News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

Epcot81Fan

Well-Known Member
They can never memory hole this:

1716645278501.jpeg
 

SamusAranX

Well-Known Member
Watch the video…
It’s very long…but I think she does a good job of breaking down all the faults in psychology
It’s not JUST the price
This.

The price point was a bit higher BUT if the experience was done right, it may have truly been a once in a lifetime experience worth justifying. You have weeks long cruises in Europe that cost a couple thousand a person, and they almost always have a market.

Ask yourself this. If USO decided to make an immersive, two night Harry Potter experience that was truly done faithfully; with the same price point; staying perhaps as a “exchange student”, being taught, being “sorted”, receiving robes and a wand in the experience, a quidditch simulator, dining in Hogwarts, etc, is there any doubt there’d be a waiting list banging on the door ? Heck people would pay MORE.

Disney fudged this and it was more then just a price point problem
 

Communicora

Premium Member
Well, both Screen Rant and Gizmodo, two nerdy media news/clickbait sites, put up "articles" out to rebut the Nicholson video today (Friday). The Screen Rant one was taken down mighty fast from what I can tell, but this one (which doesn't actually mention the video, but why would it go up otherwise?) is still up:


Pretty much everyone on social media sees the articles as glorified press releases.

That is a really weird article. Here's a snippet.

To many Star Wars fans who were able to check out Galactic Starcruiser during its short-lived existence, the attraction presented a chance to act on the frustration many share in their day to day lives of watching atrocities happen and feeling like there’s little we can do about them.​

Story is has been picked up by NBC

YouTuber investigates why Disney World’s expensive Star Wars hotel closed after 18 months https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/intern...otel-youtube-video-jenny-nicholson-rcna153600


My partner even brought this video up to me and he never notices Disney news. She definitely struck a chord with that video.
 

ChrisFL

Premium Member
That is a really weird article. Here's a snippet.

To many Star Wars fans who were able to check out Galactic Starcruiser during its short-lived existence, the attraction presented a chance to act on the frustration many share in their day to day lives of watching atrocities happen and feeling like there’s little we can do about them.​

:oops:

I suppose acting out against fake space fascists is the cure? very weird
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
Well, both Screen Rant and Gizmodo, two nerdy media news/clickbait sites, put up "articles" out to rebut the Nicholson video today (Friday). The Screen Rant one was taken down mighty fast from what I can tell, but this one (which doesn't actually mention the video, but why would it go up otherwise?) is still up:


Pretty much everyone on social media sees the articles as glorified press releases.
I can still see the Screen Rant article.

I Worked At The Galactic Starcruiser, & I Can Tell You What Everyone's Getting Wrong About The "Star Wars Hotel"

 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
I think that will be too expensive to work on a large scale (kind of like the Starcruiser). There are many guests that aren't really interested in that kind of experience, especially at the likely price point, but they prefer being passive in general and just watching other people take part in something not designed for them isn't going to get them to spend money. Then there are video games, which will likely always be ahead of anything a company can do in an in-person experience.

Of course there are things that can be done in a in-person experience that can't be done in a video game, but it'll cost significantly more than a game -- and that's not automatically a draw, either. There are a lot of people who would much rather play a video game version of something than try a real life attempt.
I also fall on the side of being sceptical that this kind of experience is the future of themed entertainment, at least on the scale at which Disney has always operated.

There is certainly a market for more individualised experiences with a more active participation by guests, but I don't think that's the kind of experience that has or likely ever will appeal to the hoards that visit Disney and Universal every year. I think the appeal of a theme park vacation is similar to that of a cruise vacation in that, once you get there, you're essentially in a little bubble that allows you to cast off all the stresses of daily life and select from the various options presented to you for enjoying yourself with reasonable security everything else has been taken care of by the people running the whole experience.

Where Disney has gone wrong in recent times is in introducing increasing levels of complexity that undercut that whole experience of escapism. I would suspect for most people who currently enjoy the parks, the highly-programmed nature of something like the Galactic Starcruiser and the need to understand and follow certain stories in order to get much out of it would also fall into the category of too much work for what is supposed to be a vacation. It's also just a little too polarising between those who like that sort of thing and those who wouldn't be caught dead doing it. Again, that's not to say there's no audience for it, but probably not an audience of the same size as a more traditional theme park experience.
 
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MrPromey

Well-Known Member
Jenny's video certainly got noticed... nothing from the c-suite beyond "staying the course" with their current strategy, but consternation internally is percolating.

Hopefully the "they took my money and then literally didn't deliver, twice on things I paid extra for on my $6k stay, saying there was nothing they could do to correct the situation or refund until they discovered I was an influencer and then 'magically' it all got fixed" is something they in particular took note of.

They may not be able to do a lot with what went wrong with Star Cruiser but not ripping off their customers is something they could work on.

There was a time, that kind of response to a legitimate issue would have been unthinkable and honestly, what was shocking to me today with this company isn't how they refused to do anything becasue I basically expect that but how quickly and seemingly easily they did fix it when they realized the PR implications of who they were dealing with... and I love that she completely called them out for that BS anyway because she's 100% right, you shouldn't have to be an "influencer" to get basic customer service.

Perfectly encapsulates the culture of contempt that management has for their customers that they don't give normal guest relations the ability to fix things like this anymore.
 
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MrPromey

Well-Known Member
One (current?) imagineer on twitter was complaining about public discourse not understanding how much work goes into projects...then said it wasn't about jenny nicholson's video specifically...but not sure what other major discourse is going on. Anyway, it seemed like an odd take.

Yes, you can put a TON of work into something and still do it in the wrong direction.

I was trying to find the post, but can't locate it now. It was reposted by someone I follow and didn't recognize the imagineer.
My son's sixth grade art teacher this year graded on end results. Didn't matter how much effort any of those kids put into their projects if they messed up the assignment or didn't properly use the technique they were taught.

If a sixth grader in an elective art class isn't getting a participation trophy, I'm not sure why anyone at Imagineering feels they deserve one when working to create "world class" experiences.
 

asianway

Well-Known Member
One (current?) imagineer on twitter was complaining about public discourse not understanding how much work goes into projects...then said it wasn't about jenny nicholson's video specifically...but not sure what other major discourse is going on. Anyway, it seemed like an odd take.

Yes, you can put a TON of work into something and still do it in the wrong direction.

I was trying to find the post, but can't locate it now. It was reposted by someone I follow and didn't recognize the imagineer.
“So do washing machines” - Art Smith
 

ChrisFL

Premium Member
Hopefully the "they took my money and then literally didn't deliver, twice on things I paid extra for on my $6k stay, saying there was nothing they could do to correct the situation or refund until they discovered I was an influencer and then 'magically' it all got fixed" is something they in particular took note of.

They may not be able to do a lot with what went wrong with Star Cruiser but not ripping off their customers is something they could work on.

There was a time, that kind of response to a legitimate issue would have been unthinkable and honestly, what was shocking to me today with this company isn't how they refused to do anything becasue I basically expect that but how quickly and seemingly easily they did fix it when they realized the PR implications of who they were dealing with... and I love that she completely called them out for that BS anyway because she's 100% right thst you shouldn't have to be an "influencer" to get basic customer service.

Perfectly encapsulates the culture of contempt that management has for their customers that they don't give normal guest relations the ability to fix things like this anymore.

Sadly, the larger the organization, the more challenging it is to keep quality among all levels of departments/management. This isn't to make excuses for Disney at all, just something that tends to happen.

It could have been a department head who is more aware of social media/"influencers" (a term I hate when used in the wrong context) contacted a different department head about the situation. But no, it should not have happened AT ALL.

The lack of photographers was the more glaringly obvious issue IMO.
 

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