Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Closing Forever, Tom Reacts
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- Опубликовано: 16 июн 2024
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0:00 Opening
0:32 Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Closing Permanently in September
2:50 Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Will Not Offer Discounts Once Bookings Resume, Guests With Canceled Voyages to Receive 50% Off Earlier Dates
3:48 Tom's Thoughts on Starcruiser Closing
16:37 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Responds to Disney Cancelling Lake Nona Move
17:19 Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle Addresses Lake Nona Campus Cancellation in New Statement
22:38 beourguestvacations.com/wdwnt
23:14 Disney CFO Christine McCarthy Says Disney Will Use Disney+ Data to Guide New Theme Park Investments
24:14 New Walt Disney World Annual Passholder Magnet Confirmed to Feature Figment
24:53 Fire-Breathing Effect Returns to Maleficent Dragon in ‘Festival of Fantasy Parade’ at Magic Kingdom
25:38 Live-Action Ariel Character Meet & Greet Beginning May 26 at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World
26:13 Hong Kong Disneyland Returning to Six or Seven Days Per Week Operations in June
27:21 Sign-off
I am not surprised. Paying $6,000 for a standard cabin at the Starcruiser makes staying at the Grand Floridian look affordable in comparison.
Also, paying this in a world post pandemic is very bizarre.
I don’t feel sorry for Disney at all. Walt is rolling over in his grave at what Disney has become… and it all boils down to corporate greed. The epic cash grab failed and anyone with a brain knew it was going to happen.
DLC is lot more affordable too
Agree. If you’re a family of four who only has $6000 to spend on one vacation a year (if that) and you could book a week in a value resort plus park tickets and food vs 2 nights on a land cruise (as immersive and impressive as it may be) which would you do? My husband and I are OG Star Wars fans circa 1977 and we’re a dvc family and we still couldn’t justify the cost.
Excellent comparison 👏 I agree
Disney unknowingly started competing with themselves when they built Star cruiser. The price point made families choose whether they wanted to spend a week at Disney World or a weekend at Star Cruiser. Wanting to do both in the same vacation would double your vacation costs. Disney forgot who their fan base is, and created an experience that was out of reach for most Disney fans.
100%. You can discount the Star Cruiser as much as you want, but if you’re going to continue to raise prices at the parks, families will still have to decide one over the other. You’ll get much more value doing a Disney vacation versus doing a 2 day stay in a hotel that limits what you get to do.
@@admontano21 comparing the two, one experience is familiar and the other (Star Cruiser) is unknown. It’s new and many fans do not know what to expect with a star cruiser weekend. Fans do know what to expect with a week at Disney World though. And I think it’s pretty clear that the combination of “value” and familiarity won in this case. If Disney made Star Cruiser into a highly themed Star Wars hotel, that celebrated the entire Star Wars story, it would have been a overwhelming success. Fans would not have had to pick and choose with the normal hotel option either.
@@shadowlessxpancould still happen, I guess... de-theming the building to transform it into something else seems like a dumb idea to me, but maybe they just want to cut their losses. But I agree with you, I wish it was just a highly themed SW hotel from the start. I would've paid a comparable rate to the Polynesian for it 😅
@@shadowlessxpan This! Why not make a large starwars themed hotel. Do not force me to do a 1 and 1/2 day experience at a 6k price point to get my starwars fix.
in other words disney pulled itself apart.
The absolute failure of Starcruiser is Disney not knowing their customers, or ignoring their customers.
Totally agree with what you articulated.
No way would I pay what they are asking.
So true. It's been happening throughout the Disney company. Sadly.
So true.
Gee...and you didn't get blasted like I did.
They knew there customers. However they thought "If you are HARD CORE enough you will pay any price." That was the problem.
I think it was wild that Disney thought there was a continued supply of people with $6000 to spend on 48 hours who also love to larp.
I worked on SW since the first scene of the first SW film. No bigger fans than me and my kids. I'm financially comfortable and would never drop that kinds bank on it. We're a decade away from Disney righting it's ship. Disney will back itself further into heII before things get better.
And who think “The Last Jedi” is the best Star Wars movie
Role-play is not a bad thing, but this is a bad experience.
They limited the audience so severely,
there was no way it could succeed.
exactly, not enough interest in the sequel trilogy timeline.
I feel ya, Tom, but let's be real. You're sad that more people won't see it? It is closing because most people don't care to see it (at least without a substantilly lower price point). It was one of the most well executed, interesting, immersive, and groundbreaking experiences that was designed to appeal to an excruciatingly narrow audience.
This necessitated being financially well-off, enjoying not only Star Wars, but Disney Star Wars, being a fan of LARPing, AND having enough disposable vacation time that you could commit 2 days of your vacation time to this. That is one hell of a narrow audience lol. Without taking away from the quality of the Imagineering, performances, etc., this was always going to fail. The only thing that surprises me is how the average Disney fan could understand this, but Disney executives could not.
Bingo.
totally agree, well stated.
Well articulated. A voice of reason.
I agree. I've always been confused about who the target audience is for this experience. It's basically a larping/cosplay event. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would choose to do the Starcruiser stay versus just going to the park.
This is actually a very good point. The problem isn't that Galactic Starcruiser is closing; the problem is that it ever opened in the first place. It was simply unsustainable, since the low number of rooms was necessary to maintain the quality of guest interactions, but the low number of rooms necesitated a high price to pay for the large number of cast members and actors. If there's one thing I've realized in the past decade (both as someone who has worked at theme parks and visited them as a guest) it's that while most people want to feel like they've been dropped into their favorite book or movie or tv show, they don not want to have to actively participate. They just want to be entertained. Hence why Galaxy's Edge so desperately needs a stunt show. And why Galactic Starcruiser should have been a much bigger hotel with some live performances, rather than a full-on LARPing experience. Don't get me wrong; I really enjoy live-action role-playing. But not everyone does. And Disney is in the business of appealing to a very broad audience.
I’m glad it failed. Disney tried to lock Galaxy’s Edge content behind a paywall, confident that the fandom would throw money at the project regardless. Turns out people aren’t just gullible and rich cash cows. If Disney are going to survive the economic downturn, they need to remember what made the parks great to begin with - the artistic generosity and ingenuity of imagineering. And I mean REAL imagineers. Not nepotistic freshmen straight out of Yale or Harvard with their Corporate Business Management degrees.
Disney has done a really great job at burning franchises to the ground over the past few years. They need to take a step back and reevaluate what they are doing.
Star Wars was a guaranteed money maker. They fudged it up big time.
The Bud Light of entertainment.
Greedy... I'm sure it would have done well at a reasonable price. But recently the greed has taken the wheeled at Disney and they upped all the prices and took away all the perks of staying at a Disney resort. Magic 3:21 band, magical express , fast pass is now geni at 15 per day per person... And parents spend the day on the geni trying to get reservations 😱 the happiest place is now Disney hell... Pick you pockets and stress you out 🤯 the place is falling apart and filthy 🤮
Disney didn't just 'kinda' price people out, they literally priced most people out. And the closest most would get to this experience is through RUclips (thx for your reviews btw). Great concept? You bet. But just because you can doesn't mean you should. Voice of reality and common sense would have created a truly themed hotel, and made it affordable to most, not the select few. That is longevity.
Converting it into a 6 hour long Star Wars version of Medieval Times with two showtimes a day would make it booked solid.
With 100 bedrooms?
I really feel for the cast members. They put their best into it. They are the true stars. Its not their fault Disney leadership sucks and ruined this.
Disney leadership needs to be booted out and start over with new people that have Walt's vision.
Appreciate Tom congratulating the cast members.
The Starcruiser WAS a test. It was a test to see where the ceiling is for gouging their fans. It's an ongoing test that's been happening for well over a decade. "How much will they pay for the parks? For food? For souvenirs? For ticketed events? To get on ride that they probably won't get to ride otherwise?" For many they hit that ceiling years ago.
Tom is right. This was a great idea ruined by greed. But that's pretty much the Disney Parks at this point...
BINGO!!!!!
A $250 million to $1 billion test for what? There is nothing comparable at WDW for Disney to be consider raising the pricing on. The Galactic Starcruiser is not comparable to staying at even a deluxe Disney resort hotel. A Galactic Starcruiser, you’re paying for the role-playing experience, not the accommodations.
It's crazy that not too long ago, tickets to the parks were under $100, and in the 80s they were as low as $13. $150 per person per day is just too much, especially with how little value you get, even when staying on-property. No more free fast passes, no more Magical Express, no more park-to-room deliveries, etc etc... going to Disney nowadays costs a small fortune!
Unfortunately I think I have to disagree with you on the Lake Nona decision. Imagineers have fought this move from the beginning and with the latest financial results Disney is using the “politics” of all of this to cancel the project when in reality Disney had no intentions to follow through even with all the state incentives because of the huge cost in this climate, it makes Iger look like a hero to the imagineers and make him look good to shareholders so this was inevitable
Agree
Well said
I think bob iger was always going to cancel this tbh
Absolutely. The project was being "delayed" in June 2022 for THREE YEARS. Not sure why it seems the objectivity that I appreciated coming from this channel seems to be waning.
Totally agree.
Totally agree with your statement, I just don’t understand how most people can’t see the larger picture. This was a project that has been in the pipeline for years, pushed and pushed along until an escape goat came along in the form of De Santis. So rather then saying the company isn’t financially sound to make such a business move, let’s blame it on the political pissing match. Disney is just going to continue to blame every improvement or expansion cancellation to Walt Disney World, and everyone is just going to blame it on De Santis.
You didn’t mention that they were already down to only two “voyages” a week, not in the fall RIGHT NOW. You also didn’t mention that Disney shot this in the foot as soon as the very first PR video dropped, and it never improved. If you’re going to list the good things, you should also list the bad things as well. Because this had a LOT of bad associated with it.
Yeah I’m so jealous of not getting to drop $5000 for a 46 hour LARP experience.
@@audrey-dw4pp oh please hahahaha nobody is jealous. NOBODY WANTS TO GO
You’re right, nobody wants to except the shills who Disney paid to go and write “glowing” reviews. For the cost I can do ALL of WDW for a week, or Iceland first class for a week. So let me think which I’d rather spend that much money on
I thought it sounded awful the first time I heard about it, before I heard how expensive it was. Two day bossy escape room with no escape. It felt like a stressful team-building corporate retreat thing that you dread but can’t escape. Millions of people don’t go to Florida and Vegas every year to cosplay. It’s a niche thing the vast majority of people DO NOT WANT TO DO even for free. Then it costs as much as a weeks vacations and burns days of your annual leave. It’s just sounds awful top to bottom. All it takes is one introvert in your family to veto going.
I agree with a lot of this. I often felt that there wasn’t enough available to do for those not interested in group interaction or problem-solving on vacation. As an introvert who could afford to go, this seemed hellacious to me.
👏👏👏I said this too when I first heard about it, especially when you're just trying to enjoy your meals? No thanks
Just a nightmare. One you pay for
Lol! I had this fear when I learned what it was, as I’m also a huge introvert. I didn’t interact much with characters at all, but enjoyed the “missions” we received on the app immensely. It was like a big scavenger hunt with puzzles to solve, rooms to figure out how to get into, things to find, etc. I love that kind of stuff. It felt like being in a live version of those mystery/adventure video games. So, it is possible to enjoy this kind of experience as an introvert if you do like puzzles and scavenger hunts, you don’t have to interact with others much at all.
Starcruiser was doomed to fail from the beginning, and that price tag for a 2 night stay was beyond ridiculous!
It would have been if all you were paying for was a hotel stay. I really don't see how they could have provided this kind of experience for less.
@@ttintagel you don't? REALLY???
@@ttintagel You've got to be kidding. I took an 8 night cruise on a ship that actually went places for less than half the price. You don't see how a hotel with less entertainment and zero fuel consumption could do a 2 night stay for less?
Two nights, less than 48 total hours, limited menus, no windows, and you don't even get a ticket to the parks for your mid-4-figure price tag? No level of cast member quality is going to make that worth it.
@@ttintagel this is your brain on pixie dust. The Star Wars hotel was overpriced, mismanaged , and ill executed garbage. The fact Disney fans think larping in a themed room/cafe/hotel is a new concept is hilarious. Only thing good that can come out of this is that when Universal or other companies tackle this concept with an IP. They can hopefully learn from Disney’s mistakes
Tom - let's face it, at $6000 (or more) for a family of four is outrageous. The 2021 median annual wage in the US was $45,760 (before taxes are deducted). How is a median annual wage earner expected to afford this? Have you looked at the people attending WDW or DL? They don't Look rich to me. They look like hard working families who either save for years or plop the cost on their over-extended credit card (terrible idea) to visit these parks. Average CC debt for 50 yo is over $8000. For 40 yo the debt is in the high $7,000s.
While I can't disagree with you that the experience is outstanding, especially for those uber-dedicated Star Wars fans, Disney shot themselves in the foot with the pricing. I am happy you got to visit multiple times (funding from your patrons I am assuming?). Unlikely you put $18,000 worth of visits on YOUR credit card.
This didn't need to happen, Disney got greedy.
Tom must have money to burn to spend that kind of money on that thing.
Don’t mistake, I’m sad to see the galactic star cruiser experience close. But it was something I was never going to get to try myself nor any member of my family. It was so far beyond our budget as to be in another galaxy far far away. I personally, would like to see some of the entertainment moved to Galaxy’s edge in the park itself. As it stands, galaxy’s edge feels more like a movie lot than an actual experience. Perhaps, adding more entertainment, more creatures, more sounds, more smells appropriate to the area, would make the experience more immersive.
There’s a reason none of that stuff made it into the park and had to be relegated to a $6000 2-day “voyage”, and it’s not just because Disney is greedy: the level of immersion in the pitch is genuinely VERY expensive, and the fact that they’re straight up just shutting down the hotel instead of lowering the cost suggests that the profit margin was razor-thin to begin with.
@@sssspider or they’re just not doing it right. look at universal’s wizarding world, a continually expanding ip that’s continuing to grow not in its own original park but is being added into newer additions, from diagon alley to their newer park Epic Universe. Costly as they may be (hagrid’s motorbikes for instance, the most expensive coaster made) these experiences are only bolstering the universal brand and harry potter, leading to more and more growth that will eventually exist in 3 parks. The smells, sights, immersion has all been done correctly, and it’s only a couple years ahead of Galaxy’s Edge. The Harry Potter lands actually take you to places from the movies, Galaxy’s Edge does not. The Harry Potter wands are an experience that immerses you in action from the movies, the magicband bounty hunting in Galaxy’s Edge does not. Harry Potter Wands are not only interactive with all the lands, but are also about 3-4x more affordable than lightsabers. I say all this even though I 100% like the Star Wars intellectual property more, especially when it’s the original trilogy, which is another miss on part of Galaxy’s Edge as well. I want to see Vader and stormtroopers marching, I couldn’t care less about Kylo. Let’s not forget what made Star Wars what it is and its not the sequel trilogy. So yeah, just poor mismanagement because Universal is doing everything right with a less favorable IP imo.
Agree 100% they should add all these entertainment as part of Galaxy’s edge!
maybe they will replace it something cheaper.
They never even delivered what was initially promised, erasing any reason in spending 6k, let alone justifying it.
Exactly! Tom is over here crying that he only got to give Disney $6,000 and praising this as a massive success and IT IS NOT or it would still be open and full all the time lol. It’s a HUGE failure If the most visited “guest” is actually the press reviewing your product. He didn’t go on vacation he went for work!
I think Tom is a little out of touch here with this video and he’s being very selective with the points he wants to make saying the theming was lackluster while also saying it was the greatest thing ever? All of the Disney vloggers are taking this opportunity to kiss the ring and it’s really embarrassing to see. This makes me question if Tom is even honest with his opinions now or is he just trying to stay on disneys good side after years of building this channel and seeing how quick the company is to cut ties with honest reviewers who will criticize Disney when appropriate post chapek.
@@damnimloomin Tom is a little to close to it all these days to be able to objectively critic Disney in any actual "news" sense. From the union wage disputes to the political silliness he always pushes the idea Disney can do no wrong even when he disagrees with them.
@@fearandloathing42 it’s really unfortunate he’s lost objectivity since his website is the most cited source now for most Disney news in magazines and even mainstream media articles online. He really has a moral obligation to be more objective in my opinion 🤷♂️ but then again that’s my opinion and I watch his content WAY less so that’s the trade off I guess.
You have to remember you are recognized by cast members all throughout Disney because of your blogs…you are going to be treated differently than someone else. You are going to get the 5 star treatment!
When Disney made their own content, they were great. It seems now they would rather buy the competition instead of crushing them. It also seems that they intend to use income from the theme parks to fund their laziness. Alienating the core supporters (annual pass holders) in favor of milking one-time newcomers. If they were smart, they would arrange it so the newcomers could afford to come back time and again and perhaps one day aspire to be an annual pass holder. Instead of building a well to drink from, they prefer to drink from disposable bottles. This not only limits the amount available but also creates the issue of garbage as well. They would have you believe that this is all Bob Chapek's fault, but the truth is Bob Iger was the one who wanted to be the media mogul buying up everything he could get his hands on and diluting it while charging as much as possible for less and less. The theme parks are the only entity of Disney's entire portfolio that is profitable. They pay for all of the other non-profitable Disney ventures. Perhaps Bob should make some major investments in the parks to keep funding his other losing ideas.
And reduce his salary, bonuses and stock options...
But they limited the discount to the minority of people who could take advantage of that discount. Tom, the company hasn't been kind to either California, Florida or it's employees
I followed the project from the sketches and I was very excited until the day the prices were announced and it was as if Disney was shouting at my face "Dear a lifetime fan, you don't care for us. We only want wealthy people for our best experience." A kind of "club 33" but less exclusive. Honestly for someone who continues to pay the loan for his visit in 2017 to fulfill a dream, this project was a punch in the belly. I feel your loss and I hope that the workers relocate but I am glad with all my soul that the play has gone badly for Disney.
Let me get this right are you really paying for a trip you took 6 years ago still today ? Just curious and seeing if I understood you correctly thanks
@@toyman70 That's right, partly my fault when accepting a revolving credit, I pay a small monthly part that is almost all interest and very little amortization but with my annual income of €14,000 it has allowed me the dream of visiting Anaheim and Universal Hollywood (one week hotel with tickets and meals + flights for 1 person €1,800) and I have little left to pay for it in full! I understand that there are more important things in life but for years I have followed this channel and others on RUclips and for once I wanted to live the experience in person!
I agree with you that this price seemed way over the top and it was such a negative shock for so many eagerly anticipating the hotel that it created incredible backlash. They were just too greedy, could have priced it lower during the week than at the weekend, for example, or offered passholder/resident discounts, or otherwise made it more accessible at least part of the time. I think it’s a shame that more people weren’t able to experience it.
1) KK lied right to George’s face and didn’t make the trilogy that Lucas gave her the treatments for. This pissed off fans. 2) Lucasfilm humiliated Luke in TLJ. Further upsetting fans. 3)Lucasfilm employees publicly called upset fans all kinds of names. Further alienating them. 4) Starcruiser does not have Luke, Leia and Vader. No one cares about Rey and Kylo 5) price is too high for casual Star Wars fans.
Summary: you pissed off hardcore Star Wars fans who refused to go, and you priced it too high for the casual fans. A recipe for failure.
I'm a fan, and even if what you claim were true, none of it pissed me off or insulted me.
@@ttintagel You don't have to respond to every comment you don't agree with. Obviously many disagree with you.
@@tstark5964 Some do, some don't. Same as you.
GSC represents the height of privilege and the big problem with current decision making from execs... very wealthy people don't really give a sh*t about Disney parks...to the few who can afford to travel the world, it's tacky and plebian and they won't support any endeavor long term. STOP TRYING TO COURT THEM.
I'm not entirely sure the Lake Nona cancellation was all that much of a surprise. I think it was another bad Chapek idea that needed to be stopped. The move was quite unpopular with Imagineering, causing a number of cast there to resign or retire rather than agree to the move. Which was one of the possible reasons for the move - to accomplish just that. These long-time (and expensive) imagineers could be replaced in Florida with summer interns and new hires much more cheaply. There's also the optics of building a new Billion+ dollar corporate headquarters when thousands of rank and file cast are being laid off to cut costs. That looks simply terrible. As to Iger saying it was still on a while ago - it was probably still on because it was a lower priority item on his plate and he simply hadn't had the chance to take a look at the project.
Of course, Iger is a smart enough guy to spin things a bit and include the recent silliness as part of why the project was cancelled. But I think it would have been cancelled even if there were a more Disney friendly person in the governor's mansion.
Wasn't even just the price. It's the type of experience you had to go through on Star Cruiser that is totally unappealing a lot of people.
I would have happily taken a free two nights at All Star Sports versus Star Cruiser.
Being herded around to role-play is not even close to my idea of a vacation.
Agree 100%. People like Tom who love this just can’t understand why many people would rather not role play like them.
The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was a colossal waste of money.
$6000 to stay trapped inside and play dress-up, while there is so much else to do there. No thanks.
@@kylekeller3398 do you need to spend 2000-6000 to ride it?
If the Tianas restaurant menus and quality are anything like on the DCL's versions they will be a bigger bust. Absolute horrible. No argument, really bad.
You feel like I did at the tragic end of the Adventurer's Club on formerly Pleasure Island. That Cloob was the most unique, themed environment ever and is still sorely missed by so many of us. Rumor was that it wasn't bringing in the revenue - but all they had to do was charge tickets at the door. People who weren't buying drinks - the tickets could have included the cost of a couple. Easy fixes. But they demolished it instead. /cry
Bring back the Adventurer's Club!
Kungaloosh!
I've heard so many good things about it, but sadly never got to experience it myself. I've heard that elements of the Adventurer's club were an inspiration for elements on the Starcruiser. Sad that the market for this kind of thing doesn't seem to be sustainable.
By the time I even heard about it, they were demolishing it!!!
I just have to say as a Disney and Star Wars fan they completely priced me out on this "cruise". I live in SoFlo and have gone to Disney countless times since 1972 and cruised the Fantasy twice. This is just too much money for penny counters like me. I was turned off from the beginning with the price but gave way a little after seeing positive videos like yours. STILL! It's just too much. I have family and friends that are avid fans but cannot afford this trip. Staying at a moderate resort is "luxury" for me. It's just too much money. I'm a person that would have been interested, but I know of many who just do not like Star Wars at all.
Don't worry, moderate resorts are more enjoyable. I've found nothing (other than 2 bathrooms in 1 room) that I thought made the price jump to deluxe resorts truly worth it. Being a penny counter is something to be proud of fam 👊
Tom, I am a California native and Disneyland is my home park. However, I watch many WDW channels because I love “all things Disney”, even though I will probably never make it to WDW. This video and your heartfelt opinion on the Halcyon experience is perhaps the best Disney video I have ever watched. Your sincere reviews and humble appreciation for the innovation that went into the creation of this experience speaks volumes to the deep love you have for the Mouse. Bravo, Tom! I hope you get your final voyage because I love I’ll be watching with bated breath!
The calculation was actually very simple. 6 k for two nights on a fake cruise. Or 6 k for two 7day actual cruises on an actual boat. It wasn’t brain science in this household.
The price showed just how out of touch with reality Disney is. They overestimated the wealth of their fandom. They underestimate the degree to which fans dislike Disney Star Wars.
The Venn diagram of rich, RPG playing, Star Wars fans just doesn’t overlap as much as Disney thought. ¯\_(°_O)/¯
Kennedy needs to face reality and realize her new trilogy did a ton of brand damage. No one wants her self imposed, Rey Palpatine. This stood a chance with the OG trilogy. Of course the pricetag really destroyed any chance of success, but they also underdelivered in what the promised. Disney on a whole is a complete mess. The only sector excelling is the foreign parks because it's removed from this dumpsterfire of "leadership".
I think it has more to do with the marketing and pricing than it has to do with the latest films.
K Kennedy was fine under Lucas guidance at first. Then as time passed not so good, then without Lucas defaulted to ruining the franchise. Go WOKE go broke.
@@pbenavides09 that’s an opinion, very likely a wrong view but still an opinion
@@pbenavides09 5 stinkers in a row.
@@plato363 An opinion, that with each underperforming theme park addition, movie or D+ series is proving to be fact.
I don't feel your pain. Conceptually, it was great! But the economics were never there. For $6K, I can do a really nice Disney cruise and get a lot more for my money and we all know that Disney cruises aren't the cheapest.
Nope, you’re wrong on the Disney/Lake Nona story: Disney pulling out of Lake Nona is about money. They have to cut 5.6 billion $ like Iger announced. 7,000 jobs lost is part, but not enough. Besides business losses, the $18/hour is costing them also. All the discounts, cutting reservations, closing SW hotel, bringing back dining plans…all to bring more people in to make MONEY. Building a big place in Lake Nona is too expensive for them right now. THAT is why it was cancelled. It’s about the $MONEY$.
I heard others bring this up earlier, and it kind of makes sense, being I have an MBA in accounting. Walt Disney Company’s fiscal end of year is September 30. This is going to be a need for them to do a big write off and accelerate depreciation of the building and equipment. This is the reason for the abrupt announcement because somebody made that decision to drop the hammer and end the program.
Honestly I'm not jealous that I never had the opportunity to experience it. Harry Potter Land emulates Harry Potter, Nintendo World emulates Nintendo. Even Disney's Toy Story Land and Avatar themed Land hit it on the nail. The Galactic Star Cruiser doesn't emulates Star Wars atleast from what I've seen. I see nothing to connect to. Like...you could take that same hotel and change it to a Lost In Space hotel overnight. It has no real distinction that connects it to the intended theme.
Tom is wrong about the pricing- (the damage was done when the story followed the sequel) yet at least he’s starting to realize that Iger is the problem and not chapek.
Tom unfortunately is Wrong on a lot of things with his rants. But I understand emotions can get in the way of critical thinking.
Tom, your initial detailed review of the Starcruiser really sold me on the amount of effort and talent that went into the experience, and sold me on the idea of it more than the blindly fawning "reviews" by people who got a free ride through the weekend. But even then, you ended the review with a strong, reasoned damnation of the price structure and the restrictive structure of the weekend. Your intense love for the experience didn't stop you from saying "it's not worth it."
It really stinks that the time and effort of the cast members are being lost, but it's like making an amazing hamburger that costs $400. At some point, "cost prohibitive" veers into "cost insulting."
That’s how I felt when they demolished the horizons at EPCOT centre. And I would imagine that people also felt the same way about the rainbow caverns at the original Disneyland being closed.
Horizons was by far the best ride at Epcot
Horizons was EPCOT CENTER. I miss it dearly.
@@veromikes it was the greatest
The sad part is the cast members pay the price for Disney's mistake of overpricing.
Universal will buy the box truck to transport the huge sums of cash it will make when EPIC Universe opens.
I think Tom is 100% wrong on the Lake Nona thing. I think Disney wants you to believe it has to do with DeSantis, and I don’t really think DeSantis needs to insert himself into this matter… but Tom even said that this move was VERY unpopular, and was frankly a way for Chapek to potentially fire Imagineers. With the amount of schools in the reach of the campus, they likely would have outsourced to students for cheap labor in Imagineering. So add that to bad financial times at Disney (Tom glossed over that, too)… they’re looking for a PR win, so that’s why they’ll try and pin this on DeSantis. The truth is a lot of bad decision making over the past five years is coming home to roost.
100%! They want to blame DeSantis, but this terrible decision was in motion long before DeSantis. Two years ago I personally know employees that emptied their office and left for other companies, they refused to move their families across country without guarantee in writing. They made the best choice and now they want Ron to look bad, but this 100% falls on a badly managed Disney company. The company needs to focus on upkeep on what they have! Thank you for this!
They should have put the money spent on this to really make Galaxy’s Edge what they promised. Have characters throughout the land and had a story happen in the land. After reading the companion Black Spire novel, there should be so many more characters in the land. Shop vendors should be aliens, Olga should be in the cantina. Savi should make an appearance during the saber build. Etc. I’m sad that it was the pricing that killed Star Cruiser. Heck all the money spent on this and Harmonious could have gone into the EPCOT reimagining as was intended.
Disney put a lot of effort and spent a lot of money on the Starcruiser that few fans could afford. The characters and droids that were promised for Galaxy's Edge were put behind a pay wall. Greed and lack of understanding of what long time Star Wars fans were looking for is what caused its demise.
Tim Tracker was recently there and they had one dinner service. Maybe 1/3 of the dining room was occupied... even with the discount. It was doomed from the start.
It's sweet how much you care about the Galactic Starcruiser ☺ Seriously though, the price point was definitely a major issue, but without knowing the basic operating costs, it's hard to know what was "gouging" and what was necessary to make a profit. Really seems like the kind of experience that's too small-scale and requires too much overhead to be profitable unless the price is very high.
So sad to hear they are closing the Galactic Starcruiser before I could try it out. I was hoping that they would drop the prices for everyone and not just DVC members. Then they would get the crowds. I am curious to understand how they came to the pricing they did. I remember getting a survey about if I would be interested in this type of vacation and I was very excited about it, but the survey never asked how much I was expecting to pay.
Wrong Tom. Disney's financial situation put this move in jeopardy long before the political situation.
Yes. Disney doesn't have the money and Iger has never been a fan of this pet project of Chapek. To perpetuate the lie that its because of Desantis is very laughable. And Tom, stop saying that you are impartial politically. You always say that right before you blast Desantis
This is all on Iger
Thank you Tom. My husband over herd what you said about the Star Cruiser ( he is one of the imagineers who worked on it). They are all terribly upset about this. They are in mourning too. We like you are going to try our hardest to get on one more time :(
It has to be so disheartening to have worked so hard on something for it to end like this. I’m sure something else will come of it (of course it will…I can’t imagine Disney letting something that cost billions of dollars doing nothing with it) but it will not continue as it was originally meant to.
Is there any chance they could turn this into a premium dining experience for Galaxy's Edge? Something like Space 220? They already have the shuttle to transfer guests between Galaxy's Edge and the Starcruiser. They already have the menu and dining room (Could perhaps expand on it even). And maybe have the dinner include a musical act like they already have. They could have a reservation desk in Galaxys Edge where they check you in for your reservation and have the shuttle transfer people to the Starcruiser restaurant? Honestly this would still be a premium experience but would be accessable to so many more people than before.
These are a few of my ideas on how to save this multi-million dollar Awful misimagineered idea and make it not only ENJOYABLE but PROFITABLE!
A. Ditch the star cruiser idea!!! It's much too costly and for most Star Wars fans, it's a one and done! 🤨
Oh wait .... DITCHED! As of Sept 28-30 FINAL VOYAGE
B. Make the existing restaurant into an All You Can Eat Buffet. Do you realize how much the Crystal Palace makes with its all you can eat all day buffet? Add windows so people can see themselves passing over the planets below! Yes, just like space 220. It's a clever idea which will give Park guests and alternative to an outer space immersive dining experience.
C. Add a Second FORMAL Dining Restaurant with a see-through roof for interplanetary star dining. Use this Formal Dining Experience as an interactive Wedding Reception for Han and Leia with Cast Member's playing the part of the Bride and Groom along with Luke, Chewie, Lando, 3PO and R2.
D. Take the 100 Closet sized hotel rooms and turn them into Napping alcoves sponsored by Simmons Beautyrest like they did at the 1964 World's Fair and charge $35 to $65 for an hour to two hour long napping respites including the use of the showers and bathrooms. This will not only alleviate the nonsense of having to leave the park to go back to your hotel but you will be refreshed enough to go right back into the park and keep spending your hard-earned dollars into Disney's coffers.
E. Turn the Ships Bridge area into an interactive immersive waiting platform for guests waiting for their table reservations in the restaurants. Kids of all ages can man the bridge controls to steer the ship and fight off Galactic Interlopers. The space can also accommodate Star Wars arcade games and consoles. This might become a bit of a problem when your table is called and the kids don't want to stop fighting the bad guys in space. 😁
F. Ditch The boxcar transport to the show building and put a shuttle like ride on tracks that will take guests to the "star cruiser building" in a real shuttle setting much like you voyage to the space station aboard the Stelevator on Space 220. Make it a part of the experience from Batu to the Star Cruiser Restaurant Ship. The shuttle can be put on a gimbal to imitate a little bit of flight shakiness for the trip to the starcruiser. The interior of the current box car already looks like a realistic shuttle craft so putting two or more transports on tracks to the show building will allow an easy flow of guest transport to and from the Halcyon ship in a more realistic environment.
G. Move the Star Wars props, posters and meet and greets from "Launch Bay" to the main lobby area of the current galactic star cruiser to utilize that area to its fullest. The lobby area and the immersive arcade like bridge can function as waiting areas for the dining rooms and or your napping reservation. The area can also function as a walk-up reservation desk & queue for the restaurants.
you know that is actually a really good idea. you don't necessarily need a hotel to have a Star Wars experience. But a dining experience could implement many elements of the movies/characters if blended the right away. the big issue that they are facing is they would have to gut a big chunk of it since a majority of the space is rooms. they have their work cut out of them to fix this situation. if they would listen to the fans, I think they could turn this mess around. keeping it a hotel seems practical, but on the flip side, you're still limiting capacity. If they do that, they will be making the same mistake by limiting the experience. what a disaster.
@Tom Bangalter No need to keep it as a hotel. Napping Alcoves for people that would otherwise leave the park to go back to their hotel room to rest in the afternoon. Charge them 35 to $65 for 2 hours and they will return writing to the park and start spending again.. Add a formsl dining restaurant and make it the wedding reception of Han & Leia. What Star Wars fan wouldn't want to attend their wedding reception?? That alone could be an $89 PP all you care to enjoy meal.
@@TheREELGEEK I like where you are going with these ideas. I just commented below.
they should do that.
It was such an ambitious project that didn't deserve to die so unceremoniously. However, like most recent Disney projects, the execs didn't let experienced Imagineers go 100% of the way on this project. I'm not saying I have any better ideas than Disney, but imagine if they had properly themed the building to feel like actual Star Wars. Imagine if the story was set during the original trilogy timeline. Imagine if the cabins were a bit roomier and more comfortable. Imagine if the dinner-show portion was actually located in Galaxy's Edge (like it was supposed to), so the trip to Batuu included the dinner show and then regular park guests could attend the dinner show on the nights when Galactic Starcruiser guests weren't. So many ways to have made this thing more sustainable. It is even sadder that this is now a trend; Disney is removing original shows like The Mysterious Benedict Society from Disney+!
Imagine if regular folk can pay for it!
It could have worked even with the price if the experience offered more bang for the buck. If it lasted for even 1 more day and if the “passengers” had access to the parks in costume without being surrounded by regular guests. Also if they used the Avatar rides and other space exploration themed rides to maximize the space tourist idea they may have been able to attract more people. Sadly Disney puts more emphasis on the new Star Wars themes than they do on fulfilling fan expectations. Fans of the original trilogy have money and would pay for the experience but between let downs from this last trilogy and the lackluster promotional material for the hotel. There is no way I can see anyone wanting to bother with paying that much money to risk additional disappointment.
I would pay 5K for that, but not for Kylo Ren's sequel era daycare.
The cost made this hotel so irrelevant that I am not even sure why I am watching this video.
"Those of us who got to go have street cred over other Disney Fans." There is the entire problem with this business model. This was built for the instagram crowd and general snobbery. Problem is they did it during an economic downturn.....oops.
Literally!!!!
Lake Nona has nothing to do with the argument with the governor, but it may have to do with the loss of business Disney has experienced. I was proud of Tom to quote the governor, but he clearly has his biases here. That's fine. Many of us still love Disney and will continue to plan our vacations while also believing Disney spoke out on political issues and faced political consequences. Politics is a contact sport.
Right on!
Tom was ripping this as an inevitable failure when Chapek was in charge. But now Iger is in and he thinks it’s great and should stay open??? I’m sure this is great, but not only is it limited to fans of the new Star Wars franchise which is likely a younger audience, an audience that is less likely to be able to afford the exorbitant price tag. It was destined to fail from day one.
Their advertising doomed it. All the initial advertising was so cringy and showed the corners they cut (the lightsaber training, the bridge) as opposed to how the event itself actually was.
"we been out of the chapek era long enough... I dont see this thing turning around..."
Iger turned things around FAST when he took over after Eisner. But things arent turning over this time. Because its MORE then chapek being the problem, iger is just as at fault. Things took a turn for the worse when Iger started focusing on steering the company towards ESG mandates so that he would get the good boy points he needed with the Democrat party when he wanted to run for president.
The fact nothing is changing for the better anytime soon just shows Iger is NOT the hero people kept thinking he was.
The bobs together ruined disney.
Honestly it is very bittersweet for me. It was a feat of storytelling and engineering for sure, but it was full of things originally promised for galaxy's edge, and locked behind a paywall too high for most. It's not lost on me why it cost so much, it must have cost them a fortune to build/run the thing, but at the end of the day a high concept ~ $6000 sci-fi role play hotel was not long for this world. Especially in this economy.
I sure hope Disney will develop it into something else: Create a dinner show, convert the sleeping quarters to small lunch dining areas and have droids bring the food, have Cast Members and special characters (that you can ONLY see at this venue-OG Star Wars characters, anyone?) roam around and visit guests, keep it the exclusive way to buy/wear the cosplay clothes to Galaxies Edge. An experience that lasts 1-2 hours and adds hundreds of dollars to a vacation (instead of thousands) might work better. Change it up and keep the Cast Members!
One of the biggest surprises I'm shocked they never took was giving guests the ability to experience Batuu at night- to give guests the ability to sort of LARP their way through a land that was built on that same sort of experience (in the beginning, at least.) This could have been wildly successful not only to Star Wars fans but to people that enjoy that sort of dinner theater that is themed, to LARPers, or to people that would just love to have a sort of 'personalized' Star Wars experience. I don't know why they couldn't stick it out and have something different from what other parks offered. They literally had it all right there in their hands, but I guess because it wasn't pulling the numbers they wanted consistently it was just doomed from the start.
What a shame. We wanted to get a voyage in within the next year. Watched the reviews, was genuinely excited for the potential to geek out in an overpriced hotel, but have fun with it. They didn't let this idea run, they cut it at the knees and killed it before it ever had the chance, and that's a shame.
Hi Tom and WDWNT, I wanted thank you for your coverage on the Starcruiser. Because of your constant positive feedback on it, I decided to go from March 16 - 18 2023 with my family. I am a high school student, so I never got to experience the Michael Eisner days, I have only experienced Iger and Chapek. It had a quality to it that I had never experienced in Disney property. It was easily the best experience I have ever had at on any Disney property. My mom said it was “the best thing Disney has done in forever”. She was talking with them after our cruise because my lightsaber I bought there was broken, she ended up talking with them for a half hour about just how spectacular the cast and crew of the Halcyon was. I went with my closest friend, and the rest of my family, my friend and I had so much fun. My siblings had no desire to do it, and they loved it. I have had a stutter for all of my life, and the cast and crew were so kind to me about it. Nobody asked any questions, nobody cut me off, they treated me like everybody else, and I could not be more happier about it. I 100% agree with you that the cast and crew of the Halcyon has succeeded in what they sought to do. Our Lieutenant Croy actor had to leave after the first day, but they handled the situation so well. I am so heartbroken and upset that the Halcyon will be going on it’s final voyage on just a few months, it does not deserve this. I have never felt like this for a closure. I now know how everybody felt when Great Movie Ride closed. I shed a few tears last night, knowing I would never go back and the cast is getting punished because of management. My friend and I had full intentions on saving up to go back the day after our high school graduation, and now we can never go back. Thank you Tom and the rest of WDWNT for the best trip of my life, whilst I will never have the chance to go back on the Halcyon, you have me the greatest trip of my life. The Halcyon does not deserve this.
Thanks for sharing your story about your experience.
😢why are my eyes leaking 😢
disney really shot themselves in the foot with this one. they refused to listen to what the guest really wanted and insisted on forcing new trilogy which the majority of legacy star wars fans dont like and charged insane prices. their being so stubborn is gonna lead to more decline in the company
I'd like to see your data source for the claims about what the majority of legacy Star Wars fans don't like.
Soon as I saw the news broke, I thought to myself: Tom's gonna have a field day with this.
I went with my family a few months ago. I am 14 and I absolutely loved it. When somebody asks me what my favourite trip was it would without a doubt have been this! My family adores starwars and we all agreed it was executed perfectly. Many of what people in this comment section are saying is “looking at the concrete wall is not as special as visiting a park.” But there was always something to do and I actually felt as though I was somebody else actually in the starwars universe. From the unique dinners, to the look of the ship, it all felt so real to me. The story made sense, and there was nothing better than being invited to secret meetings my parents and sister weren’t. The cast members were amazing at what they did and one of the sajas really sold the trip for me as real, I was in the outdoor simulator and stacking some rocks when she came in and talked to me for 20 mins, before instructing me to hold my hand out and think about some things, the rocks all fell and pulled toward me. I’m sure it’s magnets but it felt so real and special. I forgot what the bad dudes name was on this, but he kept making an effort with my sister (who was playing the bad side) which was special to her. The cast was awesome, the ship was awesome, the park was awesome, I loved the whole thing and I’m so upset it’s closing.
Found the paid shill
If it was in the OT timeline it would have been more successful. Most Star Wars fans (not all) do not appreciate the sequel era done by Disney. Plus the price was prohibitive.
I'd like to see your data source for the claims about what "most" Star Wars fans don't like.
@@ttintagel just look at rotten tomatoes. The OT and Prequels far outscore the ST with the audience. Most fans that can pay for this experience were OT/PT fans which despise what Disney has done to Star Wars.
I agree with Tom even though I did not stay at star cruiser. Maintenance and neglect go so far. I noticed my latest trip last week that Disney cast members are truly great, but people are darn hogs. Being a decent human being helps more than they know and being a hog ruins experiences for other people. It is ridiculous.
And that was the crux of it really. Greed. There was no way for it to ever build up a good rep and good word of mouth when so few mouths could afford to experience it in the first place. This was as close to halcyon days of immersive experiences as we were gonna get and they blew it.
It wasn't what fans of the original Star Wars trilogy expected and thankfully found that out Before paying $6000. George Lucas's work could've been included for a price but they chose not to go that route. Hopefully someone will create something with the Cantina Band - iconic
We just got back from Disney and we felt things are getting much better. Cleanliness, food, transportation were all better than 1 year ago. Maybe not back to 2010 standards, but still better.
During the "voyage" you can choose to help the Resistance or help the First Order, but the finale will always be the same. Maybe now Disney can sell Rey's retractable-beam lightsaber to fans (the one she ignites before quickly swapping it for another that can safely clash with an object)
I doubt this failed because of the high cost. This failed because it had to cost this much due to higher operating cost. Disney thought people would pay it. When they didn’t they discounted with hopes of increasing demand. That didn’t happen over time so they had to cut their loses. There was no chance they could keep the experience where it was and still profit at discounted rates
For me, it wasn’t just the price. Not all SW fans love cosplay and they were disregarded! They don’t all want to play a part. By all means make it immersive but the acting was massively off putting!
Agreed. As a big SW fan, I've never had any interest, regardless of cost, in an immersive cosplay type of thing. I think that Disney really missed the mark on this part even more than the cost.
Ah, I've been waiting for your analysis! It does make me sad, especially since I would've never gotten the chance to go at that price point. In the 60+ years that I've been going to Disney, since my parents first took me to D'Land in 1961, there have been large periods of time when I didn't get a chance to go, and missed so many things. I look at the history of the Disney Parks and see all the missteps and experiences that are now closed. And you know what? I've enjoyed the times I've gone and the times I've had. But yes, this news is sad. But then again, in my career I've worked for some fantastic companies who did some things that were very unfortunate, as well. In the end, Disney is a company that sometimes does things right, and sometimes does things... wrong. Asi es la vida.
It's time watch videos
Growing up my family was blue collar. Dad would put the family in a car in summer and drive down to Disney from NJ. We didn't have reservations there would be cheap motels nearby and you just looked for a vacancy sign. I am now white collar. I flew my parents down and stayed on Disney property. But I am still sad that other families can't do what I used to do. I was told by a Floridian that the motels you could just drive to were turned into welfare hotels and of course I've noticed how expensive the entrance tickets are. I do think that Disney's greed has priced out a WHOLE lot of people. I never went on the Starcruiser because I haven't been able to go to Disney since the pandemic started but I hoped I might do it in the future although the money was not something to sneeze at. Even for me I'd have to save and then splurge but I would have considered it as a ONCE IN A LIFETIME kind of thing, and now I won't have that option. I'm not against Disney making profit but making so many things out of reach of Joe America is just stupid in the long run.
“This is def worth it!” … 30 secs later “its a small basic room with the worst bed at any disney resort”
As much as tom loves the star wats actors. Its never worth it to stay 2 days there instead of a week on a disney cruise!
Always thought this would be an unbelieveable Day Experience, with a meal. No overnight needed. Many would pay to make this a tour type add on to Galaxy Edge. Well said Reaction.
“We’ll take what we’ve learned…” Sounds like a teacher saying “You failed and will have to repeat 8th grade but just think how much better prepared you’ll be if you ever do make it to high school.”
But yes I’m bummed. I would really get a kick out of this if it wasn’t out of my price range and I’m sorry others won’t get to do it.
They fully missed the mark of it being Star Wars. It could reopen as just a "Space Voyage with Aliens". Just never actually used proper Star Wars established scenery.
Y’know, I think I figured out the vibe I got from this whole experience. It’s like if you went out of your way to drive for 6 hours to get to the birthday party of the richest/most popular kid in your school, but then when you got there the only thing to do was lame party games but the birthday person thinks it’s the funnest party ever and also you HAVE to stay for the whole thing because of how much effort it took to get there.
Weird comparison but that’s really what it feels like lol
The galactic star cruiser was doomed from the start because it place it’s only emphasis on Disney, Star Wars, and not on the original trilogy. The original trilogy is beloved by those who have the money the Disney trilogy is at best seen as mediocre to Paul the fan bases.
The rooms looked kind of meh especially for the price point. I think they needed to add more hotel stuff. A pool, spa, gym, play area for kids, an xwing or tie fighter simulator would be cool, themed laser tag would be cool. Except for strong star wars fans, I'm not sure if the immerse character experience was enough for broader appeal.
A $6000 price tags would have been easily paid if the experience was built around actual Star Wars
if they were making a profit even at the discounted price, they could afford to lower the price more to keep it open. This tells me they were likely not making a profit, and were losing money at the discounted price.
Disney has completely lost touch with the public. Greed and Sloth now run the company.
It was too expensive to be viable
UrbEx folks, looks like you’ve got yourselves a new Discovery Island…
Should’ve made it the classic SW era. They’d attract more millennials who would pay to do this.
I started ranting once the initial fandom went that they needed to rebrand this “attraction.” It is way over priced for your average fan. I have been a hard core OG Star Wars fan for 46 years and have passed that love down two generations. But, this was a one and done for your average fan who doesn’t live in Orlando and are part of the Influencer community. As I stated last year, they should have went to “a trip to orbiting Halcyon from Batuu” and make it a lunch without show and dinner show with hotel accommodations with a significant price drop. And we need to quit reconning this to a “two and a half day experience” implying a 60 hour experience when it was a 44 hour, get your bag breakfast, and get the hell out last day event. I am glad to see it fail; their attempt to appeal to the higher end Star Wars fan / Influence community was the wrong operating plan. They need to reevaluate the plan going forward and make sure your average vacationeers have an opportunity to enjoy the Star Wars Universe.
Well, Disney has been going down hill for years. We love the parks. We just got back from a Disney trip today. We were disappointed with the Tron ride(guardians is the best). Some cast members were rude for no reason, no consistency with security at all. This is just one more thing to add to dismal Disney.
The saddest thing about the GSC closing is that here are so many what seem to be easy solutions to making it sustainable while keeping the price point.
1 quick easy solution:
Cruise is 5 days. The live show story happens the first 2.5 days. The remaining time it reverts to being a docked ship going down to Disney World. With 2 day park hopper tickets included.
I love your rants. Such honesty.. ❤
I disagree they were running at a profit. It wouldn't be closing if they were. Low occupancy rates at a tiny hotel with a presumed huge running cost means it was almost certainly running a loss, especially once they had to discount it. I think they just missed the mark on this one. If they'd opened a themed deluxe hotel with a prix fixe dinner show, it would be booked solid. But a 48 hour LARPing experience is an extremely narrow audience, no matter what price tag you stick on it.
It was special to the few who could spend that kind of money on it. The reality is that this had such a very small audience that it was never going to be sustainable.
This is not how Disney has operated in the past, they would find a way to make it work including cutting prices!
Should be a warning for a jump scare before that picture of Christine McCarthy
The aesthetic didn't really seem like Star Wars to me. More just like some other random sci-fi movie
I was sad to hear about this since I've been trying to save up for it. It sounded like such a fun experience (even with the issues), but just way out of my budget unless I saved for a few years.
No worries - it’ll be a Spirit Halloween store
Once again, Disney management sabotaged the magic & threw cast and fans under the bus.