News Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser coming to Walt Disney World 2021

[CaptainAmerica]

Which makes me think they will set it on an unnamed planet...like the new SWL that will have outdoor sections and amenities, and space windows in the evening....

Very possible, but I don't think capital ships like Star Destroyers can actually "land." They usually dock in space. I would expect some kind of transport to take you to the actual ship. But I might be thinking "too big."

 

[flynnibus]

Since you seem to know... The one thing I can't figure out is how integrated (or not) the actual Galaxy's Edge land will be with this experience. It would seem counter-intuitive to make a trip for this experience and then it not include Star Wars Land.

It was not pitched as a unified thing. Visiting SWL was pitched as part of the experience, but not necessarily that it was anything more than 'after your stay, visit SWL!!'. They also proposed getting some perks in SWL.. and I interpreted that to mean access to features that may be unique to staying on Starcruiser. Like, imagine the interactive story elements in SWL having a continuity with the story elements you created while on Starcruiser.. or could have been as simple as 'garunteed fastpasses'.

It was NOT pitched as having the park to ONLY hotel guests... even tho they used the wording 'exclusive access'. 'access' meant to things, not necessarily to the park as a whole.

My take away was that SWL was part of the scheduled timeline... that guests would be encouraged to visit SWL as a group... and that you would get special perks in SWL that only starcruiser guests would have. But not necessarily that the SWL portion of your stay was 'enclosed' or within the bubble of your Starcruiser stay.

Many people have assumed that the resort and SWL would have to be connected - While that would be cool, I didn't get that as a hard dependency.... nor was the specific location for the resort covered.

In fact, when you got the pitch... you realize this place could have been built anywhere. It was only when SWL was mentioned as icing on the cake.. did you see it as part of WDW.

 

[flynnibus]

It would be exceedingly impractical from an operations standpoint for the entire resort to check in and check out on same day.

What do you think a cruise ship does?

 

[Maeryk]

It would be exceedingly impractical from an operations standpoint for the entire resort to check in and check out on same day. They're already going to have to use software to coordinate smaller guest experiences, so it would likewise be practical to have multiple "waves" of guests experiencing different days of their experience at the same time.

Depends on if the "storyline" is progressive like that, or if it's just a loop. I could see doing bank room assignment.. say they have X number of rooms, they are set aside so 1/7th of the rooms are filled monday, 1/7th tuesday, etc and so on. And fill them in order. Once the number of reservations for Monday are hit.. there are no more available. So announcements/activities for block A will be delivered only to block A rooms, block B gets block b, etc etc and so forth.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

In fact, when you got the pitch... you realize this place could have been built anywhere.

Literally anywhere, right? Stick one of these in Branson, Gatlinburg, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Austin, Niagara Falls.

 

[Bairstow]

Costumes will be offered, but surely not mandatory... What's stopping people from dressing like this the whole time?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Depends on if the "storyline" is progressive like that, or if it's just a loop. I could see doing bank room assignment.. say they have X number of rooms, they are set aside so 1/7th of the rooms are filled monday, 1/7th tuesday, etc and so on. And fill them in order. Once the number of reservations for Monday are hit.. there are no more available. So announcements/activities for block A will be delivered only to block A rooms, block B gets block b, etc etc and so forth.

I could see that. "Gold Squadron" is on Itinerary A, "Blue Squadron" on Itinerary B, and so on and so forth.

 

[durangojim]

I'd think the rooms would be done in such a way to convince people to not be in them as much as possible. But we'll see.

I understand what you're saying but I think that makes the cost a harder pill to swallow. For many people (myself included) I don't mind paying some pretty high rates (up to $1000/night and we've also stayed at values many times) if I perceive the location, amenities, AND room to be luxurious, special, etc. I want the hotel rooms to be at least as nice as what we experience on the Disney Dream. The size of the room doesn't have to be large but it has to be well thought out and relatively luxurious.

 

[Maeryk]

Costumes will be offered, but surely not mandatory... What's stopping people from dressing like this the whole time?

Likely the wookie would be what stops you. The blurb does say: "You’ll immediately become a citizen of the galaxy and experience all that entails, including dressing up in the proper attire."

note proper.

I doubt they are going to let you run around as Rimmer or Kryton and harsh everyone elses mellow. I suspect the contract will be thoroughly explained before you book, and the expectations of guest behavior pretty high.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I understand what you're saying but I think that makes the cost a harder pill to swallow. For many people (myself included) I don't mind paying some pretty high rates (up to $1000/night and we've also stayed at values many times) if I perceive the location, amenities, AND room to be luxurious, special, etc. I want the hotel rooms to be at least as nice as what we experience on the Disney Dream. The size of the room doesn't have to be large but it has to be well thought out and relatively luxurious.

I could not disagree more. I want "authentic," not "luxurious." The concept art looks almost like a military barracks and that's exactly what I want.

 

[21stamps]

Costumes will be offered, but surely not mandatory... What's stopping people from dressing like this the whole time?

Lol.. it could happen.

I got seriously raked on FB for mixing Super Heros together on a cake one year.

People were all "DC and Marvel don't mix".
Ummm... I don't even know the difference..neither does my 2 year old... back off.lol

 

[MurphyJoe]

My lizard brain says that is exclusive time in SW:GE with interaction beyond what a normal park goer would get to experience. Course, I could be wrong, too. I'm getting the feeling this is like, a 2 day cruise with a disembarkation to Port of Call.. then you "catch a plane home" from there. IOW, the 360 concept is the first two days, then GE is the disembarkment. Your luggage will either wind up at the airport or another resort.

I'm wondering if the more unique parts pitched concerning SW:GE will only be for participants of this experience? With the several thousand+ visiting GE during the day the amount of personalization per person will be limited when it comes to interacting with various characters in the land (if nothing else than due to time per person). Toss 400 people in the area for a few hours and suddenly haggling over undisplayed goods, being wanted by a bounty hunter or the First Order, etc. makes more sense operationally.

It would be exceedingly impractical from an operations standpoint for the entire resort to check in and check out on same day. They're already going to have to use software to coordinate smaller guest experiences, so it would likewise be practical to have multiple "waves" of guests experiencing different days of their experience at the same time.

Royal Caribbean Oasis class cruise ships can carry around ~6,300 passengers at a go. The amount of people this will have at one time is around 400; if Disney wants everyone to check in on the same date they'll be able to without issue. It's also not like 400 people individually checking in at the same time. With groups and people arriving at different times, they need to be able to handle maybe 200 parties over the course of several hours.

 

[flynnibus]

Literally anywhere, right? Stick one of these in Branson, Gatlinburg, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Austin, Niagara Falls.

Yup. Now, I don't see Disney building outside their vacation destinations... but WDW was not part of the concept being pitched. It was all Starcruiser. WDW was used for comparative purposes to help establish 'value' and try to justify the price points.

That's why its frustrating when people keep talking about visiting the parks and staying here as a hotel overnight, etc. They're totally missing the idea.

Hopefully when Disney starts really putting out the advertising... people will connect. The pitch was VERY convincing. Like I said before, I was a bit skeptical worrying that these ideas wouldn't make it to fruition, but even pushing beyond the pitch with specific questions.. they were really gungho on it being really done. I was convinced... and I'm a realist

 

[Maeryk]

I could not disagree more. I want "authentic," not "luxurious." The concept art looks almost like a military barracks and that's exactly what I want.

this. People are still looking at it like a hotel. "Think I'll go for a dip in the pool. Then maybe hang around the hotel bar."

This isn't going to (from the art) look like a standard disney room with some anchors or tikis or fleur de lis slapped on the wall art. It's going to be a totally new experience. I didn't get military transport, as much as bulk personnel transport. But starships, as we all know from plenty of sci fi, have berths just like oceangoing vessels do, and that's exactly how the concept art feels (though they appear much larger in the picture than I imagine they would ever actually be on a real ship)

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Yup. Now, I don't see Disney building outside their vacation destinations... but WDW was not part of the concept being pitched. It was all Starcruiser. WDW was used for comparative purposes to help establish 'value' and try to justify the price points.

That's why its frustrating when people keep talking about visiting the parks and staying here as a hotel overnight, etc. They're totally missing the idea.

Hopefully when Disney starts really putting out the advertising... people will connect. The pitch was VERY convincing. Like I said before, I was a bit skeptical worrying that these ideas wouldn't make it to fruition, but even pushing beyond the pitch with specific questions.. they were really gungho on it being really done. I was convinced... and I'm a realist

Yeah I think they messed up in the blog post by referring to it as a "resort." It's not, really.

Is Disney Regional Entertainment completely dead?

 

[flynnibus]

Yeah I think they messed up in the blog post by referring to it as a "resort." It's not, really.

Is Disney Regional Entertainment completely dead?

I was thinking 'Adventures by Disney' until they talked about SWL

Of course, all of this could come crashing down and they just do a hotel with on-site entertainment and SWL-level entertainment floating around. But they were aiming higher.. and the SWL reveals give me hope they stick to it.

 

[Maeryk]

I'm wondering if the more unique parts pitched concerning SW:GE will only be for participants of this experience? With the several thousand+ visiting GE during the day the amount of personalization per person will be limited when it comes to interacting with various characters in the land (if nothing else than due to time per person). Toss 400 people in the area for a few hours and suddenly haggling over undisplayed goods, being wanted by a bounty hunter or the First Order, etc. makes more sense operationally.



Royal Caribbean Oasis class cruise ships can carry around ~6,300 passengers at a go. The amount of people this will have at one time is around 400; if Disney wants everyone to check in on the same date they'll be able to without issue. It's also not like 400 people individually checking in at the same time. With groups and people arriving at different times, they need to be able to handle maybe 200 parties over the course of several hours.

I can see Disney doing it like so: "Shuttle departs for StarCruiser at 4:00 PM." (your rooms will be ready at 4). "If you arrive before the departure time, you are welcome to wait in our lounge". (Just like if you show up at Poly at 7 am coming off a redeye from somewhere, and your room won't be ready till 2 or whatever the check in time is).

So it's not hard to believe they could do that. It's going to throw a monkey wrench in the plans of people who like to plan every day to their spec, though, if Disney does a "Bookings are available mon-tues, wed-thus fri-sat , etc, but its' a bit niche, so has probably been worked out, at least on paper, how they can keep everything organized and more or less keep the cats herded onto their schedule.

The cruise ship analogy is good to a point.. but the ship just offers you passive entertainment, it's your responsibility to show up and and take advantage of it. This is active, and too many people deciding to lounge in their rooms might effect the immersion.

 

[Bairstow]

Royal Caribbean Oasis class cruise ships can carry around ~6,300 passengers at a go. The amount of people this will have at one time is around 400; if Disney wants everyone to check in on the same date they'll be able to without issue. It's also not like 400 people individually checking in at the same time. With groups and people arriving at different times, they need to be able to handle maybe 200 parties over the course of several hours.

Disney could make it work, but if there's a more efficient or cheaper way to do it, they won't. Why create logistics challenges on purpose?

If we assume the default experience is a 2 or 3 day cycle, and various parts of the cycle need to be as intimate as possible, requiring multiple redundant rooms and/or cast members, the most efficient way to handle this is to have multiple groups of people moving through the experience at different intervals. This will be true whether or not the different days of the experience tell a sequential narrative or not.

 

[DocMcHulk]

Sorry if I missed it, u did they say, or do any insiders know, where this resort will be going on the WDW property?

 

[21stamps]

I understand what you're saying but I think that makes the cost a harder pill to swallow. For many people (myself included) I don't mind paying some pretty high rates (up to $1000/night and we've also stayed at values many times) if I perceive the location, amenities, AND room to be luxurious, special, etc. I want the hotel rooms to be at least as nice as what we experience on the Disney Dream. The size of the room doesn't have to be large but it has to be well thought out and relatively luxurious.

I agree to a point.. I disagree with @CaptainAmerica on a one room fits all.. I think there will be options.

Imagine an awesome control room suite.. or other rooms with varying themes. I hope each one does feel like you're in a movie, not just a room.

My child has been asking for the PBK Star Wars bed since it came out.. I'll never buy it, don't expect Disney to have them in their rooms..but this could be the closest he can get to that experience.