wanted the 1%, or peeps who had no credit card "control".
See: MK Cabanas
$650 a day! For a tent!
See: MK Cabanas
$650 a day! For a tent!
I wonder if normal Disney bloat didn't hit this build and once built they found they had to get 6k a trip rather than the 3k they were working with pre build?
- Jul 24, 2018
- 3,464
- 7,722
LOL I still can't believe they did thisDisney made it very clear that they wanted the 1%, or peeps who had no credit card "control".
See: MK Cabanas
$650 a day! For a tent!
The Treehouse DVC still seems to be very popular. If you add a Star Wars spin to a resort with enough capacity, I agree that it would be very popular. They could still do lightsaber training or other SW-related games in the evening or as part of a program that was voluntary. I do wonder just how many more resorts Disney can build before they max out of available customers. They have over 25 resort hotels and, if the theming of Riviera is any indication, they would probably miss on the Star Wars resort as well.
- Jul 24, 2018
- 3,464
- 7,722
If they don't demolish it, we're going to see a sudden uptick in Disney Urban Exploring again.
Just add an indoor pool, and reopen it as an Axiom Class Starcruiser themed hotel at around $400/night. No real role playing. But have Wall-E M&Gs.
Up to a $300M write-off:
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Write-Off Will Be Up to $300 Million
When Disney World closes the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser this September, they will be able to write off up to $150 million
blogmickey.com
