Galactic Starcruiser Closing Permanently In September!

[meanwoodwhite]

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.

That's true, but with cruise liners you have massive fuel costs, maintenance costs and although you have cheap service labor. The officers (Captain, Engineers, doctors etc..)and entertainment staff are not cheap. You also have to pay travel costs for every member of staff to board the ship and go home. You also have to feed and water your whole staff.

 

[BrianL]

That's true, but with cruise liners you have massive fuel costs, maintenance costs and although you have cheap service labor. The officers (Captain, Engineers, doctors etc..)and entertainment staff are not cheap. You also have to pay travel costs for every member of staff to board the ship and go home. You also have to feed and water your whole staff.

Why is it that makes me picture a bunch of cruise personnel standing in rows of pots with the cruise director pouring Miracle Grow on them?

 

[Mrs Geek]

This is actually what the original plan was for Tower of Terror. They (Disney higher-ups) wanted it to be a real hotel that also had the ride experience to it. The hotel plan was scrapped because there was (probably justified) concern about having a ride with people regularly screaming so close to rooms where people might be sleeping. (If you have Disney+, watch the Behind the Attraction on Tower of Terror, it was really interesting!)

Right and so it wouldn't work as a regular hotel, but as a one-night themed experience? Like an after hours event where guests come dressed in their finest old Hollywood glam for a red carpet event, dinner at the Brown Derby, and then everyone rides and now- you're ghosts! And you spend the night in a room in the hotel and check out in the morning before park opening.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Why is it that makes me picture a bunch of cruise personnel standing in rows of pots with the cruise director pouring Miracle Grow on them?

Crew members must be cultivated.

 

[NotUrsula]

Don't forget that plenty of small-ship cruise experiences do exist. When you try comparing that operating model with GSC, the idea that it could be done on a cruise ship becomes less realistic. The economy of scale that is necessary to theme a cruise as elaborately as this one must be (sets, costumes/makeup, machinery) just isn't possible without a lot more paying passengers on a much larger vessel, but the more passengers you need, the more varied experiences you must provide in order to fill the berths.

Small cruise ships are lovely if you like boats, but you mostly only get 1 or 2 "special" aspects, such as special food & wines, lectures from subject experts, snorkeling or bird-watching opportunities; otherwise the entertainment is pretty ordinary; maybe a bit of dancing with dinner, some shuffleboard or yoga classes, plus shore excursions. The enjoyment of being on a boat that feels like a boat is the primary reason for going on them. They don't require sets, special effects, or actors wearing prosthetics to achieve that.

 

[fatmanatee]

I’d like for them to keep some component open or adjusted but right now I’d say all signs point to it being toast.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1660646222342893568

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I’d like for them to keep some component open or adjusted but right now I’d say all signs point to it being toast.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1660646222342893568

Got the same feeling once I heard Josh D. make this statement about taking the loss.

 

[grossmansr]

I was never going to be able to go at that price point, but it still makes me sad that this bucket list experience will be gone. Who knows, maybe I could've afforded it someday?

 

[bcla]

I was never going to be able to go at that price point, but it still makes me sad that this bucket list experience will be gone. Who knows, maybe I could've afforded it someday?

This almost seemed like an experience at Westworld, or more realistically what was described in the original Jurassic Park.

And we can charge anything we want, two thousand a day, ten thousand a day, and people will pay it.

 

[maui2k5]

This almost seemed like an experience at Westworld, or more realistically what was described in the original Jurassic Park.

And we can charge anything we want, two thousand a day, ten thousand a day, and people will pay it.

And like Jurassic Park, extinct. At least no one got eaten by dinosaurs on GSC.

 

[bcla]

And like Jurassic Park, extinct. At least no one got eaten by dinosaurs on GSC.

That we've heard of. But are we sure nobody was eaten by a sarlacc or a rancor and just covered up?

 

[HappyDisneyMama]

I think also if they designed the cabins to be more like the rooms in Star Trek had for living quarters it would've made the Galactic Starcruiser more worthy of staying at. Because I saw pictures of the cabins in one of my magazines they reminded me of hospital rooms and the beds were like hospital beds and if they had put Star Wars framed pictures on the walls and Star Wars decor in the cabins that would've worked wonders.

Strangely, the best comparison I’ve seen to the Galactic Starcruiser cabin design…

…is to the prison cells on Narkina 5 in the
Andor TV series:

 

[BrianL]

Strangely, the best comparison I’ve seen to the Galactic Starcruiser cabin design…
View attachment 762196
…is to the prison cells on Narkina 5 in the
Andor TV series:
View attachment 762197

Maybe they can change it into that and send all these jokers who have been fighting in the parks there!

 

[k5thbeatle]

I was genuinely surprised it lasted this long.

 

[NotUrsula]

Introducing the world's most expensive storage units.

DH suggested using it for a retreat center; change *all* the beds to bunks and you can triple capacity. Personally, I don't see any use that includes beds (except maybe turning it into an on-site urgent care center), because I think part of the cost problem was running a full food service operation service for only (at most) 400 guests.

Come to think of it, the urgent care option really isn't all that out there; lots of folks need to visit them while at WDW, so that could actually make some money on a lease to a company like Florida Hospital. Tear down most of the public-area and backstage building (but keep the interior fittings for re-use in attraction or theme restaurant), and use the former hotel rooms for treatment rooms.

 

[bcla]

Introducing the world's most expensive storage units.

DH suggested using it for a retreat center; change *all* the beds to bunks and you can triple capacity. Personally, I don't see any use that includes beds (except maybe turning it into an on-site urgent care center), because I think part of the cost problem was running a full food service operation service for only (at most) 400 guests.

Come to think of it, the urgent care option really isn't all that out there; lots of folks need to visit them while at WDW, so that could actually make some money on a lease to a company like Florida Hospital. Tear down most of the public-area and backstage building (but keep the the interior fittings for re-use in a theme restaurant), and use the former hotel rooms for treatment rooms.

Almost anything can be turned into storage space. I remember what used to be advertised as the largest screened movie theater in the world was closed and used for storage and/or used for various events. But for this site it may or may not be suitable for reuse, and Disney has had stuff like that for a long time.

 

[bsmcneil]

I was never going to be able to go at that price point, but it still makes me sad that this bucket list experience will be gone. Who knows, maybe I could've afforded it someday?

Same

 

[irlandaise]

That we've heard of. But are we sure nobody was eaten by a sarlacc or a rancor and just covered up?

Or thrown out the airlock??

 

[Disney Bobby]

I’d like for them to keep some component open or adjusted but right now I’d say all signs point to it being toast.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1660646222342893568

The accelerated depreciation comment makes me wonder what is really going on. They may be starving for cash and decided to hang GSC out to dry because the cash flow from the accelerated depreciation was going to be a LOT more than what it would make any time in the near future. If that is the case, seems like an act of desperation.

 

[maui2k5]

I wonder where this ranks for Disney in terms of worst loss on an investment?

I know they lost quite a bit on John Carter and Lone Ranger, but they did not lose $300 million. This is quite a big mistake of not knowing your customer base or size of your target audience.