Disney World Is Already Discounting Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Resort…Sorta.
Walt Disney World is offering its first discount on the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser resort experience (or however you prefer to categorize it)…sort of. This post explains the reason for the caveat, plus the ‘significance’ of the hotel being discounted less than a year after launch.
For those who “checked out” on Galactic Starcruiser after the eyepopping prices were released, we’ll quickly bring you up to speed. This is unlike anything Walt Disney World has ever done, an amalgamation of a bunch of different entertainment offerings. It’s not really comparable to a theme park visit or traditional hotel stay. Instead, think of it more like a cruise on land–as the name suggests–with all-inclusive (mostly) food & drinks and comparable programming. As a threshold matter, you should determine whether this is good fit for your party by reading our spoiler-free Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Review.
The nature of the experience alone will eliminate many families visiting Walt Disney World. Then there’s the aforementioned pricing, which makes it a total non-starter for many others–and explains a lot of the issues that’ll be discussed here (and what led to the discounting, in the first place). We paid $6,634.32 for a party of 4–or $1,658.58 per person. For more thoughts on this expensive pricing, see Is Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Worth the High Cost?
For those who haven’t been paying attention more recently, voyages aboard Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser have now been released through Fall 2023. Fewer than half of the departures this holiday season are sold out, which is the busiest time of year at Walt Disney World.
Worse yet, there isn’t a single itinerary that’s sold out in 2023. Keep in mind that people generally book vacations–especially expensive ones like this–about 6 months in advance. Most people aren’t taking multi-thousand dollar vacations on a whim. It’s probably concerning to the company that this new experience with incredibly limited capacity already is not filling up.x
In the past, we’ve ‘defended’ this to a degree, noting that availability fluctuates a lot, and reminded readers that one reservation can be the difference between “sold out” and “available.” In short, all it takes is one cancellation or even a modification to different dates to go from available to not available.
This would still be a good point if that were what was happening with 2023 Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser bookings. It is not, though. We have heard credible reports that occupancy has been anemic this fall–with many voyages well below full capacity. We can’t speak to 2023 numbers, but between the wide open calendar and likelihood that this gets less popular, not more popular, over time…we can only surmise that things are already bleak. This is just one of a few problems we’ve heard about with the Starcruiser, but the only one that is pertinent to this post.
We’ve also indicated that it wouldn’t surprise us to see Walt Disney World not offer discounts for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser until mid-2023. This was our view even with low occupancy and the Hotel Halcyon falling below expectations, as it was a matter of optics to both Wall Street and consumers.
Releasing special offers within a year of the debut date doesn’t send a good message to investors and company analysts about the success of this costly investment. Disney may also want to maintain the appearance of a premium product–with commensurate pricing–to consumers. Discounting sets a precedent, and one that’s difficult to undo. That could explain why the first special offer is targeted to a subset of Disney superfans.
That brings us to the present, as Walt Disney World has released the first discount on Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Resort. Kind of.
Here are the details: Eligible Disney Vacation Club Members can enjoy 30% off original Points Chart values on select 2-night voyages. This offer can be booked with points or a combination of points and cash.
This offer applies to the following departures in the winter of 2023:
- January 11 – 13, 2023
- January 17 – 19, 2023
- January 19 – 21, 2023
- January 21 – 23, 2023
- January 25 – 27, 2023
- January 31 – February 2, 2023
- February 12 – 14, 2023
- February 28 – March 2, 2023
- March 2 – 4, 2023
In order to take advantage of this special offer, Disney Vacation Club Members must be eligible for Membership Extras (in other words, you need a blue card). Points must be used to pay for at least one Member–a combination of points or cash may be used to book additional Guests.
Limit one cabin per membership. Cannot be combined with any other offers or discounts, is not transferable or redeemable for cash, and may be modified or withdrawn without prior notice. Reservation must be made prior to the last 4 months of your Use Year for stays during that Use Year.
Reservation is subject to Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Terms and Conditions—which can be found on the Booking Confirmation Email received after booking—and the DVC Cancellation Policy. Offer is only available for standard cabins and not valid for suite accommodations. Offer dates are not guaranteed and are subject to change without notice.
A nonrefundable $95 transaction fee applies per confirmed Disney Collection reservation. You will receive a call requesting payment within 72 hours of completing your booking. If payment is not received within 72 hours following this call, Disney Vacation Club reserves the right to cancel the reservation.
The reason that we’ve appended the “kind of” and “sort of” caveats to describing this discount is because it’s not a good deal. Technically, this is 30% off the previous offer for Disney Vacation Club Members. So, as compared to that, it’s better offer. However, if resellers were to mark up Taylor Swift tickets by 3,000% and then reduce that by 30%, would it actually be a discount, or would it go from very overpriced to a little less–but still very–overpriced?
It’s a similar idea here–this deal is an illusion. Disney Vacation Club point charts for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser are absolutely exorbitant. They start at 295 DVC points per person, and that’s based on double occupancy. For those of you who aren’t DVC members, let’s put these numbers into perspective. A standard view studio at the BoardWalk Villas would cost 85 points for an entire week in May, versus 349 points (per person) for a weekend voyage at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.
It’s basically the same cost to either stay at the BoardWalk for a month, or for one person to do a 2-night stay at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. But that won’t work, since the experience is double occupancy! For those couples who have daydreamed of living at Walt Disney World, you could do almost all of May and June at the BoardWalk for roughly the cost of two adults doing Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser on points.
Then again, you wouldn’t be able to get a BoardWalk view for that 2-month stay, so what’s even the point?! Although at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, you won’t have any windows at all. On top of that, the DVC point charts only increase during peak seasons.
However, this isn’t simply a matter of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser being subjectively overpriced when paying with points as compared to alternatives, as could also be said about the concept as a whole. It is also objectively overpriced when paying with points.
We won’t belabor the point too much here since this is something covered in exhaustive detail in our Best & Worst Uses of Disney Vacation Club Points, but using DVC points on any of the various “Collections” or anything other than DVC is a bad idea. Being able to use points elsewhere is an illusory Membership Extra–a selling point touted by salespeople that has no actual value. Always has been, presumably always will be.
If there’s no DVC availability or you want to travel somewhere else or stay in different accommodations, you’ll always come out ahead by renting out your Disney Vacation Club points and paying out of pocket for whatever the other thing is. That same advice holds true for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. Even with the 30% off, you are still better off renting out those points and then paying cash to book the Starcruiser. (That’ll be doubly true if Disney has no other option but to discount Starcruiser.)
If you don’t believe us, we would still strongly urge you to do the math on renting out your points. You can either do it on your own via one of the forums/social media or via one of the major brokers. See just how significant the monetary spread is, and how much that’ll net. In almost every scenario, you’re going to come out way ahead by renting out those points and paying cash.
Every time we talk to DVC Members using points on Disney Cruise Line (which is all too often), we cringe a little. Points are not Monopoly money–they have real cash value and should be treated as much. Way too many members overlook this, or don’t want to “deal with” point rental.
Beyond that, there’s the other half of this that’s worth addressing, which is the potential failure of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. There are a lot of Walt Disney World fans who are actively cheering for the downhall of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. I suspect there are a range of reasons for this, from schadenfreude to spillover from unrelated guest-unfriendly decisions to generalized frustrations about Disney’s handling of Star Wars to perceptions of pricing.
Some of aspects of this I “get” even if I don’t agree. It was dumb of Disney to make this so exclusionary, both in pricing and appeal. It’s also unfortunate that there isn’t a way to do an excursion to the Halcyon (or something of that sort) to make the experience both cheaper and more palatable. There are dozens of ways Disney could’ve approached this so it didn’t alienate so much of the audience. Yet they opted against all of that, and in a sense, will get what they deserve if Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser fails.
My issue is that there’s no good outcome for anyone at this point if Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser fails. If something like Genie+ or some other upcharge is rejected, that’s a good thing for guests. The company would be forced to backtrack on price increases, nickel and diming, or other cutbacks. Consumer pushback is perfectly healthy, and can result in improvements on those fronts or other offerings that can be easily changed.
That will not be the case with Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, which includes physical infrastructure that had over one hundred million dollars invested in it. Whatever “lesson” you think Disney will learn if this fails, I can assure you that won’t be the company’s actual conclusions.
The takeaway won’t be that they’ve raised prices too much or lost touch with the middle class. It won’t be that people don’t want Disney’s version of Star Wars. It won’t be that they should build more rides instead of expensive accommodations. The company already has broader market research about all of that, and those decisions will continue forward without regard for a niche product’s reception.
The lesson they’ll learn is to play it safe instead of swinging for the fences. Instead of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, we’ll get another half-baked version of Toy Story Hotel. For better or worse, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is an envelope-pushing concept that gave Imagineering tremendous creative freedom. This is one of the biggest risks that the company has let Imagineering take in a long time.
Imagineering created something outside the box that offered full immersion, interactivity, entertainment, and personalization in a highly-themed environment. If Galactic Starcruiser fails, the conclusion is going to be that guests don’t want immersion, interactivity, entertainment, personalization, or highly-themed environments. Presumably, those are things most people reading this do want, just not in this way or at this price point.
While I doubt the company will ever admit it, I would hazard a guess that Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser has already been deemed a failure internally. Its booking is convoluted and resource-intensive. Its operations are convoluted and resource intensive. It has generated a cottage industry of negative YouTube videos and think pieces lambasting the concept…pretty much since it was first announced. All of that for only 100 rooms. Even if they were selling out nightly at full price, that’s not a ton of revenue in the grand scheme of the Walt Disney Company…and it has had to endure a lot of headaches and bad publicity for that revenue.
The thing is, we also know that Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is not selling out nightly at full price. Less than a year into this gamble, it’s already having a range of different problems, from demand to staffing. There are no easy fixes to any of this, due to the scale of the “hotel” and way it was constructed without key amenities. Obviously, the company isn’t going to issue a press release stating “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was a failure. We screwed up big time by building it, and not listening to the every whim of all-knowing fans.” However, we’ll have a pretty good idea that Starcruiser isn’t living up to expectations if they stop boasting about it on earnings calls and don’t clone the concept in California or anywhere else.
With that said, we really enjoyed our experience aboard the Halcyon. Once again, it is very taste-specific and not a luxury experience, but it may appeal to you. To read even more about it, consult our Guide to Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Resort. Pretty much everything else you might want to know is there.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on Walt Disney World kind of discounting Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser for DVC Members with this 30% off (points) offer? What do you think about Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Resort? Would you rather do 2-nights here, or two months at the BoardWalk Villas? Will you be booking this with DVC points, cash, or not ata all? Would you prefer a more conventional hotel stay at a Star Wars-themed or decorated hotel? Do you agree or disagree with our advice and assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I believe if they found a way to lower prices more people would be interested. Many people are shy and would not know how to interact with the actors. They could run daily group classes or tours that don’t include a cabin. A leader would guide them through the events like an instigator. It could be for a single event or interaction or for the whole day and priced accordingly. They could make particular days for non dress up and only for food tastings. This way it would only be for a single meal. Treat it as a restaurant for the day.
For me it is the price point. I love Star Wars and I like the idea behind this. It is just so expensive! I can take so many other vacations, longer vacations, nicer vacations for less. If they reduce the price I would definitely book.
I have family members (and myself) who would love this experience and we could afford to pay for it, BUT the cost is a tough to get past. If we ended up doing it, it would be a one time experience. The price seems such a barrier to me.
Yes the price is too high and people will still want to visit the parks and stay in a regular resort after this experience. The pictures make it look like you are sealed in there for the duration of the time with no windows and no doors like the Haunted Mansion. Anyone with even a touch of claustrophobia would be unable to stay there for very long.
It seems to me to be headed for failure like The Disney Institute which sounded like a great idea but didn’t work out. Once people went to the Institute a couple of times there wasn’t really anything new to do and they wanted to go to the parks. I don’t see how someone could go to the Star Wars Immersion Experience more than once.
We do love Star Wars in my family and watched all movies over and over – still going on that but we wouldn’t do this. You compare it to a cruise but it’s not like that at all. On a cruise you have freedom of movement and lots of fresh air. To be sealed in a building without being able to leave is kind of scary.
We booked this when it first opened up but later backed out. Neither of us are into the role playing thing and usually our interactions with characters in the parks are awkward at best. We always prefer to explore on our own. Based on that we didn’t think we would get the full price value out of it and are hoping for either some discounted or alternate version that fits our style better.
Im claustrophobic I wouldn’t even visit this hotel if It were free
I think another problem with this whole endeavor is that it is the sort of thing a lot of people will do once to celebrate a big milestone (retirement, 50th birthday, whatever), but I can’t see this getting too many repeat customers. I can afford this, but for less money I can take a Disney Alaska Cruise (yeah I know, not apples to apples) and that is a pretty amazing vacation (I’ve done it three times).
Just too expensive for me. I understood that retirement would be hard but not really how hard. Star Wars was an obsession with me since I saw the original film in 1977 but I would at least like a pool in the resort at that cost.
We cruised in October and it was the most immersive and entertaining experience any of us ever had. Kudos to Disney for taking such a risk in a world that plays it safe. Every detail from room to food to staff briefing was thought out. As a test we asked disparate staff identified as being from the same planet what the weather was on their home planet and their answers matched. The illusion was perfect. While on Baatu (Galaxy’s Edge in HS) the experience for cruise passengers was again enhanced by cast interactions with us and using our “datapads” (phones) to affect the environment. So I have no qualms recommending the experience as excellent. I agree the price point is steep. Worth it or not depends on finances but they skimped on nothing and there is no equivalent experience like this anywhere else on earth (or in space). How much you want to pay is always a personal choice.
It’s not the concept that people don’t like, it’s the pricing. It’s unaffordable for the vast majority of people
I agree. It’s the pricing. The Imagineers are awesome at what they do and it would be very sad if Disney Corp tried to pin the too immersive pin on them for this if it fails. But not surprising.
It should be priced below the cost of DCL but above moderate hotels. There are Star Wars fans but not enough Star Wars/Disney fans to support THAT price point. Those people stay at the Grand Floridian.
Thanks for the DVC analysis…I was about to check out converting my January stay at the Beach Villa/Yacht Club to Star Wars after reading their “dvc sale” but clearly it isn’t worth it.
As a life-long Sat Wars fan, I have wanted to visit Galactic Starcruiser since it was announced. However the price for my family of four, one of whom would not like darker parts of it, is just way too much. My son, husband and I would have a blast and it would become a core memory. The immersive element would be too much for my daughter. But overall, the price is just too much for us. We could spend a week at WDW for a weekend on the Starcruiser.
I hate to see it fail. While it is far beyond what I could ever afford the experience is so unique and interesting that I had hoped to see it further iterated on elsewhere. (With better economies of scale with more experience) Now it seems unlikely we will see anything else like it. That’s truly unfortunate.
Tom, I see you point and was always routing for the Starcruiser to succeed despite having no interest in trying/paying for it. It is likely that “swinging for the fences” will be a tougher sell if this fails. But it may also teach Disney some other valuable lessons too:
1) attractions do better when they have wide appeal. That doesn’t mean dumbing things down
2) IP isn’t always a magic panacea. Even Star Wars! Imagine if Animal Kingdom Lodge was built as a stand-alone two night savannah “experience .”
3) Plan for foreseeable events. Sky high prices get negative attention. Highly complicated attraction systems may be hard to staff/maintain, and “breakdowns” (whether it’s a down ride or a missing storyline) have spillover effects
Organizations can always “learn” to be more conservative from failures. But the lessons above were entirely predictable, and many of us (me included) just assumed that Star Wars fandom magic would override all other factors. Maybe the lesson is that this very specific assumption isn’t true.
We went in September, on the last cruise before Hurricane Ian; our cruise was sold out months in advance and did not coincide with any US federal public holidays.
It was one of the best experiences of my and my wife’s lives, and our early teenage children consider it the best experience of their lives.
We live in Australia, where 3 of our dollars are worth 2 of your dollars, so the Starcruiser cost us $10,000 for the two days and nights, plus $8,000 for airfares, plus around $3,000 for outfits / costumes.
We were planning on doing it again in January 2024, but we may have to bring that forward to September 2023 if it looks like Disney is going to cut parts of the experience.
It is expensive and it will mean only one overseas vacation per year rather than two – we are going to Japan for 12 days in April and it will cost about the same as visiting the Starcruiser – but if I offered my Star Wars loving family the option of 10 days somewhere else, or 2 days on the Starcruiser they would choose the Starcruiser without hesitation every time (and now we have costumes so it will be cheaper – until our teens grow out of them).
As a fan of most things Star Wars…I think there’s about a 50/50 chance I’d enjoy the Starcruiser in its original format…but I won’t spend $6,000 to find out…and sharing a cabin with my friends who are STILL arguing about The Last Jedi is a nonstarter. =) I really think the current version of the Starcrusier should have been priced at $999 per person MAX…but I doubt Disney could discount it that much even if they wanted to. You might be onto something with “day trip excursions,” though. I could see them just dropping the hotel aspect entirely and making it a 3-4 hour thing where you board via the “shuttle” from DHS, do the bridge simulator, the lightsaber training, the gift shop, the restaurant, watch the big finale, then return to DHS with time to spare. If they kept it around $100 per person, they might be able to do steady business…
Interesting story. I’m no candidate for the Galactic Starcruiser (did cruise up to Jacksonville for performances of the second and third original movies with the Symphony performing the musical soundtracks to great effect). But the Starcruiser is a remarkable experiment in a world of entertainment that gets ever more cautious. We almost seem at a point where opera houses, working within budget and strict physical limits (the Met is constantly changing sets), may be putting on some of the more imaginative shows.
I suppose the Starcruiser can be repurposed as a more ordinary hotel, perhaps with an extraterrestrial pool under a geodesic dome?
We were on the 3rd ever voyage, loved it, and wouldn’t hesitate to go back for a “Life Day” cruise (however unlikely they would dump MORE money into a holiday retheme). That being said, I booked with Disney Visa Rewards, which is more comparable to Monopoly money, and don’t think I could quantify my enjoyment to a $5,000 experience. It would be a shame to cut programming for a cheaper trip, but I can’t imagine an alternate option.
The bottom line issue is price. As someone with a reasonable amount of expendable income and also knowing many people with large amounts of expendable income, the price definitely makes you think twice. I’ve spent thousands of dollars per day for a family of two adults and two kids to do more expensive experiences such as something like doing a Galapagos Island Expedition that on a per day basis beats out the Halycon and does not even account for a all the logistics of getting there, but that has some educational value. Spending $3000 per night for a family of four is a tough pill to swallow for something that does not “build character.”
At $6000 for two nights this is a difficult sell even for the upper class. A large portion of the population this is marketed to got to that point by having at least some basic financial management skills, and in turn also likely values education and bang for buck. When I can take a vacation to Europe for a week for a family of four or choose to go to the Halycon the financial savvy will lean toward Europe. On top of that, in a family of four, it’s hard to justify paying that if the wife or daughter or both just don’t care for Star Wars. So now you’re in a situation where maybe you and your son want to do it, but it’s hard to justify because your wife and daughter don’t. (I’m not talking from personal experience at all….). Whereas if you are going on a big vacation like europe, the Galapagos, and African Safari, etc… it’s easy to get everyone on board.
There are sooo many barriers to booking this at the price point it’s ridiculous. You really need either a family of super fans or just go with a group of friends that will go in on the room with you at the price point they are asking. I was hot to book this the moment I heard about it, but once I heard the price it just killed my enthusiasm. At 3k I personally woulda booked it in a heartbeat. 6k for a family of four is just so hard to justify.
100% agree with everything you said. I have the money — I could spend it here — my family would LOVE the experience — BUT … $7k for 2 nights’ hotel, meals, 1/2 day at DHS, and the “experience”, it just FEELS like too much. If I thought it cost Disney anywhere close to that to run the experience, maybe I’d feel better about it. But then you look at profits and the price hikes at Disney, I feel like I need to “get more” for my money. (Thus, in my mind, 7 days at a park or or on DCL, never mind a couple of weeks in Europe), makes more financial sense — as dearly as we’d love to experience the Starcruiser!)
I’d like to refute this as not being an experience that builds character, because the Starcruiser will absolutely challenge you in ways you aren’t expecting. I got to solve problems on a tight timetable, build relationships through shared adversity, and find ways to translate a language that no one speaks. The successes were a real triumph and the failures were something I truly learned from.
This is what makes it so hard to say the price isn’t worth it, because once you get there and invest you can see where the money goes–into the amazing cast,
the attention to detail, and the devotion to effects that do as much as possible to convince you that you are really there. The parks or a cruise are definitely a better value…but I felt like I paid for something that was life changing, and I can’t get that anywhere else.
Yes, I agree that it can be character-building; our 11-year-old daughter was diagnosed with both hemiplegic migraines and ADHD this year, and it has been a difficult year for her, and we were concerned how she would handle the roleplay aspect of the trip, which is the most important part to ‘get your money’s worth’ from Starcruiser.
We bought her a mechanic’s uniform from the store, and it ended up she was the only kid on our cruise in one of these uniforms, and she became known to most of the crew as the apprentice mechanic.
I am a veteran LARPer and roleplayers, and our daughter ended up doing more of both than I, and she was near the centre of multiple storylines (even bringing physical props back from Batuu; if you have been you know what I mean).
My daughter is changed after Starcruiser, happier, more confident, more outgoing in any situation… Starcruiser was quite literally a life-changing experience for her.
And we will go as often as we can afford, and our kids (we also have a 14-year-old son) want to do this as often as they can.
We all agree about price but I disagree with Ramon about this experience not being of value or “building character”. Part of the experience is the teamwork required to fulfil the missions. As a family we had our adventures and problem solved together as well as had our individual missions. Ultimately it was an experience that is not replicable anywhere else and a set of very happy memories that, as someone who is lucky to be able to afford it, were well worth the investment.
I’m not rooting for it to fail… but I continue to say to myself “what the heck were they thinking?” It always seemed to be a huge investment targeting a very limited niche group (wealthy Star Wars fanatics?). And just as bad, if it fails I can’t think of a viable Plan B for the property that doesn’t require a second large investment. And it seems destined to fail.
It’s just frustrating to see them burn this kind of cash while simultaneously skimping on certain aspects at the parks.
We have saved for this experience for 2 years and have booked a voyage at the start January.
I’m glad we’ll get to experience in its original form. With the current booking levels it’s only a matter of time before the experience will have to be completely reworked in order to make it a viable. I would imagine they’ll end up offering several experience options at different price points. Probably by mid 2023 if bookings stay at this level.
I think you are correct.
Really wonder what they’ll do (my guess is day-trip excursions for a condensed version in between overnight voyages), but I hope it doesn’t just involve cost-cutting. That’ll only result in a vicious downward spiral.