I'm guessing labor--paying actors to interact for that long and at that level must have been costly. That and there were probably burnout issues, it's one thing to put on the Star Wars equivalent of Tony and Tina's Wedding where there's a bunch of beats in a three hour time period and not a ton of interaction and another to do face to face immersion for what, eight hours per cruise?
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News Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser coming to Walt Disney World 2021
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- Start date
GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
Definitely not bringing in the money, at least not what Disney management thought. After the initial wave of bookings the numbers dropped off, all the reviews ultimately meant nothing, until there were no bookings to speak of. A lack of passengers / voyagers / guests = a lack of revenue. The only reason it booked up now IS because it is going away. The we go to go on one of the last cruises (brag point) crowd. One thing is for sure, people make up their own minds and choices regardless of reviews even if they are fun to read / watch.
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Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
Its too bad the Star cruiser was not allowed to lose money (LIKE DISNEY PLUS) while they at least try to get it right.
It seems like the theme parks are run like normal businesses unlike D+ and their movie business which are allows to lose money over and over.
LSLS
Well-Known Member
I fully believe people who went were happy with it. If you are paying $6k for something, I'd guess you've done enough research to understand what you are getting yourself into. The issue is that they limited their pool of people SO much with all the decisions that were made.
dreamfinder912
Well-Known Member
Nothing to do with bragging. It's a farewell. The community of repeat voyagers -which is to say, people who loved this experience enough to do it multiple times- are devastated. Im sure some people tried for the final one, but the scramble to book before close was to get -any- date at all. I don't think any of us imagined it would just go, and not so quickly. I figured a few characters and plots would go first, death by 1000 cuts as Disney normally does it.
Wait, you find everyone else missing the point? Influencers had reciprocity. That was that.
The rest of my post mentioned that even with others going back, on the freebie first time or paying twice, the place still could not keep booked.
It is not an attack on influencers or fans. It is a statement of reality on the lack of demand for what Disney did.
It failed dude. Build a lightly themed galactic ship bridge and get over it.
Wendy Pleakley
Well-Known Member
You have to realize that the blogger previews were quite a while ago and I'm referring to the multitude of regular guests who have experienced it since it opened.
Twirlnhurl
Well-Known Member
Galactic Starcruiser is something I have no interest in experiencing--I don't enjoy interactive theater and I am not a huge Star Wars fan. But I followed this story because of my interest in the themed entertainment business. And I think there are a few things about this product that are quite clear:
1. It was a business failure. Not only is it closing, but they didn't even try to save it with significant pricing adjustments or conceptual changes. I think the price point was way too high and the market for the experience is smaller than anticipated. I think Disney frequently overestimates the size of the market for interactive and character-based experiences. I think that bias emerges for a few reasons: Characters are a market differentiator that Disney owns; meet and greets have long lines (due to extremely low capacity, not high demand); and characters are easy to describe in a survey. In reality, all one-on-one character interaction combined at the Magic Kingdom in a day is probably about the same as the number of rides on a single E-ticket. Character interaction is not as popular as Disney thinks, and immersive theater is even less popular. That is not to say those thing aren't good or can't work in a boutique hotel context. But the business plan needs to be scaled to the actual demand for that type of experience.
2. The customers who experienced it seemed to like it a lot. The initial negative press about character makeup and lame activities seem to be unusual opinions of the people who actually saw it in person. Some of that is undoubtedly selection effects--the kind of person who thinks they would enjoy it enough to spend that kind of money for this experience is the kind of person who WOULD like it. But I think the positive word of mouth is genuine. Refer to Podcast The Ride's interview with Andrew Barth Feldman or Len Testa's review. Both of these sources would certainly call it out for being hokey if it is an artistic failure. But I think the fact is that it was a good experience for the people who wanted to try it and actually got to see it.
Both of those can be true at the same time. And I think they are true here.
1. It was a business failure. Not only is it closing, but they didn't even try to save it with significant pricing adjustments or conceptual changes. I think the price point was way too high and the market for the experience is smaller than anticipated. I think Disney frequently overestimates the size of the market for interactive and character-based experiences. I think that bias emerges for a few reasons: Characters are a market differentiator that Disney owns; meet and greets have long lines (due to extremely low capacity, not high demand); and characters are easy to describe in a survey. In reality, all one-on-one character interaction combined at the Magic Kingdom in a day is probably about the same as the number of rides on a single E-ticket. Character interaction is not as popular as Disney thinks, and immersive theater is even less popular. That is not to say those thing aren't good or can't work in a boutique hotel context. But the business plan needs to be scaled to the actual demand for that type of experience.
2. The customers who experienced it seemed to like it a lot. The initial negative press about character makeup and lame activities seem to be unusual opinions of the people who actually saw it in person. Some of that is undoubtedly selection effects--the kind of person who thinks they would enjoy it enough to spend that kind of money for this experience is the kind of person who WOULD like it. But I think the positive word of mouth is genuine. Refer to Podcast The Ride's interview with Andrew Barth Feldman or Len Testa's review. Both of these sources would certainly call it out for being hokey if it is an artistic failure. But I think the fact is that it was a good experience for the people who wanted to try it and actually got to see it.
Both of those can be true at the same time. And I think they are true here.
Incomudro
Well-Known Member
Interestingly, my wife and I just paid $6,000 for a six night stay at Sandals South Beach in Jamaica.
That includes round trip airfare, and if you know Sandals - all food, and all drinks (including alcohol) all day, every day.
And a pool!
Incomudro
Well-Known Member
And a pool!
Though I understand the lack of a pool on the Starcruiser - Yes, a pool!A swim up pool bar, several restaurants, two miles of beach, a soaking tub in the room, gorgeous grounds, water sports included...
Two very different experiences for sure, but what you get for essentially the same price is night and day.
Rich Brownn
Well-Known Member
There's the possibility (and hope) D+ will eventually make money. No such scenario existed for Starcruiser.
Epcot81Fan
Well-Known Member
Sounds fun!
Have you both decided what your Jamaican play acting names will be? How about your backstories and costumes?!
Oh wait, you’re actually adults going on a vacation, never mind.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
I have no data to back it up but I think Starcruiser “made a profit ”, just didn’t “make enough of a profit”, as in my opinion, the theme parks are run like a real business unlike Disney’s movie business.
For the sake of argument, let’s say the Starcruiser did not make a profit, they pulled the plug right away without even trying to fix it, while Disney loses hundreds of millions of dollars on their movies over and over.
In my mind it’s a double standard.
I think they bring a lot of this on themselves. I don’t know how many surveys I’ve taken at the Parks where it becomes obvious to even the most casual observer, that they already have the answer that they want to drive you to. Unfortunately, most of the time, it’s not the answer that you want to be driven to!!! I really think they feel they know better in regards to what the masses want - instead of just sitting back and listening…
Tarzan is the perfect example for me.
I was working at the DRC and there was a survey given for meeting characters at Animal Kingdom. Disney was done with Tarzan daily in their minds anyway and was ready to end that cost.
They would survey guests how many met Tarzan near the Tree of Life after meeting all the other characters. They intentionally placed Tarzan's meet far around the bend of the Tree so that as others met the characters there in larger numbers, he was not noticed, so the data looked like no one really cared to meet him in comparison. They got the answers they wanted.
Pro isn't an insider. And his content is ridiculous.
Not to mention a bad case of Kathleen Kennedy derangement syndrome (or not and it just brings in the clicks)...
You'll find videos claiming Kennedy is firmly in charge because Ahsoka 'girl power' is all because of Kennedy along with rumors about how everyone in Disney/LucasFilm hates her and so any power she has has been taken away and she's just a figurehead.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
His self-reported millionty percent accuracy is not true. Just simple basics on things like the law his “experts” get wrong and are themselves known charlatans. People who spew out volumes of vague nonsense aren’t actually right, they’ve just tossed enough garbage at the wall and claim the tiniest spec as proof they were right all along no matter how much it contradicts anything else they’ve spewed out.
I was once the keeper of the insider rumors. So, I know full well that Pro's inside contacts are very limited. Very limited. And I've seen his insider knowledge be wrong. Or, presented breathlessly here as a scoop, when our regular insiders have already given us that same scoop earlier. He has presented information already widely available here and on the internet as his insider knowledge.
But he uses what he gets to make himself out to be someone who knows so much more with his infamous sefl-report-card of 87% accuracy (which another forum member quickly debunked).
And he's trying to monetize his "insider knowledge" with being an expert interviewed on other YouTube channels or writing articles for Disney fan sites. And when he gets dumped from them he starts his own channel with the cringyest thumbnails and makes it all about anti-Disney nerdrage for the clicks and the bucks.
Don't be taken in. Even if he had some real, inside knowledge, it's wrapped up in a poison sandwich.
We already have better insider sources here who have been kind enough to reveal what they can without monetizing it and without hateful ranting.