Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser

[Nick]

True. But if he didn’t like it/wrote a negative review, people would be claiming he had made up his mind ahead of time and didn’t give it a fair shake. He was kind of stuck either way.

I'm still interested in what he has to say on it in an extended review.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I much prefer hearing from someone who paid themselves of course (as long as he didn't just write the costs off as a business expense like suggested above, which he very well may have done). But he still came to the same conclusion as most of the people he criticized as being shills.

If you write it off as a business expense it's coming off his taxes, not like he didn't spend the $5k+ (trust me, I itemize my taxes due to my 1099 for... well Touring Plans, so yeah, maybe I'm getting defensive here). I think it comes back to this tweet:



We're taking his whole thread out of context, aka "if you didn't pay you are a shill", when the actual thread itself is way more nuanced about the relationship Disney has with blogs and sites doing exclusive content (which Touring Plans does not do).

I'm still interested in what he has to say on it in an extended review.

I don't think we have to wait long, reportedly the Disney Dish episode will be dropping "early".

 

[quinnmac000]

Additionally, its the first paid cruise...I'm curious how things will be once they hit the 15 or 20th "cruise"

 

[Nick]

Additionally, its the first paid cruise...I'm curious how things will be once they hit the 15 or 20th "cruise"

Their 15th cruise is next month. I wanna see how things are holding up once we get about a year in, or roughly 180 cruises.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Disney Dish dropped. Len cries when talking about the Rey experience and the Yoda hologram.

Their 15th cruise is next month. I wanna see how things are holding up once we get about a year in, or roughly 180 cruises.

Or even just this summer when there are open spots. I’ve heard rumors Imagineering is planning on dry docking the hotel in 2027 for changes based on feedback and such.

 

[HandsomePete]

To be fair, late 2020s would be a pretty normal renovation cycle for a hotel. It has to go down for at least a few weeks at some point, so it’ll be interesting to see how much gets changed when it does - carpet and upholstery are one thing, new characters/costumes/stories are another.

 

[fryoj]

Yeah, at some point they have to change it up to get repeat business. 5 years seems a long time before they'd need to do that. If they get to 5 years without changing it, it would have to be considered a huge success.

 

[JoeCamel]

Yeah, at some point they have to change it up to get repeat business. 5 years seems a long time before they'd need to do that. If they get to 5 years without changing it, it would have to be considered a huge success.

Maybe its 5 years because they know that's how long it takes Disney to do anything? Start now and it will be done then?

 

[soma27]

5 years seems like a long time, but that is “only” 350,000 people experiencing this. I thought I read somewhere around 20 million visit Disney each year. I think the reason this will likely succeed is because they kept it so small. Crazy profit in those 5 years, shut it down for a year to reboot, rinse and repeat.

 

[JoeCamel]

5 years seems like a long time, but that is “only” 350,000 people experiencing this. I thought I read somewhere around 20 million visit Disney each year. I think the reason this will likely succeed is because they kept it so small. Crazy profit in those 5 years, shut it down for a year to reboot, rinse and repeat.

How many of those will drop 6K on this? Full occupancy is 2 billion dollars over that time?
I get 180 sailings X 4 per cabin X 100 cabins = 72000? so yeah for full occupancy

 

[Skold]

Looks like this is a hit!

I said upthread that I hope this bombs, and I still do, but they seemed to have done a real good job with hiring CMs who are all in and who make the "cruise" an experience for people. Can't hold that against anyone!

I'm curious what reviews will be like in six months. Will CMs be exhausted? Len says Gaya is awesome, and I believe him, but is there only one equity actor here? What if she gets a sitcom gig?

Will they ever run out of people willing to pay that for the experience?

Looks like it is pretty good though.

I do hope this doesn't lead to more extras being locked behind paywalls.

That said, HP wands are paywalled and we enjoy that. Let me edit that to say, "Hope this doesn't lead to more extras being locked behind $5,000 paywalls".

 

[Nick]

Will they ever run out of people willing to pay that for the experience?

They will always be able to find willing and hungry equity actors to replace the ones that leave. They likely all have understudies anyway, so if has to leave due to getting a big gig on short notice, they shouldn't have any issue with still having someone for that night.

 

[Evan]

Looks like this is a hit!

I said upthread that I hope this bombs, and I still do, but they seemed to have done a real good job with hiring CMs who are all in and who make the "cruise" an experience for people. Can't hold that against anyone!

I'm curious what reviews will be like in six months. Will CMs be exhausted? Len says Gaya is awesome, and I believe him, but is there only one equity actor here? What if she gets a sitcom gig?

Will they ever run out of people willing to pay that for the experience?

Looks like it is pretty good though.

I do hope this doesn't lead to more extras being locked behind paywalls.

That said, HP wands are paywalled and we enjoy that. Let me edit that to say, "Hope this doesn't lead to more extras being locked behind $5,000 paywalls".

They definitely have more then one Gaya. I would assume they have at least double of everyone right now to do rotations, and will likely having understudies or others trained or training.

An example being the cast for the 4 hour media preview was different then the cast for the actual full 2 day media cruise.

So far both full cruises have used the same cast, and the 4 hour media tour had a different group. (That I can tell from videos).

 

[soma27]

How many of those will drop 6K on this? Full occupancy is 2 billion dollars over that time?
I get 180 sailings X 4 per cabin X 100 cabins = 72000? so yeah for full occupancy

I just think of how many families of 4 are already paying $10-$12k+ to stay at a deluxe for a week with meals and park tickets. if that is in your budget, you could instead stay 5 nights moderate, add on starcruiser, and be spending the same.Thousands of families sell out those deluxes every day (which is crazy, those hotel rooms are terrible for the price), so I think the paying audience can be there.

 

[Nick]

I just think of how many families of 4 are already paying $10-$12k+ to stay at a deluxe for a week with meals and park tickets. if that is in your budget, you could instead stay 5 nights moderate, add on starcruiser, and be spending the same.Thousands of families sell out those deluxes every day (which is crazy, those hotel rooms are terrible for the price), so I think the paying audience can be there.

Yup, I don't see too many "cruises" not being sold out. And at most i'd expect maybe a few open rooms here and there in the slower season after Labor Day for a few weeks.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

There are still plenty of spaces available even as early as June for this, the long-term viability for this is still very much up in the air.

 

[Nick]

There are still plenty of spaces available even as early as June for this, the long-term viability for this is still very much up in the air.

Actually, there's openings as early as March 9th so next week could be the first non-capacity cruise. As long as they are filling this thing to 90% or greater though they have no issue and it'll just print money. Obviously they'd love it to run at 100%, but can't always have what you want.

If occupancy falls to around 50% or so per cruise, I can see a situation where they cut out a cruise per week, give the staff and entertainment a chance to rest, and then they will try a scenario where they run less cruises, but are able to maintain a 100% occupancy level. two days closed per week would also be a good thing from a maintenance perspective.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Actually, there's openings as early as March 9th so next week could be the first non-capacity cruise. As long as they are filling this thing to 90% or greater though they have no issue and it'll just print money. Obviously they'd love it to run at 100%, but can't always have what you want.

If occupancy falls to around 50% or so per cruise, I can see a situation where they cut out a cruise per week, give the staff and entertainment a chance to rest, and then they will try a scenario where they run less cruises, but are able to maintain a 100% occupancy level. two days closed per week would also be a good thing from a maintenance perspective.

That's what I think the future will be soon enough - four cruses a month or so with more during popular periods. Nothing really hits 100%. Running fewer cruises would also allow for them to actually do that rumored "day pass" more easily.

But I see the costs not working out for the more expensive CA market.

 

[Nick]

That's what I think the future will be soon enough - four cruses a month or so with more during popular periods. Nothing really hits 100%. Running fewer cruises would also allow for them to actually do that rumored "day pass" more easily.

But I see the costs not working out for the more expensive CA market.

And I think a day pass add on for Galaxy's Edge is probably what this will ultimately be. The problem is the 30 or so equity actors that they employ (assuming that each role has a double) will be harder to justify if the price tag goes down for the place to be an add-on experience, so they need at least a few cruises running per month at that high price like you mention.

The question then becomes though, why pay for the 2-day experience at a ridiculous price if you would have the option to visit for the day for cheaper?

 

[HandsomePete]

90% occupancy on every cycle would mean there’s availability to book on every single one, yet would also probably put it in the top less than one percent of hotels in the world in occupancy.

Whether or not you can book it is a terrible measure of anything really.