Starcruiser Discount of 30%

[sethschroeder]

Looks like they are discounting the Starcruiser now for various dates in early 2023. My main issue is that you can't just price out and book anything online. I dont want to call to check prices or anything like that.

Has anyone booked a room? Is it actually 30% off the listed price on the site or what was your actual cost and what did you book? You can PM me instead if you don't feel comfortable posting in the thread.

Anyone else looking at it?

My main thought is that in another 12 months they might end the current experience and transition to something different as a offering to cut back on costs and lower pricing further. So thats my thought about possibly just jumping in and doing it.

 

[sethschroeder]

I actually just noticed it might just be the point conversion not actually the cash price that is discounted. Seemingly a bad value likely at that point compared to renting out points and using cash with a 30% cash discount.

 

[sethschroeder]

Just did the math on some point charts that I found and if you can rent points out for $20/point even after the discount it would equate to over $8k for the experience. Terrible value proposition at that point.

Maybe they will do a cash discount at some point next year we will see.

 

[CmdrThor]

I actually just noticed it might just be the point conversion not actually the cash price that is discounted. Seemingly a bad value likely at that point compared to renting out points and using cash with a 30% cash discount.

People have already reported booking one guest on points and getting the 30% discount on the cash price for the remaining guests. The one guest can be the third guest as well which is much cheaper than the first two.

 

[Mle8308]

People have already reported booking one guest on points and getting the 30% discount on the cash price for the remaining guests. The one guest can be the third guest as well which is much cheaper than the first two.

Exactly. At least one person has to be booked entirely with points, and no resale. Remaining guests can be cash, and only for standard rooms, no suites.

 

[sethschroeder]

People have already reported booking one guest on points and getting the 30% discount on the cash price for the remaining guests. The one guest can be the third guest as well which is much cheaper than the first two.

Ya if we went it would be without the kids so the math doesn't work out for what I would want to spend. Rather sink that money in to a different vacation and wait out cheaper pricing possibly for Starcruiser possibly.

Good to know it could be the 3rd guest though.

 

[sipnride]

I'm trying to figure this out too, and though people are referencing an analysis online somewhere I wasn't able to find that. Assuming a link can't be posted so I really don't know what to make of that. Since I haven't been able to find it, I figured I'd check this out myself. Here's my analysis, with the following assumptions:

• $3,727.50 is the cost to pay for 3 adults.
  • I'm using $7,100 as the standard cabin price, as that's the the price our party of 4 adults paid for a weekday voyage in September. The discounted rate would be $4,970 if it was all paid in cash, and 3/4 of that comes to $3,727.50.
• Assume someone could have gotten $20 per point,
• We'll also assume they pay no gains tax to keep things simple.
• Based on their points chart (https://cdn1.parksmedia.wdprapps.di...2023-swgs-point-chart-p1-final-08-24-2022.pdf) regular pricing for the dates in questions is 780 for 4 adults, so discounted pricing would be 546.

I figure there's three ways Disney could calculate the points owed:

1. Like the post above states, they only charge 83 points for that one person.
   1. The rental value of for the 83 points needed would be $1,660.
   2. Total value points + cash comes to $5,387.50.
   3. This is a really good deal IMO, though honestly I would honestly be shocked if this was the case.
2. They take the total number of points for the cabin and divide by the number of people.
   1. A cabin of 4 adults would go for 546 points, and therefore one person would cost 137 points, rounded up.
   2. At $20 per point with no gains the value is $2,740.
   3. Total value points + cash comes to $6,467.50.
   4. Not a bad deal, but not a great one either.
3. Take the cost as listed for the first 1st adult (307) at the discounted rate (214)
   1. The value of renting the points out for the 1st adult would be $4,280.
   2. The cash price for the other 3 adults would be $3,031.
      1. It would be bad faith to take a party of 4, charge the first one 39% of the cabin's total point value, and then still have the rest pay 75% of the total in cash. Therefore, I'm going to assume the others in the party pay 61% of the discounted total ($4,970), which comes to $3,031.
   3. Total value points + cash comes to $$7,311.
   4. This is obviously not a good deal, and would be very cynical on the part of Disney. Still, even here there are people, I think, who would find value in being able to use some points to reduce the out of pocket cost.

Would love to hear more about what kind of actual quotes people are getting, 'cause if it's the first scenario I would strongly consider going back, and doubly so if the regular pricing is starting at the $6k for party of 4 that the website suggests, making the discounted pricing even cheaper.

 

[sethschroeder]

Would love to hear more about what kind of actual quotes people are getting, 'cause if it's the first scenario I would strongly consider going back, and doubly so if the regular pricing is starting at the $6k for party of 4 that the website suggests, making the discounted pricing even cheaper.

Ya I am turned off out of the gate with call in booking/pricing only. Having to call in is a pretty big obstacle to start and if it was a flat 30% discount off cash (no point requirement) I might be tempted to call.

 

[ehh]

People have already reported booking one guest on points and getting the 30% discount on the cash price for the remaining guests. The one guest can be the third guest as well which is much cheaper than the first two.

They would probably get more bookings on this discount if they said that.

A 30% discount across the board could be great for a 2adult + 1-2child booking with just a single child booked on points (57pts normally, 40pt now). 40pts are valued between $340 and ~$1600 depending on how they're used (let's say $800 for premium rental purposes). The remaining 2a+1c or 2a is at least $5.1k for these dates, a savings of at least $1700 with a 30% discount at the 'cost' of $800 in points for a net discount of $900, not bad.

It would still be good for a 3a or 4a booking, too, just not as advantageous as adults are 83pts (now 58pts).

 

[The Jackal]

Now who would have thought that an expensive two day excursion with a very limited base would have issues selling when times get a little tough? I see major changes coming in the near future. Too bad there are a lot of people who really liked the experience. I’m not sure even it was the right Star Wars how long it would last.

 

[Mle8308]

I'm trying to figure this out too, and though people are referencing an analysis online somewhere I wasn't able to find that. Assuming a link can't be posted so I really don't know what to make of that. Since I haven't been able to find it, I figured I'd check this out myself. Here's my analysis, with the following assumptions:

• $3,727.50 is the cost to pay for 3 adults.
  • I'm using $7,100 as the standard cabin price, as that's the the price our party of 4 adults paid for a weekday voyage in September. The discounted rate would be $4,970 if it was all paid in cash, and 3/4 of that comes to $3,727.50.
• Assume someone could have gotten $20 per point,
• We'll also assume they pay no gains tax to keep things simple.
• Based on their points chart (https://cdn1.parksmedia.wdprapps.di...2023-swgs-point-chart-p1-final-08-24-2022.pdf) regular pricing for the dates in questions is 780 for 4 adults, so discounted pricing would be 546.

I figure there's three ways Disney could calculate the points owed:

1. Like the post above states, they only charge 83 points for that one person.
   1. The rental value of for the 83 points needed would be $1,660.
   2. Total value points + cash comes to $5,387.50.
   3. This is a really good deal IMO, though honestly I would honestly be shocked if this was the case.
2. They take the total number of points for the cabin and divide by the number of people.
   1. A cabin of 4 adults would go for 546 points, and therefore one person would cost 137 points, rounded up.
   2. At $20 per point with no gains the value is $2,740.
   3. Total value points + cash comes to $6,467.50.
   4. Not a bad deal, but not a great one either.
3. Take the cost as listed for the first 1st adult (307) at the discounted rate (214)
   1. The value of renting the points out for the 1st adult would be $4,280.
   2. The cash price for the other 3 adults would be $3,031.
      1. It would be bad faith to take a party of 4, charge the first one 39% of the cabin's total point value, and then still have the rest pay 75% of the total in cash. Therefore, I'm going to assume the others in the party pay 61% of the discounted total ($4,970), which comes to $3,031.
   3. Total value points + cash comes to $$7,311.
   4. This is obviously not a good deal, and would be very cynical on the part of Disney. Still, even here there are people, I think, who would find value in being able to use some points to reduce the out of pocket cost.

Would love to hear more about what kind of actual quotes people are getting, 'cause if it's the first scenario I would strongly consider going back, and doubly so if the regular pricing is starting at the $6k for party of 4 that the website suggests, making the discounted pricing even cheaper.

Brooke McDonald broke it down on her Instagram.

 

[Lorana]

People have already reported booking one guest on points and getting the 30% discount on the cash price for the remaining guests. The one guest can be the third guest as well which is much cheaper than the first two.

Oh, where is that? Is there a price breakdown?
We are torn because we really want to do this experience, but the price is exorbitant. But if we could book our DS on points and get 30% off the two adults cash price, we might be more tempted to go this winter. Does anyone know what the pricing ends up being?

 

[ehh]

Oh, where is that? Is there a price breakdown?
We are torn because we really want to do this experience, but the price is exorbitant. But if we could book our DS on points and get 30% off the two adults cash price, we might be more tempted to go this winter. Does anyone know what the pricing ends up being?

If they honor the 30% off cash prices, it would be ~$3500 + 40pts for 2 cash adults and 1 points child.

 

[Lorana]

FYI, I called and they DO discount the cash price by 30% off.

For comparison:
I called Starcruiser to get the cash price of 2 adults 1 child (age 16) for the 2/12/2023 departure, and was quoted $5,930.75
According to DVC points charts, the 2/12/2023 departure is 207 points per adult, and 83 points for the 3rd passenger, for a total of 497 points. That point cost would make sense only if I valued the points at the cost of dues - at buy-in or rental costs, it makes it insanely expensive to use points. (I can see the allure of using points, though, since it makes it so easy.)

I called DVC to price out the same date, but with the child/3rd person on points and adults on cash. I was quoted $1885.92 per adult, 58 points for our DS, and $95 exchange fee, for a total of $3,866.92 plus 58 points. Even if I valued the points at $20 per point, that makes our total buy-in cost $5,026.92. That's still a savings of 15% off the regular price -- and it's easy to feel as if we got a full 30% off, since points can feel like free easy money, and I was already planning to be in Disney during this time, so I was going to spend 36 of those 58 points already, and if I stayed till 2/14, I would have spent 72 points. It does mean I'm cutting my "Girls Getaway" to the Festival of the Arts short by 1 day, but now we are getting to try the Starcruiser and saving $2,063.83 out of pocket cash.

Another note -- they seem to have dates available for the discount that aren't listed on the website. The CM told me that both the 2/10 and 2/14 departures were available. Weekends are definitely higher, and I decided no on 2/14 just because it's bad enough I'm pulling my DS out of school 2 days for the Starcruiser. 3 days just felt like crossing the line. Also, airfare was far more outrageous to return home president's day weekend, and thus we'd be tempted to spend more time at Disney -- which would wipe out that $2k savings. ;-)

Now I just need to go back to my budget to see what I'm cutting out for this, or if we're going to rent out more points this year to cover the cost.

 

[sethschroeder]

My thing isnt exactly the money is that I feel they will discount further and I am fine missing out if it comes down to it.

30% seemed to be aggressive enough that they were not likely going to discount further we just wouldnt need a 3rd so I would essentially be paying in points for nothing if I could even do it.

Same with cruises right now I think they are overpriced for what they will be able to book them for coming up with the economic downturn and layoffs really still in the early days.

 

[RoseGold]

My thing isnt exactly the money is that I feel they will discount further and I am fine missing out if it comes down to it.

People act like this thing isn't successful because it isn't sold out every night. Neither is the Ritz and it's doing fine. I don't think we have any actual evidence that Starcruiser isn't doing well.

I think they'll lower prices and water it down before they scrap it, but that's sheer speculation. They started the price ridiculously high for a reason.

They're discounting the least demand weeks in the schedule to hold over until Spring Break and maybe even summer. I can see them scrapping it with no notice. Or discounting mid-week before wind-down, I guess. Or even increasing prices, as is the Disney way.

 

[RoseGold]

I called DVC to price out the same date, but with the child/3rd person on points and adults on cash. I was quoted $1885.92 per adult, 58 points for our DS, and $95 exchange fee, for a total of $3,866.92 plus 58 points. Even if I valued the points at $20 per point, that makes our total buy-in cost $5,026.92. That's still a savings of 15% off the regular price -- and it's easy to feel as if we got a full 30% off, since points can feel like free easy money, and I was already planning to be in Disney during this time, so I was going to spend 36 of those 58 points already, and if I stayed till 2/14, I would have spent 72 points. It does mean I'm cutting my "Girls Getaway" to the Festival of the Arts short by 1 day, but now we are getting to try the Starcruiser and saving $2,063.83 out of pocket cash.

Love it! Now this is some Disney math. You should go!!! Value your points at their buy-in cost for you, so let's say $10. It's only $4,486. That's like giving it away, right?

 

[Lorana]

My thing isnt exactly the money is that I feel they will discount further and I am fine missing out if it comes down to it.

30% seemed to be aggressive enough that they were not likely going to discount further we just wouldnt need a 3rd so I would essentially be paying in points for nothing if I could even do it.

Same with cruises right now I think they are overpriced for what they will be able to book them for coming up with the economic downturn and layoffs really still in the early days.

We did debate that as well (that better discounts may be offered later), but our concern is that the economic downturn might also mean reducing the experience as well. Weighing those two things, we decided the 30% discount was enough for us to feel like we got a good deal while the experience is still the same. Maybe in a year or two, we might be kicking ourselves that we missed out on an even better discount... but we also might be much less inclined to spend the money in an economic downturn too.

 

[Lorana]

Love it! Now this is some Disney math. You should go!!! Value your points at their buy-in cost for you, so let's say $10. It's only $4,486. That's like giving it away, right?

Ha ha ha! THAT Disney math I'm not going to do. I value my points more highly, and if I'm going to use points, I'll rent out 194 points at $20/point to cover the $3867 cost rather than use 439 direct points.

Also, my average cost per point (initial cost / years left at time of purchase + dues) is $12.73 for my Direct Points (since you can only use Direct Points for this), and so 497 points is $6326.81, which is more than the all cash price.

Still, valuing the 58 points spent for our DS at $20pp is $1016, and that still means my DH and I saved 15% off the regular rate by using those 58 points towards the 3rd person.

 

[CarolynFH]

FYI, I called and they DO discount the cash price by 30% off.

For comparison:
I called Starcruiser to get the cash price of 2 adults 1 child (age 16) for the 2/12/2023 departure, and was quoted $5,930.75
According to DVC points charts, the 2/12/2023 departure is 207 points per adult, and 83 points for the 3rd passenger, for a total of 497 points. That point cost would make sense only if I valued the points at the cost of dues - at buy-in or rental costs, it makes it insanely expensive to use points. (I can see the allure of using points, though, since it makes it so easy.)

I called DVC to price out the same date, but with the child/3rd person on points and adults on cash. I was quoted $1885.92 per adult, 58 points for our DS, and $95 exchange fee, for a total of $3,866.92 plus 58 points. Even if I valued the points at $20 per point, that makes our total buy-in cost $5,026.92. That's still a savings of 15% off the regular price -- and it's easy to feel as if we got a full 30% off, since points can feel like free easy money, and I was already planning to be in Disney during this time, so I was going to spend 36 of those 58 points already, and if I stayed till 2/14, I would have spent 72 points. It does mean I'm cutting my "Girls Getaway" to the Festival of the Arts short by 1 day, but now we are getting to try the Starcruiser and saving $2,063.83 out of pocket cash.

Another note -- they seem to have dates available for the discount that aren't listed on the website. The CM told me that both the 2/10 and 2/14 departures were available. Weekends are definitely higher, and I decided no on 2/14 just because it's bad enough I'm pulling my DS out of school 2 days for the Starcruiser. 3 days just felt like crossing the line. Also, airfare was far more outrageous to return home president's day weekend, and thus we'd be tempted to spend more time at Disney -- which would wipe out that $2k savings. ;-)

Now I just need to go back to my budget to see what I'm cutting out for this, or if we're going to rent out more points this year to cover the cost.

Thank you for posting the actual figures. Unfortunately (or fortunately for our bank account), we don’t have a third-person kid. It would just be the two of us. Then again, neither of us is good at LARP either.