Starcruiser: What do you think it'll be used for in 5 years?

[UKStu]

Yeah once the bloggers, rich and super fans leave, I'm not sure where it goes. It's expensive and the rooms look tiny and a bit naff. For that money I think people are wanting a spot of luxury not cramped tacky tat. It will live and die by how good the experience is. It WILL be made to be successful at launch but when they (inevitably) start to withdraw the expensive bits it will quitely be retired.

 

[Diamond Dot]

Once the bloggers/vloggers and fanboys are one and done with it I suspect interest will decrease so it’ll be interesting to watch

It'll be vloggers and celebrities getting freebies to plug the place, but, it'll still be far too much for us ordinary plebs to want to pay.

 

[Diamond Dot]

Another thread, wahoo

It's not the place, it's the cost that's causing the hate.

 

[Diamond Dot]

So long as you got more money than sense.

 

[Brad Bishop]

It's not the place, it's the cost that's causing the hate.

I think they could justify the cost if everything we saw so far left us with, "OMG! That's freaking amazing!"

You don't get that from the videos released so far nor the box truck. It actually kind of leaves you with, "Now I'd feel like a chump if I was paying that.." - which is where, I think, a lot of the cancellations came from. It wasn't "OMG! THAT'S AMAZING!" but more, " IS THIS? THIS IS STAR WARS?? THIS IS $6K (min) for less than 48hours???"

Paying more isn't bad. You can go to the local Texas Roadhouse and have a steak ($50/head meal) or you can go to a local chef's restaurant ($500+/head meal) where there are few tables but that chef is going to make that $500/head meal quiet, relaxing, amazing, cozy, romantic - you're going to remember it. It's going to be special. You're going to walk away thinking, "That was an amazing experience." That chef COULD sell that $50 Texas Roadhouse meal (which is still good) for $500, but you're going to walk away annoyed and feeling like a chump.

 

[doctornick]

The obsession with the box truck is beyond me. We haven't seen the inside or what the experience is like, which is the only thing that matter in regards to that.

There's a lot of things to critique/be leery of in regards to the Starcruiser, but the fact that they are using a box truck as transportation isn't one of them. I honestly have no idea why people keep bringing it up as an issue.

 

[Indy_UK]

It will just end up as imagineer accommodation down the line and be a constant reminder for them of what could have been

 

[Minthorne]

I have 3 words to explain everything that they have planned for this after the initial hype:

Pigs
In
Space

 

[Prince-1]

It's not the place, it's the cost that's causing the hate.

Exactly. People who can’t afford it that want really go hate it. It is all about the jealousy.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

I know - "It's still yet to open!" and "Disney could turn it around!"

I think this thing is flawed from the get-go:
- it doesn't make sense. It makes sense on the surface until you realize:
- Guests aren't looking for a "cruise" in space.
- Why would you take a cruise that went anywhere near a war zone?
- On a normal cruise ship it may take me a week or more to explore the entire thing. If you look at the size of the Star Cruiser it's essentially the size of a large city. This building is the size of a very small hotel. I can't help but think that your brain is going to map it out as: The 12 rooms for guests are over there. There's the "bridge". There's the light saber training. There's the lounge. There's the dining area. That's it. It's going to be painfully obvious that this is like the opposite of the Tardis where it's actually tiny on the inside compared to the (supposed) outside (the giant ship they're saying you're on).
- done on the cheap
- Capt. Karen
- They'll be using technology of the past (because Star Wars IS in the past) like the iPhone or iPad you bring with you.
- when enter a port, you'll be transported by box car to a theme park that has sort-of Star Wars in it. You know you're in a theme park.

I think other realities will be:
- Disney isn't big on paying for actors to LARP (see Galaxy's Edge which was going to be so immersive with such people)

My guess is that this entire thing is management driven: "We bought Star Wars! We have to make money with Star Wars! Get Kennedy on the phone!"

Instead of an Imagineer driven thing which I think would have caught the #1 problem: No one really want to take a Star Wars space cruise. What they want is to be on a battleship on one side or the other blasting away. If you look at other interviews with Imagineers like Rhode, they always seem to catch these kinds of flaws and say things like, "Well, in this situation, if you think about it, you'd expect X, not Y," and you're left with, "That's both genius and incredibly obvious!" and that's where the brilliance is!

Left to the imagineers, I think we would have gotten a much better Star Wars land where we could have had interactive simulators (all battling in the same space) including the Millennium Falcon, X-wing, Y-wing, Tie-fighters, etc. How cool would it have been if it were all just a constant battle and you got to get in line to play until you were either hit or some time limit expired. You could have the Imperial side of the land (maybe you were "transported" to the Death Star) or the Rebel side (on one of the ships just on the other side of some planet).

Instead, (management), we got:
- $200+ droid building
- $40+ Star Wars drinks at a bar
- Expensive Star Wars plush / T-shirts
- 2 rides, one which isn't talked about much any longer.
- kind of an empty desert land
- a tiny "Star Cruiser" hotel at $6K/stay (not quite 48hrs)

I just think that management has blown it on this. From the looks of it, the Star Cruiser was done cheaply enough that they won't lose much by shutting it down in a few years. There's no fancy ride mechanism to simulate a shuttle to Galaxy's Edge. Nope. Just a box truck. Easily used for transporting plush.

...and that's leads to the subject of this post: I think, 5 years out, we're likely to see the Star Cruiser become long-term (because there's a road in the way) back-stage storage.

The few who will try it at $6K/stay (min) aren't likely to be repeat customers. The average Disney guest really is priced out of this one. The offerings for the $6K/stay (min) look pretty weak. Also, this isn't a park that they've invested $$B into. In that situation (like DCA) they pretty much have to redo it. This? It's a small building that can easily be repurposed for storage.

I'd guess that they'll try to rework it once or twice in that 5 years but, ultimately, they really don't want to spend the money on it. They really just want people to hand over $6K/stay (or more). I think that management sort of just expects people to do this because: Disney and Star Wars.

When Universal wanted to transport people, they build the Hogwarts train and it's an experience. Disney? They decorate the inside of a box car. This tells you what they think: You love them. You'll pay. Doesn't matter what they do.

SPOT ON!! 100% THIS!!! However you forgot one thing...it also has...ahem.....NO POOL!!!

 

[Tha Realest]

Just to be clear, I am not putting all people with negative comments in the "I want to see if fail camp", but I do believe there are people who do want to see if fail so it sends a message to Disney.

I never understand the people who criticize others for raising criticisms of Disney. It would be a pretty boring discussion board if everyone just liked everything.

Its not uncommon for many people in their jobs to elicit feedback from colleagues (bounce ideas off of them, edit documents, etc). If I point out typos or some inherent stragetic flaw that is correctable to a coworker, am I hoping for my company to fail? No. In highlighting the problems I’m hoping they correct them.

Put another way, as a Bears fan should I be blindly supportive of a franchise that picks Trubiski over Mahomes, or, onde we have Fields, keep biting my tongue when they hire a head coach that favors an offensive scheme that may clash with the great young QB?

 

[GuyFawkes]

Let's see how well Lightyear performs at the box office and we'll revisit this discussion.

Let's see if it is a bait and switch. Buzz movie that turns into strong ethnic female character? Seriously, is that what this movie is?

 

[Sean W]

I think it will evolve over time once you have a new CEO that let's the imagineers get more involved. I could see day programs where you go up to the ship for mini adventures that last a couple hours for a premium I'm sure. Adding a rebel training section would help with x-wing simulators. Also developing at nearby location for an imperail academy including flight training & having a space battle between the rebel x-wing pilots & imperial tie fighter pilots. Think of fun adventures infiltrating imperail academy as a spy & vice versa. For the hotel to succeed it has to evolve & be the 1st step in a bigger picture.

 

[OG Runner]

I think it will revert to a hotel, maybe not as many extras included, such as the atmosphere characters
and the price will come down.

 

[tpoly88]

I will stay away from the debate over whether it will succeed or not, the main thread covers that well. Let's focus on the question of what else could be done with it.

One option would be to just scale it back. Instead of the multi-day experience just make it an overnight experience. Maybe board at 5:00 PM and leave by 10:00 AM. Give some time for some activities and you get to stay in a themed environment but it still allows for park days on either side. This would allow it to function a little more like a normal hotel without having to add a bunch of amenities you would need in a normal hotel.

i like your idea. two nights locked in for $6000? no thank you.

 

[tagoofy]

I hadn't even thought about the DVC resort.

From the responses so far I like:
- bus driver break room (kind of makes sense)
- re-work it into a DVC resort (which also makes sense - they could just build a bridge over to DHS and that would work really well).. OR... hear me out.. They could load the DVC guests into the back of a box truck and then just dump them into one of the lands.

To the person who really did want to take a cruise in space (and there's nothing wrong with that), ask yourself this:
- Would I want to take a cruise (normal) into, say, the Persian Gulf after 9/11?

The reason I say that is that it doesn't make any sense. If they had the Star Cruiser be sort of like the space restaurant that they just opened at Epcot (not tied to Star Wars) then that really starts making a lot of sense but I think the tininess of the hotel starts to play a factor.

I still argue that what most people are expecting for this hotel is to be somewhere in the fight (which isn't on a cruise ship) and on one side or the other. That's a whole different atmosphere than a cruise ship and more in line to Star Wars.

I just think that "Space Cruise Ship" and "Star Wars", while initially sounding good, really is a terrible / doesn't make sense sort of match.

Everything else is about implementation and that's where the tininess of the hotel comes into play as well as the box truck, character acters, etc.

I don't think Disney is really looking to put on a stage show, I think they just want to have a fancy vending machine where guest "just pay" and get some product with minimal effort on their side.

 

[tagoofy]

I think they could justify the cost if everything we saw so far left us with, "OMG! That's freaking amazing!"

You don't get that from the videos released so far nor the box truck. It actually kind of leaves you with, "Now I'd feel like a chump if I was paying that.." - which is where, I think, a lot of the cancellations came from. It wasn't "OMG! THAT'S AMAZING!" but more, "*** IS THIS? THIS IS STAR WARS?? THIS IS $6K (min) for less than 48hours???"

Paying more isn't bad. You can go to the local Texas Roadhouse and have a steak ($50/head meal) or you can go to a local chef's restaurant ($500+/head meal) where there are few tables but that chef is going to make that $500/head meal quiet, relaxing, amazing, cozy, romantic - you're going to remember it. It's going to be special. You're going to walk away thinking, "That was an amazing experience." That chef COULD sell that $50 Texas Roadhouse meal (which is still good) for $500, but you're going to walk away annoyed and feeling like a chump.

I agree.

The hate is not just about the cost, but rather the experience (at least as it is being marketed so far). I think a lot of the initial reservations and now cancelations were from die hard SW/role playing fans (nerds if you will) that initially thought OMG, this is great and then changed to OMG, I'm going to feel like a chump for spending for this.
I go to GenCon each year (look it up if you don't know what that is), and you might be surprised at the people with not very high means that spend A LOT of cash (yes, $1000's, or even 10,000's) if the experience is very good (they save up and this is their main thing they spend $$ on). I think the price can still work, IF the experience is there for them (totally immersive and feel like you are living it for 48 hours). Problem is, it does not seem made for this audience (or any audience other than those with lots of $$ an just want to brag they did it). Time will tell. The marketing thus far has been very underwhelming (at least for the nerd crowd).

So my vote is, storage.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think they could justify the cost if everything we saw so far left us with, "OMG! That's freaking amazing!"

You don't get that from the videos released so far nor the box truck. It actually kind of leaves you with, "Now I'd feel like a chump if I was paying that.." - which is where, I think, a lot of the cancellations came from. It wasn't "OMG! THAT'S AMAZING!" but more, "*** IS THIS? THIS IS STAR WARS?? THIS IS $6K (min) for less than 48hours???"

Paying more isn't bad. You can go to the local Texas Roadhouse and have a steak ($50/head meal) or you can go to a local chef's restaurant ($500+/head meal) where there are few tables but that chef is going to make that $500/head meal quiet, relaxing, amazing, cozy, romantic - you're going to remember it. It's going to be special. You're going to walk away thinking, "That was an amazing experience." That chef COULD sell that $50 Texas Roadhouse meal (which is still good) for $500, but you're going to walk away annoyed and feeling like a chump.

Mmmmmmm Texas Roadhouse

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Let's see if it is a bait and switch. Buzz movie that turns into strong ethnic female character? Seriously, is that what this movie is?

My response was that if the movie does well I could almost see it being rethemed to the Buzz Lightyear movie. Given it's proximity to both Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge it kind of works. The Starcruiser looks so far removed from Star Wars in tone anyway that the absurd armchair idea sounds almost logical. Some well-placed purple and green paint accents would more than adequately hint at a Lightyear motif. It's so generic in appearance that it could be retooled to a different IP with relative ease. I had joked in another thread about it being rethemed to Hulu's The Orville.

General scifi space adventure theme is not "Star Wars" in tone or character. It's like one of those preset themes in a Roller Coaster tycoon game.

As for the movie Lightyear, I'm looking forward to seeing it empowered female and all.

 

[Brad Bishop]

Mmmmmmm Texas Roadhouse

They really do get it right.

If I want a REALLY good steak, I'll do it myself. If I'm being lazy and still want a good steak, Texas Roadhouse is my go-to.

What amazes me is how some restaurants had it right for a long time (like the quality of Texas Roadhouse "right") and just fell by the wayside over the years (not as good / seems like it's more expensive than it needs to be for what you're getting):
- Longhorn - used to be my go-to 20years back. Last time I went it was a miserable cut of meat (like an end cut where they would rather try to sell it as a full-blown rib-eye steak instead of just eating the cost on one bad cut. Imagine your ribeye sitting there in front of you and it's about 1/2" tall on one side and tapers off to nothing on the other side. Still full price. One of those, "I feel dumb paying for this." - and I never went back. that was probably 2008 or so)
- Outback - they used to do a great job seasoning their steaks. Now not so much. It's not horrible but it's not great or even good. It's OK. It's my fallback to if Texas Roadhouse is full. I can always find a seat at Outback (which tells you something - literally it can be across the street and you can have Texas Roadhouse with a line out the door and Outback have plenty of seating available).

What kills me about this is: Cooking a steak isn't hard. It basically comes down to:
- a decent cut / not a sloppy end cut - sell that at a discount if you want
- seasoning (salt & pepper if nothing else - here's where they miss it)
- just cook it right

I think for most of this the push for profits supersedes the desire for producing a quality product. If you remove seasoning you save a few ¢s per order... If you sell cuts of meat that really should be scrap for full price then you've reduced your loss. None of this has an immediate effect so, on the books, it looks really good. The beancounters can show how they saved money and increased profits. What they fail to show is how customers start falling off the vine because the impact of their cost-savings won't really be seen for months or years.

And... I'm going to bring this back around to Disney here: I think it's a problem that so many corporations have: They're not focused on making a quality product but making the most profit. In Disney's case they believe that they can charge a premium and deliver a sub-premium product. People will pay, anyway!

It actually goes back to why I stopped going to Disney. My regular pattern was: Have an annual pass, visit whichever parks I liked, each night have a good, sit-down meal at one of the restaurants either in the parks or at the resorts. Le Cellier was one of my favorites and I remember the last time being in there (around 2014, I think) looking at the bill, understanding I'm paying a premium for eating inside the parks, looking at my paper napkins (they used to be cloth), considering the steak/meal I had, which was "ok" and thinking, "this is stupid. All of the other meals during that same trip had been the same: you could see where the budget was cut (no more cloth napkins, service and food was sub-par, and the expense had risen. I remember sitting there thinking, "I guess I'm done eating at Disney / maybe going here." On paper, to Disney, my meal looked fantastic. Look at all of those cuts in costs to Disney. No more laundering cloth napkins, cheaper cuts of meat, less seasons, lower service AND I paid MORE! <- That was surely a win on the spreadsheet! Someone got their bonus that day.