News Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser coming to Walt Disney World 2021

[Casper Gutman]

I think turning it into a normal hotel is the last thing they would do -- it would struggle to sell rooms. They're tiny and there are almost no amenities, not to mention a lack of transportation to get anywhere else on property (obviously they could add this, but that would be a lot of expense for a small number of customers). The immersive story part of the experience is the main reason they're charging such a high price, and that would certainly be eliminated entirely if they were going to turn it into a normal hotel.

They're far more likely to turn it into an upcharge experience where people can go dine in the restaurant/hang out at the bar, do the lightsaber training etc.

Isn't it odd that with everything we're seeing and hearing about the experience, I haven't seen a single comment about the "immersive story." Weird.

 

[zapple]

Putting aside the theming issues and the fact that it’s not recognizably Star Wars in any way, the rooms at this hotel are a joke. They look exactly like Ibis rooms, which you can regularly get for less than €100 a night. Down to the shampoo on the wall. I’ve actually stayed in bigger Ibis rooms.

There is nothing deluxe about the rooms here and that’s unforgivable to me for what they’re charging. Our veranda room on the Dream was the Four Seasons compared to this dump. I don’t care that it’s only for 2 nights and it’s ~~**immersive*~~, it still costs $6k for those 2 nights and I don’t want to sleep in an Ibis with a bathroom where I’m bumping my elbows on the wall for that money. And Disney’s going to find this out the hard way because I’m not the only pampered princess who’s going to put their foot down when they see these rooms.

 

[LSLS]

Even if the experience of the hotel is an enormous flop, there's absolutely no reason they can't just convert it to a normal hotel. Absolutely no reason they couldn't. The current price point is extreme, and that's by design, they're trying to find a very niche portion of Disney that stays in Concierge at Yacht and Beach Club or Wilderness Lodge. The margins on this are likely very generous, they likely could be charging $3,000 instead of $6,000 and turn a profit.

If that doesn't work, you're telling me, you don't think converting this to a normal hotel without extensive activities and charging $1000 a night wouldn't work? This experience may not exist in its current iteration till the end of time, but y'all making it seem like this will be like Superstar limo.

Lol, good lord. You would pay $1000 a night to stay in a 75 square foot room with no pool or even quickservice? I wouldn't pay $100 to stay in a cruise ship room if you stuck it on land going nowhere.

 

[durangojim]

Even if the experience of the hotel is an enormous flop, there's absolutely no reason they can't just convert it to a normal hotel. Absolutely no reason they couldn't. The current price point is extreme, and that's by design, they're trying to find a very niche portion of Disney that stays in Concierge at Yacht and Beach Club or Wilderness Lodge. The margins on this are likely very generous, they likely could be charging $3,000 instead of $6,000 and turn a profit.

If that doesn't work, you're telling me, you don't think converting this to a normal hotel without extensive activities and charging $1000 a night wouldn't work? This experience may not exist in its current iteration till the end of time, but y'all making it seem like this will be like Superstar limo.

I really think the key to this thing’s success will be to scrap the idea of it as a hotel and open it up to day guests from Batuu as an up charge experience including the restaurant. Then you’d still have people feeling special because they get to go on the transport to and from the ship right from GE and they still get to enjoy the rest of their vacation without dropping $6K to stay overnight in a prison cell.

 

[MurphyJoe]

Answers the question of, "Will Disney allow Starcruiser guests to wear costumes in the park?"

 

[orion54]

Lol, good lord. You would pay $1000 a night to stay in a 75 square foot room with no pool or even quickservice? I wouldn't pay $100 to stay in a cruise ship room if you stuck it on land going nowhere.

Come on now...it's a spaceship going nowhere.

 

[AEfx]

The entire thing is just embarrassing to watch. I've seen high school gyms more convincingly decorated for homecoming dances.

No, you haven't.

Actually, yes - yes I have. It's pretty amazing what some creative kids can do with low-lighting and ingenuity in terms of creating a convincing environment.

I've also seen a bit more than has been leaked so far publicly about this - and it doesn't look like it's getting any better. As much as a folly as this has seemed for awhile, I think a lot of even us skeptics were hoping there would be some, SOMETHING that we hadn't seen yet that would blow some socks off. Some "OMG, I gotta admit...that's pretty cool" aspect.

There isn't.

That's what it looks like - like it's some temporary amateur themed rooms at some generic regional sci-fi convention. I mean, my goodness - look at those tables and chairs. It's all so cheap and transient looking, like this is a sectioned-off portion of a convention hall where the furnishings are rented in stacks they cart in for the weekend.

Nothing seen so far here comes even close to looking like it's in a purpose-built themed structure by one of the most profitable corporations in the world, charging thousands of a dollars a day to visit, based on the most prolific and recognizable single IP on the planet.

Even as cynical as I can be about Disney these days, I admit to honestly just being amazed - because while it has been clear that the pre-teen summer day-camp "programming" that is supposed to make up this world-class, top dollar "experience" was going to be lackluster - I at least figured they would make it look good. I mean, if nothing else, at least some severely Instagrammable "I can't believe I'm in the middle of Star Wars!' opportunities.

And that's not even talking about the rooms...yes, while folks expected small and "cruise ship" like - well, as more footage gets out, I'll let people judge for themselves. (I will admit to realizing how absurd that actually is, though - particularly the bathrooms - because unlike a cruise ship - this is not a floating structure with actual space issues, it's all pretend, there is no practical reason for everything to be so tiny.)

Literally the only positives I am hearing about it is that the actors/CM's costumes and make-up are very good, and that they are all trying their hardest to bring some life into the place. And that's with super-charged influencers in the crowds as their audience. I imagine once the more general public is in there, the "I just paid $6-8 grand to bring my kids here, entertain us" crowd, they are going to be a lot harder to play to and these CM's are going to be in for a challenging time.

 

[TalkingHead]

Who is actually responsible for this? I understand the man at the top is Chapek and he deserves the blame. I doubt he was the one designing this though, just slashing the budget.

Who is responsible for the creative side of this? How where they allowed to miss the mark by this much without anyone saying anything?

If I was Chapek this never gets opened to paying customers, everyone gets a full refund. I bring in Lucus, Favreau and Filino hand them a blank check and tell them to fix this mess.

Wasn’t this greenlit under Iger, and did I imagine this or wasn’t it his demand that GE be tied to the Disney trilogy timeline?

 

[Thelazer]

That's what it looks like - like it's some temporary amateur themed rooms at some generic regional sci-fi convention. I mean, my goodness - look at those tables and chairs. It's all so cheap and transient looking, like this is a sectioned-off portion of a convention hall where the furnishings are rented in stacks they cart in for the weekend.

Bets on the first "ADULT" film shot in this hotel..... you know what I mean.

 

[SplashJacket]

I think turning it into a normal hotel is the last thing they would do -- it would struggle to sell rooms. They're tiny and there are almost no amenities, not to mention a lack of transportation to get anywhere else on property (obviously they could add this, but that would be a lot of expense for a small number of customers). The immersive story part of the experience is the main reason they're charging such a high price, and that would certainly be eliminated entirely if they were going to turn it into a normal hotel.

They're far more likely to turn it into an upcharge experience where people can go dine in the restaurant/hang out at the bar, do the lightsaber training etc.

It's a small, cramped hotel with small, cramped rooms and a few small, cramped public areas. It can house only a very limited number of guests who, if they are paying reasonable rates, can barely support the necessary staff. It has no pool or other standard hotel amenities. The exterior is entirely unthemed, so you can't add external public spaces or even windows without essentially rebuilding much of the structure.

It's not going to work as a standard hotel.

Lol, good lord. You would pay $1000 a night to stay in a 75 square foot room with no pool or even quickservice? I wouldn't pay $100 to stay in a cruise ship room if you stuck it on land going nowhere.

I've stayed at AKL and Y&BC in recent years, the latter being concierge. I did go to the Y&BC's pool because it's spectacular and from my perspective, its primary selling point.

I have never wandered into AKL's pool because its main selling point is the Savannah views. I enjoyed extensive time on my balcony and just wandering around the resort.

The Starcruiser's main selling point is direct access to the back of Galaxy's Edge. Y'all say there'd be no reason to go to the hotel, but they could easily offer a before park opening access to Galaxy's Edge. If ILL for Rise currently costs $15, and you have a family of four, you're spending $60, but there's always a chance ILL fills up or gets more expensive. Include ILL for Falcon, and you have more value. The people who are going to stay at Disney's more expensive hotels are definitely more than willing to use ILL. So if at 7 am, you can get Rise knocked out, Falcon, and then do Savi's workshop and what not, by 9:00 am you're back at the Star Cruiser and then decide to go to Epcot.

That little trip to Galaxy's Edge is worth hundreds of dollars in savings because you don't have to buy Genie, ILL, or a park hopper to get into the land or rides, while also getting a more premium experience.

Then, the Starcruiser itself has cool features. The lobby, bridge, and restaurant all look cool. I don't have $6,000 to shell out on a 2-day experience, but I'd definitely splurge on this if it were cheaper just do to it once as I did for Y&BC and AKL.

But as someone who has taken 11 Disney Cruises, there are absolutely people who'd be willing to go on stationary cruise ships. That's how most cruise lines resumed sailing after Covid. They had no ports, just consecutive sea days.

There's absolutely a market for this sort of experience. It'll do fine. To me, the price is the only absurdity, but so are the Polynesian bungalows and many other cash sinks across the resort. And luckily for Disney, the price is the thing that's most easily addressed.

And the lack of hotel amenities? The only main one is the pool, which I assume only a minority of guests actually use during a stay. A Spa is another absent amenity, but there are great Spa options at CS, GF, and S&D already. The Starcruiser has a dinner show. Aulani's Luau costs $184 per adult for preferred seating. Not gonna escape that one without paying over $700 for a family of four.

It's generally better to underpromise and overdeliver, and at its current pricing, they absolutely rejected that approach, but by underpricing the experience given the demand, they leave money on the table. I think the Starcruiser will be successful in its current form with only minor modifications, but even if that doesn't work, this isn't going to be a complete flop.

Friendly reminder to anyone who hasn't been on a Cruise's maiden voyage, they're generally a bit of a cluster. No one knows what's going on and a lot of changes are made relatively quickly that drastically improve the experience.

Bottom-line, at this point, this will get absolutely panned even if it was the holy grail. Yes, I am essentially making the stance that "all this criticism means nothing," which is never a good stance, but y'all are also saying that everything positive that comes from the media people is invalid because they're essentially being bribed by the mouse.

 

[UNCgolf]

I've stayed at AKL and Y&BC in recent years, the latter being concierge. I did go to the Y&BC's pool because it's spectacular and from my perspective, its primary selling point.

I have never wandered into AKL's pool because its main selling point is the Savannah views. I enjoyed extensive time on my balcony and just wandering around the resort.

The Starcruiser's main selling point is direct access to the back of Galaxy's Edge. Y'all say there'd be no reason to go to the hotel, but they could easily offer a before park opening access to Galaxy's Edge. If ILL for Rise currently costs $15, and you have a family of four, you're spending $60, but there's always a chance ILL fills up or gets more expensive. Include ILL for Falcon, and you have more value. The people who are going to stay at Disney's more expensive hotels are definitely more than willing to use ILL. So if at 7 am, you can get Rise knocked out, Falcon, and then do Savi's workshop and what not, by 9:00 am you're back at the Star Cruiser and then decide to go to Epcot.

That little trip to Galaxy's Edge is worth hundreds of dollars in savings because you don't have to buy Genie, ILL, or a park hopper to get into the land or rides, while also getting a more premium experience.

Then, the Starcruiser itself has cool features. The lobby, bridge, and restaurant all look cool. I don't have $6,000 to shell out on a 2-day experience, but I'd definitely splurge on this if it were cheaper just do to it once as I did for Y&BC and AKL.

But as someone who has taken 11 Disney Cruises, there are absolutely people who'd be willing to go on stationary cruise ships. That's how most cruise lines resumed sailing after Covid. They had no ports, just consecutive sea days.

There's absolutely a market for this sort of experience. It'll do fine. To me, the price is the only absurdity, but so are the Polynesian bungalows and many other cash sinks across the resort. And luckily for Disney, the price is the thing that's most easily addressed.

And the lack of hotel amenities? The only main one is the pool, which I assume only a minority of guests actually use during a stay. A Spa is another absent amenity, but there are great Spa options at CS, GF, and S&D already. The Starcruiser has a dinner show. Aulani's Luau costs $184 per adult for preferred seating. Not gonna escape that one without paying over $700 for a family of four.

It's generally better to underpromise and overdeliver, and at its current pricing, they absolutely rejected that approach, but by underpricing the experience given the demand, they leave money on the table. I think the Starcruiser will be successful in its current form with only minor modifications, but even if that doesn't work, this isn't going to be a complete flop.

Friendly reminder to anyone who hasn't been on a Cruise's maiden voyage, they're generally a bit of a cluster. No one knows what's going on and a lot of changes are made relatively quickly that drastically improve the experience.

Bottom-line, at this point, this will get absolutely panned even if it was the holy grail. Yes, I am essentially making the stance that "all this criticism means nothing," which is never a good stance, but y'all are also saying that everything positive that comes from the media people is invalid because they're essentially being bribed by the mouse.

You forgot about transportation, which it also lacks. It's just too small to add dedicated bus service to all four parks and Disney Springs because those buses would be running empty most of the time. Even just asking people to use the DHS buses and Skyliner isn't an option due to the park reservation system and the park hopping requirements.

Regardless, I'll eat my hat if they turn this into a regular hotel. I'm not saying it's impossible, but there are much easier ways to use the space to make money with less overhead than running it as a hotel, and which also wouldn't require making the changes necessary to turn it into a standard hotel.

If it fails at the current price point, they'll either run it as the same experience (or maybe a somewhat lesser version) it currently is but at a reduced price, or they'll do something else entirely (e.g. charge people a couple of hundred dollars to go for 4 hours blocks with a small storyline and a meal). I just can't see any way to run it as a regular hotel that would make sense for Disney in terms of maximizing profit.

 

[_caleb]

Actually, yes - yes I have. It's pretty amazing what some creative kids can do with low-lighting and ingenuity in terms of creating a convincing environment.

I've also seen a bit more than has been leaked so far publicly about this - and it doesn't look like it's getting any better. As much as a folly as this has seemed for awhile, I think a lot of even us skeptics were hoping there would be some, SOMETHING that we hadn't seen yet that would blow some socks off. Some "OMG, I gotta admit...that's pretty cool" aspect.

There isn't.

That's what it looks like - like it's some temporary amateur themed rooms at some generic regional sci-fi convention. I mean, my goodness - look at those tables and chairs. It's all so cheap and transient looking, like this is a sectioned-off portion of a convention hall where the furnishings are rented in stacks they cart in for the weekend.

Nothing seen so far here comes even close to looking like it's in a purpose-built themed structure by one of the most profitable corporations in the world, charging thousands of a dollars a day to visit, based on the most prolific and recognizable single IP on the planet.

Even as cynical as I can be about Disney these days, I admit to honestly just being amazed - because while it has been clear that the pre-teen summer day-camp "programming" that is supposed to make up this world-class, top dollar "experience" was going to be lackluster - I at least figured they would make it look good. I mean, if nothing else, at least some severely Instagrammable "I can't believe I'm in the middle of Star Wars!' opportunities.

And that's not even talking about the rooms...yes, while folks expected small and "cruise ship" like - well, as more footage gets out, I'll let people judge for themselves. (I will admit to realizing how absurd that actually is, though - particularly the bathrooms - because unlike a cruise ship - this is not a floating structure with actual space issues, it's all pretend, there is no practical reason for everything to be so tiny.)

Literally the only positives I am hearing about it is that the actors/CM's costumes and make-up are very good, and that they are all trying their hardest to bring some life into the place. And that's with super-charged influencers in the crowds as their audience. I imagine once the more general public is in there, the "I just paid $6-8 grand to bring my kids here, entertain us" crowd, they are going to be a lot harder to play to and these CM's are going to be in for a challenging time.

Please post a photo of the amazing Disney-rivaling environment those creative kids were able to create for homecoming with low lighting and ingenuity in their high school gym.

 

[dig311dug]

Is the defunctland video for this already up?

 

[WDWJoeG]

Please post a photo of the amazing Disney-rivaling environment those creative kids were able to create for homecoming with low lighting and ingenuity in their high school gym.

The fact that this is the current debate speaks volumes about this project.

 

[TP2000]

The fact that this is the current debate speaks volumes about this project.

Exactly. That argument was lost the moment the YouTube uploads started.

 

[flynnibus]

New video on the development of the Starcruiser -

and the majority of guests being shown in awe? 7-11yr olds... smh

 

[flynnibus]

there's absolutely no reason they can't just convert it to a normal hotel. Absolutely no reason they couldn't

1 - Lack of Scale - Makes selling at normal hotel prices prohibitive
2 - Lack of amenities - when you make it a hotel, people want things they normally get in a hotel
3 - Tiny Rooms - Tiny rooms are acceptable in a special purpose limited time adventure where literally you're only going to be sleeping and changing in there for 2 nights. But as a normal hotel room? It wouldn't cut it.

It would be a horrible hotel. Overpriced, lacking, and miserable to stay at.

 

[_caleb]

The fact that this is the current debate speaks volumes about this project.

I totally agree! I’m disappointed in what I’m seeing, too.

I get that it’s fun to make fun of this. There are valid critiques to be made. But the comparisons to high school gyms and Great Wolf Lodge are ridiculous.

And the people complaining about the floor being smooth, the chairs being chair-shaped? Have they even seen Star Wars?

 

[_caleb]

and the majority of guests being shown in awe? 7-11yr olds... smh

Have you not seen any marketing material for any Disney park ever?

 

[_caleb]

Exactly. That argument was lost the moment the YouTube uploads started.

What argument? That high school kids do better than this with homecoming decorations?