News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

[Rosso11]

It’s amazing out of all of the people on here complaining about how bad it was you still do not have a single person who has actually been on it backing you up on this forum. There’s lots of us on here you have actually done it. Try asking us our thoughts or simply read the many reviews that were already posted on here from actual members.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You don't actually believe this.

Only based on 70 years of history…

They don’t really take “risks” on their investment - if you notice?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Except, it seems, the reviews of those who actually experienced it. That would seem a pretty important aspect to me.

See…i thought they bought it and went to it (after the first thousand or so comps…of course)?
And once the committed…it was “magic” at first sight?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Whether it’s a film or a thematic experience it’s always easy to just blame “marketing.” It’s not disprovable on its face and is a convenient scapegoat.

Like a 5 movie run of Tentpole flops?

…wait…maybe audience bigotry and review bombing killed starcruiser? That’s probably it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It closed because it didn't have what actual Star Wars fans wanted- Actual Star Wars.
The fact it is closed proves I am right. Star Wars fans have money. No one wants sequel trilogy Star Wars.

Rant aside…and I thoroughly enjoyed this one

In the end this part is likely the crux of the problem.

“…but!…but!!!”

Yeah…I know…they did a bad reboot and a lot of people thought it was hip to go for a few weeks.

Partying like it was 1999

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

These whales are a plenty in the disney customer base.

Reminds me of what they’ve been telling CMs for years when they Want a raise and the union contract is NOT up…

“Things are about to get BIG”

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Not really since those reviews did not stop it from closing.

That’s the logical disconnect

“It has the best word of mouth ever!!”

Except it didn’t…cause nobody booked.

Now if the argument is: it’s just too expensive…which is valid even though it contradicts what Flynn is saying about the whales that pay his bonus being “a plenty”…

Then they reduce the price and bring people in…even if it’s flat or a loss.

What?!?
Yes…it’s called a loss leader…and a time honored and proven method to make more money. The other 5+ days the whales stay at boardwalk or the poly would more than pay it back over time.

 

[Ayla]

"Itznotahotel!" *stomps foot*

Y'all realize how ridiculous that claim is, right?

 

[JD80]

"Itznotahotel!" *stomps foot*

Y'all realize how ridiculous that claim is, right?

You know your repeated polluting of this thread attempting to tell people that the experience they had was not as good as you think it what is equally ridiculous.

 

[Ayla]

You know your repeated polluting of this thread attempting to tell people that the experience they had was not as good as you think it what is equally ridiculous.

The ignore button is there for you to use. Please do. In fact, I'll take my own advice.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You know your repeated polluting of this thread attempting to tell people that the experience they had was not as good as you think it what is equally ridiculous.

Not many of those people are actually in this thread. If more people that went to it were…it would change the tone of it. The problem is they’re not spotted in the wild much.

This is your run of the mill, disney diehards round here. Trying to make sense of what it is they think they’re doing?

It’s not really “personal”

 

[JD80]

Pretty good examples of bullying in this thread.

Not many of those people are actually in this thread. If more people that went to it were…it would change the tone of it. The problem is they’re not spotted in the wild much.

This is your run of the mill, disney diehards round here. Trying to make sense of what it is they think they’re doing?

It’s not really “personal”

I'm curious when you rant and rave in person, do you often drop "it's not really personal" and think that makes your behavior better?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Pretty good examples of bullying in this thread.


I'm curious when you rant and rave in person, do you often drop "it's not really personal" and think that makes your behavior better?

I’m interested if you can just talk about the subject? Or is it a constant swap of “tone” over substance?

So why did it fail? After watching days of seeing this thread lean toward that all too comfortable “disney was genius…it just was unfortunately misunderstood” stance (like clockwork)…I’ve asked over and over again why it failed? Just looking for an enlightened opinion to consider.
The standard “tone”…patronization…smoke screen buzzwords like “experience”….and a predictable innuendo of “secret knowledge” all popped up.

Which means we’ll never get past the snit phase.

 

[kingdead]

We keep going back and forth on whether customers liked it or not, but nobody's asking whether Disney could get the LABOR to run the thing. They were asking for some heavy lifts from those actors--the usual limit to this sort of interactive acting is a few hours a night at most.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were running out of folks who would do the job at a wage that would allow Disney to break even.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Another thing to consider is TWDC's definition of success of anything. It differs from project to project. Movies that lose money are considered successful; park attractions are closed/changed to move the money to another project in the parks. Something in the parks may not "make enough money" and is called a failure etc.

 

[erasure fan1]

Ah yes, the multimedia conglomerate that makes multiple billions a year in profits at its parks and practically invented the “must do” destination for tens of millions of middle class, four quadrant families suddenly forgot how to market.

It can’t be that it was tied to the most unpopular era of films, or the exorbitant price.

In my opinion it's an all of the above. Disney did forget how to market on this. Those ads and promos were absolutely awful. If you have an experience as expensive as this was, it needs to look like the greatest thing you have ever seen. Not dime store discount star wars. Was it too expensive? That's a for sure. Especially for what the experience looked like. There was a bad perception around this from Early on because of the price, and the marketing didn't help. Combine that with how star wars has been handled by Disney and it was going to be an uphill fight. Sure the sequels have their supporters, but there's a whole lot of meh to complete disappointment with them as well. When you add it all up, it was a recipe for poor performance in my opinion.

 

[LSLS]

So still a “no”?

I’m looking for the point of this whole thread, really?

So it’s “good”…and yet nobody wanted it?
And before we parse that - in terms of travel and specifically disney parks…nobody wanted it.

So beyond that…I’m struggling to see the point.

But I’m sure I’m missing something. If we are saying it’s a management mistake…that’s good enough. Bad idea…bad failure. Leave the execution out of it. Didn’t work.
But the execution would have kept it going if it was THAT good. It’s a 24/7 digital world. Word get out.

But still.

The reason I get squirley…other than bad lunch…is the random nonsense. Like “me thinks doth not have a grip on reality?”

The “realty” is the thing was yanked before the asphalt in the service area dried…and now it’s a party for mold colonies.

I think you are combining two things that don't have to be related. It can be a very good experience for those that experienced it. I'm not going to call everyone who went Disney schills, I think you should take many at their word that it was enjoyable. But just because the people who went thought it was great doesn't negate the fact that it was created for such a LARGE subset of people it didn't matter. The premise of the cruiser being a failure does not mean the execution of that premise was.

 

[LSLS]

Yes, congratulations, the thing you never experienced but still didn't like is closed!

By the way, it wasn't a hotel, and you have no idea how much money it made. Creativity is subjective, and Star Wars fans don't all want the same thing. There can be several they closed the Starcruiser: maybe people didn't know about it. Maybe folks, like yourself, thought it was a hotel!

We're talking about why it closed– what went wrong, what may have gone right, and what Disney might do next with any lessons learned. Because none of us have all the information, there isn't really a "correct" answer, just opinions.

We don't have a clue how much it made, but I think it's a fair guess that it was probably in the negative. In no small part because I can't imagine being fully booked for 4-5 months, then 50-75% another 4 months, then fully again for a month made all the profit they needed to get make all the costs of creating this back.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think you are combining two things that don't have to be related. It can be a very good experience for those that experienced it. I'm not going to call everyone who went Disney schills, I think you should take many at their word that it was enjoyable. But just because the people who went thought it was great doesn't negate the fact that it was created for such a LARGE subset of people it didn't matter. The premise of the cruiser being a failure does not mean the execution of that premise was.

I’m old school

“Successes” in Disney terminology makes money…or provides something that allows other components to make money.

This did neither.

 

[LSLS]

I’m old school

“Successes” in Disney terminology makes money…or provides something that allows other components to make money.

This did neither.

And I'm 100% in agreement with you on that, I would not classify this as a success. But, I will accept that it was done well for the people who went. I don't think it's a mass movement by people to try to say it was great, it probably was great for the people this applied to. The failure was not in the execution of the plan, the failure was the plan.