News Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser coming to Walt Disney World 2021

[Unbanshee]

“Not as popular as expected” would be a better way of wording both lands pull.

Considering they built out a Boarding Group process for land access on both coasts and didn't even need it for a day, I'd say that's absolutely correct

 

[marni1971]

Considering they built out a Boarding Group process for land access on both coasts and didn't even need it for a day, I'd say that's absolutely correct

And the Skyliner. And the rearranged parking lots. And the new entry access and interchange. And a new parking garage. And Project Stardust....

 

[nickys]

And the Skyliner. And the rearranged parking lots. And the new entry access and interchange. And a new parking garage. And Project Stardust....

Project Stardust???

 

[marni1971]

Project Stardust???

Adapting Disneyland for the expected crowds. Removing planters and widening walkways throughout the park.

 

[peter11435]

And the Skyliner. And the rearranged parking lots. And the new entry access and interchange. And a new parking garage. And Project Stardust....

Although I would argue the new interchange was long overdue and needed regardless of Star Wars.

 

[JoeCamel]

Adapting Disneyland for the expected crowds. Removing planters and widening walkways throughout the park.

R.I.P. benches...

 

[SaveDinosaur]

“Not as popular as expected” would be a better way of wording both lands pull.

From what I have seen, it looks like they wanted something like Pandora, which gave AK a massive jump of attendance (becoming the third most visited park in the world), but Star Wars Land only managed to keep the growth that the parks were already having with the good economy.

 

[marni1971]

Although I would argue the new interchange was long overdue and needed regardless of Star Wars.

I’d argue the best fix was the exit. The only park in the resort that exited via a stop signal.

 

[peter11435]

I’d argue the best fix was the exit. The only park in the resort that exited via a stop signal.

Yep. It was a poor design since the beginning.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

*Easier to justify opening a small boutique hotel than trying to fill a giant resort like Coronado Springs
*bulk of construction done
*Cross selling with Star Wars attractions (right now WDW's biggest selling point)
*Unique accommodation to compete with Orlando's soon to be over stocked market
*Hotel only sells 2-night stays, doesn't need people to commit to a week or more
*Resilience of luxury travel (at times like these, most people with money tend to keep it. Remember Four Seasons didn't discount post 9/11)
*Selling convenience of "exclusive" access to attractions and not sharing transit to get there with the masses
*Disney's Star Wars brand hubris thinking anything with that name will sell, recession or not

Cut capacity in half. Say it’s sold out.

 

[WDW Pro]

There's no "waning popularity for Star Wars." I myself made the point a few weeks ago that the SW films have underperformed, but they still have made buckets of money for The Mouse.

That's the fastest contradiction I've seen yet.

I wonder where the $900M of saved CapEx came from if projects weren't defunded? You're saying that the project never had funds removed from it, even for a quarter?

My guess is that the $900M is a target number and that Star Wars Hotel was originally on the cutting block, but someone made the call to move it back into green while something different went to red. These decisions are often very complicated, and not based simply on popularity. For example, if Disney already had set pieces fabricated, or contracts were difficult to terminate for assets, then they may have determined it was more costly (or less cost saving) to cancel.

I am saying work never stopped on the project. There have always been funds available for that hotel. Even when others were furloughed, there were still people working on that project. External construction was paused, but development and work actually inside the building never stopped. No funds were ever taken away from this project.

I don't think this is true. Do you have any proof that people were still working inside the building to make progress during the governor's emergency orders? That would be exceptionally odd.

“Not as popular as expected” would be a better way of wording both lands pull.

As in "expected crowds at Disneyland, got massive reduction in crowds instead".

And the Skyliner. And the rearranged parking lots. And the new entry access and interchange. And a new parking garage. And Project Stardust....

Truth bombs ahoy.

 

[mdcpr]

I wonder how many people will be comfortable staying at a totally enclosed hotel.

 

[WDW Pro]

I wonder how many people will be comfortable staying at a totally enclosed hotel.

You know, that's a really great point I hadn't thought of. And going forward with such uncertainty, I really can't give any good answer.

 

[TrojanUSC]

I wonder how many people will be comfortable staying at a totally enclosed hotel.

Seems claustrophobic. Also what happens when Mom has had quite enough of this Star Wars nonsense and just wants to go to get some sun at the pool?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Seems claustrophobic. Also what happens when Mom has had quite enough of this Star Wars nonsense and just wants to go to get some sun at the pool?

Just kidding. The SW hotel won't have a pool.

 

[flynnibus]

I wonder how many people will be comfortable staying at a totally enclosed hotel.

You mean like people staying in a totally enclosed house for 2-3 months?

I appreciate the new what-ifs... but really its not gonna be any different than it was before this or people who are willing to vacation under the risks at that time.

 

[TrojanUSC]

You mean like people staying in a totally enclosed house for 2-3 months?

I appreciate the new what-ifs... but really its not gonna be any different than it was before this or people who are willing to vacation under the risks at that time.

Perhaps I misread the question but I didn't correlate it to COVID-19. I could see feeling a bit claustrophobic in a hotel that has no windows, no outdoor areas, etc.

 

[flynnibus]

Perhaps I misread the question but I didn't correlate it to COVID-19. I could see feeling a bit claustrophobic in a hotel that has no windows, no outdoor areas, etc.

Oh.. so we're going full groundhog day then?

 

[LiterallyNobody]

I don't think this is true. Do you have any proof that people were still working inside the building to make progress during the governor's emergency orders? That would be exceptionally odd.

Proof that I can give you that you will believe? No. I can say though that I have been in that building at least once a week for the last four out of six weeks. You don't have to believe me, and I honestly don't care if you do. But work has been going on inside, even if it's just design work. There has been nothing I have seen to tell me work was not going on in the weeks I was not in there.

Once again, I am NOT a Disney employee. Just work for an outside vendor, as a consultant. So take that as you will. But I have not seen work slowing down other than external construction.

 

[dreamfinder912]

This is honestly a huge relief to me. I was really worried this would go the way of the legendary years. But then again, I'm the Evil Childless Millennial that's out to steal your kids' mickey pretzel, so the idea of a super immersive Star Wars hotel is a total dream come true for me