News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

[SamusAranX]

And people really enjoyed JarJar?

They didn’t, and guess what? George swallowed his pride and all but eliminated his character.

Unlike him, Disney continues to double down when many signs point to the concept that ST worlds and characters are just not that popular.

 

[GimpYancIent]

Hopefully “what they learned” was that you can’t charge $6,000 for a 2 night experience and expect it to be successful. This closing comes as a surprise to literally nobody except maybe. Bob Chapek.

Hope? Sure, "There Is Always Hope". But really did TWDC learn anything?

 

[Bender123]

They didn’t, and guess what? George swallowed his pride and all but eliminated his character.

Unlike him, Disney continues to double down when many signs point to the concept that ST worlds and characters are just not that popular.

This is my opinion, as well...The only thing Iger has done is buy already popular IPs and crash them into the dirt.

At some point, the only way to save Star Wars will be to "time travel" the sequels out of the story. Without doing this, they can produce all the prequels and shows they want, but we all know that it has to serve a story that ends with Vader giving his life for nothing, Luke dying alone and Palpatine killing off all his enemies and his daughter wearing the Luke skinsuit.

Nobody wants this story, but they keep insisting on it. Sit on a bench in Galaxy's Edge for an hour and I guarantee you that you will overhear multiple people asking where Vader, Luke, Han and Lando are.

 

[CinematicFusion]

Wow… Reports indicate the parks and the Galactic Starcruiser cost some $2 billion to build.

 

[Big T 1963]

Ok I really wasn't too shocked when this news came out about the closing yesterday... I really feel for the cast members who put in so much effort in getting this off the ground however even when I saw the first streaming videos of the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser I said what a amazing experience then when I saw the amount of money they wanted I knew this wasn't going to last ..... when those price points came out to stay I said this isn't going to last 5 years let alone a year.. Not sure where Disney was going with this such a disappointment Can you say Harmonious? I knew you could ....

 

[drod1985]

Wow… Reports indicate the parks and the Galactic Starcruiser cost some $2 billion to build.

It pains me that we could've gotten an upgraded Galaxy's Edge or another attraction (which DHS sorely needs) and instead it was wasted on this.

 

[monothingie]

Hopefully “what they learned” was that you can’t charge $6,000 for a 2 night experience and expect it to be successful. This closing comes as a surprise to literally nobody except maybe. Bob Chapek.

You got the wrong Bob.

You guys all forget that this thing was green lit under Iger. As much as Chapek was a loathsome figurehead, a whole lot of current Disney failures can be traced directly back to Iger. Chapek wasn't there long enough with Iger completely separated from the company to do pretty much anything substantial, except reap the "rewards" of Iger's ego.

 

[Lilofan]

Ok I really wasn't too shocked when this news came out about the closing yesterday... I really feel for the cast members who put in so much effort in getting this off the ground however even when I saw the first streaming videos of the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser I said what a amazing experience then when I saw the amount of money they wanted I knew this wasn't going to last ..... when those price points came out to stay I said this isn't going to last 5 years let alone a year.. Not sure where Disney was going with this such a disappointment Can you say Harmonious? I knew you could ....

With Disney still needing to fill open park roles, maybe the soon to be without a job cast members from SWGS can move into those open positions. Regarding salaried cast that need a home that's another story. TWDC advised the third round of layoffs will occur early summer...

 

[Nubs70]

Wow… Reports indicate the parks and the Galactic Starcruiser cost some $2 billion to build.

2x Lake Nona??

 

[Nubs70]

Hopefully “what they learned” was that you can’t charge $6,000 for a 2 night experience and expect it to be successful. This closing comes as a surprise to literally nobody except maybe. Bob Chapek.

I think the only original things that could be attributed to Chapek are the post Covid restart policies. But again, Iger was floating around in the background like Snoke for much of that time also.

 

[dreday3]

And now they can build the immersive Haunted Mansion Hotel that we all really wanted!

(just kidding, sort of)

 

[zakattack99]

I know I am just echoing what has been said here by others but I was really excited for this. I am not a cosplayer but I thought it would be fun to spend a few days in an immersive environment and "be part of" my favorite movie. Concept art looked good, Disney's talking points seemed good, then the price came... and I just stopped caring. I knew it would be expensive but this was just so far out of my budget that it was not even worth dreaming about, they were/are asking for more for three nights then what I have spent to go to the parks for a week with flights! Then the vlogs and videos came and I was happy to hear that those who went liked it, the execution seemed small not grand but seemed exciting but it also it looked "fake". For what they where asking it needed to be grand and "real" for me to get on board again to even start dreaming about it again. That never happened and I wish I felt disappointed that this is going away but I just don't care.

Disney has dropped the ball on Star Wars since they got their hands on it. Yes Dave and the team over on D+ are working on fixing it but even the most recent series of Mando was at best a C+. I am afraid that they are transitioning to not telling stories and selling more merch, and I don't want to go down that direction. Disney's desire to shy away from the original films and characters is mind boggling. But Disney's handling of Star Wars is a thread in its own right.

Just to further drive in how crazy the cost on this was at $5000 a night for a couple you could take an actual cruise. For example if you take a cruise on RC Allure next May for three nights with their current deals and promotions and stay in a massive Aqua Theater Suite your paying about $3000. If you want to spend a little more you can pay just under $6000 in a Star Loft, again a massive room, all your alcohol, a number of other perks, and for lack of a better term a BUTLER (Royal calls them Genie) who is going to take care of you the whole cruise. Nothing close to this came with Starcruiser. If you want to skimp and stay in a simpler cabin you most likely can take a longer cruise however to try to compare the price evenly I used a three day experience. Can I afford the RC suite... again no but if I had some cash kicking around I know where I am spending it.

 

[DonniePeverley]

An utter waste.

 

[lentesta]

And now they can build the immersive Haunted Mansion Hotel that we all really wanted!

(just kidding, sort of)

I don't know how this is going to affect the Haunted Mansion concept. The last I heard was that testing of in-game rooms was progressing earlier this year, in full-size mockups on the soundstage.

 

[Incomudro]

My goodness. I assume the concept development costs go back to the weird LARP'ing (sp?) role playing game they built in Disneyland's Frontierland back in 2014? That was obviously the first play tests WDI did for a role playing type concept.

But even then, if the project costs can be traced back to relatively small outlays starting in Fiscal 2014, that price tag for this failure seems almost criminal. Not just idiotic, as the Parks and WDI executives of the past half decade have already proven themselves to be idiots.

This seems... almost criminal.

And where is Ann Morrow today, I wonder? Did she go into the office today, or is she taking a few Comp Days into the weekend?

I think we're safe now!

Isn't she in charge of Bud Light marketing?

 

[CinematicFusion]

It pains me that we could've gotten an upgraded Galaxy's Edge or another attraction (which DHS sorely needs) and instead it was wasted on this.

Agree

 

[Incomudro]

People can have their gripes about Starcruiser, but the experience was truly unique and creative. Overpriced? Yes. Uncreative? No.

The acting was very creative.
The vessel itself, not so much.

 

[CinematicFusion]

2x Lake Nona??

That’s what the report said https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-hotel-Disney-World-close-just-one-year.html

 

[SamusAranX]

This is my opinion, as well...The only thing Iger has done is buy already popular IPs and crash them into the dirt.

At some point, the only way to save Star Wars will be to "time travel" the sequels out of the story. Without doing this, they can produce all the prequels and shows they want, but we all know that it has to serve a story that ends with Vader giving his life for nothing, Luke dying alone and Palpatine killing off all his enemies and his daughter wearing the Luke skinsuit.

Nobody wants this story, but they keep insisting on it. Sit on a bench in Galaxy's Edge for an hour and I guarantee you that you will overhear multiple people asking where Vader, Luke, Han and Lando are.

A lot of people wondered what and when WDW’s 5th gate would be.

For sake of argument, let’s put aside the fact that it is completely unnecessary and the four parks need capacity investment in the worst way.

IF Disney wanted to do a 5th gate, they were literally handed one on a silver platter in the acquisition of SW. forget Galaxy’s edge; a Star Wars theme park was there for the taking…a port of entry, with lands for the Clone Wars, the Rebellion, and yes, for the younger generation, a sequel land. Or multiple worlds. A Hoth Land, a Crait Land, Coruscant port of entry, Endor battle area, Scarif, Tatooine, Naboo.

And it may have even alleviated some of the capacity issues at other parks.

I would have visited the heck out of that park. At the very least, that should have been the plan for Hollywood…touch on each era with OT the main focus…something for everyone and making Hollywood *the* park to visit in WDW.

How could they screw up something so easy in terms of a timeless IP boggles my mind and will continue to do so.

 

[Nubs70]

Wow,

So either the hotel is a massive overspend or Lake Nona is really not that big of a project.

I think we are now in a point in history where $1B is not a whole lot of money.