News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

[celluloid]

So we might call those plans.. a failure?



Yeah, but DQ and ESPN Zone were never created to be WDW concepts - they were intended from the start to be bigger than their WDW locations.

The old "yeah, but..."
Shifting again. You are acting like you are the only one who knows Disney regional entertainment does not work/has not worked very well. I and many others have always said that.

We discussed that. Yes, the regional plans were a fail. The WDW location as it existed for 17 years was not a fail becuase it worked as an entertainment/recreation add on. It did not try to be a regional thing. It was at WDW as something different to do and tack on the same way a waterpark, dinner show or mini golf might interest a family. Disney found the niche for it.

As above, I said the same could be true if Galactic Star Cruiser reinvented itself.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

So we might call those plans.. a failure?

I asked you what your definition of failure is and you wrote a long paragraph on the early history of Disney Quest.

 

[_caleb]

Then why did they do an about face in strategy? Because the future was so bright they couldn't stand to look into it?

An initiative like the Starcruiser doesn't fall neatly into one single category for Disney. It's not strictly a matter of "If it makes money, it's a success, if it doesn't make money, it's a failure." It's more complex than that.

PR: In my opinion, Disney bungled the initial marketing for the Starcruiser: cheesy videos, poor explanation of the concept, super-high price. But Disney has been able to point to this innovation to show that they're still on the cutting edge (and maybe falling off of it..) of family entertainment. This was actually in doubt after some of the successes of the competition.

R&D: Disney spends loads of money developing and testing products and experiences. Robots (like the stuntronic used in Avengers Campus at DCA or the few droids they've recently tested in SW:GE), food, shows, systems, software, traffic control, etc. Most of the time, Disney doesn't see a return on R&D expenses until they're converted to products or services.

The Starcruiser had immense R&D value (see the article recently shared by @wdwmagic above that talked about the survey Disney sent to Starcruiser guests). The Starcruiser had the highest guest satisfaction ratings of anything Disney's ever done!

They were able to build something that pleased vast majority of paying customers! Now, they've got to figure out what it was about the experience that made it work well and adjust so it'll make money without losing what people loved about it. This is R&D, and while it was expensive, some of the costs were offset by paying customers.

Was the Starcruiser a success? It depends. I think we can all agree that commercially, it was not. But in other ways, it is/was very a very valuable project for Disney and a rare success in pleasing the majority of those who experienced it.

 

[LSLS]

So any tax experts here? What are the rules about the tax write-off they are taking with this, and potentially reopening it?

 

[flynnibus]

I asked you what your definition of failure is and you wrote a long paragraph on the early history of Disney Quest.

Because disney quest was a concept and strategy for 30 locations- not just a single location.

You all act like blockbuster was still a thriving joint because the former chain still had some owner operated locations still running.

 

[flynnibus]

So any tax experts here? What are the rules about the tax write-off they are taking with this, and potentially reopening it?

They changed depreciation schedules - there’s no impact to using the assets.

Even if it were a write down it doesn’t nullify use as long as the new values are representative. It’s a change in value - not necessarily to zero

 

[LSLS]

They changed depreciation schedules - there’s no impact to using the assets.

Even if it were a write down it doesn’t nullify use as long as the new values are representative. It’s a change in value - not necessarily to zero

Cool, thanks. If you couldn't tell, this strays WAY from my knowledge base, so wasn't sure if there could be some sort of impact on what becomes of the place.

 

[Rich Brownn]

Yes, however there were solutions that were not looked at because they had given up on the idea.

Disney Quest certainly needed a refresh, but that could easily be done. Keep a retro arcade (wreck it Ralph overlay?), add animation academy workshops, add a 3-d theatre with something like Pixar shorts playing, add character meets….. lots of simple solutions.

Same issue with adventurers club and comedy warehouse, they could have stayed and been profitable but the entire pleasure island concept was completely swept away

I wasn't a matter of just a refresh. It needed a whole new computer system, software, and hardware. Otherwise an Xbox would have more sophisticated graphics and games. It was just too much $$$ for one location (They were running of systems that weren't even made anymore)

 

[celluloid]

Because disney quest was a concept and strategy for 30 locations- not just a single location.

You all act like blockbuster was still a thriving joint because the former chain still had some owner operated locations still running.

You are shifting again.

A success and thriving in permanence are two different things. Disney's Main Street Magic Store was a success. It does not exist in FL anymore due to shifting business thought.

The "You all" thing has me thinking that, maybe, just maybe, it is not everyone else not understanding the discussion.

Blockbuster was a huge hit in its prime. Then the world changed with competition and they did not remain competitive. Things have their time, it does not mean they were failures under most definitions.

Disney Quest at Walt Disney World had its time. It did not remain competitive and its time was over.

River Country had its time, it did not remain competitive, and its time was over.

The Disney Stores did not care to reinvent vs other avenues of selling licensed products, and its time was over.

Disney let Disney Quest Die, and that was a choice. It does not make the WDW location a failure. They chose what to do with it, and that was no longer invest in it. It worked as it was for seventeen years as the add on and random try they turned it into and marketed it as. The failure for me was the fact that Bob Iger let things break and not repair in the offering(a trend in the style of running the parks and resorts the last decade)
Disney's current hollywood trends have been bad, and mostly money losers. I don't think Walt Disney Studios is a failure. I think currently they are.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Because disney quest was a concept and strategy for 30 locations- not just a single location.

You all act like blockbuster was still a thriving joint because the former chain still had some owner operated locations still running.

You did it again and this time brought up blockbuster for some reason.

What is your definition of a failure?

 

[pdude81]

Because disney quest was a concept and strategy for 30 locations- not just a single location.

You all act like blockbuster was still a thriving joint because the former chain still had some owner operated locations still running.

Wow, what a difference

 

[dreamfinder912]

I've heard a number of people mention the same thing. That it basically took them out of the experience more than it helped.

One group I was talking with mentioned they wish it would have been the first thing you do. Basically have characters contact you before the trip to try and recruit you to a path. Which ever ones you show some interest in would give you some tasks in GE. You would go there the day you depart, do your quests and then "fly" up to the SC using the shuttle from Batuu for your "cruise".

It didn't take me out because I never left Batuu, but it contributed to a lot of later passengers treating it as a hotel. You go to Batuu to get a decoy stone or coaxium or a Holocron or tools. You don't go to get all the rides done.

Their idea could work, but for myself I made choices based on character interactions and other guests. I never did the first order path even when there was a performer in as Croy that I've been a fan of for years because I didn't want to spend time with others who chose that path. You can't do a vibe check if you start in Batuu. But I'd very much like to have a frequent flyer option to click in the datapad to be like "yeah Oga banned me from Batuu please complete these missions for me" so I can sleep late and eat two breakfasts hobbit style before showing up to the spirit of adventure class at noon.

 

[Disstevefan1]

It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback, but if I was in charge of creating this Starcruiser experience thing, I would have built a futuristic tower hotel with both regular rooms and DVC and the very top floor would have been the Starcruiser.

From the outside the top floor would have been indistinguishable from the rest of the hotel and on the inside there would the regular lobby and a special lobby with a “space elevator” to take you to the Starcruiser for your two night cruise into space.

This way the hotel could operate as a regular hotel and also make the big bucks on the cruises at the top. Sort of a super special club level.

The top floor would much more square footage and this Starcruiser would have been equipped with more luxury accommodations and features.

 

[lentesta]

So any tax experts here? What are the rules about the tax write-off they are taking with this, and potentially reopening it?

I paid my CPA to research this exact question. The short answer was you could probably re-use it immediately,

There are, as you can probably imagine, exceptions to everything. But the way it was communicated to me was "it's probably re-usable immediately, unless they're doing something with the writeoff that they haven't yet disclosed."

 

[_caleb]

I paid my CPA to research this exact question. The short answer was you could probably re-use it immediately,

There are, as you can probably imagine, exceptions to everything. But the way it was communicated to me was "it's probably re-usable immediately, unless they're doing something with the writeoff that they haven't yet disclosed."

Thanks, @lentesta!

So however unlikely it might be that there are answers at this point, I find it interesting that:

• We don't see any obvious tax-related reasons they couldn't turn around and re-use the Starcruiser.
• We know Disney sent an uncharacteristically detailed survey to guests.
• We know Josh D'Amaro said, "“No hints yet, but something will happen with it.”

Does anyone know of any other hits about what might become of the Starcruiser?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

if it was my company, I’d sell “visits” to the star-cruiser that were basically a dinner show. You ride the transport from galaxies edge, get a tour / “mission” - have a meal, and off you go.

I suppose they could just run Disney busses from the entrance to DHS so they didn’t have to insist on park admission.

 

[_caleb]

if it was my company, I’d sell “visits” to the star-cruiser that were basically a dinner show. You ride the transport from galaxies edge, get a tour / “mission” - have a meal, and off you go.

I suppose they could just run Disney busses from the entrance to DHS so they didn’t have to insist on park admission.

If they did this, I think they'd really get criticism for the dining room. Seems like the suspension of disbelief that's encouraged by the role playing element made it easier to overlook any shortcomings in theming.

Also, what do you do with all the rooms/cabins if it's a dinner/show?

 

[celluloid]

If they did this, I think they'd really get criticism for the dining room. Seems like the suspension of disbelief that's encouraged by the role playing element made it easier to overlook any shortcomings in theming.

Also, what do you do with all the rooms/cabins if it's a dinner/show?

It could still be an immersive and interactive theater style with a dinner aspect with stage type performance during food.
The main halls and areas would still be used for scenes played out and interacted with.
Former tiny cabin rooms can be where families/travel parties go for their briefing of next step in interactive theater so parts still feel personal.

 

[TheIceBaron]

Maybe I’m missing something here, but wouldn’t it be better to survey people that didn’t actually go on the Star cruiser but heard about it? Surveying people that did go on it about story elements seems like they are missing the point about why this was not a commercial success.

Or even if they survey people that did go on it, why are there no Star wars universe specific questions? Like an obvious question to ask would be “would you rather see Darth Vader than Kilo Ren?” Just seems like such a narrow survey that I worry they are just going to reopen it with minor changes.

 

[Dranth]

Maybe I’m missing something here, but wouldn’t it be better to survey people that didn’t actually go on the Star cruiser but heard about it? Surveying people that did go on it about story elements seems like they are missing the point about why this was not a commercial success.

Or even if they survey people that did go on it, why are there no Star wars universe specific questions? Like an obvious question to ask would be “would you rather see Darth Vader than Kilo Ren?” Just seems like such a narrow survey that I worry they are just going to reopen it with minor changes.

They already know the main and overwhelming reason people didn't go, price. Sure, some would not go because they don't like the time line but by and large, if it was reasonably priced, it would have had little problem filling up regularly. Unfortunately, the operational cost demanded high pricing to make the kind of returns Disney wanted to see.

Talking to the people who already went and as a group gave it the highest guest satisfaction score Disney has ever seen seems like a good way to try and parse which parts would be the most impactful to keep and which could be dropped to create a shorter, more affordable version. They don't even need to keep the same story as they can apply what they learn to a new one.