News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

monothingie

Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.
Premium Member
You're starting a different discussion about how good a job they would do with it.

The question was would an HM themed appeal to a lot of guests or just a "niche market". I think it has mass appeal. More than Star Wars for Disney Parks fans.
Sorry no, but that's just wrong.. You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but based on popularity of attractions (wait time), crowds, merch sales, etc. Star Wars has significantly more mass appeal for Disney Park fans than anything else, even Marvel.
 

twilight mitsuk

Well-Known Member
That’s why I referenced Space220 as you go up a “space elevator” in that.

Picture if you will entering a side entrance to the Hollywood Tower Hotel near the gift shop to board what looks to be an old decrepit elevator not unlike the regular ride except you’re in a guest elevator not a maintenance elevator. A Rod Serling narration plays and the elevator goes dark. When the lights come back on, it likes like it could’ve been built yesterday. The all too familiar *ding* plays that indicates you’ve arrived at your floor. A friendly bellhop greets you as the door opens to a fancy 1930’s Jazz club with music, the smell of great food, and a dance floor.

“Welcome to The Tip Top Club!”
Entering the twilight zone without the drop
 

dreday3

Well-Known Member
Sorry no, but that's just wrong.. You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but based on popularity of attractions (wait time), crowds, merch sales, etc. Star Wars has significantly more mass appeal for Disney Park fans than anything else, even Marvel.

Well I certainly can't prove I'm not wrong, but anecdotally from friends/family and even posts on this thread, an HM or ToT themed hotel would be popular with Disney Parks fans.
 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
This doesn’t seem like rocket science. Poll the adults showing up to major Star Wars
Conventions.

What’s the average income ?

That’s how you figure out what price point you have to be at.

Maybe I’m wrong but that seems like a better plan to me then whatever Disney did.
But just because people can spend the money, doesn't mean that they will. The fact that they barely tried discounting before closing it suggests they didn't have much room to move on price before it didn't make financial sense to keep the place open.

There are possibly ways in which they could have provided a product that enough people would have been willing to pay for to keep this kind of venue running into eternity. I just have my doubts and don't think we'll ever really know for sure.

Yeah you will get your hardcore Star Wars fans but for it to have been successful they needed the casual Disney visitor to do it as well. The problem I see is that aside from the price point is how many people would take 2 days out of their weeks vacation to do this?
Yes, I'm really in the category where I never would have paid for this however impressive the experience looked. If you only have X amount of days in a vacation, this is a big investment beyond cash and, when it comes to families, you're not likely to have multiple family members equally invested in the experience. So, do you split up, paying this and for a hotel room, drag kids and spouses along who really don't want to do it, etc? I'm glad people enjoyed it, but the role playing aspect seems like a special kind of hell for me.

My suspicion is that this was meant to be pitched at hardcore Disney visitors more than hardcore Star Wars fans and the finding is that the market for this kind of experience is too small.
 

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
I think the closure of the SW hotel is a good sign of "we got it wrong, and we're willing to show that we know"
It is a good sign. Is it a sign that they're going to change their approach? I guess we'll see.
The time barrier has already broken down in Batuu with Mando walk-arounds, I would expect them to embrace an overall SW land available to all the characters and less on a specific timeframe moving forward.
That's the best part of this failure in my opinion. They can now make glaxys edge into a celebration of all things star wars. The way it should have been from the start.
With Star Wars, the name IS enough. Poor decisions won't dismantle something millions cherish and adore. Star Wars will survive.
While I agree that a few bad decisions won't dismantle the brand forever. I don't agree that the star wars name is enough anymore. That didn't work for the star cruiser. And just ask Solo a star wars story how that helped. And just the opening of galaxys edge in Cali should show that as well. I remember lines around the park when mermaid opened there. When star wars opened? Ghost town. That said, Mando and the baby yoda phenomenon proves it can still have an impact. Now what Disney does from here on out is still a big question.
 

FettFan

Well-Known Member
And also want to hang out with adults playing dress up?

I have the disposable income, love Star Wars, Disney parks, and themed experiences, but you could not pay me enough to be locked in a hotel with some d-bag in a costume talking about his backstory.

THIS!

Fiancée and I saw one of them at DHS cruising down Hollywood Blvd with his plastic lightsaber glowing and his Party City cape billowing in the wind.

It it was a kid or a teenager, I could understand it….but this guy looked about my age, and I’m nearing 40.

Fiancée and I both turned into Ron Swanson for a second…

F8394E43-EF7E-4388-8AE2-046EBDABC6EE.jpeg
 

TheMaxRebo

Well-Known Member
I still don’t buy the price point argument. Sure it’s part of the equation but it’s not everything.

Make the experience a must do.

Even if their hotel was free I would still rather just pay to stay at Boardwalk.

People pay $1200 a year for a new iPhone for a better camera or something.

It’s not that people couldn’t afford this, it’s just the people who can do not want it.

I think it is both - it was something new and different and not everyone knew what to make of it. And while you didn't have to fully immerse yourself, you would miss out on some of the experience .... So at least for me, who is not outgoing and was worried if the experience would cause me anxiety, it was pretty hard to drop $6k on something I may or may not like

If it was $1,500 it would be a lot easier to take the risk
 

LSLS

Well-Known Member
Well I certainly can't prove I'm not wrong, but anecdotally from friends/family and even posts on this thread, an HM or ToT themed hotel would be popular with Disney Parks fans.
So, would it, or would a concept of it be more popular than what was actually delivered for the Galaxy Cruiser? Basically, is the comparisson just a Star Wars hotel vs a ToT hotel, or what we got for Star Wars vs a conceptual ToT? Cause I can say with certainty that a Star Wars Cruise ship would be MUCH preferred for my wife. But, the second they mentioned all interaction, they couldn't pay her enough to get within 100 feet of that place.
 

dreday3

Well-Known Member
THIS!

Fiancée and I saw one of them at DHS cruising down Hollywood Blvd with his plastic lightsaber glowing and his Party City cape billowing in the wind.

It it was a kid or a teenager, I could understand it….but this guy looked about my age, and I’m nearing 40.

Fiancée and I both turned into Ron Swanson for a second…

View attachment 717340

I mean, we don't do this either - although I did buy a Slytherin scarf and hat, 🤔. But how is this anymore weird than grown men who paint their faces, wear everything related to their favorite sports team and act like morons at sporting events? 😄
It's all just for fun.
 

TheMaxRebo

Well-Known Member
And also want to hang out with adults playing dress up?

I have the disposable income, love Star Wars, Disney parks, and themed experiences, but you could not pay me enough to be locked in a hotel with some d-bag in a costume talking about his backstory.

Hard to make everyone happy - I saw many comment from people who said they wouldn't go because it wasn't immersive enough b/c they didn't force people to wear costumes and have a backstory, etc. That seeing people in just a Disney Tshirt ruined the immersion for them

Also, can we just let people enjoy things? Why are they automatically a d-bag?
 

dreday3

Well-Known Member
So, would it, or would a concept of it be more popular than what was actually delivered for the Galaxy Cruiser? Basically, is the comparisson just a Star Wars hotel vs a ToT hotel, or what we got for Star Wars vs a conceptual ToT? Cause I can say with certainty that a Star Wars Cruise ship would be MUCH preferred for my wife. But, the second they mentioned all interaction, they couldn't pay her enough to get within 100 feet of that place.

I don't know? :)

I will say, look how popular Halloween Horror Nights is at Universal. Look how popular Halloween in general is across the US.
I find it hard to imagine that a hotel themed to HM or ToT at Disney (let's say a regular hotel with options discussed in this thread, bars, dinners, etc, not immersive role-playing like they tried) would NOT be a popular option for families, adults, just overall Disney Parks fans. If it was priced right.
 

Communicora

Premium Member
I don't know? :)

I will say, look how popular Halloween Horror Nights is at Universal. Look how popular Halloween in general is across the US.
I find it hard to imagine that a hotel themed to HM at Disney (let's say a regular hotel, not immersive like they tried) would NOT be a popular option for families, adults, just overall Disney Parks fans. If it was priced right.
I still think the price point and format will be a challenge, no matter the theme.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
This doesn’t seem like rocket science. Poll the adults showing up to major Star Wars
Conventions.

What’s the average income ?

That’s how you figure out what price point you have to be at.

Maybe I’m wrong but that seems like a better plan to me then whatever Disney did.
instead disney looked at it's existing guests... looked at how much they spend and asked them if they thought this offer would be worth more?

It was literally in the survey they did with guests in 2017. I know... I reviewed that survey as a focus group.
 

FigmentFan82

Well-Known Member
While I agree that a few bad decisions won't dismantle the brand forever. I don't agree that the star wars name is enough anymore. That didn't work for the star cruiser. And just ask Solo a star wars story how that helped. And just the opening of galaxys edge in Cali should show that as well. I remember lines around the park when mermaid opened there. When star wars opened? Ghost town. That said, Mando and the baby yoda phenomenon proves it can still have an impact. Now what Disney does from here on out is still a big question.
Each thing you mentioned has specific issues for that specific project.
Star Cruiser priced out the majority of it's fans - the brand wasn't the issue, the price was
Solo released 6 months after the previous SW film with barely any marketing - still made a good chunk of change and is arguably better than any of the sequel films
SWGE Cali - again $, you gotta pay a hefty price just to get into the park
Arguably none of these things speaks negatively to the Star Wars brand, rather what was done with in in that specific instance

Also, SW fans while they complain constantly, still come back to the brand.
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
One thing I think Universal would get right that this didn't would be having a grand enough setting to justify the price (having it take place in Hogwarts presumably). The interior of the Starcruiser was neither amazing enough to be impressive or Star Wars-y enough to make people book trips for the nostalgia factor.

Making it themed to a civilian space cruise ship, instead of something like an Imperial battle station or a Jedi Temple, was a mistake.
I think universal would build a hotel with cool amenities and Some Things that are extra…not a scheduled time for everything.

In Diagon alley…some people are wearing Brandon T-shirts and some are walking around in robes…but it works

The same coulda been done at Star Wars resort. They could have just an expensive simulator/advanced VR arcade and it would he booked for 20 years.

But now that NEVER will happen.
 
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LittleBuford

Well-Known Member
I still don’t buy the price point argument. Sure it’s part of the equation but it’s not everything.

Make the experience a must do.

Even if their hotel was free I would still rather just pay to stay at Boardwalk.

People pay $1200 a year for a new iPhone for a better camera or something.

It’s not that people couldn’t afford this, it’s just the people who can do not want it.
This isn’t what made it prohibitively expensive. Even if we have enough money for something, most of us have some sense of what is and isn’t appropriate to pay for it and may on principle baulk at crossing a perceived threshold. I cannot imagine myself ever paying what they were charging for a two-night stay, regardless of the theme or experience involved, just as I wouldn’t pay $20 for a really delicious loaf of bread.
 

dreday3

Well-Known Member
This isn’t what made it prohibitively expensive. Even if we have enough money for it, most of us have some sense of what is and isn’t appropriate to pay for something and may on principle baulk at crossing a perceived threshold. I cannot imagine myself ever paying what they were charging for a two-night stay, regardless of the theme or experience involved, just as I wouldn’t pay $20 for a really delicious loaf of bread.

Wait....how delicious is the bread? 😄
 

Trauma

Well-Known Member
This isn’t what made it prohibitively expensive. Even if we have enough money for something, most of us have some sense of what is and isn’t appropriate to pay for it and may on principle baulk at crossing a perceived threshold. I cannot imagine myself ever paying what they were charging for a two-night stay, regardless of the theme or experience involved, just as I wouldn’t pay $20 for a really delicious loaf of bread.
The way grocery prices are going up you won’t be eating bread soon.
 

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