New Hotel Ideas in a post-Starcruiser World

[Captain UP]

I think we can all agree that the fully immersive hotel idea is dead and gone forever.

But at some point with all the park expansion in the next few years, WDW will likely need at least one new hotel to take on the increased capacity they will see.

What do you think it should be?

I've always fancied the idea of a Hollywood Tower Hotel that would be themed like the ride- as if you were living out the story of the ride- but without the all-immersive problem Starcruiser ran into.

You could do a bowling green, a glass covered pool, and the most incredible lobby on property.

Thoughts?

 

[tink2424]

I disagree that they need another hotel and I also disagree that immersive hotels aren't a good idea. I think they could have done a much better job with the starcruiser idea. I do hope they try again with something like you are suggesting.

 

[SpicyMcHaggis]

Starcruiser just priced too many people out of the experience and after all of the big fans who could afford it had their experiences there wasn’t a large enough pool of people willing to make the investment. The idea and execution themselves seemed fantastic.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a stripped back version with much of the theming and such but perhaps just one or two shows per night, in the same vein as the Spirit of Aloha show at Poly pre-Covid. Maybe they could rotate among a few stories or telling a story over several days. This would be saving a ton on cast member salaries while maintaining a decent chunk of the magic, and allowing it to be sold at a more accessible price.

 

[_19disnA]

I always thought that small (100 room) Star Wars themed hotel was a mistake. There are only so many avid Star Wars fans willing to pay that much money for the most expensive place on the property. Curious to know in the brief time it was open how many return visitors they had, doubt it was that many. People mostly go for the parks and while some may only go for the hotel experience, they clearly found there weren't enough new customers to keep it going. Once they go one time, it isn't likely a place to frequently return. All movies have a shelf life, so building any hotel around a specific movie theme is a mistake. It is fine to have the interior setup in a certain theme which then can then be updated over time. The basic design of the building needs to be something that will remain popular longer and have a wider Disney appeal.

Curious to see how they repurpose that hotel into something else so it doesn't just sit empty. Perhaps a special events or conference type center?

 

[Rpo0921]

All movies have a shelf life, so building any hotel around a specific movie theme is a mistake.

Disagree with this premise. Certain IP are big enough to warrant it imo. You could probably do it with comic books, you can do it with Star Wars, and you could probably do it with something like Harry Potter.

You aren’t selling people being in a specific movie or scene or whatever. You sell people on existing in the same fictional universe as something they look very fondly on.

 

[Frank4202]

I think it needs to be storage and a place for CM's to stay during hurricanes.

 

[DodgerGirl]

How about a Disney Fairytale themed hotel? We started seeing this concept with Disney debuting the Cinderella Castle Suite in Cinderella Castle and based on that concept a Disney Fairytale hotel would be wonderful and how it would be designed is that it would be in a building shaped like a castle and guests would check in at a lobby designed to look like a castle main hall and it would have fancy gold elevators with glass windows that would take guests to the rooms. And the rooms would be in wings named for a Disney Princess and Prince like the Princess Aurora and Phillip Wing which would have rooms based on Sleeping Beauty the Belle and Beast Wing which would have Beauty And The Beast themed rooms the Tiana and Prince Naveen Wing which would have The Princess and The Frog themed rooms and so on. Disney's Fairytale Inn "as the hotel's official name" would also offer princess themed activities such as bedtime stories where princesses could go in to guest rooms and tell children a princess themed bedtime story to send young children to bed and a new branch of Cinderella's Royal Table would be there offering the same things as the Magic Kingdom location and a theater that would show princess movies every night. And a Royal themed beauty salon and spa would be featured and this would be a huge hit with brides having weddings where they could be transformed into Disney Princess brides in a Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boutique like fashion for adults and will also offer haircuts and manicures as well. And throughout the morning till 9PM various Disney Princesses will do meet and greets with photos and autographs. Sounds like a wonderful idea for Disney to consider don't you think?

 

[Lewisc]

Grand Destino was added to CSR. Riviera was originally part of CBR. I'll go with a.tower replacing.part of Port Orleans, maybe the FQ part of the resort. DVC is good guess. Second guess would be a dual resort like Alana.

Long shot. A real 5*..Small and expensive.

 

[DodgerGirl]

The problem that Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser had and they knew it from the start was attracting the mega fans of Star Wars by giving them the promise of a Star Wars themed resort but the dream failed. But I think what caused the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser to fail was the going price of the cabins and nobody in their right mind wouldn't pay the outrageous price the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser charged for their cabins and when you get the general picture if they had Star Wars character breakfasts and dinners where fans could meet popular Star Wars characters such as Luke Skywalker Han Solo Princess Leia Darth Vader and other Star Wars characters the idea would've worked like a miracle and it would've had interactive games too and that too would've worked as well. But a hotel idea I would suggest to Disney would be a Black Panther themed resort where you could imagine yourself in Wakanda and it would have a restaurant serving African food and the rooms would feature artwork themed to Black Panther in it and every day in the lobby T'Challa would be meeting and greeting with fans and the resort would be pretty cool in my eyes. Another suggestion for Disney to consider is expand the All-Star Sports Resort to have rooms themed to more sports like hockey themed rooms golf themed rooms and soccer themed rooms and expansion for the All-Star Music Resort for more genres of music such as Blues themed rooms and Rap music themed rooms to be added as well

 

[Aggiegrl]

Your Hollywood Tower Hotel concept has got me hyped! Imagining the ride's eerie vibes translated into a hotel experience is next-level cool. And those additions you mentioned, like the bowling green and glass-covered pool, would take it to the next level.

Well…

If memory serves me right, and someone can correct me, but there’s an episode of Behind the Attraction where an imagineer talks about that being the idea they originally floated. It was nixed for logistical reasons. They though guests want a resort feel and not a creepy haunted hotel, plus the 14+ hours a day of. screaming from the ride.