Galactic Starcruiser Closing Permanently In September!

[Princesca]

I really just don't get the decision to price it SO high. I was just talking to my wife about this, and I was thinking, Disney can operate an actual cruise ship for what... $400 a night per person at double occupancy? They are paying maintenance costs, utilities, food, CMs/attendants, and actors/entertainment, same as GSC. Why wasn't it priced closer to on par with an actual cruise, which is what it was emulating? For two of us to go to GSC I could just about take an actual 7-night cruise to the Caribbean on the Fantasy in a verandah stateroom and still have the included food and entertainment. There is not a universe in which I'm going to pick option A, there, and I consider myself an avid Star Wars fan.

 

[HokieRaven5]

I really just don't get the decision to price it SO high. I was just talking to my wife about this, and I was thinking, Disney can operate an actual cruise ship for what... $400 a night per person at double occupancy? They are paying maintenance costs, utilities, food, CMs/attendants, and actors/entertainment, same as GSC. Why wasn't it priced closer to on par with an actual cruise, which is what it was emulating? For two of us to go to GSC I could just about take an actual 7-night cruise to the Caribbean on the Fantasy in a verandah stateroom and still have the included food and entertainment. There is not a universe in which I'm going to pick option A, there, and I consider myself an avid Star Wars fan.

There is the 2500 passenger on a cruise vs 200 passenger double occupancy of Starcruiser comparison, along with the cruise lines can pay substantially less for all service/entertainment because they operate under international labor laws.

 

[BrianL]

There is the 2500 passenger on a cruise vs 200 passenger double occupancy of Starcruiser comparison, along with the cruise lines can pay substantially less for all service/entertainment because they operate under international labor laws.

Yup, that's the why. Of course, maybe it would have made more sense to make the Hyperion an actual cruise ship.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Yup, that's the why. Of course, maybe it would have made more sense to make the Hyperion an actual cruise ship.

Well, you can always board the Wish and see the Halcyon in post retirement life. At least unless they update the visuals in the Hyperspace Lounge.

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I really just don't get the decision to price it SO high. I was just talking to my wife about this, and I was thinking, Disney can operate an actual cruise ship for what... $400 a night per person at double occupancy? They are paying maintenance costs, utilities, food, CMs/attendants, and actors/entertainment, same as GSC. Why wasn't it priced closer to on par with an actual cruise, which is what it was emulating? For two of us to go to GSC I could just about take an actual 7-night cruise to the Caribbean on the Fantasy in a verandah stateroom and still have the included food and entertainment. There is not a universe in which I'm going to pick option A, there, and I consider myself an avid Star Wars fan.

Greed. It's a human condition. Humans are not perfect.

Also, I completely agree with your points. I have never taken a cruise, but when Pete Werner explained that it was less expensive to book a 3-night cruise, concierge level room with a veranda, I asked myself why would anyone book a SW based non-cruise to go LARPing. I have friends that LARP and cos-play, and they have done it since college, and they do it on the cheap. It's sort of looked down upon by them to spend lots of money to LARP and cos-play. They may not be the normal LARPers or COSers, but I don't think they are ABnormal LARPers or COSers either.

 

[OKW Lover]

Perhaps Disney will just turn the building into a storage facility for merchandise and consumables. Its handy to the park and that type of use wouldn't require major work.

 

[New Mouse]

This experience was substantially cheaper to run than a 3 night cruise for 4000 people as well.

 

[starlite_]

I feel bad for the cast members. Hopefully they'll be given jobs somewhere else in the company.

Not surprised, though. It was far too expensive and there aren't enough SW fans with that kind of money to keep it going for long. It was greenlit after The Force Awakens was a massive hit and it looked like SW was going to be huge again. Then the other two sequel movies came out.

My guess is they'll revamp it into a deluxe SW themed hotel and add a swimming pool. They might keep a few of the cooler features, like letting people put it into hyperspace. But it'll otherwise be just like their other hotels.

I am hoping it comes back as a normal hotel tbh. Maybe add a tower so they can have more rooms and have the extra roleplay experiences as an add-on. The dinner show, the lightsaber thingy, etc. They can still do part of the roleplay with the app, lots of ppl used that and never interacted with the cast.

 

[Kestryl]

In regards to labor costs:

These named characters are present for both days: Captain Keevan, Lenka Mok, Raithe Kole, Gaya, Ouanni, Sandro, Sammie, Lt. Croy.

There are also a number of Sajas. There were at least three on our trip, but I want to say there were more.

And a pair of storm troopers.

Chewie, Rey, Kylo Ren show up on day 2.

The rest of the crew has varying levels of story involvement. They may not be the main actors, but they are the embodiment of “cast member.” Everyone, from the bartenders to the servers to the shop keepers to the event runners to valet to baggage handlers, was in character the whole time.

This also doesn’t count the maintenance and service behind the scenes.

 

[starlite_]

@Obi-J Kenobi What did I say that you found funny? Come on, share the joke! What do you hope will happen?

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I am hoping it comes back as a normal hotel tbh. Maybe add a tower so they can have more rooms and have the extra roleplay experiences as an add-on. The dinner show, the lightsaber thingy, etc. They can still do part of the roleplay with the app, lots of ppl used that and never interacted with the cast.

I think it is much more likely that Star Cruiser will be given the Harmonious treatment of being destroyed than adding a tower with more rooms, IMO.

TWDC will take the depreciation and destroy the Star Cruiser. Accountants will demand it. That's also why the place is closing before October 1st, accounting reasons and business years, etc.

Plus, I have no clue how they are going to build a Tower, more parking, more amenities, parking, etc. on that footprint and still keep it from the views and theming of being completely immersed in GE?

 

[starlite_]

I think it is much more likely that Star Cruiser will be given the Harmonious treatment of being destroyed than adding a tower with more rooms, IMO.

TWDC will take the depreciation and destroy the Star Cruiser. Accountants will demand it. That's also why the place is closing before October 1st, accounting reasons and business years, etc.

Plus, I have no clue how they are going to build a Tower, more parking, more amenities, parking, etc. on that footprint and still keep it from the views and theming of being completely immersed in GE?

MMh, not sure why you couldn't disagree without laughing at me tbh. Plus I said what I hoped would happen, not what is most likely to happen

 

[CaliAdventurer]

I personally went in it when it opened but it was a hard pill to swallow not being a Star Wars fan and the price of course. For a family of four it was half of what I paid for my first car but I knew I wanted to experience it once as a Disney Parks fan and a friend pushed me to take our families together.

I was awestruck. It was epic. So epic, that I knew we had to do it again because we went in blind not being big fans. Thankfully, our friends cajoled us into ordered costumes and the first night we wore them but not after. It was an experience our family will never forget and you had this feeling that you were witnessing the future, like the Jurassic Park, or Avatar. It’s hard to be impressed these days or do something that makes your kids slack jawed with surprise and wonder. It was worth every penny and we shall see if we can sneak in another trip before it’s gone.

For everyone saying it was a joke, bad idea, negligent spending etc. - I don’t see anyone saying that who actually did the journey. I can tell you a 3 day veranda cruise is forgettable in comparison. To each his own but go on and tell us all more about the value of something you’ve never experienced.

 

[RoseGold]

This point does make me wonder if a Harry Potter version of this would've done well. Like, imagine if you were a student at Hogwarts and you could dine in the Great Hall, be assigned a house, play Quidditch, etc. Not like that would ever happen now but it's fun to think about. Universal is already dealing with their escape rooms not doing so hot. They've already had to reduce the price of those.

I actually commented this when Starcruiser was announced. LARPing in general is my worst nightmare, but I think Harry Potter would have been my exception. Heck, I'll settle for a hotel with fun portraits in the hall and heavy theming, like a sorting hat.

 

[kanerf]

DVC in Space!

 

[Smugpugmug]

I actually commented this when Starcruiser was announced. LARPing in general is my worst nightmare, but I think Harry Potter would have been my exception. Heck, I'll settle for a hotel with fun portraits in the hall and heavy theming, like a sorting hat.

I think it would be cool too since Harry Potter still has massive appeal. I was just at Universal for the weekend and saw both adults and kids wearing those $140 robes. Minus the price point, the big issue would be to get JK Rowling to approve since according to her contract with Universal she has full control of what is done with the IP in the parks.

 

[RedHead0186]

I personally went in it when it opened but it was a hard pill to swallow not being a Star Wars fan and the price of course. For a family of four it was half of what I paid for my first car but I knew I wanted to experience it once as a Disney Parks fan and a friend pushed me to take our families together.

I was awestruck. It was epic. So epic, that I knew we had to do it again because we went in blind not being big fans. Thankfully, our friends cajoled us into ordered costumes and the first night we wore them but not after. It was an experience our family will never forget and you had this feeling that you were witnessing the future, like the Jurassic Park, or Avatar. It’s hard to be impressed these days or do something that makes your kids slack jawed with surprise and wonder. It was worth every penny and we shall see if we can sneak in another trip before it’s gone.

For everyone saying it was a joke, bad idea, negligent spending etc. - I don’t see anyone saying that who actually did the journey. I can tell you a 3 day veranda cruise is forgettable in comparison. To each his own but go on and tell us all more about the value of something you’ve never experienced.

Excellent point. For some people, this was probably a true once-in-a-lifetime experience/highlight, and so for them it was well worth it. For others, not so much. Everybody needs to decide for themselves what they are willing to spend money on, and how much they're willing to spend. So happy to hear it was a great experience for you!

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

@Obi-J Kenobi What did I say that you found funny? Come on, share the joke! What do you hope will happen?

"They can still do part of the roleplay with the app"

That comment is freaking hilarious and legendary.

The way this was framed with "the roleplay" is funny. Then, substantively, I don't know where to start because I don't know where the roleplaying is taking place, in the common areas, in GE, in the bedroom, etc. etc., and I question reliability and Disney's ability to provide good IT services for roleplaying.

I am having hoot and half following these threads and posts. It's not as fun as the masking threads, but it's still fun to people watch.

 

[foolish_mortals]

It had all the overhead of a hotel, a luxury restaurant, and a stage show without all of the money makers for those businesses.

With only 100 rooms you still need to have a minimum amount of staff. Generally more staff since it’s billed as a ‘luxury’ experience, it’s why you will see more staff at Contemporary vs Pop.

We can assume that Disney got greedy so let’s say they wanted to profit at 30% which is crazy for a hotel. With just 30 empty rooms they are barely breaking even. They probably didn’t expect the hotel to be less than 70% full. Hotels make money off of rooms (which there aren’t that many, so any empty room hurts); food and beverage (which is included, I’m sure at a good profit margin); and conference space (which there isn’t any).

Then there is the show aspect. Having multiple actors “on stage” for more than an 8 hour day gets expensive. Concert and show tickets are expensive where $150 for 3 hours seems a bargain. The price per person, per hour of entertainment tracks.

Yes the cost is very high, but I think it’s what this level of experience would need to cost for Disney to make a reasonable profit. It would need to cost even more if they started to pay cast members better. People have shown that they are willing to pay that much for entertainment; I mean a Super Bowl ticket usually starts at $2500 for one person.

I think they overestimated the market for this type of entertainment and assumed it would always be full. That might have been because they initially announced it in 2019 and after that the market changed and hasn’t been the same. I would love to know if additional market research was done after the announcement and if it was…was it ignored?

 

[starlite_]

"They can still do part of the roleplay with the app"

That comment is freaking hilarious and legendary.

The way this was framed with "the roleplay" is funny. Then, substantively, I don't know where to start because I don't know where the roleplaying is taking place, in the common areas, in GE, in the bedroom, etc. etc., and I question reliability and Disney's ability to provide good IT services for roleplaying.

I am having hoot and half following these threads and posts. It's not as fun as the masking threads, but it's still fun to people watch.

And now I don't know if you are making fun of me or making fun of Disney.