News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

[Sirwalterraleigh]

What about the fact that a significant portion of the Starcruiser experience was spent in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge?

The reality is that kinda sucks too?
Expensive and well designed…but nothing to tug at heart strings and draw the categories of Star Wars fans you need…

For all the bluster…there isn’t a TON of things in the wdw theme parks to capture time and draw people back. It is mostly the same stuff.
But it’s also a huge Iger fail: replacing instead of adding…took along time…but they are boring their customers alot more than we on fan sites probably recognize.

Build something else and make it unique

Maybe…

Or just do way better.

If they did a haunted mansion exclusive…or even a pirates of jungle cruise…I think it would have more leg

If Comcast (wouldn’t be shocked if they already have?) would do a potter cos?…I think they would crush it.

 

[LittleBuford]

(“new” poster…Incase you didn’t notice…red alert)

He joined the site last year. Those who don’t post much are marked as “new” until they do.

We were all new posters at one time.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

He joined the site last year. Those who don’t post much are marked as “new” until they do.

We were all new posters at one time.

And we all had the same skepticism lobbed against us…it’s a right of passage

You know how many different former members here I was thought to be? All I had to do was pay a fee to find out…
But I never was here before “post 1” unless it was because something bumped here via link from the OTHER board

 

[LittleBuford]

And we all had the same skepticism lobbed against us…it’s a right of passage

You know how many different former members here I was thought to be? All I had to do was pay a fee to find out…
But I never was here before “post 1” unless it was because something bumped here via link from the OTHER board

All of his posts have been in this thread. His first—from April 2022, long before the announced closure—is a question about his forthcoming voyage. There’s no reason for such scepticism. You just dislike what he’s saying and so are trying to cast him in a bad light.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

All of his posts have been in this thread. His first—from April 2022, long before the announced closure—is a question about his forthcoming voyage. There’s no reason for such scepticism. You just dislike what he’s saying and so are trying to cast him in a bad light.

Incorrect

I respect his right to say what he wants…even if it looks like junior WDI take on PR.

If anyone (and it happens all the time) shows up on a thread and talks down to people in 2,000 word posts as an “afficianado” out of the gate…it would get the same skepticism…I just don’t bring it up.

No victory for you on this one. Sorry.

 

[JD80]

I mean you talk down to everyone in short and long posts all day so what difference does it make.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I mean you talk down to everyone in short and long posts all day so what difference does it make.

I normally take all the criticism/ignore…more than deserved.
Except when someone jumps in out of the corn to try and score a quick dig.

See above.

So I’ll watch as there are 100 posts trying to claim “Disney artistic experiency genius” on a fail.

If you convince me…I’ll Venmo you $10

 

[TheIceBaron]

I think a lot of the blame is squarely on Lucasfilm rather than the Disney parks division. There is a huge brand problem with Lucasfilm.

In more recent news, the Ashoka series was a bomb with respect to ratings (more so towards the end). It wasn’t even that bad of a series but people just don’t care anymore. If you can’t even get people to watch the D+ series, how can you expect people to shell out for a hotel under the same brand.

It’s sad that the only people that were likely held accountable for the Star cruiser closing were the marketing people. Heads need to start rolling at Lucasfilm if Disney wants to include more Star Wars in the parks. Star cruiser, willow, Indy 5, and Ashoka are all Lucasfilm failures that happened this year. Amazingly, all from one studio, across brands, the box office and streaming. I really wonder how many more failures Iger will tolerate before he’s tired of losing money.

 

[JD80]

Lucasfilm definitely needs a shake up. I don't think anyone can debate that.

Start with Feloni.

 

[erasure fan1]

I think a lot of the blame is squarely on Lucasfilm rather than the Disney parks division. There is a huge brand problem with Lucasfilm.

I think it's both really. There's definitely a drop in interest for star wars and that has everything to do with how Lucasfilm has handled the IP. At the same time this thing was a marketing PR mess. The Advertising and marketing made it look terrible in my opinion. Disney had everything to do with that side of it.

I really wonder how many more failures Iger will tolerate before he’s tired of losing money.

I really don't think Iger cares. If he did, she'd be gone already. They are going to let her walk off into the sunset on her own terms. She is too high profile of a person in Hollywood for them to up and fire her.

Lucasfilm definitely needs a shake up. I don't think anyone can debate that.

Oh they will. There are plenty of people here who will defend Kennedy and Lucasfilm to the end.

 

[Tha Realest]

I think a lot of the blame is squarely on Lucasfilm rather than the Disney parks division. There is a huge brand problem with Lucasfilm.

In more recent news, the Ashoka series was a bomb with respect to ratings (more so towards the end). It wasn’t even that bad of a series but people just don’t care anymore. If you can’t even get people to watch the D+ series, how can you expect people to shell out for a hotel under the same brand.

It’s sad that the only people that were likely held accountable for the Star cruiser closing were the marketing people. Heads need to start rolling at Lucasfilm if Disney wants to include more Star Wars in the parks. Star cruiser, willow, Indy 5, and Ashoka are all Lucasfilm failures that happened this year. Amazingly, all from one studio, across brands, the box office and streaming. I really wonder how many more failures Iger will tolerate before he’s tired of losing money.

I remain optimistic on Skeleton Crew but have no expectations on Acolyte.

Huge Thrawn fan from the outset of HTTE but was really watching Ahsoka midway through out of a sense of obligation rather than true excitement. Nothing like early Mando or Loki or Wandavision.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don’t need to say what I always say about Star Wars…

But I do want to say this is a very engaging, civil discussion today.
I greatly am enjoying it.

 

[Splash4eva]

Those who went who believe it was largely a marketing failure based on the fact we know lots of people with the money who either never heard of it or thought it was just an expensive hotel . But of course cost structure was a major contributor because any miss with a high cost structure destroys margin. As to the financial decision, we all can only speculate without seeing the books, but Disney parks generally run at about a 30% profit margin, which they need in order to balance the loss-leading nature of some of their other holdings. Whatever target margin they had in mind for Starcruiser, if they were falling well short, it can make financial sense to take the substantial tax write off while reimagining the business model/offering. It also makes it easier to retool the marketing if they retool their offering because then they are not trying to combat the prior marketing mistakes. And in some ways they make have entirely accidentally stumbled into the best marketing move they could make by closing it because that has galvanized the starcruiser fan community in a way that never would have happened otherwise which they can now tap into when they are ready to announce whatever comes next.

As for the statements that the "masses" rejected it, that is the biggest fallacy in the whole discussions. The "masses" never heard of it. A small fraction of the potential market heard of it and of that small fraction they still managed to more than half fill it on average. It is impossible to conclude what the "masses" would have done if they had heard of it and actually understood it. You can't reject something you never heard of. That is the big failure on Disney's part.

So ill ask this… they created a unique experience that supposedly was highly liked and yet they couldnt find a way to make it work and we are suppose to believe they will be able to do this again when they re envision this place as Josh claims?!?

 

[kingdead]

Those who went who believe it was largely a marketing failure based on the fact we know lots of people with the money who either never heard of it or thought it was just an expensive hotel . But of course cost structure was a major contributor because any miss with a high cost structure destroys margin. As to the financial decision, we all can only speculate without seeing the books, but Disney parks generally run at about a 30% profit margin, which they need in order to balance the loss-leading nature of some of their other holdings. Whatever target margin they had in mind for Starcruiser, if they were falling well short, it can make financial sense to take the substantial tax write off while reimagining the business model/offering. It also makes it easier to retool the marketing if they retool their offering because then they are not trying to combat the prior marketing mistakes. And in some ways they make have entirely accidentally stumbled into the best marketing move they could make by closing it because that has galvanized the starcruiser fan community in a way that never would have happened otherwise which they can now tap into when they are ready to announce whatever comes next.

As for the statements that the "masses" rejected it, that is the biggest fallacy in the whole discussions. The "masses" never heard of it. A small fraction of the potential market heard of it and of that small fraction they still managed to more than half fill it on average. It is impossible to conclude what the "masses" would have done if they had heard of it and actually understood it. You can't reject something you never heard of. That is the big failure on Disney's part.

I think the cost made it impossible to promote. Star Wars is a mass market brand, everyone knows it and 99 percent of people feel at least vaguely favorably toward it. So most folks would be super excited for some form of Star Wars adventure--until they found out they could never afford it. It's like if there was a fancy Coke that cost $1000 or a McDonald's burger that was made of endangered whale meat and spoonfed to you off a diamond platter by a model of your gender of choice. Sure, they could do it, publicize it,and someone would pay, but is the unhappiness of the rest of the crowd worth it?

 

[Rhinocerous]

To me, the Starcruiser was a perfect example of Jim Cornette’s line “for the people that like that kind of thing, that’s the kind of thing those people like.”

For the narrow subset of fans that decided to do this, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience. For the vast majority of people who did not go (be it a monetary decision, a lack of interest, or both) it wasn’t worth it.

It can be a creative triumph AND a financial failure. We can debate what went wrong from a business standpoint while acknowledging that hundreds or thousands of people loved what it was. There is no objective right or wrong “side” here.

 

[celluloid]

To me, the Starcruiser was a perfect example of Jim Cornette’s line “for the people that like that kind of thing, that’s the kind of thing those people like.”

For the narrow subset of fans that decided to do this, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience. For the vast majority of people who did not go (be it a monetary decision, a lack of interest, or both) it wasn’t worth it.

It can be a creative triumph AND a financial failure. We can debate what went wrong from a business standpoint while acknowledging that hundreds or thousands of people loved what it was. There is no objective right or wrong “side” here.

Just to be fair:
That logic could make Superstar Limo, creatively successful. It is just not enough people liked it. Or pretty much anything.

An attraction has to attract enough people to self-sustain, and this could not even do that.

I don't consider it creatively succesful because they did not find a creative way to salvage it and make it profitable. They flat out gave up instead of back to drawing boards of large business hubris. That ultimately makes it creatively a failure.

 

[JoeCamel]

I think the cost made it impossible to promote. Star Wars is a mass market brand, everyone knows it and 99 percent of people feel at least vaguely favorably toward it. So most folks would be super excited for some form of Star Wars adventure--until they found out they could never afford it. It's like if there was a fancy Coke that cost $1000 or a McDonald's burger that was made of endangered whale meat and spoonfed to you off a diamond platter by a model of your gender of choice. Sure, they could do it, publicize it,and someone would pay, but is the unhappiness of the rest of the crowd worth it?

They tacked a profit point on the Cruiser as they presented it and it became clear it could never generate enough to keep operating so they pulled the offering. The people setting the price point are comfortable paying those prices for experiences so understandable.
Understanding Star Wars fans is not difficult it just takes bein wired into the fans.
Post Mortem done yet?

 

[Mickey's Pal]

Not exactly. The same people who criticized this and didn't go on it, continue to criticize it after not going on it. The experience was incredible

So incredible it is now closed forever.

 

[TP2000]

Execution of the concept was tremendous, but the marketing was horrible and the price too high for casual fans.

Really? This is your definition of "tremendous"?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Really? This is your definition of "tremendous"?

Congratulations, you've discovered that the dining hall is empty when it's not one of the seating times.

I guess you've never been to the lounge of a cruise ship at 3 PM.