News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

[pdude81]

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.

Well the people who went on it have valuable input into what changes they'd tolerate or what might improve the overall experience. Keep in mind there are a to of interwoven things happening and even the people who went aren't familiar with all of them.

So in my opinion, polling the public about Sandro or Captain Keevan would be useless as they are only familiar with pictures or someone else's narrative. Now if they were to poll people who booked the experience and then cancelled after losing faith in the concept, that might be useful. At least those people were willing to put up 20% and take a flyer.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Well the people who went on it have valuable input into what changes they'd tolerate or what might improve the overall experience.

The Guests who experienced the Galactic Starcruiser mostly loved it and posted positive reviews. Yet word-of-mouth did not save this experience.

Instead, it’s the many, many more who never tried this that killed it. They are the ones whose opinions really matter.

Clearly, price was the #1 factor.

Yet there are thousands every day boarding DCL ships paying similar sums of money. Others pay big bucks for WDW club level rooms. Yet all these Guests stayed away in droves.

I thought the Galactic Starcruiser was going to be a success. It was located at WDW and only needed to attract 100 families every couple of days. Yet it was clear that once the initial excitement passed, the Starcruiser was mostly empty until Disney announced its closure.

What happened?

Price for sure.

But I also now suspect that there are just not enough deep-pocketed adults who want to cosplay Star Wars. This never turned into the “must do” experience to Keep Up With The Jones.

 

[lentesta]

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.

This is one of the reasons why I think the survey is designed for Starcruiser 2.0. The questions are trying to identify the absolutely critical events and people.

I talked about this to a couple of people whose primary job involves survey design - PhDs and years of experience. They said it looked a lot like Disney was using Critical Incident Technique to distill the experience into its most important parts.

The other thing that's interesting is that this is the first time I can recall Disney doing this much survey work on something that's closed. Did anyone get an offer for $150 in exchange for feedback about Harmonious? Rivers of Light? The NBA Experience? So I think something's different here.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Clearly, price was the number #1 factor.

Yet there are thousands every day boarding DCL ships paying similar sums of money. Others pay big bucks for WDW club level rooms. Yet all these Guests stayed away in droves.

So…. Price was not the #1 factor then.

Neither DCL or Concierge Level lock you into a pre-determined “adventure” themed to only 1 era of 1 franchise.

 

[lentesta]

Clearly, price was the number #1 factor.

I'd have "marketing" and "price" as my 1/2.

For some reason, Disney's PR never get out ahead of the phrase "$5,000 Star Wars Hotel". That's going to repel a lot of people. And even if you do a great job explaining that it's an experience, not just a hotel, that first impression is tough to overcome.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

The Guests who experienced the Galactic Starcruiser mostly loved it and posted positive reviews. Yet word-of-mouth did not save this experience.

Instead, it’s the many, many more who never tried this is what killed it. They are the ones whose opinions really matter.

Clearly, price was the number #1 factor.

Yet there are thousands every day boarding DCL ships paying similar sums of money. Others pay big bucks for WDW club level rooms. Yet all these Guests stayed away in droves.

I thought the Galactic Starcruiser was going to be a success. It was located at WDW and only needed to attract 100 families every couple of days. Yet it was clear that after the initial excitement passed, the Starcruiser was mostly empty until Disney announced its closure.

What happened?

Price for sure.

But I also now suspect that there are just not enough deep-pocketed adults who want to cosplay Star Wars. This never turned into the “must do” experience to Keep Up With The Jones.

Price did influence our decision. While we could easily afford it, the cost for only 2 days was way too high. If Disney would have gone with a 3 day experience for the same price, a lot more people, including us, would have signed up to go.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

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

Would that be wooden or peg? Lol

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Would that be wooden or peg? Lol

…depends on if you pay for “club”
Level

 

[Smiley/OCD]

LOL. Come on now. There's an entire thread dedicated to announcements of Zootopia and Moana lands in Animal Kingdom. Go look at what they said was coming to Galaxy Edge. And that entire D23 where they cancelled almost everything. Epcot transformation. They legit announce things all the time before they are ready. I'm not saying they won't do something, but they announce they have plans all the time that lead to nothing.

 

[LSLS]

If this was priced at, for example, $2000 (I.e. $1000 per night), then it would have been packed.

But it also was not financially viable at $1000 per night.

Price was the single most important factor.

But once you priced it out of 90% of the potential market, then other factors kicked in.

And the c-suites just don’t want to cosplay anything. The typical VP of (for example) sales does not want to be seen parading around in a Jedi robe.

It definitely would have been busier, but I'd be very curious if it would sustain business (i.e. how many people that was the only factor keeping them away). It's very possible they'd have enough, but I just don't know the answer (again, anecdotally I don't think there is a price point our family goes on cause half the family can't stand this type of experience). But regardless, I agree with you they can't just lower prices and stay in the black with how it is. I think the small of rooms was a larger detriment than people realize.

But, I think the surveys are getting to an interesting question for those that have done this and really enjoyed it (which we have on this board, so worth the ask). How much could they cut and you would still find it highly enjoyable? Would you still be happy if say 50% of the character interactions were eliminated? If the staff was greatly reduced? If you lost some of the activities? Basically, how much could you lose and still feel this was an extremely enjoyable and worthwhile experience?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It definitely would have been busier, but I'd be very curious if it would sustain business (i.e. how many people that was the only factor keeping them away). It's very possible they'd have enough, but I just don't know the answer (again, anecdotally I don't think there is a price point our family goes on cause half the family can't stand this type of experience). But regardless, I agree with you they can't just lower prices and stay in the black with how it is. I think the small of rooms was a larger detriment than people realize.

But, I think the surveys are getting to an interesting question for those that have done this and really enjoyed it (which we have on this board, so worth the ask). How much could they cut and you would still find it highly enjoyable? Would you still be happy if say 50% of the character interactions were eliminated? If the staff was greatly reduced? If you lost some of the activities? Basically, how much could you lose and still feel this was an extremely enjoyable and worthwhile experience?

It would have ran out of customers in short order anyway…

That’s because of just how bad they’ve run Star Wars. It’s more of a cultural afterthought now than in 2005…that took some doing.

The echo chamber here doesn’t seem to believe. But as it stands…they will…eventually.


The only counter would be if it was massively unique/more exciting…like battling in real time melee like the old xmen danger room…

Which by the way…there’s a laser tag room on half the cruise ships and those are low budget hoots…
Why “wasn’t” there one of those? Not enough money for that AND the electric slide?

 

[LSLS]

It would have ran out of customers in short order anyway…

That’s because of just how bad they’ve run Star Wars. It’s more of a cultural afterthought now than in 2005…that took some doing.

The echo chamber here doesn’t seem to believe. But as it stands…they will…eventually.


The only counter would be if it was massively unique/more exciting…like battling in real time melee like the old xmen danger room…

Which by the way…there’s a laser tag forum on half rhe cruise ships and those are low budget hoots…
Why “wasn’t” there one of those? Not enough money for that AND the electric slide?

Eh I'm just not sure. There is definitely a group who would never do it because of the timeline, and a group that won't do it for the LARPing (is that a word?), but I just don't know the size of those groups. Again, personal experience here, but my daughter's FAVORITE thing at Disney was Pandora when it was open at night. She had never seen Avatar, and really didn't even know what it was. But it was done SO well, people who didn't even know the movie wanted to experience it. If the price was right, and it was considered done well, could it be sustainable? Or do the other groups simply represent too large a piece of the pie that even at decent price points, the customer base would run out in relatively short order? I just don't know the answer. I'm curious if Disney knows the answer yet, or if their first step was seeing if they even could lower the price.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Eh I'm just not sure. There is definitely a group who would never do it because of the timeline, and a group that won't do it for the LARPing (is that a word?), but I just don't know the size of those groups. Again, personal experience here, but my daughter's FAVORITE thing at Disney was Pandora when it was open at night. She had never seen Avatar, and really didn't even know what it was. But it was done SO well, people who didn't even know the movie wanted to experience it. If the price was right, and it was considered done well, could it be sustainable? Or do the other groups simply represent too large a piece of the pie that even at decent price points, the customer base would run out in relatively short order? I just don't know the answer. I'm curious if Disney knows the answer yet, or if their first step was seeing if they even could lower the price.

I was gonna…and shoulda…nipped it in the bud because I knew someone would say avatar…

But avatar - flight of passage - is exceptional.

It’s one of the best multi sensory things ever built by WDI.

THAT is why people like it. And was the point I was making by saying “unless it’s exceptional/unique”

 

[_caleb]

Seems to me they're probably considering cutting costs by replacing some of the actors with screens/holograms. Another option would be using voice actors and animation/CGI for characters. The article posted above mentioned that they have to pay actors and also keep understudies at the ready, which is a huge portion of the cost.

My opinion: they should keep the costs prices low and try to make money by selling high-end custom merch (particularly geared toward cosplay/role-playing). Make the barrier to entry low, but then provide for those who want to go all-in after getting a taste for it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Seems to me they're probably considering cutting costs by replacing some of the actors with screens/holograms. Another option would be using voice actors and animation/CGI for characters. The article posted above mentioned that they have to pay actors and also keep understudies at the ready, which is a huge portion of the cost.

My opinion: they should keep the actual costs low and try to make money by selling high-end custom merch (particularly geared toward cosplay/role-playing). Make the barrier to entry low, but then provide for those who want to go all-in after getting a taste for it.

…okkkk….huh?!

 

[pdude81]

The Guests who experienced the Galactic Starcruiser mostly loved it and posted positive reviews. Yet word-of-mouth did not save this experience.

Instead, it’s the many, many more who never tried this is what killed it. They are the ones whose opinions really matter.

Clearly, price was the number #1 factor.

Yet there are thousands every day boarding DCL ships paying similar sums of money. Others pay big bucks for WDW club level rooms. Yet all these Guests stayed away in droves.

I thought the Galactic Starcruiser was going to be a success. It was located at WDW and only needed to attract 100 families every couple of days. Yet it was clear that after the initial excitement passed, the Starcruiser was mostly empty until Disney announced its closure.

What happened?

Price for sure.

But I also now suspect that there are just not enough deep-pocketed adults who want to cosplay Star Wars. This never turned into the “must do” experience to Keep Up With The Jones.

People who are wary are not going to pay top line price for something they'll get made of for on the internet. And while a cruise ship modality compares to the way this is structured, the actual experience doesn't line up at all.

I went on early because I knew that beyond 6 or 8 months of true believers, they would have to cut down the experience in order to drive new guests or increase margins. But what they did was faithfully execute the vision and try to cut down on the number of excursions. The AP and DVC discounts helped drive some bookings, but essentially they didn't make any money on those people and needed that to turn into word-of-mouth marketing to bring in more whales.

Honestly my take is that our experience was so good that I didn't want to go back and ruin it with different actors or with people filming the whole things and plugging up the journey. It would have probably made it to the 2 year mark without a major reworking if they had gotten the launch right, but the marketing was beyond cheesy before they started doing test cruises.

I think that if they find a way to do this as a single overnight every other day (half the experience at half the price), then it could work for many families. But to do that might ruin some of what made it great in the first place. And ultimately it could flame out much faster than the initial run. They'll need to be careful here.

 

[pdude81]

Eh I'm just not sure. There is definitely a group who would never do it because of the timeline, and a group that won't do it for the LARPing (is that a word?), but I just don't know the size of those groups. Again, personal experience here, but my daughter's FAVORITE thing at Disney was Pandora when it was open at night. She had never seen Avatar, and really didn't even know what it was. But it was done SO well, people who didn't even know the movie wanted to experience it. If the price was right, and it was considered done well, could it be sustainable? Or do the other groups simply represent too large a piece of the pie that even at decent price points, the customer base would run out in relatively short order? I just don't know the answer. I'm curious if Disney knows the answer yet, or if their first step was seeing if they even could lower the price.

Honestly I don't think the OT would have made any difference. Once Vader shows up I assume we're all dead. Emo Kylo getting cranky and failing to control the situation at least works based on the material.

And there were plenty of non star wars family members who came along with the true believers who drove that initial booking. Everyone I spoke with really loved it. But on the early cruise I went on, someone in each family had to wait on hold for 6 hours to even book it in the first place. Thankfully they weren't coming in looking to crap on the experience.

 

[_caleb]

Disney to guests: "Why didn't you do the Starcruiser?"
Guests who didn't do the Starcruiser: "Because my family hates that sort of thing."
Disney: "Have you tried previously tried something similar?"
Guest: "No."
Disney: "Is there anything we can do to convince you to give it a try?"
Guest: "Cut the cost by half, put in a pool, take out the LARPing and games, and fix that terrible dining room I saw pictures of on social media."
Disney: "Ok, so if we do those things, you'd consider doing the Starcruiser?"
Guest: "Heck no. I only like the Old Star Wars."

 

[pdude81]

Disney to guests: "Why didn't you do the Starcruiser?"
Guests who didn't do the Starcruiser: "Because my family hates that sort of thing."
Disney: "Have you tried previously tried something similar?"
Guest: "No."
Disney: "Is there anything we can do to convince you to give it a try?"
Guest: "Cut the cost by half, put in a pool, take out the LARPing and games, and fix that terrible dining room I saw pictures of on social media."
Disney: "Ok, so if we do those things, you'd consider doing the Starcruiser?"
Guest: "Heck no. I only like the Old Star Wars."

Thank you

 

[_caleb]

…okkkk….huh?!

Just went back and looked, and I wrote "costs" instead of "price." I think if they try again they should keep PRICES low and try to make money selling merch.