Galactic Starcruiser alternative trip plan

[jasminethecat]

Seeing that the major selling points of the cruiser for $4800 are:

• 2 nights hotel stay
• Trip to Galaxy's Edge
• Food (not alcohol, some food costs extra)
• a VR-style lightsaber mini-game
• shooting tie fighters from the bridge consoles and possibly going into lightspeed
• more sabacc than anyone asked for
• a lounge singer

Let me offer an alternative - buy the following items, spend 3 days at SWGE (or possibly go to other parks), play games and throw in two lightsabers and two droids for an actual premium experience.

Item	Price in USD $
2 nights @ grand floridian with 3 days park hopper & genie+ tickets, priced today for mid-october	$2,775.00
Two lightning lane tickets for ROTR	$ 34.00
Food for 3 full days, $100 pp/day	$ 600.00
a new steam deck PC gaming system (and keep it!)	$ 400.00
X-wing Alliance game on steam (bridge training)	$ 10.00
Quest 2 VR headset (and keep it!)	$ 300.00
Vader Immortal game on Quest (lightsaber training)	$ 10.00
Sabacc premium gift box on Etsy (sabacc tournament?)	$ 50.00
Wayne Newton (Vegas lounge singer) CD (you can't do better than Mr. Las Vegas!)	$ 25.00
Build 2 lightsabers at SWGE (not included with starcruiser)	$ 420.00
Build 2 droids at SWGE(not included with starcruiser)	$ 200.00
total	$4,824.00

Discuss.

 

[Schneewittchen]

Sold!

 

[JIMINYCR]

Yes... of course there are many better ways to spend that $4800 and get more bang for your buck. But the die hard SW fan thats going to go gaga over playing Jedi, living on a star cruiser will not hesitate to drop their money in Disneys hands. Remember you arent dealing with guests who are looking at the expensive experience the same way you and I are. They will sell their soul for this life enhancing venture. They will be the envy of all their friends. Disneys betting on there being many of these types not looking at an alternative way to spend.
I'd 100% rather do it your way.

 

[surfsupdon]

I agree with you. Money better spent elsewhere. But it is all relative and some people are willing to pay for it.
Many would look at the fees I pay to runDisney as crazy (they ARE high), but I am willing to pay and it's a great experience.

But I'd never do a SWGS stay. Not my franchise.

 

[flynnibus]

Well.. you can also self-stimulate... or you can do it with other real people. You really can't compare the two simply by comparing the money spent.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Yes... of course there are many better ways to spend that $4800 and get more bang for your buck. But the die hard SW fan thats going to go gaga over playing Jedi, living on a star cruiser will not hesitate to drop their money in Disneys hands. Remember you arent dealing with guests who are looking at the expensive experience the same way you and I are. They will sell their soul for this life enhancing venture. They will be the envy of all their friends. Disneys betting on there being many of these types not looking at an alternative way to spend.
I'd 100% rather do it your way.

There are a finite number of these mega fans and at this ridiculous price, I would not expect repeat business. Then what?

 

[Minthorne]

Seeing that the major selling points of the cruiser for $4800 are:

• 2 nights hotel stay
• Trip to Galaxy's Edge
• Food (not alcohol, some food costs extra)
• a VR-style lightsaber mini-game
• shooting tie fighters from the bridge consoles and possibly going into lightspeed
• more sabacc than anyone asked for
• a lounge singer

Let me offer an alternative - buy the following items, spend 3 days at SWGE (or possibly go to other parks), play games and throw in two lightsabers and two droids for an actual premium experience.

Item	Price in USD $
2 nights @ grand floridian with 3 days park hopper & genie+ tickets, priced today for mid-october	$2,775.00
Two lightning lane tickets for ROTR	$ 34.00
Food for 3 full days, $100 pp/day	$ 600.00
a new steam deck PC gaming system (and keep it!)	$ 400.00
X-wing Alliance game on steam (bridge training)	$ 10.00
Quest 2 VR headset (and keep it!)	$ 300.00
Vader Immortal game on Quest (lightsaber training)	$ 10.00
Sabacc premium gift box on Etsy (sabacc tournament?)	$ 50.00
Wayne Newton (Vegas lounge singer) CD (you can't do better than Mr. Las Vegas!)	$ 25.00
Build 2 lightsabers at SWGE (not included with starcruiser)	$ 420.00
Build 2 droids at SWGE(not included with starcruiser)	$ 200.00
total	$4,824.00

Discuss.

Add a box of food coloring for 3.99 and I’m sold!

 

[jasminethecat]

Well.. you can also self-stimulate... or you can do it with other real people. You really can't compare the two simply by comparing the money spent.

I never said you should do any of the stuff in my plan alone. You can eat and drink at SWGE with others as in my plan. You can play games with others with the hardware and games you'll own forever. You can invite friends over to play Sabacc if you really ever wanted to play Sabacc. You can listen to music with friends. You can even build lightsabers (and fight each other!) and build driods with cast members and other people.

I realize that the itineraries posted by disney are changing (see https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/star-wars-galactic-starcruiser/experience-highlights/ ). It used to mention spending more of the day on Batuu and DHS, and getting meal vouchers. Now it shows a very narrow and controlled itinerary on Batuu, and that's a really good thing in my opinion. Hopefully Disney gets multiple people together to thoughtfully consider how this works with groups of 200-400 people and works out the kinks before launch day.

I was afraid that the LARP aspects of the starcruiser will be lame. I have some ideas of how they can do it now on Batuu based on the latest itinerary posted on the disney site. I hope that they make everyone ride RISE, then send you on a scavenger hunt (like the amazing race) around batuu. Good guys will get things like "look for the person under this flag banner and tell him 'Chewbacca needs a hug', and they'll give you a super critically important data stick to bring back." Meanwhile others who root for the bad guys will get a mission of "Go look for someone in the back of the cantina and tell them 'Thanos was right' and they will give you a thermal detonator so you can blow up the ship."

Of course I am exaggerating for lackluster comedic effect, but you get the point. Check-in day they will have an event at the mixer where they give a couple of speeches and corral you into 2 groups and tell you a story. Then you do something on Batuu based on your group from day 1, and that night you find out that the good guys always win no matter what choice you made. Day 3 it's (blue) mickey waffles and GTFO. That's probably the best case story mode, and if it is done well it could be really cool. But based on how things have been portrayed so far with (un)released videos from Disney, I have doubts. That's what my backup plan is for - in case the LARP aspects blow chunks and you want to know how to get a similar but longer-lasting experience with your $4800.

 

[JIMINYCR]

There are a finite number of these mega fans and at this ridiculous price, I would not expect repeat business. Then what?

I'm sure Disney has figured out the numbers needed for initial stays guests will pay for that is needed to cover their costs. And they can count on a portion of those SW fans will return for additional trips. Not all will bite that apple only once.
After that they could certainly change up the program to have different versions of stays that will make fans return for a different experience. Or drop the price and offer packages to entice more to come.
I dont think this venture is as risky to Disney as many think. Yes $4800 is a lot of money and undoable for many but there is enough people that $4800 is like a minor accounting error and can easily be spent and made back.

 

[eliza61nyc]

There are a finite number of these mega fans and at this ridiculous price, I would not expect repeat business. Then what?

Then they change the offering and bring in another batch of fans. Lol I'm from Philly and when the Eagles were in the superbowl I had friends (and a kid) who plunk down thousands of dollars to go to cold as heck Minneapolis and that did not include tickets to the game.

Point is it's no different than any other extravagant experience.

There are a lot of people with disposable cash

 

[BuddyThomas]

Then they change the offering and bring in another batch of fans. Lol I'm from Philly and when the Eagles were in the superbowl I had friends (and a kid) who plunk down thousands of dollars to go to cold as heck Minneapolis and that did not include tickets to the game.

Point is it's no different than any other extravagant experience.

There are a lot of people with disposable cash

Send some of them my way. They can produce my next play.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I agree with you. Money better spent elsewhere. But it is all relative and some people are willing to pay for it.
Many would look at the fees I pay to runDisney as crazy (they ARE high), but I am willing to pay and it's a great experience.

But I'd never do a SWGS stay. Not my franchise.

All Disney hotels are built around this philosophy, they are a horrible value compared to other options but we’re fans and find value in the Disney experience.

I’m not a big enough Star Wars fan to think it’s worth it but many will think it is, just like many people aren’t big enough Disney fans to understand why we’d spend $300 a night on POFQ when we could stay at a Holiday Inn a couple blocks away for $100 a night.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Seeing that the major selling points of the cruiser for $4800 are:

• 2 nights hotel stay
• Trip to Galaxy's Edge
• Food (not alcohol, some food costs extra)
• a VR-style lightsaber mini-game
• shooting tie fighters from the bridge consoles and possibly going into lightspeed
• more sabacc than anyone asked for
• a lounge singer

Let me offer an alternative - buy the following items, spend 3 days at SWGE (or possibly go to other parks), play games and throw in two lightsabers and two droids for an actual premium experience.

Item	Price in USD $
2 nights @ grand floridian with 3 days park hopper & genie+ tickets, priced today for mid-october	$2,775.00
Two lightning lane tickets for ROTR	$ 34.00
Food for 3 full days, $100 pp/day	$ 600.00
a new steam deck PC gaming system (and keep it!)	$ 400.00
X-wing Alliance game on steam (bridge training)	$ 10.00
Quest 2 VR headset (and keep it!)	$ 300.00
Vader Immortal game on Quest (lightsaber training)	$ 10.00
Sabacc premium gift box on Etsy (sabacc tournament?)	$ 50.00
Wayne Newton (Vegas lounge singer) CD (you can't do better than Mr. Las Vegas!)	$ 25.00
Build 2 lightsabers at SWGE (not included with starcruiser)	$ 420.00
Build 2 droids at SWGE(not included with starcruiser)	$ 200.00
total	$4,824.00

Discuss.

What's the total with a more apples to apples "moderate" resort stay? How much for a box truck rental?

 

[eliza61nyc]

Send some of them my way. They can produce my next play.

Mattress Mack just bet 5 million on the Bengals to win the superbowl so they're out there.

 

[Kamikaze]

In a world of bad Disney takes, this might be the worst.

 

[correcaminos]

Yes... of course there are many better ways to spend that $4800 and get more bang for your buck. But the die hard SW fan thats going to go gaga over playing Jedi, living on a star cruiser will not hesitate to drop their money in Disneys hands. Remember you arent dealing with guests who are looking at the expensive experience the same way you and I are. They will sell their soul for this life enhancing venture. They will be the envy of all their friends. Disneys betting on there being many of these types not looking at an alternative way to spend.
I'd 100% rather do it your way.

Not so sure they are all going gaga.... that's part of the issue with this possible mess. Many massive fans are side eying this experience. My good friend jumped to do a week with us at Disney and a few days at GE. Dropped over $1k on lightsabers along. Not going gaga over this though initially they were. The more info that came out the less they wanted to go.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Not so sure they are all going gaga.... that's part of the issue with this possible mess. Many massive fans are side eying this experience. My good friend jumped to do a week with us at Disney and a few days at GE. Dropped over $1k on lightsabers along. Not going gaga over this though initially they were. The more info that came out the less they wanted to go.

Early reviews, and the adjustments made to correct them, will determine how successful this is. Right now everything’s 100% speculation based on a couple short video clips.

If the first reviews are incredible it’ll probably sell out again the next day, if the reviews are bad they’ll likely see more cancellations.

I love that Disney is trying something new, hopefully it works and it encourages them to take other risks, but worst case scenario I think they can add a pool and spa and turn it into a luxury Star Wars hotel without the “experience”. People may not line up for $6,000 packages but they’ll have no problem keeping it sold out as a deluxe for $750 a night.

 

[correcaminos]

Early reviews, and the adjustments made to correct them, will determine how successful this is. Right now everything’s 100% speculation based on a couple short video clips.

If the first reviews are incredible it’ll probably sell out again the next day, if the reviews are bad they’ll likely see more cancellations.

I love that Disney is trying something new, hopefully it works and it encourages them to take other risks, but worst case scenario I think they can add a pool and spa and turn it into a luxury Star Wars hotel without the “experience”. People may not line up for $6,000 packages but they’ll have no problem keeping it sold out as a deluxe for $750 a night.

Honestly some who have seen the clips and such are going to wait for beyond the very first reviews. Just like when there are publicity reviews you don't always trust those invited to write up. We're not as trusting of someone who was so excited they want to justify the money spent. So those I know are waiting a while to get a balanced set of reviews.

I do think the shelf life of this is limited. The resort is not sold out enough IMO to show a good start.

 

[The Great Gonzo]

I'll take option C or D, you can stay at a Value or Moderate for much longer. But I'm more about the parks than the resorts though. It just seems crazy (for me at least) to pay that much for Grand, Contempo or Poly.

 

[jasminethecat]

I really want this type of hotel experience to succeed as I love star wars and I love disney. The initial promo videos and itineraries really made me think this was going to be a complete bomb, and I think Disney recognized that in the reaction from the youtube (and other social media) community. All of the initial info said "bridge training! Lightsaber trainging! Sabacc! Lounge singing! Blue Shrimp! AND SPEND THE WHOLE DAY AT DISNEY HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS!!!" That was it. They were promising LARP but offering what looked like a dialed-in experience which barely might exceed a day in Galaxy's Edge (which does not require an expensive hotel stay).

Now the itineraries are morphing into something which may actually be a cohesive experience. Disney looked critically at reactions online and they just had people walk through the experience and said "this needs more actual immersion" or they realized that their ad campaigns were not reflecting already baked-in immersion. Reports were that disney was going through test runs of the property, let's hope that those people testing were able to be honest and open about it so they can shape something great. I would rather disney offers more unique stuff like this in the future instead of more generic resort hotels like the Riviera.

Early reviews, and the adjustments made to correct them, will determine how successful this is. Right now everything’s 100% speculation based on a couple short video clips.

If the first reviews are incredible it’ll probably sell out again the next day, if the reviews are bad they’ll likely see more cancellations.

I love that Disney is trying something new, hopefully it works and it encourages them to take other risks, but worst case scenario I think they can add a pool and spa and turn it into a luxury Star Wars hotel without the “experience”. People may not line up for $6,000 packages but they’ll have no problem keeping it sold out as a deluxe for $750 a night.

And based on this idea (making it just a luxury hotel without the experience), I think that the value of a themed but LARP-less star wars hotel actually is pretty good. They can still have the regular activities promised (bridge, lightsaber, maybe sabacc if there is infrastructure around it), ditch the singer and the captain (no offense to them), and just have cast members in generic roles. KEEP THE BOX TRUCKS! Let people come over from GE if they have dinner reservations in the restaurant on the Starcruiser, and let people at the hotel take a "shuttle" to the DHS transportation center for buses/skyliner access to other parks.