News Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser coming to Walt Disney World 2021

[pdude81]

I don't know why you'd need an in-person CM for box truckin' to Batuu - anything they would do could be accomplished by piping pre-recorded audio/video into the "cabin".

Come on, come on, come on.....
Let's go space truckin

 

[MrPromey]

You've never played a modern video game? Displays here could be as simple as a single 4k monitor behind casings. This isn't a monster dome trying to blend a dozen rendering engines to build a massive pixel density dome. The application here could be as simple as 37" monitor.

I have but I've yet to see anything that I'd mistake for "real" footage. I know Hollywood's made use of Unreal for rendering (the Mandalorian, for example) but not using simple hardware.

I think you are way overthinking what this needs to be. They wouldn't need smugglers run or even star tours to make the effects have impact. A portal could even just show 'sparks' for a second or two that you can't see directly with some light effects to simulate an impact/deflection.

I probably am overthinking it.

Cue based triggering is a staple of ride design for decades. Your normal disney bus does it for crying out loud.

Yes, a Disney bus does it but not at the level you seem to be describing or at least, not the way I'm understanding you but again, I may be overthinking and it doesn't look like they're doing what either of us were thinking if the concept art is to be believed so this is all kind of a What If (in the Marvel sense) anyway, right?

 

[Incomudro]

These transports don’t have to get very complex before a simple, less than half mile, rail line and simple pods start making sense.

That's what I've been thinking.
Seems like an elaborate transport consisting of videos and movement, would be less expensive and easier to do, if you mounted a box on a rail - rather than try to build all of that into a couple of trucks.
That's a big part of the reason I don't believe we're getting much of that.

 

[Incomudro]

OK, and that definitely shows it is supposed to be a space transport.

I have a bad feeling about this.

And of course, nothing screams luxury like having to stand up in a transport that you can’t see what direction it is going to go in.

Talk about a thinly disguised bus.
Sheesh, the doors, the floor - everyone would know they were in a bus immediatley.
Now it's a truck, so that does help with that part of the illusion.
Still, if this thing is actually supposed to be a flying space transport - I'll be really interested in seeing how they mask the ride motions, braking, turning, accelerating, deceleration, of a truck.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The question is, how much of an experience/attraction is this "shuttle" intended to be vs. transportation?

What HWE really is, deep down to its core, is a cash grab to pull money out of Potter fans to make them pay the extra for a hopper ticket, because, that's the only way you can 'ride' it.

 

[MrPromey]

Talk about a thinly disguised bus.
Sheesh, the doors, the floor - everyone would know they were in a bus immediatley.
Now it's a truck, so that does help with that part of the illusion.
Still, if this thing is actually supposed to be a flying space transport - I'll be really interested in seeing how they mask the ride motions, braking, turning, accelerating, deceleration, of a truck.

My guess would be by making it crawl. Having been on parade floats, moving at that kind of speed, you can basically walk around almost like it's not moving most of the time.

 

[MrPromey]

What HWE really is, deep down to its core, is a cash grab to pull money out of Potter fans to make them pay the extra for a hopper ticket, because, that's the only way you can 'ride' it.

Good point.

Not unlike the wands if you want to experience the interactivity...

 

[Married5Times]

Disney is trying to give fans a different experience

Don't be too proud of this technological terror Disney is constructing

 

[Hawg G]

Going 5 miles or so an hour?

So this will be a 12 minute journey in the box truck?

 

[MrPromey]

So this will be a 12 minute journey in the box truck?

Could be.

Seems more plausible than a 3 minute ride getting thrown around from side-to-side, doesn't it?

 

[EeyoreFan#24]

I’m interested to see if people need to stand in the first place. However, the concept art looks like they have the loops like the buses. If nobody is walking around, shouldn’t be any different from a regular bus or monorail, just the box is on a different frame.

 

[Skywise]

A fixed, rail type system just seems like it would've provided a better experience and, long term, I think would've been cheaper to operate (also safer as you greatly reduce the risk of any accidents - like the HwE train... no seatbelts) But the initial outlay of costs plus the infrastructure commit for that was probably far more than they wanted to gamble on.

More and more this feels to me like they settled on a controlled, cosplay, sci-fi convention experience (where they have complete capture of the dollars) which COULD work but there's so many weird oversights (keeping people on board for fixed experiences, shipping early arrivers to Disney Springs) that I don't think they've thought this all the way through...

 

[MisterPenguin]

Concerned about taking turns? Actually, they should lean into the shakiness of the transport...

 

[Skywise]

Concerned about taking turns? Actually, they should lean into the shakiness of the transport...

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Don't see any windows in that transport do ya?! DO YA?!

 

[brettf22]

What HWE really is, deep down to its core, is a cash grab to pull money out of Potter fans to make them pay the extra for a hopper ticket, because, that's the only way you can 'ride' it.

Which is why more effort and $ went into HWE vs. Starcruiser's landing craft. HWE creates a measurable revenue stream in ticket upgrades. The shuttle to Batuu does not.

Personally, I don't understand the angst over box trucks being used. Could they have spent a ton more $ on something more integrated? Sure. I would have loved it if they had built Starcruiser right up against the backside of GE, and made the landing craft using the same turntable technique as the RotR transport shuttles. Shoot, they could have probably integrated the Starcruiser landing craft so that it too is "captured" and is forced to land in the Star Destroyer, starting the Starcruiser guest's Batuu excursion directly in RotR. But had they done so, I can only image how much additional development costs would have been involved. And how much MORE expensive a Starcrusier stay would have been.

 

[WowFactor]

But if people are supposed to be looking "out windows" how do they blend all of these sequences seamlessly in real-time?..

and more importantly, do we really think they're going to put that much effort into this?

Unfortunately, no.

 

[TP2000]

The price does seem high even for what you get. It makes VIP tours look like a bargain. Theres no value here outside the cruiser so all the value has to come from whats on board. Thats ALOT to ask.

Bingo!

The cost-benefit analysis on this 2 day "experience" has to pencil out for people. The direct dollar comparison to a VIP Tour is an excellent compare/contrast point for the Galactic Starcruiser.

The cost analysis would be easier to approve if you were a big Star Wars fan who also is interested in a LARP angle. But that's where the most danger comes in, as their pre-opening marketing was so horrendously cringey and showed such a failed product (cheap looking sets, Captain Kennedy?, Gaya?, hokey light saber tech, off-brand design, etc.) that it appears to have turned off many of the Star Wars fans, if not outright angered them.

And again, who the heck approved marketing this thing to interested fans with contemporary Americans (perky Imagineers, C List sitcom actors, Cool Dad execs, unthemed CM's in Instagram posts, etc.) that broke the 4th wall immediately and acknowledged this is all a pretend hotel in a Florida swamp??? Why didn't they only communicate to the audience via Chandrila Star Lines employees touting their starcruiser to passengers in their own universe?

This whole thing has warning flags waving violently all over it. Light Magic, New Coke, and/or Edsel type of warning flags. And the senior executives running it seem even more clueless than the Imagineers who designed it on a budget. Yikes!

 

[JoeCamel]

It's in Tampa. Just off of Dale Mabry. A box truck will take you to and fro.

I thought it was on Dale Mabry with the spaceship/honeymoon suite/VIP lounge on top? No?

 

[JoeCamel]

What HWE really is, deep down to its core, is a cash grab to pull money out of Potter fans to make them pay the extra for a hopper ticket, because, that's the only way you can 'ride' it.

And a brilliant one at that, if you grab the cash and provide a commensurate experience people ask for more of the same. Some even ask where they can back the truck up to dump some more.

 

[celluloid]

The cost analysis would be easier to approve if you were a big Star Wars fan who also is interested in a LARP angle. But that's where the most danger comes in, as their pre-opening marketing was so horrendously cringey and showed such a failed product (cheap looking sets, Captain Kennedy?, Gaya?, hokey light saber tech, off-brand design, etc.) that it appears to have turned off many of the Star Wars fans, if not outright angered them.

And I know people disagree with this, as there are always exceptions, but even your most intense LARP people are going to not be the same enthused for multiple days. There is an rest and relaxation angle that the hotel should still operate at, and it seems like it is not going to function much of that unless you are in the room. There is a reason Disney's hotels are well inspired and themed, but not immersive like a brief theme park interaction breaking the fourth wall.