News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

T

TDLFan

Well-Known Member
I think it speaks volumes that I like many aspects of Star Wars, yet I had more feels in the Hollywood Backlot area. I actually enjoyed just taking in that area. Going to GE feels like going to see an escort. I feel ashamed walking in, I pay the 20 dollars for Rise, and briskly walk out hoping no one saw me.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
TDLFan said:
I think it speaks volumes that I like many aspects of Star Wars, yet I had more feels in the Hollywood Backlot area. I actually enjoyed just taking in that area. Going to GE feels like going to see an escort. I feel ashamed walking in, I pay the 20 dollars for Rise, and briskly walk out hoping no one saw me.
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I can’t see myself going back unless they go retro with the merch or change the rides (insert laugh here 😎)

For me Ooga’s was the end. What an uncomfortable attempt at “cool looking junk” that was?
 
JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
Disstevefan1 said:
Agreed, my post was just about while it makes no sense to build this just to tear it down rather than try to re-use it or try to fix it, it may be its better for the company to tear it down and do whatever tax write off or whatever they do on the books.

Time will tell, but I suspect we will see it torn down like the Harmonious barges.
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Agreed. I read elsewhere that it being torn down could lead to a GE expansion. There is parking in that area but probably more likely for SW starcruiser guests and CMs. The entryway for the starcruiser would have to close too. Probably a SW fan's pipe dream.

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Sir_Cliff

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
MrPromey said:
They needed Rise level of investment on an "experience" like this to justify the price they were charging.

Problem is, they'd never make that kind of money back with the self-imposed limit on availability but the minds that brought us limited viewing areas, special cupcakes and after hours non-event up-charges thought that the brand and exclusivity was enough to get people to buy into this and... be happy?

I mean, I guess some people did and were but clearly, not enough of them, even at the small scale they themselves set.

This always had to be lackluster in location because the money just wasn't there to either build or sustain it any other way when averaging 300 or fewer guests every two days meaning no effects heavy stuff, lame light saber training*, no plethora of wandering droids (though even this "budget" hotel has robots that'll come to your room to deliver stuff) so they had to lean on the cast to make it work and the problem there, to me anyway, is if the most impressive sights and sounds from your $5k+ two day "experience" still happen on a ride at the theme park, what was all that money you spent really going towards?**

I'm sure the cast were awesome but... I doubt a large percentage of that two day fee was going into any equity performers' bank accounts... well, maybe with poor bookings it was and I imagine that ended up being the problem for Disney.



*Because you really can't justify expensive R&D on new tech to roll it out on such a limited scale so we end up with something less impressive than a VR game already on the market.

**ILL at $25 a head, took a little of the shine off one of the benefits of that stay, too.
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Yes, it became obvious when the first images came out that their budgeting for this obviously didn't allow them to build anything that was going to wow in terms of scale and spectacle. In retrospect, I'm kind of surprised they released any preview images and videos as they must have realised a lot of people would respond with "that's it?"

It was particularly surprising that little things that I think we'd all taken for granted like trying to hide the building from arriving guests were considered not worth the cost.

Without scale or spectacle, the whole thing really hung on the role playing aspect which also ended up not being enough of a draw to sustain something like this.
 
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Incomudro

Incomudro

Well-Known Member
GrumpyFan said:
They took a risk to try and create something new for a particular segment of their audience.
Agree it was a pricey one and they overestimated what their audience would spend and how many there were for it, but I don't fault them for at least trying. I just think they missed the mark on the demographics for it.
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I don't fault them for trying.
But I will fault them for not trying hard enough, and for continuing to insist on going with what most of the fans don't want.
They are still trying to change the core demographic of the audience for this property.
I'll also fault them for budget cutting the physical look of the Starcruiser.
It's as though - and may very well have been - that they realized it might fail so they skimped on the structure and detail of the place.
Which may have helped accelerate the failure of the place.
It never looked great.
None of it.
The show and acting was very well done, but not the physical "ship."
I'm certain there were very few people who saw images of it and thought "Wow!" "We've got to go!"
On the contrary, I know that there were many people who were very interested in this until the images came out.
 
"El Gran Magnifico"

"El Gran Magnifico"

Mr Flibble is Very Cross.
Kingoglow said:
I don't know... I feel like the only real appreciation for the prequels comes from the memeing community; much like Toby McGuire's Spiderman. The fan base is really just a meme community. The movies, if you watch them, are just no good, badly paced, and cringy to watch.
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They should have stuck to what they did best. Christmas Specials.
 
GrumpyFan

GrumpyFan

Well-Known Member
JohnD said:
Agreed. I read elsewhere that it being torn down could lead to a GE expansion. There is parking in that area but probably more likely for SW starcruiser guests and CMs. The entryway for the starcruiser would have to close too. Probably a SW fan's pipe dream.
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I have a hard time seeing them doing any expansion that crosses that road into the parking lot. They just completed that a few years ago.

Edit: I mistook this for the old main entrance which was moved. In review, it would seem to be a more viable option for expansion, but I still have a hard time seeing any expansion there considering how they built GE and that area.
 
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FettFan

FettFan

Well-Known Member
Fido Chuckwagon said:
It’s not even that it priced people out. I’m not priced out, but I”m sorry, spending $6,000 for a 2 night experience is nuts. There are so many better things I can that amount of money on. And I’m the kind of person who probably would have done this if it was priced reasonably. Chapek just got greedy when he priced this thing.
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Yeah, I don't know how much you can really pin this on Chapek, despite how much Iger would like you to.

Disney was doing R&D on this thing for 5-6 years before it opened, which included guest surveys to gauge willing price point and factoring in the additional staffing required (because even if they draw staff in from the other parks, they still need to fill those labor gaps).

In fact, part of me wonders if Iger already had an idea of how expensive it would be, and that helped motivate him to suddenly get the hell out of Dodge back in Feb. '20.
 
GrumpyFan

GrumpyFan

Well-Known Member
Incomudro said:
I don't fault them for trying.
But I will fault them for not trying hard enough, and for continuing to insist on going with what most of the fans don't want.
They are still trying to change the core demographic of the audience for this property.
I'll also fault them for budget cutting the physical look of the Starcruiser.
It's as though - and may very well have been - that they realized it might fail so they skimped on the structure and detail of the place.
Which may have helped accelerate the failure of the place.
It never looked great.
None of it.
The show and acting was very well done, but not the physical "ship."
I'm certain there were very few people who saw images of it and thought "Wow!" "We've got to go!"
On the contrary, I know that there were many people who were very interested in this until the images came out.
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Suffice to say, they missed their audience in both theme and price expectations. Most SW fans are not high rollers with deep pockets able to splurge on something this pricey.

Edit: I feel like they could have done better market research on this prior to building and it would have saved them a lot of money.
 
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FettFan

FettFan

Well-Known Member
JohnD said:
Agreed. I read elsewhere that it being torn down could lead to a GE expansion. There is parking in that area but probably more likely for SW starcruiser guests and CMs. The entryway for the starcruiser would have to close too. Probably a SW fan's pipe dream.
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No. A SW fan's pipe dream would be if Disney were to finally break down and build a fifth gate, with each land as a different Star Wars planet set during a different time period in the franchise.
You could wind up on Mandalore and have M&G's with Din Djarin, Grogu, and Bo Katan....or Kashyyyk with General Tarfful and Chewbacca.
Big thrill ride would be a Cloud City version of 'Rise', where you're escaping Bespin during ESB with Vader and his stormtroopers in pursuit.

Ooh and a "Shadows of the Empire" area where you'd be on Ord Mantell, getting caught in a battle royale between bounty hunters as IG-88, Bossk, and Dengar are all targeting Boba Fett as he tries to cash in with Han Solo in carbonite. Meanwhile, you're aided by Dash Rendar who enlists you to try to help save Han.
 
JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
FettFan said:
No. A SW fan's pipe dream would be if Disney were to finally break down and build a fifth gate, with each land as a different Star Wars planet set during a different time period in the franchise.
You could wind up on Mandalore and have M&G's with Din Djarin, Grogu, and Bo Katan....or Kashyyyk with General Tarfful and Chewbacca.
Big thrill ride would be a Cloud City version of 'Rise', where you're escaping Bespin during ESB with Vader and his stormtroopers in pursuit.

Ooh and a "Shadows of the Empire" area where you'd be on Ord Mantell, getting caught in a battle royale between bounty hunters as IG-88, Bossk, and Dengar are all targeting Boba Fett as he tries to cash in with Han Solo in carbonite. Meanwhile, you're aided by Dash Rendar who enlists you to try to help save Han.
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Yeah, I've seen that park map shared on social media, even on this forum I think.
 

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