Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser

[shiekra38]

Kind of like how Disney Sea has the hotel that is basically attached to the park. The other miss is the accommodations. Make normal hotel rooms that are themed to the SW aesthetic and yet very luxurious.

Essentially, there are a lot of ways you could have made it work

 

[youhow2]

Essentially, there are a lot of ways you could have made it work

I think this was doomed to fail as soon as they made SWGE a "brand new world", not based on the original, timeless portions of the IP, but based on the not even out at the time trilogy that was eventually ill received.

Even then, if they insisted on Batuu I think they missed the mark on scale. They should've went a tad bit bigger... 100's of rooms, not 100. As for the effects and what not, like the window or "ports" being a screen, they could've used projectors and turned an empty space between rooms into a virtual set akin to the house in Oblivion... And then perhaps, they could've upcharged for the premium, casted character experiences not an arm and a leg, but still built out a cool star cruiser with multiple price points for a room, with a baseline level of extra activities for your stay. Could've framed the show portions or the extra experience like an exclusive "Dinner with the captain", then everything goes wrong... And either way you could still passively participate in things like an imperial inspection, stormtroopers roaming, etc, flashing lights and an announcement you're being boarded, tour of the ship etc. This way, if you liked the overall service and general experience of the hotel, but already did the whole "adventure thing", next time you could just not opt in, and they could mask how many people are or aren't doing the experience, even removed it or replaced it altogether without it being a necessary to operate the hotel.

They built a hotel that can't function as a hotel... its actually comical to a degree. With things like this, I thought function always must supersede form. What good is a car with all the bells and whistles if it doesn't actually drive.

They demand a price point they set based on a rigid structure of a hotel that is not a hotel, and it can not easily revert from this structure... And apparently the rooms do not reflect the quality expected, Star Wars aside, at the price point they are asking.

It's kind of sad to see, but I don't think many people once they started revealing plans didn't see this coming. I'm curious how this got all the way through to design to a greenlight without someone going "WAIT A MINUTE...".

 

[HandsomePete]

I'm curious how this got all the way through to design to a greenlight without someone going "WAIT A MINUTE..."

I trust that people did, but they were overruled by know-it-alls who didn’t actually know things because they were based in California or generally oblivious.

 

[shiekra38]

I think this was doomed to fail as soon as they made SWGE a "brand new world", not based on the original, timeless portions of the IP, but based on the not even out at the time trilogy that was eventually ill received.

I actually think they could have made the idea work, but it's hands are tied to the new trilogy

If the land acted more as a neutral Star Wars Land that changed time periods throughout the day (i.e. Darth Vader appears in the morning, Darth Maul in the afternoon, etc)

And then they added many of the elements in the hotel

With a coaster (I often argue that Guardians should have gotten the dark ride and Star Wars should have gotten the coaster)

It would have been incredible

I will say, it is very popular and well done as it is...and in no way a "failure" as many like to frame it

 

[fryoj]

From what I've seen, I would argue that All Stars rooms might be better. They are larger with better overall accommodations. Without the playacting of the Star Wars cruise, you are in small hotel, with small rooms and bathrooms, with limited amenities. With Star Wars, it is still all of that but with an Escape Room/Dinner Theater thrown in.

One BIG Caveat: I'm not into the whole role-playing thing and dressing up. That's just me.

I've not stayed in a Disney Value hotel, but have stayed in a moderate. All I'll say is that if the Value rooms are a step down from the Moderates, it's going to be pretty hard for the Star Wars rooms to be a step down from that. The Moderate wasn't much different than a Days Inn in room quality.

 

[JoeCamel]

I've not stayed in a Disney Value hotel, but have stayed in a moderate. All I'll say is that if the Value rooms are a step down from the Moderates, it's going to be pretty hard for the Star Wars rooms to be a step down from that. The Moderate wasn't much different than a Days Inn in room quality.

If the value has a pool it is a step up from these rooms

 

[fryoj]

If the value has a pool it is a step up from these rooms

I've yet to see a room with a pool.

I'm only talking about room quality not overall hotel amenities. Honestly, adding a pool to the hotel would be about the easiest thing they could do.

 

[Legacy]

I've yet to see a room with a pool.

I'm only talking about room quality not overall hotel amenities. Honestly, adding a pool to the hotel would be about the easiest thing they could do.

I think the issue is that there are very, very few amenities compared to a Value, let alone a Moderate. Obviously, there’s no pool. But there’s also no food court, no arcade (that isn’t restricted to story elements), or recreational/workout areas (running trails). Let alone the rooms not having windows. In those regards, it IS a step below a Value.

If you remove the LARP elements, it becomes a crappy boutique hotel without the benefit of an accessible location.

 

[HandsomePete]

But there’s also no food court

Other than the seated meal periods, you can walk into the dining area and get whatever you want all day. And during the seated dinner that isn't yours, there's food from the bar that's free to order there or in the lobby. And there's snacks in the lobby from afternoon on.

 

[Legacy]

Other than the seated meal periods, you can walk into the dining area and get whatever you want all day. And during the seated dinner that isn't yours, there's food from the bar that's free to order there or in the lobby. And there's snacks in the lobby from afternoon on.

I ‘m aware of that. My point is you only have the one option. The All-Stars have variety of food options.

It’s just another way the hotel can’t really convert to a conventional hotel on Disney property without a sizable investment.

 

[fryoj]

I think the issue is that there are very, very few amenities compared to a Value, let alone a Moderate. Obviously, there’s no pool. But there’s also no food court, no arcade (that isn’t restricted to story elements), or recreational/workout areas (running trails). Let alone the rooms not having windows. In those regards, it IS a step below a Value.

If you remove the LARP elements, it becomes a crappy boutique hotel without the benefit of an accessible location.

Oh it would be hard to convert it to a fully functioning hotel. My main point was about the rooms themselves in comparison to what the other value/moderates offer.

In reality, the "easiest" way to make this a fully functional hotel would be to add another wing with more rooms and with the amenities people expect. As is, 100 rooms isn't enough to keep it afloat at normal hotel rates.

 

[HandsomePete]

I ‘m aware of that. My point is you only have the one option. The All-Stars have variety of food options.

It’s just another way the hotel can’t really convert to a conventional hotel on Disney property without a sizable investment.

They already have the means back of house to crank a lot of options out of the pickup section of the dining area because they do today, just in small plate form. Outside of dinner it’s basically a food court space sized for 100 rooms, not 2,000 rooms.

The issues have nothing to do with options, but things like turning it into a post-pay location unless they mandated mobile order. Not having to fight the crowds in a Value food court at breakfast - which is by far the busiest meal at a hotel food court, people generally eat lunch and dinner elsewhere - would actually be a plus. But yeah, F&B would be way down the list of things to fix behind like… how inefficient are the bus routes are going to be servicing the place, because the answer to that is harder than “run more buses.”

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I think the issue is that there are very, very few amenities compared to a Value, let alone a Moderate. Obviously, there’s no pool. But there’s also no food court, no arcade (that isn’t restricted to story elements), or recreational/workout areas (running trails). Let alone the rooms not having windows. In those regards, it IS a step below a Value.

If you remove the LARP elements, it becomes a crappy boutique hotel without the benefit of an accessible location.

I'd love to see the surveys.

 

[Mad Dog]

I'd love to see the surveys.

I'd love to n see the surveys past the first six months when the super hardcore SW fans attended. Now they're more into the regular SW fan base. Those surveys should be more meaningful for the future.

 

[Rhian]

I’m pretty sure I already know the answer but: Disney doesn’t offer a discount on your second (and beyond) visit, do they? After several months it’s clear comments about GC lean towards an overall great experience usually followed by some variation of wanting to go back but not at that price point.

I wonder what the booking rates would be if they had some sort of special rate for previous “passengers”. It seems the experience is definitely open for ‘replayability’ so it would make sense for guests to have incentives to return.

 

[JoeCamel]

I’m pretty sure I already know the answer but: Disney doesn’t offer a discount on your second (and beyond) visit, do they? After several months it’s clear comments about GC lean towards an overall great experience usually followed by some variation of wanting to go back but not at that price point.

I wonder what the booking rates would be if they had some sort of special rate for previous “passengers”. It seems the experience is definitely open for ‘replayability’ so it would make sense for guests to have incentives to return.

I doubt they are in the bounceback phase yet but they may be sooner than they anticipated

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Rumors are popping up about Starcruiser calling guests to rebook as they are cancelling low attended bookings this summer.

 

[Mad Dog]

Rumors are popping up about Starcruiser calling guests to rebook as they are cancelling low attended bookings this summer.

and now...it all begins.........They're running out of the fanatical fans. There's not really enough real world fans to support those prices.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

and now...it all begins.........They're running out of the fanatical fans. There's not really enough real world fans to support those prices.

Also today they announced discounts on WDW accommodations after a SC stay.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

and now...it all begins.........They're running out of the fanatical fans. There's not really enough real world fans to support those prices.

Hot take—I don’t think the pricing is the (biggest) problem. I think they could slash the fee in half and still have a hard time finding people willing to put up with three days of what’s frankly a really weird concept.

I was sooo interested in how this would play out and watched videos on it so while I can’t speak to the in-person experience, I get the gist. The biggest draw to this thing is the personalized interactivity, which is admittedly impressive…but that concept in and of itself isn’t linked at all to Star Wars. To my knowledge, no Star Wars fan has ever thought, “I would love to live inside of these movies and have a random background character know my name.” Honestly, the most iconic Star Wars settings/characters are cool to look at but would suck to live in/with.

If they could take the concept and wrap it up into some sort of murder mystery-centric IP, I think it would gain a nice following. But as it is now, this is such a muddled target audience they’re trying to appeal to.

They should ditch the interactive role playing, ditch the cruise itinerary thing, and sell it as an add-on to guests’ otherwise 4+ day long vacation packages. I’m sure the lounge and Galaxy’s Edge benefits would be enough to at least draw a day’s worth of interest to your average Star Wars/Disney fan. You could still charge a premium for it, but you could also add some flexibility to the pricing model by ditching the actors and complimentary food/bev.