Resort Thread STAR WARS: GALACTIC STARCRUISER Official Information & Questions Thread

[Minnie1222]

So, does this mean each office will have its own restroom and bed?

Maybe some of the rooms can be temporary housing for single imagineers, or those who wish to escape their family.

I know one of my cousins would love to work and live there, windowless and all.

 

[Dave006]

I thought during construction, the panels for each room could be removed to allow for a "traditional" window replacement. Maybe I misread it.

By law the guest rooms were / are required to have a real window but they are just tall narrow rectangular fixed glass panels and not a "traditonal" window. I have a picture somewhere, I will add it shortly.

The "Windows" are Not windows as I would call them for a guest room or even in an Office building. And nothing even close to any other WDW resort.

The rest of the 3 floor main structure has almost zero windows and resembles a large warehouse or Convention space that is not customer facing.



ETA: add picture of the guest room section of the building...

Dave

 

[hertamaniac]

By law the guest rooms were / are required to have a real window but they are just tall narrow rectangular fixed glass panels and not a "traditonal" window. I have a picture somewhere, I will add it shortly.

The "Windows" are Not windows as I would call them for a guest room or even in an Office building. And nothing even close to any other WDW resort.

The rest of the 3 floor main structure has almost zero windows and resembles a large warehouse or Convention space that is not customer facing.

Dave

I figured for exit egress to meet fire and/or other ordinances and codes, the glass panels had to be removable. I think there was a small door near the video mock viewports that showed emergency access.

 

[Minnie1222]

The "Windows" are Not windows as I would call them for a guest room or even in an Office building. And nothing even close to any other WDW resort.

My daughter stayed at this hotel and she said the window felt so "realistic" that she never experienced claustrophobia. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to stay there, but I can see myself staying in a room like Star Tours, where I would be perfectly fine when the screen comes on.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Cost wise, I think it will be an almost total gut on the inside, much easier to start with a clean slate for offices etc.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Cost wise, I think it will be an almost total gut on the inside, much easier to start with a clean slate for offices etc.

I agree with the inside gutting, I don’t think they’re going to knock down the structure. Maybe for light they’ll go a skylight route.

 

[Dave006]

I agree with the inside gutting, I don’t think they’re going to knock down the structure. Maybe for light they’ll go a skylight route.

It is somewhat problematic since they wrote off the whole thing. I would expect that the bean counters would have a meltdown. Time will tell if they just repurpose the space or not.

Dave

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I agree with the inside gutting, I don’t think they’re going to knock down the structure. Maybe for light they’ll go a skylight route.

Yeah, I also do not think they will destroy the structure

 

[TheDailyMoo]

It is somewhat problematic since they wrote off the whole thing. I would expect that the bean counters would have a meltdown. Time will tell if they just repurpose the space or not.

Dave

What are the specific tax implications to writing the project off like they did? Does the IRS allow them to repurpose? To use in any commercial or business endeavor? I'm sure there are loopholes within loopholes to allow them to get around not using the space even if there were such stipulations. This whole project and the fall of it is so very interesting.

 

[PinkPixel]

Wow. I would love to read a book about what an outright disaster this was and how it came to pass.

huh? It was best trip(s) my family ever took. Don't need a book, but could write one. Disney opened the most immersive and intimate theme park experience ever created...during COVID, where people were still wearing masks, and getting covid for real (my family on first voyage June 2022). Add in an aborted CEO and Iger returning to save Disney from a culture war with DeSantis/FL (before he was knocked down by a resurgent Trump) and hedge fun activist Nelson Peltz. The Halcyon deserved a much better timeline. Ta'bu e tay

 

[Dave006]

What are the specific tax implications to writing the project off like they did?

Well they wrote off $300 Million in 2 blocks of $150 Million. Think of it as accelerated deprecation. They had already claimed about 15-30 Million since it had opened in 2022. Without knowing more about the specific details on how or what they included in this accelerated deprecation it is complicated to calculate the impact.

Dave

 

[gottalovepluto]

Wow. I would love to read a book about what an outright disaster this was and how it came to pass.

$$$$$

Ultimately, not enough demand for the price point. Doesn’t take a genius or a book to answer that.

Imho- the experience was epic by all counts… but had they made a deluxe Star Wars hotel with the dough it would still be going strong

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

$$$$$

Ultimately, not enough demand for the price point. Doesn’t take a genius or a book to answer that.

Imho- the experience was epic by all counts… but had they made a deluxe Star Wars hotel with the dough it would still be going strong

Cost was probably the major factor but a secondary factor (I think) was not doing enough to reassure introverts they could be passive and just take it in and NOT interact. Our family loves Star Wars and we could have fit a trip in our travel budget, but my husband thought the role playing would be stressful and unpleasant. I was also on the fence and figured it would be a one time trip, so I’d wait until kids were old enough to enjoy/remember it and play along with me. #regret

 

[xdan0920]

huh? It was best trip(s) my family ever took. Don't need a book, but could write one. Disney opened the most immersive and intimate theme park experience ever created...during COVID, where people were still wearing masks, and getting covid for real (my family on first voyage June 2022). Add in an aborted CEO and Iger returning to save Disney from a culture war with DeSantis/FL (before he was knocked down by a resurgent Trump) and hedge fun activist Nelson Peltz. The Halcyon deserved a much better timeline. Ta'bu e tay

HUH?

So you were part of the extraordinarily narrow segment of the population this was aimed at. I want to know how this passed from Blue Sky to Built to Open without anyone inside the company realizing how small the population of people who would want to LARP as Star Wars characters whilst also dumping a few mortgage payments into the experience. The amount of yes men nonsense that must have been happening is astounding.

Then I would love to read about the decision to shutter the entire thing rather then rework it. It is fascinating.

 

[xdan0920]

Cost was probably the major factor but a secondary factor (I think) was not doing enough to reassure introverts they could be passive and just take it in and NOT interact. Our family loves Star Wars and we could have fit a trip in our travel budget, but my husband thought the role playing would be stressful and unpleasant. I was also on the fence and figured it would be a one time trip, so I’d wait until kids were old enough to enjoy/remember it and play along with me. #regret

The two things go hand in hand. The target demo for this is mostly a group of folks who couldn't afford this experience even 1x. Let alone multiple times.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

No need to hate here.

Full disclosure - my mom and son went twice, once with my husband (all HUGE Star Wars fans) and once with me and my daughter once the closing was announced. My son, who has done a lot of really cool Disney stuff in his life, said that it was the best thing he has ever done at Disney. They were super into the LARP aspect, particularly on the first trip. My daughter and I were less enthusiastic about that part, but even we found things that we enjoyed (bridge training, lightsaber training, meals/entertainment, in room robot, and random stormtroopers running around). Even the stupid transport van was pretty awesome, and the cast members were exceptional. For me the biggest disappointment was that the missions never really worked for me, and no one could help me understand what I was supposed to be doing. It also didn’t help that I’m only somewhat familiar with the characters outside of 4-6 plus 2 seasons of Mandalorian. But clearly I wasn’t the target audience, and the target audience loved it. I have no regrets about going.

I give Disney a lot of credit for trying, even though it wasn’t as successful as they might have wanted. I also give them a lot of credit for not destroying the experience just to try to make the budget work.

I think that it would have definitely been possible to reimagine something like this (timed entries with a meal and 1-2 activities, no overnights), but perhaps Disney crunched the numbers and couldn’t make it work given the level of staffing needed to make it such a magical experience.

My mom is still in mourning about the fact that it closed.

 

[PinkPixel]

.

 

[gottalovepluto]

…I want to know how this passed from Blue Sky to Built to Open without anyone inside the company…

It was developed under Iger. A HUGE Star Wars fanboy. Like, seriously. Biggly. You don’t throw rain on the boss’s parade. Especially when he was a grade A Star among CEOs at the time.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Still the best Disney thing we’ve ever done. Hands down, like not even close. We were ages 8 through 4(something) at the time and if you ask any of us our favorite Disney World memory, we'll all answer Starcruiser without hesitation. And I didn't even know what LARP meant before this, nor could I really tell you much about Star Wars other than basic pop culture knowledge.

Recently met a CM who worked at Starcruiser and we enjoyed a few moments sharing our fond memories and experiences. I find it interesting how powerful an experience it was for both cast and guest.

There was real magic there, that's for sure. Unfortunately unsustainable magic at the price point, but what they created was an amazing experience. I was hopeful the facility would be repurposed for 'something' interesting down the road, but alas, it will have to live on in our memories.

My only regret is that we didn't get a second voyage in, but just couldn't fit it in the schedule. We draw the line at taking the kids out of school for vacation/travel, but I sort of wish we had made an exception there at the end so we could have had one more time!

'Til the spires.

 

[Pizzaman12]

I figured for exit egress to meet fire and/or other ordinances and codes, the glass panels had to be removable. I think there was a small door near the video mock viewports that showed emergency access.

There was a small egress "closet" for rescue efforts. I also believe the construction modifications allowed for windows to be retrofitted.

It is somewhat problematic since they wrote off the whole thing. I would expect that the bean counters would have a meltdown. Time will tell if they just repurpose the space or not.

Dave

What are the specific tax implications to writing the project off like they did? Does the IRS allow them to repurpose? To use in any commercial or business endeavor? I'm sure there are loopholes within loopholes to allow them to get around not using the space even if there were such stipulations. This whole project and the fall of it is so very interesting.

Not a CPA but have a reasonable amount of experience here. They likely can't do anything meaningful with it from a revenue generation standpoint until at least 2027. The bones of the building are likely fine for a light refurb if they wanted to reopen and offer some sort of alternative experience.

Sadly, Halcyon was one of a kind and I'm not sure Disney will attempt something so daring until pressed to do so by competition. Here's hoping Universal's advances pushes them to think outside the box in the future.