JenniferS
When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Is there a big enough buyer? Things are tough all over.
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News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
flynnibus
Premium Member
Keep perspective though... in the big picture TWDC as a whole was/is facing an crisis. A crisis with impacts across the entire company.. where big changes and impacts were on the table. This wasn't 'we gotta find 2points this quarter to meet expectations' -- this is part of a major move to restore confidence in the overall company.
So what is the risk to the brand here... let's keep perspective.
Closing something a big risk? They close attractions all the time. They are ripples in the grand scheme.
Imagine if they did something far more radical like... close entire parks, lands, fundamentally shift how the product is consumed, etc.
The project was always a boutique offer and not mainlined for all guests - it was always kinda 'experimental' being a first and unique offer that is adjacent to, but not essential to, the WDW experience.
Disney can easily position this to customers 'this product was a bold new attempt, it didn't quite go as hoped, we've learned a ton and use that kind of learning as we continue to bring bold new experiences to you in the future...'
Precedent when it comes to facing the reality that WDW functions as a business and not just purely to guest whims? Reduced hours... seasonal closures... shows running less frequently.. reductions in entertainment. Postponed or entirely cancelled projects? All things fans and guests alike are exposedly to regularly by the company as a consequence of business pressures. I don't think there is any new precedent to be scared of here.
Precedent when it comes to pulling the plug on offers that failed to meet expectations? Again... long history here.
This is not Disney pulling the rug out on millions of guests and generations of memories. Heck, changes like DCA v2 were far more bigger mea culpa moments for Disney.
This is just yet another yesterland chapter for the company. The big story here is the idea of a Star Wars brand product failing, the new price points Disney aimed for, and the sheer size of the initiative for Disney and it failing. Most of that is about history for Disney fandom... not about creating new dangerous precedents that will cause uncertainty for guests.
I'm reading the Last Days of Starcruiser stuff and if it's not bolted down, it's gone. It's all fair game for eBay!.
I think it does set an interesting precedent as these are two gigantic, mass appeal brands but the aim here was to target the absolute highest income die hards. It succeeded with its audience but that audience was vanishingly small.
MagicHappens1971
Well-Known Member
The merch does sell, I wouldn't expect to see the majority of things in the warehouse until later this year. (what's left of it) people are buying up whatever they can get, and stealing anything that's not bolted down as other's have said.
flynnibus
Premium Member
I don't think that is necessarily a good description. Disney was targeting the audience it already knew it had... the families who are paying for deluxe hotels, upsells, inclusive dining plans, etc. They already knew they had a huge overlap between Disney and Star Wars fans from the decades of collab before and of course the period acquisition. The product was unbashfully a Disney entertainment offer - not a pure Star Wars one. The pricing solicitation leading up to the launch was spun around Disney vacation expectations - not 'fan spending'.
It was targeted at those club level, all inclusive, Disney deluxe spenders and basically laid out as 'and what if you had all that AND with this incredible personal immersive experience'. And Disney has TONS of those kinds of guests.
So many fans bash it for not being Star Wars - All-Stars hotel. But that's them hating on it for not offering what they project what they think they want.. vs what Disney decided they wanted to target as a premium semi-exclusive offer.
Why it failed... all kinds of arguments around that... but I don't think its for targeting too small of a audience of 'die hards'.
RoysCabin
Well-Known Member
I know I'm late to the party commenting on this, but this whole situation really does feel like another chapter in Disney just not learning the right lessons from Potter's success at Universal.
I have no doubt that the actual experience in the Starcruiser was really well done; the performers were probably great, and I'm sure there was genuine effort put into the whole thing, that's not the issue. For people who like doing things like LARPing, role playing, etc., I imagine it had to be fantastic.
There's a lot of reasons it didn't work, though, and I think most people here are right to mainly point to the price; any trip to Disney is expensive enough, adding the big outlay for two nights on the Starcruiser was a massive ask. But from the creative end of things, it just felt like another "Oh, people like wearing the clothes and interacting with stuff at the other park, let's just buy a bigger, even more popular IP and they'll like doing that even more over here!" situation.
The problem there should be kind of clear, I think: Star Wars just isn't a fictional universe that really screams "don't you just wish you could live here?" It's filled with very non-distinct locations (e.g. Hoth is just "ice world", Mustafar is just "volcano world", etc.), it's a visual story rather than a literary one and thus doesn't delve into things like scents and tastes when creating it's environments, and the galaxy of Star Wars is one filled with poverty, oppression, and, uh...war. I'm not a fan of Potter as a franchise for a whole list of reasons, but while there's obviously conflict in that world it's still a literary universe that has familiar, iconic settings people would want to see and interact with, and even downright cozy settings you could imagine someone wanting to see a hotel version of. You can't just assume that's going to work with an IP just because it's popular, it needs to actually be suited for a theme park/hotel resort setting.
I have no doubt that the actual experience in the Starcruiser was really well done; the performers were probably great, and I'm sure there was genuine effort put into the whole thing, that's not the issue. For people who like doing things like LARPing, role playing, etc., I imagine it had to be fantastic.
There's a lot of reasons it didn't work, though, and I think most people here are right to mainly point to the price; any trip to Disney is expensive enough, adding the big outlay for two nights on the Starcruiser was a massive ask. But from the creative end of things, it just felt like another "Oh, people like wearing the clothes and interacting with stuff at the other park, let's just buy a bigger, even more popular IP and they'll like doing that even more over here!" situation.
The problem there should be kind of clear, I think: Star Wars just isn't a fictional universe that really screams "don't you just wish you could live here?" It's filled with very non-distinct locations (e.g. Hoth is just "ice world", Mustafar is just "volcano world", etc.), it's a visual story rather than a literary one and thus doesn't delve into things like scents and tastes when creating it's environments, and the galaxy of Star Wars is one filled with poverty, oppression, and, uh...war. I'm not a fan of Potter as a franchise for a whole list of reasons, but while there's obviously conflict in that world it's still a literary universe that has familiar, iconic settings people would want to see and interact with, and even downright cozy settings you could imagine someone wanting to see a hotel version of. You can't just assume that's going to work with an IP just because it's popular, it needs to actually be suited for a theme park/hotel resort setting.
GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
Yes, Star Wars merch sells consistently. The Star Wars Galactic Cruiser Experience (regardless of what happens to it) has had no impact.
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
I guess you have to define success. They got some high income die hards to try it, sure. And yes, it's a very small pool. But I didn't really get the impression that they were beating down the door to go back. I still think it just comes down to arrogance. They figured (star wars+hotel experience+Disney=money in the bank no matter the price). Unfortunately it all felt like imitation star wars, not authentic in the least. So all these people who will travel to Europe or cross the country to go to a star wars convention or buy thousands of dollars in merch, had almost zero interest.
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Robbiem
Well-Known Member
Really interesting post. I think your right about the differences between star wars and potter. Trying to make things like themed food (as opposed to food themed to star wars like the darth maul eclair) didnt really work as they felt forced - its space so we will make the food blue because we all know space people eat blue food
I think star wars does have some iconic locations like the cantina, Jabba’s palace, corusant etc but Disney chose a difficult approach
I think the other reasons for the starcruiser failing were the setting and the lack of repeat value. You needed to be a fan of a specific and divisive movie timeline to get the most out of the experience and I guess like the way that a live show looses its lustre on repeated viewings when you find the spontaneity is scripted repeating the same experience would have diminishing returns.
Maybe offering multiple timelines and adventures would have helped
Incomudro
Well-Known Member
It targeted those people, but the arrow Disney's been using towards Star Wars - and increasingly Marvel, and their movies - is way off.
They insist on offering the version of these IP's that they want to push, with near complete disregard for what the fans actually want.
I'm now at the point where I hope for failure, because it is the only way they will learn.
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
Could that hotel be gutted and built up or would this ruin the skyline to make it a Hollywood themed Deluxe resort?
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
The location would be absolutely terrible for any standard hotel. The views would be abysmal unless they removed vast portions of the parking lot to expand it and connect it to a new rear entrance to Galaxy's Edge or something. You'd also probably run into big issues with backstage access for cast members as a result, and you'd have to resolve or hide all of the weirdness of the rocks on sticks. I also doubt they'd want to staff an extra gate for one hotel.
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
This
HS is constrained with the size of it's footprint and lack of expansion area that to eat up the parking for a themed hotel adjacent to some nondescript rides themed to Hollywood or whatever would be a shining example of how not to allocate/use your available property.
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
So, basically just level the building then? Or utilize it like they do with that Cinderella suite thing or Make-a-wish usage.This
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Backstage support
From what I could tell, a lot of people were going back again and again. The problem was that this didn't seem to expand the audience. Put another way, the kind of person who was going wasn't like "This is a really cool experience and I might go again but I'll definitely recommend it to my friends Andrew and Jennica and their three kids and also my friends Bailey and John and their kids and my friend Steve, he really likes Star Wars" because presumably the experience was still too weird and to expensive to be something you'd recommend even in well-off circles. Instead, it was "I'm going to go again as my character and try to get a different ending. Let me get into this already established Facebook group of Starcruiser vets and see what's the best way to book another trip."
That meant that if you were a normal type coming in for a one and done, once in a lifetime experience with your kids, you were competing against heavily invested grown adults. Disney pulled the plug before it happened but I guarantee that had they let the project go further, they would have gotten public complaints from families who were mad that Jayden got cut out of meeting Chewbacca because a bunch of 45 year old singles got there first. And then they'd get replies from angry cosplayers who basically feel like they're paying to do Disney's job and add color--"Bailey and her brat don't know anything about the secrets of the Force, I created a character with a ten page backstory and a $500 costume, I PAID." Combine that with social media making everyone involved way too parasocially close to each other and WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST DO THE DINNER SHOW. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
great post and so very true... I also think the locations for Star Wars are just not suited to an immersive hotel experience... It is a galaxy at war...there is not real place that feels comfortable.... Use the settings in attractions within the park section, but i don't think it was ever a great idea....and if they wanted it to succeed they should have gone much grander on all the public spaces....made it a real WOW. If they had done that, they might have been able to use it as a premium resort into the future, without the show and LARPing... A futuristic space ship themed hotel with a beautiful outrageous pool area and restaurants would have been a popular destination...especially if you could spend a normal day doing Disney stuff... not feel tied to the hotel as the event.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
This
HS has a ton of room for expansion.
GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
Yes! An actual (heavily themed) resort based on one of the Star Wars planets. If the guests want to dress up and cosplay while on the resort grounds, enjoy! if others do not, so be it! The staff would be appropriately thematically attired of course. Appropriately themed character interactive dining etc. Absolutely should have gone big, to match the galactic concept. Definitely deluxe category resort. No limit on how long guests can stay! To continue the theme why not have the space shuttle transport available from a docking bay at the resort to a docking bay at Black Spire outpost (Batuu). The Galactic Star Cruiser concept started out strong but was diluted and cheapened as it evolved then grossly overpriced.