Why the Star Wars Hotel Failed

[miTnosnhoJ]

As a Disney fan, this video really hits home. It describes in detail the experience of the Star Wars Hotel and why it failed. I really hope Disney takes this to heart and gets it together.

 

[BamaGuy44]

Is there like a 30 minute summary of it somewhere? 4 hours+

 

[CarolynFH]

Is there like a 30 minute summary of it somewhere? 4 hours+

There's a lot of discussion in a thread on the news & rumors board - it starts here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/g...ermanently-in-september.3919427/post-65503469 (page 11, post 210). I've just been skimming it but you can get a good idea.

 

[Kailunkat]

The video is 4hrs but it's actually pretty tight/well edited. If you wanted to you could skip the sections that recap her personal experience to shorten it. I highly recommend watching at least the first 30mins though - so many fantastic insights.

 

[CraigInPA]

It can be watched in about 40 minutes. She has it broken down into chapters. The beginning few chapters show the history and promises (many broken) of the whole Star Wars Land (see, I'm using her terminology, instead of the official name, so you know I'm not a paid influencer), and how many of those special features landed in the Galactic Starcruiser. Then, there are several long chapters on her actual visit. I didn't watch all of these, just the first few minutes of each chapter. The final few chapters (all quite short) explain how the initial hype didn't sustain, how Disney flubbed it when announcing the closing of the hotel, and there's a full chapter recognizing sources of some of the material she shows. While I was around for all of this, and watched Disney intently, I have to commend the creator of the piece for the breadth of material she's located and how well it's all put together. It was definitely worth the time I spent watching it.

 

[McCrae]

Disappointing sums it up for me. I was considering going, but nothing from the marketing materials made me think I must do this. For the price being asked the bedrooms looked very basic and not that comfortable.

 

[Jwaire]

Is there like a 30 minute summary of it somewhere? 4 hours+

I'll sum it up for you.

1. Disney screwed the marketing up.
2. She didn't understand what she was getting in to/went in blind.
3. She didn't understand the "game" and the tech didn't work for her on her phone.
4. She got a bad table in the dining room and couldn't see the entertainment.
5. She didn't like her room because it was small.
6. She didn't care for the food either.
7. It rained and made the Galaxy Edge portion annoying.
8. She never asked for help for any of her problems or with the app.
9. In conclusion, it's way too expensive for what it was.

Nothing she said was anything that hasn't been discussed ad nauseam on the Starcruiser threads here and elsewhere, but she wore different outfits and talked in an entertaining tone — so millions of YouTube views.

 

[Newsies]

2. She didn't understand what she was getting in to/went in blind.
3. She didn't understand the "game" and the tech didn't work for her on her phone.

I don't think we watched the same video -- she knew exactly what she was getting into and probably understood the game better than anyone else getting onto that ship. Did she not go in there with a desired gameplay outcome and a plan of action on how to get there?

 

[bwvBound]

As a Disney fan, this video really hits home. It describes in detail the experience of the Star Wars Hotel and why it failed. I really hope Disney takes this to heart and gets it together.

Thank you for posting this!

The video is 4hrs but it's actually pretty tight/well edited. If you wanted to you could skip the sections that recap her personal experience to shorten it. I highly recommend watching at least the first 30mins though - so many fantastic insights.

Thank you for the encouragement to at least watch the first 30 minutes.

So, I committed to the "first 30 minutes" (at 1.5x playback speed, which is my go-to viewing setting) ... and enjoyed the entire video. Well, OK, I sorta drifted off near the very end ... but it was late ... and I really did stick with it until perhaps the final 15 minutes. I rarely stick with a video beyond 20 minutes ... this one held my attention. Very nicely composed/delivered/edited!

 

[dreamer17555]

I think her comparison to Spirit Airlines with the constant up-charges to Disney's current business model for the parks is spot on. If you look at this Disney Resorts commercial from 2015 compared to the parks in 2024 it is really sad how much we have lost while prices and add on charges continue to rise-

Also once Jenny pointed out the naming convention and how paid influencers use the full name (that no one ever uses casually) I have noticed it in so much content now. It's not Tron. They call it Tron- Lightcycle Run. Dead giveaway now that she pointed it out.

 

[Kailunkat]

I'll sum it up for you.

1. Disney screwed the marketing up.
2. She didn't understand what she was getting in to/went in blind.
3. She didn't understand the "game" and the tech didn't work for her on her phone.
4. She got a bad table in the dining room and couldn't see the entertainment.
5. She didn't like her room because it was small.
6. She didn't care for the food either.
7. It rained and made the Galaxy Edge portion annoying.
8. She never asked for help for any of her problems or with the app.
9. In conclusion, it's way too expensive for what it was.

Nothing she said was anything that hasn't been discussed ad nauseam on the Starcruiser threads here and elsewhere, but she wore different outfits and talked in an entertaining tone — so millions of YouTube views.

I don’t think you’re giving her enough credit. The sheer amount of time spent to research and cut together all of the clips she used is a massive amount of work. Even if she just compiled the theories of other people, the amount of time spent just shooting the 4 hour video is nuts. But added to that, she managed to edit down a huge amount of content into digestible (and yes, humorous) form. She also could have tried to cash in by turning it into a 20 part series (which would have had way more impact for her financially). So yeah, even though it’s the first video of hers that I’ve ever seen - I subscribed. Credit where credit is due.

 

[robinb]

I am bummed I never experienced it.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Two words.

Too expensive.

 

[Chuck S]

I think it was a combination of two things.

1) Too Expensive

2) People don't generally go to Disney for a single limited experience, they want the parks, too. THey should have learned this from the Disney Institute (Now SSR)

 

[dcfromva]

Interesting points. I liked how she summed it all up- Disney trying to monetize the good stuff and put it all behind a paywall. And, they have found a ceiling on how much people are willing to pay. (Not sure if the have found The ceiling, yet.)

I was interested in a Star Wars themed hotel and meeting Star Wars characters, but not like the experience she described. It sounded too intense for my taste.
I guess I would be in “grandma mode”

 

[bdrex28]

Interesting points. I liked how she summed it all up- Disney trying to monetize the good stuff and put it all behind a paywall. And, they have found a ceiling on how much people are willing to pay. (Not sure if the have found The ceiling, yet.)

I was interested in a Star Wars themed hotel and meeting Star Wars characters, but not like the experience she described. It sounded too intense for my taste.
I guess I would be in “grandma mode”

To me that's the key. The Star Wars/Space theme is a pretty cool idea, but the experience was not for everyone not to mention the costs. They could have just made it a new Deluxe Resort with a Space theme. Families and Kids have loved the "space" theme since the space age and even before.

 

[jimim]

too much money. . . and for those who didn't mind the money. . . not changing the experience so why do it again. . .

 

[philharmagic fan]

To me that's the key. The Star Wars/Space theme is a pretty cool idea, but the experience was not for everyone not to mention the costs. They could have just made it a new Deluxe Resort with a Space theme. Families and Kids have loved the "space" theme since the space age and even before.

Exactly! I would have willingly paid high deluxe rates for the room, with maybe a character meet in the lobby and a lightning lane for each of the Star Wars attractions at Studios. After one try at a Renaissance Fair a few years ago I knew an "immersive" type experience was NOT for me.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

I don’t think you’re giving her enough credit. The sheer amount of time spent to research and cut together all of the clips she used is a massive amount of work. Even if she just compiled the theories of other people, the amount of time spent just shooting the 4 hour video is nuts. But added to that, she managed to edit down a huge amount of content into digestible (and yes, humorous) form. She also could have tried to cash in by turning it into a 20 part series (which would have had way more impact for her financially). So yeah, even though it’s the first video of hers that I’ve ever seen - I subscribed. Credit where credit is due.

I’ve been watching Jenny’s videos for years, and the fact that this took her over 2 years (she was constantly telling her 35k Patreon subs that it was “almost done” for over a year) and she had 0 output during that time was horribly disappointing. I highly recommend her stuff on Evermore if you’re into the ‘why things failed’ genre.
However as someone who actually went to the Starcruiser and went in having done a lot of research (I paid for the Captain’s table which got us amazing seats for both nights’ dinners for less than 50 dollars, I booked a room that was a suite and shared with two other adults so the space was large and the cost was WAY more affordable, and then when we did experience a minor issue with the App we immediately had the concierge help on board to make our experience more enjoyable. I feel like Jenny kind of did a bad job planning aside from knowing she wanted to be evil to not know about most of these things. Also, she complained about the love story a lot, but on our cruise the smuggler/musical act manager and the first mate fell in love because the guests encouraged them. It stinks she had a not amazing experience, but I actually am not a huge Star Wars fan (my friends and my husband are) and I had a great time! I think the only experience I didn’t enjoy was the light saber training. So it was a great video in terms of being thorough but also kinda stinks that she sold it as a terrible experience when non-influencers did have a good time.
I also pointed out in her Patreon that she used Pete Warner’s YouTube video of a Disney Cruise and she really ought to edit him out.

 

[RanDIZ]

I will echo what others have said. Clearly the price point was unsustainable.