News Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser coming to Walt Disney World 2021

[Wendy Pleakley]

The people doing the inaugural cruise appear to be enjoying it. The one person I spoke to said he's with a group of 4 adults per cabin which brings the price into a more "reasonable territory". I figured it cost about $100/hour based on double occupancy, so if it's approaching half of that I can see getting value for money given the constant activity onboard.

These are of course people who come into the experience with an eagerness and willingness to embrace the role play element, in many cases coming in with their own developed character and backstory.

Will it be as engaging for the more casual fan as time goes on? We'll see.

I still have misgivings. Putting interactive elements planned for Galaxy's Edge behind a paywall is disappointing. Some of the elements still look a little cheesy. The bridge battles still look like a simple DisneyQuest game to me.

While I share the concern that Disney is creating experiences for a select few, I do think offering unique and original experiences one can't get anywhere else is a positive.

 

[corran horn]

I'm also going to be looking for people's opinions a couple weeks or a month or two after they took the trip when the credit card bills come due. I wouldn't be suprised if we see a Disney Visa Card tie in with 0% financing for your Galactic Starcuiser trip for 6 months.

I don't know about others but we're fully paid and don't ship out until May. I suspect with the current state of early booking many people (unless they are carrying that debt onward for however long) will have their bill come due before they even leave.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The major difference being the Starcruiser only needs a few hundreds guests every 2 days to be successful, the NBA experience probably needed a few thousand a day to be successful.

Both went after a niche market but I think the hotel has a much better business plan for success. It’s much easier to find a few hundred niche guests a week, even with high costs, than tens of thousands.

I thought it should have been built more “modular” so it can be retooled. Or make it look like a star destroyer (cause that’s what people would want)…in case they need to dump the hotel model and make it more of an “excision”

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I'm happy the "regular" paying people who are experiencing it are having a great time! Maybe being in the atmosphere and having your disbelief suspended make the ship appear better than what it does in the videos. Who knows, after 6 months and seeing and hearing lots of reviews and opinions maybe I'll convince my wife or one of my kids to go on this with me. I'm not afraid to change my mind and be proven wrong, although I still think the price should be lower.

If I remember correctly, Len Testa, who was originally quite skeptical of it, said that he thinks it might be underpriced for what you get.

 

[VaderTron]

Collectors item? Just kinda dumb one

Nope, this is standard, no frills. Lots of people like these because they can be turned into real off-road/backwoods/off-grid vehicles. However, this had no lift kit, no snorkle...nothing at all. Just a normal, standard Land Cruiser. If you want any of that stuff you will have to spend tens of thousands on aftermarket extras.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Will it be as engaging for the more casual fan as time goes on? We'll see.

This is not something that a casual fan should be paying money for. They are definitely not the target audience at all. This is for people that want to have a full on immersive experience with themselves as a character.

 

[TalkingHead]

No TRUE GUEST would like it...



This was always Spirit's spiel, too. Current crop of Disney imagineers don't know what they're doing. The Execs don't care about parks. CMs are biased or afraid to speak out. Forum members don't remember the Golden Years. And the regular guests are sheeple who have no taste and know nothing about TRUE THEMING. So, who's left to give the true and correct judgment? Spirit! What a coincidence.

Everyone who doesn't hold my opinion just so happens to be unqualified to have their opposing opinion!

Spirit? Who’s talking about Spirit? That’s a non sequitur, if you want to talk about logical fallacies. However, it’s not a logical fallacy to speculate that people who would be motivated by being “first” for clicks, social media cred, business reasons, etc., may not represent the average guest several months from now.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

This is not something that a casual fan should be paying money for. They are definitely not the target audience at all. This is for people that want to have a full on immersive experience with themselves as a character.

A week ago, as a casual Star Wars fan who had no interest in doing this, I’d have 100% agreed but after watching a week of videos I totally want to do it now.

I’m a major Disney fan though so maybe that influences me wanting to do it.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

A week ago, as a casual Star Wars fan who had no interest in doing this, I’d have 100% agreed but after watching a week of videos I totally want to do it now.

I’m a major Disney fan though so maybe that influences me wanting to do it.

So you would be ok with donning a star wars costume and totally immersing yourself into the story?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

If I remember correctly, Len Testa, who was originally quite skeptical of it, said that he thinks it might be underpriced for what you get.

And we love him…Even me.

But his business is amusement parks…which requires customers.

I can take his review at face value and still maintain that there are a lot of variables here. The ability to draw casual fans and Disney’s desire to invest over and over again while controlling pricing.

Very much undecided right now.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

And we love him…Even me.

But his business is amusement parks…which requires customers.

I can take his review at face value and still maintain that there is a lot of variables here. The ability to draw casual fans and Disney’s desire to invest over and over again while controlling pricing.

Very much undecided right now.

I've always looked at Len as very honest in his reviews. As I just mentioned, I really don't think this is pitched to a "casual" fan. In order for it to really work, you have to totally immerse yourself in the story and become a star wars character yourself. Most casual fans are not willing to go to that level.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

So you would be ok with donning a star wars costume and totally immersing yourself into the story?

No costume but I would run all over the ship like a little kid doing missions.

 

[celluloid]

Spirit? Who’s talking about Spirit? That’s a non sequitur, if you want to talk about logical fallacies. However, it’s not a logical fallacy to speculate that people who would are motivated by being “first” for clicks, social media cred, business reasons, etc., may not represent the average guest several months from now.

Exactly, and there are reasons there are departments called "trends" and projections in the WDTC.

People keep saying it is not for the casual fan, but I never see a defined market with that. People say that there are enough intnese fans to keep this thing booked. There are many cross-overs. Is Pop Century for the Casual Fan of Disney then? Value resorts have vacancies have altered seasonal pricing and promotions all of the time.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

A week ago, as a casual Star Wars fan who had no interest in doing this, I’d have 100% agreed but after watching a week of videos I totally want to do it now.

I’m a major Disney fan though so maybe that influences me wanting to do it.

That’s where you’re coming from right now. And that will keep this sustainable for awhile. We don’t know how long.

Disney is not in good graces with old Star Wars/non-Disney fans…but that can change.

We don’t know about Neither - casuals - and that will be interesting to watch?

Those that bought tickets to force awakens before moving on mentally after they woke the next day…many “forget” to buy them for episode 8…and a lot more for 9…and forget to grab up merch for everyone on their Christmas list

 

[LuvtheGoof]

No costume but I would run all over the ship like a little kid doing missions.

That would probably work, but I wonder if you would get more from the CMs if you are also in costume and character?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I've always looked at Len as very honest in his reviews. As I just mentioned, I really don't think this is pitched to a "casual" fan. In order for it to really work, you have to totally immerse yourself in the story and become a star wars character yourself. Most casual fans are not willing to go to that level.

Then they’re in trouble…this will rise and fall with pro-Disney, non- Star Wars fans. (Or not insane Star Wars fans)

It’s about disposable cash and that’s the Disney/status symbol market.

There are easy examples of that to draw on.

 

[pdude81]

While not a failure, it is too early to tell either way if it is meeting Disney's goals. Time will tell is the only real thing here.

Also, we don't know the occupancy. While Disney is not going to lose money or be near failure. Having most rooms with one or two guests bunking with each other to save money is a lot different than many family's of three and four guests in each room. That is where the real profit is.

I am far more interested into September 2023.

Each additional person for the experience only costs a few hundred bucks more. The big money is in the reservation itself.

 

[Incomudro]

To me it just seems that there are a lot of people on this board lately that just have to make a judgement based on a few bad pictures and videos without ever seeing it in person themselves. I will never understand that at all. If you haven't experienced it in person, I'm sorry, but you have no right to bash something you've never seen. And of course, the you is not directed at you @mergatroid, but the general "you" group.

The other group that seem to hate it are those that don't have the money for it, so they have to bash it so they don't feel so bad about not being in the club that can and will afford it. We certainly could easily afford it, but not sure if DW would like all the playing. I would personally not have an issue with it, so not sure if we will ever do it, but I won't say never.

I was bashing what Disney put out as promos, because they did a poor job at it - and it was not looking good.
As we got closer to the first launch it got even more off putting, because nothing Disney put out dispelled that impression.
I did however, always hold out hope that what I was lead to believe was wrong and that Disney would deliver.
Well, from my perspective they did deliver and did it well.

 

[LSLS]

I still believe this underdelivered what was promised and they severely limited their customer pool with their choices (making it not a cruise, but roll playing or LARP or whatever it was argued about being for 40 pages), but I don't think it's nearly the miss I was expecting with the marketing we saw. As for success, I still question that. I don't think until we know how much it cost, and how much they are spending on each 2 days that we will know that. But better than expected? I will 100% admit to that one. Next question, will they keep it that way?

I'm sure this will make some here super angry, but I'll admit I'm kind of sad people are jumping on this and happy with it now. Sad that this is what we were supposed to see in the lands, and Disney now knows they can skimp on their promises in the parks to create insane upcharges for any cool ideas/features. They almost used the announcement of Star Wars land to test how excited people would be for this type of thing so they could determine if they could create the ultimate upcharge for it. But, I guess it's also a thing I'm kind of coming to terms with as well as we go less and less.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

That would probably work, but I wonder if you would get more from the CMs if you are also in costume and character?

Possibly, my character will be me though, a guy from Vegas who’s on a space cruise with his girlfriend and open to joining the resistance, while having a few drinks at the bar along the way, and undoubtedly getting dragged into dance classes by his gf. My backstory is my life.

I would actively participate though, I think that’s probably the most important thing.