Galactic Starcruiser is Dead, Long Live DVC Villas at The Star Wars Hotel?

[Nursemanit]

Sure, they could tear the whole thing down and start over.

There is enough land there where it sits to put a grand Floridian sized hotel next to it with plenty to spare for pool and parking - look on Google maps at the land.

 

[E2ME2]

SWGS Cruise was a Bucket-List item for me, and I split the cost of a Deluxe Suite with a friend.
(Neither of our wives were interested). I am Soooo Glad that I did not hesitate, and we voyaged back in March of 2022! We went "All-In", purchased the Captain's Table Dinner & the Photo package. I regret not buying the SWGS-exclusive Light saber, now that it is sure to be more rare to obtain.
Was it Over-Priced ? Abso-freakin-lutely
But I talk about it all the time with friends who are SW Fans, and I have no regrets at all about this one-time splurge!
I'm anxious to se what Disney means by "expanding" this type of experience to a wider base of their audience?,
to see what becomes of the building, and to see if those special-edition Light sabers pop up later in Batuu at DHS
As they say onboard the SWGS "Bright Suns & Pleasant Journeys"!
MTFBWY
This is The Way
<(-_-)>
ETA - It was diffcult to assess the layout of this "Hotel", from the inside. It seemed more like an Apocalyptic-Bunker
from the outside entrance points. I think a StarWars themed Dinner-Theatre, followed by a "Tour" of the ship, and/or make use of the Light-Saber Training & The Bridge Activities as an add-on to the Dinner package.

 

[peder]

The hotel portion of the building is small, and the location of the building on the small plot doesn't look like it lends itself to adding a pool, etc.

Not sure if I can link this article, but you can see external / aerial photos here: https://wdwnt.com/2021/07/photos-ae...ion-for-star-wars-galactic-starcruiser-hotel/

Nothing about it looks easy to convert to DVC. It basically looks like a warehouse today.

 

[kilik64]

Yeah, having stayed there, I don’t see anyway it can work as a hotel. Only thing I can think of is to scrap the rooms and use the other parts as an add on to Galaxy’s Edge, kind of like how Wild Africa Trek can be added on to AK. You’re transported from Battuu up to the ship where you spend 3 to 4 hours including a meal. They could do a lunch session and a dinner session. Then you go back to the Studios.

Thats not a bad idea at all. Id be down for that vs staying there.

 

[gavvy]

Well it has no windows and already looks like a jail and I hear Florida are looking for one in WDW haha

Very bad idea of course, It would be nice if they could keep it as a dinner show and use the transport from Batu to get you there, it could be a really good experience and I think a hot ticket- there's no table service in the land.

Knowing Disney they will just let it rot away

 

[JulieBeeRN]

I think they will convert the property into a totally immersive Muppet experience.

Congratulations for winning the internet today.

 

[bumbershoot]

I think they will convert the property into a totally immersive Muppet experience.

YES.

But please, please add a club for 18+ where they enact A Taste For Love, the Dracula musical at least once a day.

 

[Timandalicia]

YES.

But please, please add a club for 18+ where they enact A Taste For Love, the Dracula musical at least once a day

Nice. Six degrees of Segalation: puppet addition.

 

[TheLyinKing]

Way too much work to make it a DVC property. Probably getting torn down or used as a partial day experience like mentioned above.

 

[ehh]

I wonder how many points it would be if they converted it to DVC, merely as a hypothetical. We did it last year and it was a fantastic experience but the building as a DVC resort would be terrible IMO.

Anyway, onto the analysis. There's 94 studios, 4 1BR, and 2 2BR, all with a view of SPACE.

Let's assume it's max existing points charts for all despite the small rooms, so Aulani Ocean View for 1BR/2BR and VGF Resort Studio Theme Park View for Studios.

94 * 11,312 = 1,063,328 Studio points, averaging 31pts/night
4 * 19,282 = 77,128 1BR points, averaging 53pts/night
2 * 26,237 = 52,474 2BR points, averaging 72pts/night
_________________
1,192,930 points combined, just barely more than VGC (1,136,865)

Sell it at $230 a point, and that's $274mil, which I guess might be attractive considering the rumored $250mil development costs, but yikes that's an unappealing proposition as a potential buyer.

 

[Artemis Fowl]

With galatic starcruiser being no more come september, would you be interested if they converted it to DVC, either buying there or staying there?

They would have to do some major reno I would think (lot of space was dedicated to the plot stuff), and my guess would be they just close it and take the tax write off on the loss on it, but if it WERE converted to DVC you hype or naw?

absolutely. I'd really like to try staying in a room themed that way. the price tag was way too high and the rest of the fam isn't the star wars fan I am. We never would've done the experience, but we'd stay in one of those rooms for sure

 

[Flash_Sloth]

I've read "add a pool" in this thread and others, and I can understand that many people expect one in a Deluxe Resort / DVC.

I may have a minority opinion, but instead of having a pool with all the associated $ for maintenance, lifeguards, etc, use all that $ to pay for CMs in Star Wars costumes to interact with guests in the lobby, bar, dining room, bridge, engineering, gift shop, playing some games of Sabacc, etc. I'm not saying having all those locations occupied by SW characters all the time; maybe have a published schedule, or have a few characters wandering around the various locations.

Heck, with it right next to Galaxy's Edge, let SW characters be in both and have it split the cost between the DVC hotel and theme park. Have them spend some time in Galaxy's Edge, but don't leave them out in the bright suns for too long. Then bring them aboard the Halcyon for some relief in the climate controlled starcruiser.

FWIW, we did SWGS last year. It was very expensive, but it was a fantastic experience. We had already planned to come to WDW for my 50th birthday, and DW decided to make it extra special by adding SWGS to the trip. I don't know if we would have done it if it weren't a part of a big celebration like that. It is sad to see SWGS closing down. If it does come back as a SW themed DVC resort, I'd like to own some points here.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I've read "add a pool" in this thread and others, and I can understand that many people expect one in a Deluxe Resort / DVC.

I may have a minority opinion, but instead of having a pool with all the associated $ for maintenance, lifeguards, etc, use all that $ to pay for CMs in Star Wars costumes to interact with guests in the lobby, bar, dining room, bridge, engineering, gift shop, playing some games of Sabacc, etc. I'm not saying having all those locations occupied by SW characters all the time; maybe have a published schedule, or have a few characters wandering around the various locations.

I think the point they are making requires some context. Sure, a 2-night stay at SWGS is doable as an immersive experience, including one or even two "trips" to GE. The issues start to arise when you try to pitch it as a hotel along the lines of other resorts (DVC or not). How many people are going to enjoy that experience when you try to push it out to 3 or 4 days? You can't just keep going to GE over and over, and who is going to want to spend the majority of a 72-96 hour long stay inside a windowless, sunless environment?

Several people have tried to argue it's no different than an inside cabin on a cruise ship, but those are the cheapest cabins on the boat for a very good reason, and they still "let" you out on deck as often and as long as you want.

And they have a pool.

 

[CarolynFH]

I've read "add a pool" in this thread and others, and I can understand that many people expect one in a Deluxe Resort / DVC.

I may have a minority opinion, but instead of having a pool with all the associated $ for maintenance, lifeguards, etc, use all that $ to pay for CMs in Star Wars costumes to interact with guests in the lobby, bar, dining room, bridge, engineering, gift shop, playing some games of Sabacc, etc. I'm not saying having all those locations occupied by SW characters all the time; maybe have a published schedule, or have a few characters wandering around the various locations.

Heck, with it right next to Galaxy's Edge, let SW characters be in both and have it split the cost between the DVC hotel and theme park. Have them spend some time in Galaxy's Edge, but don't leave them out in the bright suns for too long. Then bring them aboard the Halcyon for some relief in the climate controlled starcruiser.

FWIW, we did SWGS last year. It was very expensive, but it was a fantastic experience. We had already planned to come to WDW for my 50th birthday, and DW decided to make it extra special by adding SWGS to the trip. I don't know if we would have done it if it weren't a part of a big celebration like that. It is sad to see SWGS closing down. If it does come back as a SW themed DVC resort, I'd like to own some points here.

Remember, the owners of that DVC resort would have to pay for those CMs playing characters as you propose - their salaries would be part of the operating costs included in dues. My DH read elsewhere (but I haven’t seen any other corroborating reports) that the current talented actors working there are actually employed by a third party, the third party asked for an increase in pay when the contract renewed, and the anticipated cost increase contributed to the decision to close. Whether that’s true or not, I’m sure those actors earn more than most CMs working at the resorts. So would you want to be one of the owners of that DVC resort and pay the dues to support those CMs?

 

[ehh]

I think the point they are making requires some context. Sure, a 2-night stay at SWGS is doable as an immersive experience, including one or even two "trips" to GE. The issues start to arise when you try to pitch it as a hotel along the lines of other resorts (DVC or not). How many people are going to enjoy that experience when you try to push it out to 3 or 4 days? You can't just keep going to GE over and over, and who is going to want to spend the majority of a 72-96 hour long stay inside a windowless, sunless environment?

Several people have tried to argue it's no different than an inside cabin on a cruise ship, but those are the cheapest cabins on the boat for a very good reason, and they still "let" you out on deck as often and as long as you want.

And they have a pool.

Completely agree.

There would have to be some reconfiguration of dining, too. All-day quick services is table stakes for a resort and there's only one restaurant on the Halcyon currently. And for breakfast/lunch it was cruise-style, AYCTE of small plates. There are no real design affordances for it be easily become a paid quick service for breakfast/lunch, either. (Mobile Order could help, but not solve the issue)

The closest thing in the DVC portfolio is actually the Kilimanjaro Club at AKV, which has a points premium to pre-pay for the food and staffing.

I don't know if they could even do table service with reservations at dinner. If they did, it would be the only resort without a quick service option for a significant part of the day and that might cause problems. Also non-Halcyon guests would need to arrive somehow, then leave somehow...maybe schedule dinner such that you check-in in GE and get transported to Halcyon as part of dinner?

There's a lot of normal resort/DVC things they just didn't design for with this space, like transportation and parking. The more I think about it, converting it to a typical resort/DVC may not even be possible.

Blue Sky version of how they convert this:

• Have shuttles (themed, maybe) that depart from Halcyon and drop you off at a backstage entrance at all 4 parks, similar to to how they drop guests off at Galaxy's Edge, but expanded.
  • These probably need to be individually scheduled or on a declared schedule (like the now-defunct Express Transportation option you could buy that ran exactly every 30 minutes and interconnected parks).
• Food is included, cruise-style.
  • It would be like Cabanas/Marcelline Market, running all day.
  • No outside reservations.
• Complementary valet parking, no self-parking.
• I have no idea what to do with the story spaces, like the Engineering Room or Cargo Hold.
• Paid experiences for a very small number of guests or non-guests to visit each day and do lightsaber training Starcruiser defense training (the video games in the bridge), with transportation from GE?

But what I'm describing just sounds like SW:GS but with the story element ripped out with shuttles to more parks. The points chart would be ridiculous to account for all the complementary add-ons.

 

[Flash_Sloth]

Remember, the owners of that DVC resort would have to pay for those CMs playing characters as you propose - their salaries would be part of the operating costs included in dues. My DH read elsewhere (but I haven’t seen any other corroborating reports) that the current talented actors working there are actually employed by a third party, the third party asked for an increase in pay when the contract renewed, and the anticipated cost increase contributed to the decision to close. Whether that’s true or not, I’m sure those actors earn more than most CMs working at the resorts. So would you want to be one of the owners of that DVC resort and pay the dues to support those CMs?

Yes, I realize that the owners of the DVC resort would have to pay for the CMs playing Star Wars characters. That's one of the reasons why I was suggesting to not have a pool with all its costs for maintenance and lifeguards. Also, with only 100 hotel rooms, the pool costs per hotel room would be fairly high if it is going to have a pool similar to other resorts.

Also, having the SW characters share duties between Galaxy's Edge and the Halcyon would save the DVC owners some money because their cost can be split between the DVC resort and DHS. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know any specifics of the current cost structure, or pay rates of lifeguards or CMs playing SW characters.

I'd love to keep it as an awesome SW experience without crazy high annual dues. I have no idea what Galactic Starcruiser may come back as after the current experience is closed, but I want it to be more than just a hotel with some SW theming & artwork.

If somebody wants a pool, you can stay at any value, moderate, or deluxe Disney resort on property, or to many of the off-site hotels. (Several of the off-site hotels may have a notable "resort fee" whether or not you use the pool.) Or take a day to visit Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach; I always have a blast when I'm visiting them.

Instead of "Keys to the Kingdom" tour, maybe they can have a "Keys to the Galaxy" tour? With different start times, have a couple of tour groups that hit RotR and MFSR, and then transport over to the Halcyon for some storyline that includes lightsaber training, bridge training, engineering, lunch, and then some final storyline element on the bridge? Swing by the gift shop, and then transport back to Galaxy's Edge? Offer priority booking and a discount to those staying at SWGS, but keep it open to everybody.

And I'm wishing all the best to the CMs that are affected by the closing of SWGS as we know it today. You guys are the best, and we really had a blast when we did SWGS last year.

 

[Flash_Sloth]

There is enough land there where it sits to put a grand Floridian sized hotel next to it with plenty to spare for pool and parking - look on Google maps at the land.

Currently, the Google maps satellite image is old from when Galaxy's Edge was still under construction, and SWGS was very early in construction. Apple maps satellite image is more up to date. There is a lot of open land available to the east & southeast:

 

[gavvy]

The problem with it is it's built inwards no outdoor looking and, well it over looks world drive and a cast parking lot. It was a bad design from the start as a " hotel" I don't see it being used for anything other than office space, a dinner show or.. sadly more likely left to rot away.

Really hope I'm wrong and am called our for it!

 

[Douglas Dubh]

And you drive through cast parking to get to it.

 

[kam77]

From what I've heard from people that have done it, no way. Not nearly enough insulation and sound proofing for a DVC. Now if they improve those things, maybe.

We stayed in the two-bedroom suite with newlyweds and there was zero issue with sound proofing. We couldn't hear people in living room, other bedroom, or the hall! LOL