News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

[Sirwalterraleigh]

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.

Was it possible that it was “done well” but just a really bad idea?

I mean…we’re not discerning round here. They just announced more $175 upsells tickets in the dead of winter after 7 pm park closures…breaking news

 

[JD80]

Was it possible that it was “done well” but just a really bad idea?

If you slowed down, this is what people have been saying for a few days.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

If you slowed down, this is what people have been saying for a few days.

…not precisely.

I’m saying it was “great” if you didn’t understand the problems with Star Wars.

And in a way…I find that somewhat attractive.

 

[LittleBuford]

And once the committed…it was “magic” at first sight?

Others have already addressed this point multiple times.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Others have already addressed this point multiple times.

…not really. It was suggested the reviews were widely “in the can” and it was dismissed.
That does not match the details of what?, where? and who? Was involved.

But here’s where I’m coming around: it was boutique and attracted a certain segment of the boutique. So in that light - I can accept reviews as they are.

They still never should have built it. It’s a really expensive, embarrassing public mistake.
Mainly due to not attracting the audience that could have supported it: Star Wars fanatics and dvc - specifically

 

[LittleBuford]

…not really.

Yes, really. At least three posts addressing the sunk-cost fallacy (which, in this case, is itself a fallacy).

 

[pdude81]

Personally, I found all of the promos incredibly helpful to instantly confirm that I had absolutely no interest in neither the incredibly juvenile experience nor spending two days on vacation trapped in a room with adults playing dress up with made up names and “backstories”.

In fact, I had both a colonoscopy and back surgery in the past couple of years and both of those sound better right now than enduring that experience.

The lack of customers and abrupt closure in less than a year would imply I’m not alone in that opinion.

19 > 12

 

[AEfx]

Textbook conspiracy theory.

When presented with contrafactual evidence, you immediately claim, without any evidence, that the people presenting the evidence are liars.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize some would be unfamiliar with the Disney YouTube "influencer" community.

When a paid "influencer" (shill) got a free trip to it and at the end of the "review" admits, "I didn't pay for it, but is it worth you spending 6K on it? Uh, sure!" I find it difficult to believe in their objectivity.

When someone who is yet to be a paid influencer, and is clearly auditioning to be one by putting up nothing but constant positive videos of Disney and what a "value" it is, no matter what they post, I again find it difficult to view them as objective.

And then you have this supposed "It got the highest guest satisfaction rates ever!" claim that has been accepted as gospel in this thread and repeated ad nauseam. I actually went and found the quote, which was made not long after opening:

"Response to next-generation story-telling, like Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser has been phenomenal! In fact, guest ratings for this immersive experience, which opened March 1st, are incredibly high, and in line with our best-in-class offerings. Demand is strong, and we expect 100% utilization, through the end of Q3."

Given that Chapek was on his way out at the time, trying to shine up this big turd of an investment, and just uses the superlative "incredibly high" but then qualifies it as "in line" with other "best-in-class offerings" - that doesn't say what people are saying it says, at all. What is he comparing it to? Guest satisfaction at the Grand Floridian? "Incredibly high" compared to...what? Since this was a unique experience, I'd love to know what other offerings he was comparing it to. People are talking like this had better guest satisfaction than say, Haunted Mansion or Tower of Terror - which I'm sorry, I just can't buy. Overpriced cupcake parties? Maybe...

Oh, and we know the rest was bantha crap as well now, as bookings were already about to fall a cliff which is why Disney took the ultra-embarrassing move of just shutting it down. Even more embarrassingly because this was such a high profile project that even mainstream media was covering it - when it was announced, and then again when it utterly crashed and burned. There were several options on the table to retheme it to other periods of Star Wars, etc. that are far more popular - but things were so bad they didn't even attempt it.

What it does seem like is that a very small cult of people (it looks like less than a handful here, though if you look elsewhere you can find a few dozen here or there) who say things like "I made new best friends! Some of us even got tattoos!" or "I went multiple times, I just wish I had gone more to support it!" If you look elsewhere, that seems to be a trend - not only was there a very tiny audience who choose to go to begin with, a lot of them who say this was the best thing ever went multiple times (which means they dumped at least 10-20 grand). Given the extremely low capacity to begin with, and even this breed of super-fans who went multiple times, it's even more shocking just how quickly the place was shut down if it truly was any more than a hundred or two people at most who are just almost religiously passionate about it online.

So, it's great for them - but clearly, once the curtain got pulled back on what exactly this place looked like, and exactly what the offerings were - in spite of all the unprecedented mainstream media coverage, the excitement across Star Wars communities across the globe, it utterly failed to capture the majority of it's potential audience who was hungry for this type of experience, if done well.

This narrative that this was some hidden or misunderstood masterpiece that has recently taken over this thread is some extreme revisionism over what actually happened.

 

[pdude81]

I’m old school

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

This did neither.

Correct on part 1, making money. The rest remains to be seen, but you could be correct in the long term.

Was it possible that it was “done well” but just a really bad idea?

I mean…we’re not discerning round here. They just announced more $175 upsells tickets in the dead of winter after 7 pm park closures…breaking news

Are you coming around to the idea of this being "done well"? I'm not so sure of that.

Regarding the DAH upsells and parties, those are where the big money is made off people who will stretch an extra $1000 on a trip for their kids and pay it off later. SWGS was more than some people's credit limit, so they are very different audiences.

I'll say it now in case I haven't before. I didn't see this thing lasting years at that price point. My take is that I had to get on it in the first few months before they budget cut it and the death spiral started. It was only after taking part that I viewed it as a "priceless" experience that could potentially be saved or the story engine concepts being reused for something else.

 

[_caleb]

I’m old school

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

This did neither.

This isn’t old school, it’s overly simplistic. A post-mortem should go beyond “he’s dead.” The rest of us keep trying to talk about what, exactly, went wrong and what went right. Rather than engage on this, you (and a couple others) just keep saying, “it failed.”

I’m still interested in why it failed and what it was about the experience that left paying customers so pleased. I’m also extremely interested in what lessons Disney might be learning from this. Despite what you keep saying, Disney took a huge risk with the Starcruiser. Because we know Disney to be somewhat risk-averse, I’m wondering what their contingency plan was/is for it.

 

[Dranth]

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.

Why, you can't be trusted. People who looked at some images online but know next to nothing about the whole experience know better than you. You really need to go back and reflect on your experience until you understand why you are wrong and it actually was terrible.

 

[LittleBuford]

This narrative that this was some hidden or misunderstood masterpiece that has recently taken over this thread is some extreme revisionism over what actually happened.

That isn't the narrative. A more accurate summary would be that it was a really well-done experience for those who enjoyed and could afford it but too limited in appeal and/or too expensive to be a viable business model.

 

[_caleb]

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.

Disney has been cutting things that are actually making money but not enough money for what they’re worth to the company (see loads of content on D+), so I’m not sure it was negative. Maybe.

Which is why I’m interested to think about what their margins would be like if they replaced live actors (2 per role per shift, if reports are accurate) with TV screens, holograms, and “data pad” (guest phone) content.

While I would prefer not to have every guest on the Starcruiser looking at their phones, it seems most people at the parks are doing this anyway. But the biggest upside would be that every party of guests could go through the content asynchronously. They could even be doing different storylines.

Anyone ever done the MagicQuest thing at a Great Wolf Lodge? Like that, only hopefully better.

Not sure how they’d handle any big finales without spoilers, though…

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

They still never should have built it. It’s a really expensive, embarrassing public mistake.
Mainly due to not attracting the audience that could have supported it: Star Wars fanatics and dvc - specifically

This is the part/argument I just don't get.

The idea of if the concept was "good" or "well executed" is going to be somewhat subjective. Our family loved it. Everyone who I have talked with who actually purchased and experienced it loved it, save for a couple who brought their 3yr old twins which i think was just setting themselves up for failure. While ancedotal evidence, the customer satisfaction ratings for the people who actually did attend would seem to trend towards the idea that the experience was done well.

Now that doesn't necessary translate into financial success, which could due to a number of reasons, including but not limited to price point and total market interest.

But the idea that it should never have been built just doesn't seem to make any sense. I mean anyone who is a fan of Disney, don't we want the company to be pushing the market in terms of creativity, new experiences, unique offerings? I mean really expensive mistake? I guess, but its not like its a company killer, and with tax breaks, write downs, ect., its likely not a huge blip on the 10 year P&L outlook, at least in terms of overall company performance. An embarrassing public mistake? Besides message boards and some superfans, I would wager the general public has likely forgotten about this offering ever existed, if they knew about it in the first place.

But now Disney has alot of real time data to review, it has a true proof of concept test to analyze. Was the lack of commercial success a price point issue? Was it execution? is the concept too immersive for the general public, or was it not enough? Is there a way to lower prices and still keep the experience? Or is this a concept that only works for a limited time/seasonal type offering? My personal bias of enjoying the experience aside, I want Disney to be trying new concepts, new experiences, even if the first attempts might commercially fail.

 

[kingdead]

What it does seem like is that a very small cult of people (it looks like less than a handful here, though if you look elsewhere you can find a few dozen here or there) who say things like "I made new best friends! Some of us even got tattoos!" or "I went multiple times, I just wish I had gone more to support it!" If you look elsewhere, that seems to be a trend - not only was there a very tiny audience who choose to go to begin with, a lot of them who say this was the best thing ever went multiple times (which means they dumped at least 10-20 grand). Given the extremely low capacity to begin with, and even this breed of super-fans who went multiple times, it's even more shocking just how quickly the place was shut down if it truly was any more than a hundred or two people at most who are just almost religiously passionate about it online.

People did enjoy this! There were attendees who were dropping $25k. Maybe those people would have kept the thing afloat, I don't know.

The problem is that because of the structure of the experience and the bonds that returning players formed with the actors and each other, it would be difficult for newcomers to "compete" for attention. After a certain point, newcomers would be paying $6k to attend the equivalent of a college town Rocky Horror show.

 

[LSLS]

Disney has been cutting things that are actually making money but not enough money for what they’re worth to the company (see loads of content on D+), so I’m not sure it was negative. Maybe.

Which is why I’m interested to think about what their margins would be like if they replaced live actors (2 per role per shift, if reports are accurate) with TV screens, holograms, and “data pad” (guest phone) content.

While I would prefer not to have every guest on the Starcruiser looking at their phones, it seems most people at the parks are doing this anyway. But the biggest upside would be that every party of guests could go through the content asynchronously. They could even be doing different storylines.

Anyone ever done the MagicQuest thing at a Great Wolf Lodge? Like that, only hopefully better.

Not sure how they’d handle any big finales without spoilers, though…

Alright, ran some numbers so correct me if I'm wrong, but no chance this made money when it closed. Estimates I've seen is it cost anywhere from $350 million to $1 billion. I may be off some numbers here, but it was open 578 days, which would mean right around 289 total cruises. There are 100 rooms. If we assume it was 100% sold out with each room having 4 people, that would be 100 rooms X $6,000 X 289 total cruises, for a grand total of $173.4 million. That does not include all merch sales, but also doesn't include the cost to run a cruise.

 

[danlb_2000]

Alright, ran some numbers so correct me if I'm wrong, but no chance this made money when it closed. Estimates I've seen is it cost anywhere from $350 million to $1 billion. I may be off some numbers here, but it was open 578 days, which would mean right around 289 total cruises. There are 100 rooms. If we assume it was 100% sold out with each room having 4 people, that would be 100 rooms X $6,000 X 289 total cruises, for a grand total of $173.4 million. That does not include all merch sales, but also doesn't include the cost to run a cruise.

You would not expect to make back the development costs in one year. $173.4 million works out to be $600,000 per cruise and I can't imaging it's operating costs were anywhere near that.

 

[_caleb]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize some would be unfamiliar with the Disney YouTube "influencer" community.

When a paid "influencer" (shill) got a free trip to it and at the end of the "review" admits, "I didn't pay for it, but is it worth you spending 6K on it? Uh, sure!" I find it difficult to believe in their objectivity.

When someone who is yet to be a paid influencer, and is clearly auditioning to be one by putting up nothing but constant positive videos of Disney and what a "value" it is, no matter what they post, I again find it difficult to view them as objective.

We know about the influencers. Most of us avoid them in favor of more trusted content creators (like WDW Magic). We’ve been referring to reviews from people who are neither paid nor “auditioning.” We see through the smokescreen. You seem to see the smokescreen and surmise, “it’s all fake.”

And then you have this supposed "It got the highest guest satisfaction rates ever!" claim that has been accepted as gospel in this thread and repeated ad nauseam. I actually went and found the quote, which was made not long after opening:

"Response to next-generation story-telling, like Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser has been phenomenal! In fact, guest ratings for this immersive experience, which opened March 1st, are incredibly high, and in line with our best-in-class offerings. Demand is strong, and we expect 100% utilization, through the end of Q3."

This isn’t the quote we’ve been discussing. This is obviously marketing spin. We’ve been talking about this more recent, article from The Wrap (paywall) about Disney’s uncharacteristically detailed post-mortem guest survey and rumors of future plans.

Oh, and we know the rest was bantha crap as well now, as bookings were already about to fall a cliff which is why Disney took the ultra-embarrassing move of just shutting it down. Even more embarrassingly because this was such a high profile project that even mainstream media was covering it - when it was announced, and then again when it utterly crashed and burned. There were several options on the table to retheme it to other periods of Star Wars, etc. that are far more popular - but things were so bad they didn't even attempt it.

A simplistic reading might be, “they didn’t even try to save it.” But those of us who’ve been keeping up for a while now see that as an indication that something else might be going on here, given that in other instances, Disney might have tried to cut prices or otherwise cut costs to keep the thing going. We think it’s interesting that they just closed it. You might not think this is interesting, but “it was bad” doesn’t add much to the conversation we’ve been trying to have.

This narrative that this was some hidden or misunderstood masterpiece that has recently taken over this thread is some extreme revisionism over what actually happened.

Maybe you’re new to fan communities, but most of us by now have favorite attractions, films, shows, food, etc. that we feel were widely misunderstood or under appreciated by the general public before their unceremonious demise. Most of us acknowledge that these things just didn’t find the audience to sustain them. But that doesn’t diminish our enjoyment of them.

 

[AEfx]

People who looked at some images online but know next to nothing about the whole experience know better than you.

That's rather reductive, considering that the entire experience - from the minute to minute schedule, pictures of every inch of the place, and every single activity was well-documented on video. There are more data points and documentation to observe about this offering than anything in recent Disney memory, arguably the most quickly and widely distributed ever, given how many people were intensely interested in this experience making those videos extremely popular for a period of time.

I know, because I was one of them - I watched it all. I was desperately looking for something that as a life-long Star Wars fan would make me say, "Oh, well that is cool enough that I have to see it for myself!"

The select folks who are trying to make it out that somehow this was some esoteric experience that we couldn't imagine don't do any favors for convincing people that it was somehow this elevated, misunderstood masterpiece when the best things they seem to be saying are "I made a bunch of new friends" or "it was worth six grand to see my kid hug a stormtrooper".

Frankly, "you had to be there" is a cop out on a discussion board when people who claim to have this knowledge can't tell us what it is we are missing and did not see that was so impressive.

 

[flynnibus]

Congrats on letting two posters drag you all on for multiple pages for the same ol stuff. Know when to just punt