News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

[flynnibus]

What George did was lightning in a bottle.

go watch all of clone wars and come back to us.

 

[Indy_UK]

I hope that maybe the lightsaber battle from Starcruiser is put back into Galaxies Edge and they just focus on making that better for now as I can’t see the land getting an expansion for a long while now

 

[Lilofan]

No one has thought of that yet.

Let me get Kathleen on the phone.

Wonder what George Lucas thinks of the closure?

 

[brb1006]

For me, this encapsulates the entire Disney Star Wars Trilogy

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At the very least I expected a Meet and Greet. They couldn’t even give me that.

Would’ve been a cool picture though.

Thank goodness Disney didn't plan on making a huge animatronic of that thing.

 

[FettFan]

The fate of Galactic Starcruiser was sealed as soon as Disney released this first look video showing an overly excited Sean Giambrone talking with Ann Morrow Johnson from January 2022.



It got mocked so hard (especially from Star Wars fans) that it caused Disney to remove this promo from the Disney Parks Youtube Channel.

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Disney really want us to forgot that promo.

And The Welcome Video that was actually leaked before this promo.

^the face you make when you’re 12 years old and notice the infamous Oola wardrobe malfunction in RotJ.

 

[FettFan]

Thank goodness Disney didn't plan on making a huge animatronic of that thing.

^the face you make when you’re 12 years old and Rian Johnson decides to add humanoid anatomy to an alien walrus.

 

[FettFan]

People are actually defending this:

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They’ll defend it til they’re blue in the face.

 

[Tha Realest]

They didn't make three Wizard of Oz movies in a trilogy either... where EVERY SINGLE MOVIE introduced new lands and characters that prior to that no one had ever heard of before either.

No idea what significance Wizard of Oz as a single movie has verse a franchise that was known for the UNIVERSE the creator mentioned. At least pick something of the same thing... like Lord of the Rings... or Harry Potter. Which are both known for the world building and lore - not just the lead characters.

actually, Disney produced two Wizard of Oz adjacent films - the first being a sequel, the other a prequel. To carry on the analogy, (and assuming they had the rights to all films) it would be as if they insisted a mini land based on this property was time locked to one of their films versus the beloved original.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

actually, Disney produced two Wizard of Oz adjacent films - the first being a sequel, the other a prequel. To carry on the analogy, (and assuming they had the rights to all films) it would be as if they insisted a mini land based on this property was time locked to one of their films versus the beloved original.

Honestly, I'm here for a Return to Oz land!

Maybe DeVine over at AK could moonlight as a Wheeler?

 

[StaceyH_SD]

The thing that gets me about the Starcruiser is has anybody involved in the proposal/greenlighting process for that project ever gone to any kind of fandom convention or been actually IN fandom (not even specifically Star Wars) in any way? Attended San Diego Comic Con or DragonCon or Worldcon or anything like that as a fan? I feel like if they had, they would have made some kind of LARP or escape room type of experience as an add on to Galaxy’s Edge that would have had a much lower price point while still being a premium experience that would have appealed to the fans that I think they were hoping to attract with the Starcruiser. A lot of hardcore fans are not super rich or have huge amounts of disposable income but they’d spend money on a cool LARP experience or something that was more affordable (see all the people buying the lightsaber experience).

The Starcruiser seems very emblematic of a corporate MBA type moneygrab mindset that doesn’t actually understand the IP they’re working with, the fanbase, who the audience is, how much they can afford to pay, and how much they’re willing to pay for a thing.

 

[Incomudro]

As far as moving on from the original trilogy, this is what people need to understand: The Wizard of Oz will always be Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman, and Lion. It's timeless. Star Wars will always be Luke, Leia, Ben, Han, Vader, Yoda, ect. It's timeless. They both have become an integral part of pop culture with their characters, story, and music influencing pop culture for decades and will for many more. No matter what else is written about Oz, people will always want to see the Emerald city and the fab four. Disney didn't understand Star Wars historical significance and thought whatever they do with the brand, people will eat it up and here we are. Sure, the new movies made money, but it was the popularity of the others and emotional ties that sold the tickets.

This is so correct.
Disney tried to give us new characters to move the series along.
There is some degree of success with that.
But the originals will always be the originals.
Vader is iconic.

 

[Nubs70]

They need to retrofit the rooms with hot tubs and rurn it into an adults only hotel or sell it to Sybaris.

 

[Tha Realest]

TLDR - sequels bad...

Good news, Disney has already moved on. So maybe it's time to stop droning about "everyone wants the OT". You already have people asking for Mando and other new content in the parks. We already have Dave F actually creating great content and paired with Jon F they are rocking it. So the world moved on from Jar Jar jokes... maybe it's time to move on from droning about the sequels.

Disney films and TV? Perhaps. SWGE, aside from a blink and you’ll miss them walk around character, remain intractably fixed in the sequel trilogy. Same, by and large, with Star Tours.

I guess you can get your occasional Vader fix if you’re a Disney Visa cardholder at Star Wars Launch Bay…oh, that’s closed.

 

[erasure fan1]

I wasn't fighting your point - I was continuing the discussion you apparently were trying to redirect into something else than what it was written for

My post was not redirecting anything. I was agreeing with you more than anything. All I did was give some insight as to why some fans are anti "moving on". Seeing both sides of the argument is never a bad thing. You can disagree with said logic, but that won't change that A LOT of people feel that way.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

The thing that gets about the Starcruiser is has anybody involved in the proposal/greenlighting process for that project ever gone to any kind of fandom convention or been actually IN fandom (not even specifically Star Wars) in any way? Attended San Diego Comic Con or DragonCon or Worldcon or anything like that as a fan? I feel like if they had, they would have made some kind of LARP or escape room type of experience as an add on to Galaxy’s Edge that would have had a much lower price point while still being a premium experience that would have appealed to the fans that I think they were hoping to attract with the Starcruiser. A lot of hardcore fans are not super rich or have huge amounts of disposable income but they’d spend money on a cool LARP experience or something that was more affordable (see all the people buying the lightsaber experience).

The Starcruiser seems very emblematic of a corporate MBA type moneygrab mindset that doesn’t actually understand the IP they’re working with, the fanbase, who the audience is, how much they can afford to pay, and how much they’re willing to pay for a thing.

I kind of wonder whether hardcore Star Wars fans were really who they wanted to attract to this venture, though.

It wouldn't surprise me if they saw this more as a new product for hardcore Disney parks fans with the fact it was Star Wars being more related to the fact it was the big IP they were pushing at the time which also kind of lent itself to this sort of venture. In that respect, the pitch would be more along the lines of a new level of immersion (one of their favourite words) for Disney fans and the ultimate upcharge event. Attracting a portion of the hardcore Star Wars fanbase would be more a bonus in this scenario instead of pitching the experience specifically to that fanbase.

 

[lewisc]

I kind of wonder whether hardcore Star Wars fans were really who they wanted to attract to this venture, though.

It wouldn't surprise me if they saw this more as a new product for hardcore Disney parks fans with the fact it was Star Wars being more related to the fact it was the big IP they were pushing at the time which also kind of lent itself to this sort of venture. In that respect, the pitch would be more along the lines of a new level of immersion (one of their favourite words) for Disney fans and the ultimate upcharge event. Attracting a portion of the hardcore Star Wars fanbase would be more a bonus in this scenario instead of pitching the experience specifically to that fanbase.

Real easy. Disney wanted to attract anyone willing to pay $$$$. Fans of immersive experiences. Probably hard core Star Wars fans. Disney fans willing to pay for story telling. What do people pay, converted to hourly, for BBB?


I think Disney should have marketed it for buyouts. Business award for top salespeople. Exclusive sailing for....members of DIS, AAA etc.

 

[Zorba]

I kind of wonder whether hardcore Star Wars fans were really who they wanted to attract to this venture, though.

It wouldn't surprise me if they saw this more as a new product for hardcore Disney parks fans with the fact it was Star Wars being more related to the fact it was the big IP they were pushing at the time which also kind of lent itself to this sort of venture. In that respect, the pitch would be more along the lines of a new level of immersion (one of their favourite words) for Disney fans and the ultimate upcharge event. Attracting a portion of the hardcore Star Wars fanbase would be more a bonus in this scenario instead of pitching the experience specifically to that fanbase.

I know the hotel wasn't that big. But I just never thought the vin diagram of people that wanted to cosply for 48 hours and the people were okay spending over 5k for 48 hours of entertainment was that large. But then again I'm constantly blown away by what people will pay for things at Disney.

I am glad Disney is willing to try new things.

 

[asianway]

I worked on the Halcyon, the merch sales were pretty crazy. Most guests would buy as many things as they can. Average transaction from 1-4pm on day 1 is ~$900.

The Mickey plush in Jedi robes (that Lucasfilm banned) probably did sell Incredibly well as well.

Interesting. I’ve never seen anything at SWGE that made me want to buy it. Guess I’m not the target market

 

[Florida Man]

Is it weird that I’m starting to feel nostalgic about Gaya? Haha. She will be missed.

 

[Zorba]

Directly marketing it would've also driven up the overhead on the P&L sheet, so if the profits were already marginal that would've made it worse. Doing national marketing is very expensive especially when you can only dilute that cost over 100 rooms, especially when they aren't even available year round.