News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

[MagicHappens1971]

The obsession with "New Star Wars" while ignoring the classics.

I understand what you're saying here, they should bring more of the OG Star Wars characters into the parks, as for Media, Luke had a whole arc in Book of Boba Fett and made an appearance in Mando. Otherwise, unless they make more movies/TV centered around the original trilogy, I don't see why we would see them again in media. I have high hopes about these 3 new films coming out of Lucasfilm in the next few years.

Sidelining classic Marvel characters for Marvel Disney era character.

Almost all MCU characters are "Disney-era". RDJ & Chris Evans (who I presume you're talking about) we're over the franchise and chose to leave, forcing Disney/Marvel to retool the MCU.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

That’s the problem with R&D…everything is a fortune and yields little

And is often unnecessary. Some the best rides they ever built were just taking an existing ride technology and building it on an elaborately themed mountain and/or completely indoors (often in the dark).

 

[SteamboatJoe]

If someone wants to go and will enjoy it, that is a wonderful thing...A lot of people worked very hard on making it work...
I am sad for them that it was not successful... but that was sort of pre-determined by the direction management took...

Unfortunately, those people will probably be blamed by management.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

And is often unnecessary. Some the best rides they ever built were just taking an existing ride technology and building it on an elaborately themed mountain and/or completely indoors (often in the dark).

Such as the mk mountains

 

[el_super]

Original content truly only works best for an original, new concept.

You think the star cruiser would have done better if they took Star Wars off the name?

The amount of time they took to create all these original characters and story lines are what made it so expensive. If original stories are so expensive to develop, and people end up just wanting the old IP anyway ... what's the point of trying to be original?

 

[seascape]

This will also cost Florida and Orange County. The 13% tax on $5,000 is $650 per room or $325 a night. When the place was full that is about $40,000 a day in tax revenue or $14,600,000 a year. Even with 60% occupancy rate the government is losing over $8,000,000 a year.

 

[Incomudro]

No issue with IP...the problem Disney has is they just can't let the classics be classics. Inserting Depo into Pirates make the story of the ride make no sense. The obsession with "New Star Wars" while ignoring the classics. Sidelining classic Marvel characters for Marvel Disney era character. Hell...the main movie business is just remaking classic movies with modern changes.

It's fine to use your IP, but it feels like they are passing on nostalgic feelings that their own IPs create, just to try to force some weird new version on people. Universal with Mario and Harry Potter is almost a perfect display of make it fans...Star Cruiser felt like a cash grab.

I happen to like Dep in the Pirates ride, but other than that - yeah, that don't even know how to let their IP's be IP's anymore.
Even the Princess and the Frog version of Splash is being given a completely unnecessary, convoluted backstory.
Let it be what it WAS.
These people are handed gold, but they can't resist the desire to mess with it.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

They just want to applaud Disney for trying something new.

Also don’t forget it’s just because of price point, it has nothing to do with Disney killing the IP.

They deserve a little credit for trying something new and taking a risk but maybe they can try to do something that doesn't cost over a billion dollars, is affordable to the middle class, and features characters and stories people actually care about. For all his failings and failures, a lot of stuff Eisner built was accessible and enjoyable.

 

[erasure fan1]

And people really enjoyed JarJar?

Actually, yea, they do. You're the one defending Kennedy and the sequels. And If your reasoning for not wanting Lucas to be involved is Jar Jar, not a great take.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

I can’t help but feel like he purposely chose someone as unlikeable as Bob C as his replacement so he could take the brunt of all the cuts caused by his overspending, that the pandemic made things impossible to hide then once everything settled down he would come back as the hero and “fix” everything.

I dont doubt this at all, especially when you consider he bailed when he saw the challenge of COVID on the horizon. Let the guy who looks like Lex Luthor do the dirty work and be the fall guy.

 

[Tay]

On one hand, this is so embarrassing . They could’ve at least tried to make it work a little longer.

They could’ve made a special line of collectible merch that could be use as credit toward a voyage. Of course factor in the production cost of the stuff and call the credit whatever Star Wars calls their credit and I bet more people would have done this.

On the other hand they are finally starting to humble themselves and appreciate every day fans who are taking their money elsewhere.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

On one hand, this is so embarrassing . They could’ve at least tried to make it work a little longer.

They could’ve made a special line of collectible merch that could be use as credit toward a voyage. Of course factor in the production cost of the stuff and call the credit whatever Star Wars calls their credit and I bet more people would have done this.

On the other hand they are finally starting to humble themselves and appreciate every day fans who are taking their money elsewhere.

I will say it takes at least some fortitude to cut bait on your failure, especially when you know you are going to get severely dunked on for it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm kind of surprised they didn't at least try to do a year-long run with original trilogy characters at slightly more than Deluxe Resort prices. I think it could have survived with Luke Skywalker and Han Solo at $1,000 a night.

Disney is becoming more and more persona non grata with the fans of those characters by the day…
…I bet their focus groups have let it be known in the strategic planning meetings

 

[TP2000]

The concept of a luxury style cruiser like you'd find on Coruscant is also not really the hero stuff you see in the movies. So you don't get the rebel looking ships to stay on and you don't have an empire ship to stay on...you have a pseudo Coruscant ship I guess, even though it didn't really fit aesthetically much with anything in known canon, even compared to what Batuu has

And yet even then, it was a value engineered and cheaped out version of the original "luxury cruise ship in space" concept they announced this thing with originally.

Yet again, the released concept art at D23 Expo was wildly optimistic and outright dishonest compared to what actually showed up.

It was an experiment but the results were hampered by the value engineered approach right out of the gate...

That is such a huge part of this failure. They promised a Star Wars Luxury Cruise Ship!, but they gave us a weirdly off-brand and cringey environment that had an uncomfortable similarity to a Star Wars Nite youth group party in a church basement.

 

[Lilofan]

Part of the $17B Iger cost savings

 

[Hawkeye_2018]

Classic OT wouldn’t have saved this either. There so much SW content now that people don’t need to leave their house for it

 

[Andrew C]

They seriously couldn’t operate this at a lower price point?

 

[SteamboatJoe]

And yet even then, it was a value engineered and cheaped out version of the original "luxury cruise ship in space" concept they announced this thing with originally. Yet again, the released concept art at D23 Expo was wildly optimistic and outright dishonest compared to what actually showed up.



That is such a huge part of this failure. They promised a Star Wars Luxury Cruise Ship!, but they gave us a weirdly off-brand and cringey environment that had an uncomfortable similarity to a Star Wars Nite youth group party in a church basement.

Real Marge Simpson "I'm a Star Wars!" vibes...

 

[MagicRat]

Actually, yea, they do. You're the one defending Kennedy and the sequels. And If your reasoning for not wanting Lucas to be involved is Jar Jar, not a great take.

And people really enjoyed JarJar?

 

[TP2000]

It’s just there so, so few rooms. So the labor alone makes it tough to justify.

That they couldn't fill. They already were shutting this hotel down two days a week in mid-summer. And for months now they've only had enough total capacity to run a half-filled dining room for one dinner service per night, or 40% or less of hotel capacity.

More rooms for the experience they were providing would have made things even worse.