GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
Good question! Are there going to be Imperial Probe Droids floating up and down the ship zapping (tasering) guest that sneak out of their assigned cabins?
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News Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser coming to Walt Disney World 2021
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nickys
Premium Member
I hope so! Maybe not actual tasering but it would be fun to try and dodge them. Or even better, Stormtroopers.
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LovePop
Well-Known Member
But I don't want immersive. I just want a Star Wars hotel that, like any other Disney hotel, doesn't require me to do any work. Like Animal Kingdom Lodge, an animal themed hotel. It's got animals, and I can look at them if I want to, but I don't have to, and there's no schedule to make me pet the giraffe at 3:30 p.m. for 15 minutes. If AKL starts becoming "immersive" by charge 3K/night and scheduling all day animal/African activities, then I'm not staying there any more. But here's a Galactic Starcruiser-like schedule for AKL:
7:am-8:30 am. breakfast at Boma.
8:30-9:30. Giraffe feeding experience.
9:30-10. giraff petting.
10-11. Learn to paint your own African mask.
11-12. Participate in an African dance ritual.
12-1. Eat lunch at Mara, the food court.
1-5. shuttle in a themed safari vehicle directly to inside Animal Kingdom, where you get guaranteed, no wait rides on Avatar, Naari, etc. and return.
5-7. Have first class dining experience at Jiko.
7-8. Storytime. Interact with people from all areas of Africa, and learn their culture, history, and world view.
8-9 p.m. Learn to play an african musical instrument.
On a different day, the activities can be basket weaving, animal footprint recognizing, edible insects sampling, African face painting, giraffe hair brushing (if that's a thing), vase making, fire building, animal diet lessons, African history competition, hunting lessons, African battle simulation. The list goes on.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
Sure, but that's not what the Galactic Starcruiser is. It was never intended to be just a themed Star Wars hotel; it's always been an immersive experience.
I understand someone wanting a regular themed Star Wars hotel, but I don't really get complaining that the Starcruiser isn't it when they've always been clear about that. No one is going to pay the asking rate without wanting that experience -- it's not like they're pulling a bait and switch on people.
Also, you don't have to worry about that happening at the AKL. It's far too large. This kind of pricing/experience only works on a small scale.
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nickys
Premium Member
All I can say is that you are clearly not the target audience for the StarCruiser.
And unfortunately for you, since Disney have the rights to Star Wars, and they’ve chosen this experience to pursue, you’re unlikely to get your wish anytime soon.
LovePop
Well-Known Member
I give this thing a month before all the reviews come out and occupancy drops like a rock. I don't say this to my benefit. If this thing fails and Disney loses money, guess how they will recoup their loss -- by cutting more services and charging you and me more than what they are already doing. So I seriously hope this thing makes it big.
LovePop
Well-Known Member
Yeah I know. You don't need to rub it in.
nickys
Premium Member
You keep saying it though.Yeah I know. You don't need to rub it in.
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
Just goes to show - they should have worked with Paramount and gone with Star Trek, instead.
With Star Trek, you could have gone anywhere on property and had your scheduled unexpected encounter and it would still have been in-theme*.
*If you're a Trek dork (like me) you know what I'm talkin'bout!
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The_Jobu
Well-Known Member
They'll probably keep cutting the price (and the "experience") until it's basically just a deluxe.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I think it's too small for that. I'm not sure it would even be worth operating at standard prices because of all the extra overhead.
Plus, with the rooms being the way they are (and the lack of any other amenities like the constantly bemoaned swimming pool) I'm not sure how many people would be willing to pay for it without the whole attached experience.
EeyoreFan#24
Well-Known Member
I was thinking the same thing. With no conversion potential, it seems like it’s basically all in at this point. Lifespan is tied at maximum to GE, but the market will probably be exhausted way before they point.
I think they just play with scheduling at that point. Maybe one voyage a month, two depending on season and demand. I guess we’ll have to see when it opens, but it just seems to specialty detailed dependent to just make it a regular hotel.
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
Actually, I think what he describe for AKL could work just fine as an optional package and is a great example of something that could coexist with people using the same location as a "regular" resort.
It would be like taking the original Disney Institute concept and making it resort-specific.
In fact, I could see them offering resort-specific activities like this across nearly all the moderate to deluxe resorts as an up-charge concept I'd be on board with... Although the Port Orleans stuff would probably have to be 21 and up after 8pm.
The only reason they couldn't do something like this with Star Wars is that the galactic starcruiser and full LARPing angle creates a situation where there is not enough space, they have to stick to the story of being "transported" there and regular guests would have to be able to see and in some cases, have some interaction with the open experiences which is lost money for Disney and has the potential to torpedo the justification for prices on those spending.
But if they had a Star Wars hotel that was just that - a cool themed hotel that everyone understood they could walk outside and see the sun and swim in a pool at, they could still have offerings similar to that itinerary that are optional paid add-ons. Maybe it's a full day itinerary and maybe it's optionally a la carte with priority of availability to those who booked in advance for the full itenerary.
They could even have a section of rooms in the core lobby building that are more heavily themed and have space windows instead of real ones and still provide exclusive scheduled unexpected interactions that would have them going around the resort, kind of like the pirate adventure that uses the Magic Bands at Adventure Land with some of that interaction involving real actors in character, too. In fact, doing it that way, they could probably offer that to more people at once and still charge crazy high prices (but not quite as high) and be fully booked for as far as the eye could see for it... and still offer additional upcharges like the "exclusive" access to the Galaxy's Edge stuff only offered to the people who paid for the packages in those core rooms.
It wouldn't be as immersive. They wouldn't be able to run the commercial with the grown up dad saying "it's real!" but they'd have been able to server a whole lot more people with the Star Wars theme and I think it would be better in line with... reality.
It also would have been something the public understood because it would still work like a resort and not some thing that's "not a resort" but also not really a cruise, either.
They decided to go with something more ambitious, though. As a result, they have something they both can and need to charge more for.
They said it was an experiment and I guess we'll see how it plays out.
But I actually like his itenerary idea for AKL as an optional add-on concept. THAT is the kind of paid upcharge experience I wish Disney would try and again, if they spread it around property you could possible even mix-and-match some stuff... Like maybe you don't want to do basket weaving so you swap that for the topiary class at the Contemporary taking place at the same time... for a minimal service fee, of course!
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
Actually, I think what he describe for AKL could work just fine as an optional package and is a great example of something that could coexist with people using the same location as a "regular" resort.
It would be like taking the original Disney Institute concept and making it resort-specific.
In fact, I could see them offering resort-specific activities like this across nearly all the moderate to deluxe resorts as an up-charge concept I'd be on board with... Although the Port Orleans stuff would probably have to be 21 and up after 8pm.
The only reason they couldn't do something like this with Star Wars is that the galactic starcruiser and full LARPing angle creates a situation where there is not enough space, they have to stick to the story of being "transported" there and regular guests would have to be able to see and in some cases, have some interaction with the open experiences which is lost money for Disney and has the potential to torpedo the justification for prices on those spending.
But if they had a Star Wars hotel that was just that - a cool themed hotel that everyone understood they could walk outside and see the sun and swim in a pool at, they could still have offerings similar to that itinerary that are optional paid add-ons. Maybe it's a full day itinerary and maybe it's optionally a la carte with priority of availability to those who booked in advance for the full itenerary.
They could even have a section of rooms in the core lobby building that are more heavily themed and have space windows instead of real ones and still provide exclusive scheduled unexpected interactions that would have them going around the resort, kind of like the pirate adventure that uses the Magic Bands at Adventure Land with some of that interaction involving real actors in character, too. In fact, doing it that way, they could probably offer that to more people at once and still charge crazy high prices (but not quite as high) and be fully booked for as far as the eye could see for it... and still offer additional upcharges like the "exclusive" access to the Galaxy's Edge stuff only offered to the people who paid for the packages in those core rooms.
It wouldn't be as immersive. They wouldn't be able to run the commercial with the grown up dad saying "it's real!" but they'd have been able to server a whole lot more people with the Star Wars theme and I think it would be better in line with... reality.
It also would have been something the public understood because it would still work like a resort and not some thing that's "not a resort" but also not really a cruise, either.
They decided to go with something more ambitious, though. As a result, they have something they both can and need to charge more for.
They said it was an experiment and I guess we'll see how it plays out.
But I actually like his itenerary idea for AKL as an optional add-on concept. THAT is the kind of paid upcharge experience I wish Disney would try and again, if they spread it around property you could possible even mix-and-match some stuff... Like maybe you don't want to do basket weaving so you swap that for the topiary class at the Contemporary taking place at the same time... for a minimal service fee, of course!
Oh sure, it could work as a potential add-on to AKL. He was suggesting it as a resort wide change, though. That would never happen.
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
100% agree and I don't think it ever should be considered as a resort-wide change nor do I think it would ever have worked at one, regardless of how big or small AKL is.
But as an optional add-on that would work there, it got me thinking about Star Wars and how they could have probably done something with levels to it that would have appealed to a wider audience, had base prices accessible to a wider audience on a larger plot of land, and maybe had more staying power (and been easier to convert to a new theme when/if they needed to) if they'd gone with it...
They wouldn't have satisfied the itch of the almost-crazy-doesn't-understand-it's-not-real crowd that it feels like they're going for here but it feels like something that would have worked better with their existing audience and satisfied more fans/guests/consumers.
Also, I think one issue with what they're doing is that Star Wars has a huge fan base spread across all demographics of age, sex, and income and by creating a boutique experience that only caters to a very tiny sliver of that (largely due to price) what you're seeing is a lot of people ed that Disney is making this awesome thing that hits them right in the "I want" places and adding it to a vacation spot that serves tens of millions of people a year but is putting it out of the reach of the vast majority of them.
Some of these reactions are emotional and without logic but it's not hard to expect them and it's weird that it seems like Disney either didn't or decided they didn't care - not just because we expect Disney to be nice but because there is all that money and loyalty sentiment they're potentially flushing.
Not to mention, as something that could grow to a property-wide thing across the moderate to deluxe resorts, an-upcharge-add-on extraviganza with the potential to pull more on-property guests out of the parks (helping crowds), possibly add more days to some guests' stays, and provide real and unique experiences for guests willing to pay while not screwing anything up for people who didn't, it feels like something that could check a few different boxes for Disney.
Dad and the kinds could book a lightsaber buying and training experience at the Star Wars resort in the afternoon while mom hangs back at the pool where they're staying at the Grand Floridan and the grandparents do the basket weaving class at AKL scheduled for the same time slot.. then all meet back up early evening for dinner and a trip to a park with fireworks and maybe a quick ride or two before calling it a night.
This seems like it would fit perfectly with how they structure their multi-day ticket pricing, too for encouraging longer stays and woudl be something that would be truly blue ocean since "Only Disney™) has the breadth to offer such variety in a single place with so many potential themes...
Again, it could be like the Disney Institute concept but much looser with both itinerary and/or track and pick-and-choose options. Again, with priority booking availability for those opting for the whole track since we all know things like "light saber training" are going to be way more popular than space cards - this could encourage people to buy into the space cards to make sure they can do the light saber training... just like feeding giraffes would probably be more fun than basket-weaving but giving priority to those who buy the "bundle" would help fill the basket-weaving class that some might call filler like the space cards are being called, here.
Admittedly, taking what they already have and used to include and slicing it up into up-charges and offereing themed cupcakes is easier, though.
... which makes the way they went all-in on this Star Wars concept even more confusing to me.
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MrPromey
Well-Known Member
They didn't show anyone peeing or pooping in any of those movies either but there are toilets, aren't there?
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MrPromey
Well-Known Member
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
For anyone who's already done everything else, I'll offer a kick-in-the-groin for only $1k.
Limited bookings opening soon.
If someone's lived a pampered life, I'm sure that'll be something different they haven't done/experienced before.
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ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
With steel-toed boots?!?For anyone who's already done everything else, I'll offer a kick-in-the-groin for only $1k.
Limited bookings opening soon.
If they've lived a pampered life, I'm sure that'll be something different.
