Why Disney World Will NOT Reimagine Starcruiser Into a Star Wars Hotel
Even before Walt Disney World announced that Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser would permanently close in Fall 2023, there has been speculation and wishful thinking among fans that the interactive multi-day experience would be converted from a cruise on land to a standard hotel. This post covers the many reasons why we strongly believe that will not happen. (Updated September 30, 2023.)
Of course, we could be wrong. In an interview, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro stated that “something will happen” when asked about Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. That’s only going to add fuel to the fire of fan excitement about the “future” of the Starship Halcyon, and taken at face value, that undermines the entire premise of this article.
When discussing Starcruiser, D’Amaro also indicated that “not everything’s going to work. What did work, though, is we took creativity and storytelling to a completely new level, to a level that had never existed before…It didn’t work commercially. And so, when we realized that, you just make a call and move on.”
With that said, “something will happen” is pretty meaningless on its own and open to projection of one’s own desires and hopes. The optimistic among us might think this is a hint of a reimagining into a regular resort, which would be “something” major happening with Starcruiser. The more pessimistic might think it’ll rot in plain sight, which is also not nothing. (Stated differently, that’s technically something, too!) Of course, there’s a vast expanse of middle ground between those two extremes.
Frankly, I wouldn’t put too much stock in a vague line that’s purposefully open to interpretation. Over the course of the last few years, this site has been very pro-D’Amaro and pro-Starcruiser, so it’s not as if we’re projecting our own cynicism or biases, either. Rather, we’re trying to be realists–and would love to be proven wrong in the coming years.
For now, here are the reasons why we believe Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser won’t become a hotel. That’s followed by what is likely in the next several years, and our latest update (towards the bottom) as of September 30, 2023…
Tax Write-Down – This interview is a good example of D’Amaro playing the “know your audience” game. He was last interviewed about this topic during the 2023 JPMorgan Global Technology, Media & Communications Conference. As the name suggests, that’s aimed at analysts and Wall Street investors. There, he started with the same sentiment about Starcruiser being envelope-pushing and yada yada yada.
With the JPMorgan crowd, we followed that up by highlighting the financial impact of the Starcruiser’s closure and said, “in both Q3 and Q4 as we accelerate depreciation on that Starcruiser, we should expect about $100-150 million acceleration in depreciation.” D’Amaro clarified that this was per quarter, and that Walt Disney World expects to take a loss of between $200 million and $300 million on Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser between now and the end of this fiscal year.
Although accelerating the asset’s depreciation doesn’t necessarily preclude that in the longer run, it also doesn’t comport with conventional accounting practices to do so now with a plan in mind for its future. Quite simply, Disney cannot fully depreciate the asset and then immediately turn around and repurpose it absent significant reinvestment.
So unless you think they’re going to throw good money after bad and drop hundreds of millions of additional dollars on it, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser isn’t getting a reimaging any time soon. Then again, maybe the “something” that D’Amaro hinted will happen is accelerated depreciation?! Every fan loves teases of that!
100 Rooms – Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser has 100 rooms. This makes it far and away the smallest standalone “resort” at Walt Disney World. In fact, it has a lower room count than even DVC add-ons like Bay Lake Tower and Boulder Ridge. To put that number into perspective, most hotels at Walt Disney World have between 750 and 2,000 rooms. There are some outliers that have fewer or more, like Riviera Resort or Pop Century. But every single one with fewer also shares infrastructure with other, larger resort complexes.
It’s a simple issue of economies of scale. There’s a minimum number of Cast Members and infrastructure (buses, dining, amenities, etc.) necessary to support a resort regardless of whether it’s 100 rooms or 400. Obviously, it’s better to spread those costs out over more rooms, otherwise there’s a scenario where the breakeven point is $500 per night and margins are meager unless rack rates are over $1,000 per night. At which point, more consumers balk at booking because there are cheaper and better alternatives. (Basically, a version of the precise problem Starcruiser had, minus the high entertainment costs.)
No Windows or Balconies – Starcruiser has no windows or balconies. The people paying $1,000 per night for a hotel room (or whatever hypothetical cost we’re ascribing here) typically like those types of features.
No Pool – Starcruiser has no pool and nowhere to add one, either. Again, this is the type of thing people expect when paying luxury price points for a hotel.
No Amenities – Starcruiser doesn’t have a pool bar (due to no pool). It doesn’t have tennis courts or pickleball (America’s fastest growing sport), either. Name an outdoor amenity–movies under the stars, playgrounds, etc–it does not have those things, aside from a rock garden. It also does not have multiple table service restaurants, lounges, character dining, or pretty much anything you’d expect of a Deluxe Resort.
It does have one (1) bar and one (1) dining area. Both of these would be undersized if the resort were expanded or accessible to the park-going public. Oh, and there’s no space to expand any of this, outside or within the Starcruiser.
Resembles Prison – I may not love the unambitious design of some newer resorts at Walt Disney World, but at least they aren’t themed to minimum-security federal correctional facilities. That may seem like an exceedingly low bar, but Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser does resemble a prison. This was not a big deal when the ‘resort’ was basically closed and tightly-controlled, as guests seldom saw much of the exterior beyond the porte-cochere. That has an austere and industrial look, but it works well enough for a departures terminal.
As a regular resort, this would be a huge issue. As with so many other modifications on this list, it would require tremendous investment to make Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser not look like a prison.
It’s Backstage – So much of the armchair Imagineering about the conversion of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser into a regular resort is very clearly coming from people who have never seen it in person. Most of that day-dreaming falls apart when confronted with the harsh realities of its operations, environment, and infrastructure.
The biggest impediment to modifications or expansions (aside from money…but let’s assume for the sake of argument that Disney is willing to lose endless sums of money on this–there is precedent for that, just look at streaming!), is the location of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. It’s essentially wedged between roads, Cast Member parking, and the backside of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Cast Member parking could always be relocated…but not the Star Wars land itself. The Starcruiser building is always going to be backstage, and just far enough from Galaxy’s Edge that it’s too inconvenient for walking access, but close enough that it presents a problem.
Maintenance Intensive – Do you know how much it costs to maintain the technology for the outer space viewports in every single guest room and many common areas aboard the Halcyon? Me neither, but I’m guessing it far exceeds the cost of cleaning windows!
That is just one of many maintenance-intensive components of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser that is unlike anything at traditional hotels. Even if they totally abandoned all of the ‘show’ features used for the interactive experience, there’s still a necessary minimum to maintain the theme aboard the Halcyon (otherwise it’s just a cold ‘space industrial’ vibe…bordering on ‘relaxed prison’). And as discussed above, those costs are spread out over 100 rooms instead of 1,000 or whatever.
It Wasn’t Built as a Hotel – All of the above might seem really odd and shortsighted on Disney’s part until you recognize the reality that Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was not built as a traditional hotel. They bet the farm on this immersive ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ experience, hoping that this role-playing, hyper-themed environment, and interactive entertainment endeavor. Disney really thought it would be a success–failure was not an option, until it was.
In any case, it’s clear from the way it was built that Disney had no plans to pivot when creating Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. It would either be a spectacular success or colossal failure, with almost no middle ground. Although they’re talking points, what D’Amaro has said about this being envelope-pushing, ambitious, etc., is 100% true. Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was one of the best things Walt Disney World has done in decades.
Sadly, it’s also true that something so good can crash and burn so badly. (Trust me, I get the desire to want to believe that won’t be the outcome here, and that Disney has a bigger picture plan. It’s more comforting to believe that!)
They’ve Let Stuff Rot Before – If you’re a newer Walt Disney World fan, you might be shocked at the idea that the company would just abandon the Starcruiser building entirely. If you’ve been around the block as a Walt Disney World fan, you might remember Pop Century’s Legendary Years, River Country, Disney Institute, Discovery Island–the list goes on and on.
Heck, you could argue that even Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge and Play Pavilion are similar to this (albeit not quite on the same scale). Suffice to say, Walt Disney World has a time-honored tradition of abandoning buildings and letting them rot. It’s as much a part of their rich 50-year history as The Wand, Sorcerer’s Hat, Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit, or in-park tombstones!
There’s a generous helping of skepticism and snark in this article, and I can appreciate that the tone may be a bit off-putting for some Star Wars and Disney fans who love Galactic Starcruiser. A lot of people have been dancing on the grave of the Halcyon, and the degree to which Starcruiser has inspired anger and contempt–rather than indifference–is relatively unprecedented.
We get the basis for those frustrations and sense of vindication, in seeing this fail–Starcruiser is seemingly symptomatic of a larger problem at Walt Disney World (but that’s a bit beyond the scope of this post). Regardless, we’re not dancing on any graves with this–we loved Starcruiser. This is more of an ‘if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry’ type of things.
As for the possible realistic future of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, my guess is that the building will sit empty for a couple of years. At some point, Walt Disney World will determine that the ongoing costs of security and minimal maintenance will exceed those of demolition. I wouldn’t expect that to happen for at least a few years, though. (That’ll also give legs to regular “rumors” about its future for the foreseeable future.)
Demolishing the building seems like the most likely long-term outcome in light of the accelerated depreciation. Even absent that becoming public knowledge, I wouldn’t have expected the building to see any guest-facing usage. Maybe it could’ve become a training center or offices for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but even that would’ve likely required more money than it was worth for conversion.
The reasons for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser not seeing guest usage in the future are more or less outgrowths of various entries on the list above. Some fans have speculated that Walt Disney World could use the restaurant space for a dinner show, which does make sense in theory. After all, that dinner show has already been developed and the dining room exists inside the Halcyon. Given the popularity of Oga’s Cantina and other dinner shows at Walt Disney World, it’s safe to say it would sell out even at $100 to $150 per person. So why not recoup some costs?
The problems pertain to infrastructure. Parking is insufficient outside the Starcruiser, the whole building and grounds would need to be staffed and secured, and bus service would need to be available from the parks. Those are a lot of added costs that would quickly erode the profitability of a dinner show held inside the Starcruiser building.
However, that doesn’t mean a dinner show won’t happen. The obvious alternative would be simply building one in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge–in the exact space that was originally set aside for a restaurant over by Oga’s Cantina! The venue could be larger, correct viewing angle issues with the dining room aboard the Halcyon, and it would not have the same infrastructure issues as the Starcruiser, as the existing land and park would support it.
This is one big example where investing more would not be an example of throwing good money after bad. Rather, it would be a savvy move with upfront spending increasing margins and decreasing operating expenses in the long-term. The appetite for a Star Wars dinner show is endless, and this would be a license to print money. If D’Amaro actually is sincere in his sentiment that “something will happen,” my best guess is that it’ll be this. Not only that, but it would round out Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, strengthen the land, and improve its numbers. It’s too obvious not to do.
One stopgap option that I could see happening is debuting a dinner show at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, testing and adjusting there, and then adding a purpose-built venue in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge a couple years later.
September 30, 2023 Update: With today being the final Starcruiser voyage and many of its most ardent admirers being among those on the last several voyages, a lot of rumors and ‘chatter’ (not quite rising to a rumor, but more than just speculation) has been leaking out about the future of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser after the final voyage.
First things first, most of the characters and Cast Members aboard the Starcruiser are being reassigned to other roles. For those who were hoping that the aliens and other original characters would appear in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (as originally intended!), maybe don’t hold your breath. Josh D’Amaro has hinted in recent interviews that he wants to bring back atmospheric entertainment to the land, but hasn’t committed to anything. Nevertheless, we’d expect this to happen at some point. Not with the full slate of Starcruiser characters, but with a subset of them, and likely as a soft reboot of Galaxy’s Edge.
As for Starcruiser itself, there are no immediate plans to do anything with the building. It’s our understanding that it’ll essentially be mothballed for at least the near to medium term, which is to say that the building will essentially be preserved. They’re not going to demolish it, but Imagineering also is not going to get in there and immediately start construction on something new. So this is good or bad news, depending upon how realistic your expectations were for its future.
The most interesting possibilities, and why we’ve buried this update down here, all revolve around a future dinner show. There has been a lot of chatter about this (see the recent reader comments from Maggie below for a portion of it), all of which suggests that Walt Disney World is actively exploring ideas for a Star Wars dinner show. Whether any of this sees the light of day for guests is completely unknown at this point, and just because Imagineering is doing tests doesn’t mean management will bite. They’ve already been “burned” once by Starcruiser, so there’s likely a level of apprehension here beyond that of other projects.
However, between D’Amaro’s comments and the rumors from fans and Cast Members…something is likely to happen with the best ideas from Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. With the benefit of zero inside knowledge, our bet is a dinner show held inside Starcruiser that ‘departs’ from Galaxy’s Edge is launched at some point in 2024. Should that go well, we’d expect construction to begin on a proper venue inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge for a dinner show to open in 2025 or 2026. Either of those things could be accompanied by a soft reboot of the land that does more to break the timeline and introduces more characters. (The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda appearances have been a smash success.)
Beyond that, I wouldn’t be surprised if other elements of Starcruiser make their way into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The “what” of this really depends upon how much of the R&D is rolled into the accelerated depreciation. Remember, it’s not just the physical, window-less building that’s taking the write-down. Even with the way Disney spends, that structure probably didn’t cost $300 million to build.
It’s the tangible products of research and development, technology, and fancy fixtures that were rolled into Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. For example, everything affixed to the atrium of the Halcyon that won’t be repurposed elsewhere is going to be depreciated this fiscal year. (Some of these assets were particularly problematic and contributed to the project going way over budget.) If there’s no intention to reuse certain set pieces and props, it’s probably pretty easy to bundle that into the building and depreciate it all at once.
However, there was also tangible technology that was produced via Imagineering R&D that Walt Disney World and Disneyland might want to reuse for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (or even elsewhere). Things like that fancy new lightsaber, the Yoda effect (trying not to spoil it), and other showpieces.
There’s a strong chance of those being added to new entertainment along the catwalks in the land, Savi’s Workshop, Oga’s Cantina, and elsewhere. So much of this was originally intended for the land, and it’ll just be a matter of Disney expressing an appetite to invest more into the land. (A bit beyond the scope of this post, but I could definitely see that happening with a bit of a soft relaunch that breathes new life into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in a marketable way.)
Honestly, I think the loss of the wow-moment features from Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is precisely what Walt Disney World and Star Wars fans are really worried about when they hope that it has a future and is reinvented as something different. Sure, there are some who are hoping September isn’t their last chance to step about the Starship Halcyon. Most are worried that the things that made the Starcruiser a magical experience that captured lightning in a bottle will be gone for good. But the Starcruiser faithful are not lamenting the loss of a windowless, prison-esque building nestled backstage by a parking lot.
Obviously, whatever the future holds will never be the same as Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. Some of what made it so special to so many–especially the sense of community and camaraderie–will be gone for good. But there’s a saying to the effect of, no good idea really dies at Imagineering, it simply fuels another in the future. That holds true here. The building itself and so much more were not good ideas, but there are kernels of greatness here and there, and those will likely find homes in the decade to come in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and beyond.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Think D’Amaro is sincere in saying “something will happen” with Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser? Or do you suspect the perspective of this article is more realistic, and the building is likely going to be demolished eventually with the good ideas filtering down into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and beyond? Thoughts on Walt Disney World permanently closing Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser and taking a $300 million write off? Still think the company will convert it to a regular resort or reopen it as something else? Do you agree or disagree with our 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!
Borrowing from Universal’s Hogwarts Express, Disney could build a transporter that would take you on a journey from Galaxy’s Edge to the now defunct starcruiser location reimagined. It would add an additional “ride” to the land and give an opportunity to use the existing starcruiser site for a restaurant/shopping maybe some special meet and greet that only exists at that location. The point being that starcruiser is already themed, just connect that site to Galaxy’s Edge with a ride and you have instantly expanded Galaxy’s Edge. Yes, there would be a cost associated with creating a ride – but if done correctly (like Hogwarts) the ride would be just as interesting as the actual destination.
Looking at the overheads, there’s a large, grassy area behind landscaping to the right of the building, as you face the entrance. This area appears large enough for a typical WDW resort pool and playground area. possibly even enough for a “movies under the stars” activity as well.
That, of course, would be good money after bad, so it’s not going to happen, nor should it. WDW spent a ton of money on a niche project, which they badly overestimated how niche it actually turned out to be.
Right now, the question is what is more valuable: tax write-off versus repurposing (dinner show, wedding venue, half-day event, one-day event, combo plus maintenance fees)? The clear winner seems to be tax write-off.
That said, from this failure could come the seeds of successes. First, the property itself. I think you are right about its eventual fate. But there are possibilities prior to that fate. But, yeah this is SO niche, I think that the math just won’t work long term.
But, the concept, a Star Wars resort, might be something we see down the road. Not with all of the bells and whistles, even if they went the Deluxe route (I would tend to think no higher tier than a moderate mix). This is something that we likely would not see for years, 2030s probably. There still remains plenty of room for expansion on the WDW property. A Star Wars resort could be a future possibility.
Near term, what everyone’s been mentioning: Dinner show in GE. The notion of a wedding venue is a good one, but I think the wiser Disney move is for a wedding venue with multiple theming possibilities, from traditional, to Star Wars, to Disney theming, to Marvel. The Star Cruiser location is not aesthetically appealing in many ways and is too expensive long term to be that venue. But a new multi-theme-able wedding venue could be placed somewhere outside the theme parks.
I didn’t think this would work, but I’m sad it didn’t. I do question how they thought it would work long-term, given only 100 rooms and the pricing they would need for it to be sustainable. People were paying for what were mediocre rooms, but with a special, deluxe experience. The notion of a cruise on land is not a bad one, and while there are small cruise ships, Disney’s own cruise line tells you the size they believe is the sweet spot, and GSC wasn’t even close. Still, I think good can come out of this misadventure for future WDW guests.
” tax write-off versus repurposing (dinner show, wedding venue, half-day event, one-day event, combo plus maintenance fees)? The clear winner seems to be tax write-off.”
This is just demonstrably untrue. A tax write-off is literally a tax saving as a percentage of the loss. Profit means making consistent money on your investment and overhead. If they can make something profitable out of the space, it’s almost certainly going to bring them far more money in the medium term than any tax write-off.
So if they do nothing with it, either they think they can’t make money, or more likely there was a specific benefit in this particular tax year for making their books look a bit better that they took.
Since we don’t know the details of the situation, or how that write-off could possibly be amended in a future year when it’s more convenient, we don’t really know what their options are.
As for it being too niche — I disagree there too. It didn’t succeed because the marketing sucked. It wasn’t a hotel and should never have been presented as one. The kinds of people who would be most interested in this: hardcore Star Wars fans, D&D players, the kinds of people who go to Ren Faires or improv classes… most of them either had never heard of it, or had no idea what it really was. Most of my friends are in these groups, and 9 times out of 10 when I told people about it they had no idea what it was. I would be shocked if Disney even tapped 5% of the market for this. They just didn’t know how to do marketing for it, and got spooked when the completely messed up the early promotional video.
It also didn’t succeed because it was based on the wrong genre of Star Wars and was priced beyond the means of too many people. Had they rooted it in the first trilogy l it might have been different. Disney apparently has no clue how to handle franchise.
The walking distance from Galaxy Edge is not so big.
They have to remix something maybe to make it a walking passage, but it’s possibile in my opinion (for the supposed dining show).
The “Starcruiser” defunct is now worth more to Disney as a tax write-off than it ever was when it was functional or ever can be in the future. At this point it’s purely dollars and cents. Repurposing ain’t gonna happen.
Jack: Do you have any math to prove this? You do realize accelerated depreciation doesn’t mean they get that $300 million back, right? All they get is the tax they paid on it. That’s it. The absolute maximum that could be is $63 million, and it’s probably much less than that in reality depending on what else they’ve done with their taxes. If Disney can find a profitable way to use the space it would not be difficult to eclipse that figure. The biggest problem with turning a profit with Starcruiser was the enormous running costs of the show in order to give people so much personalized attention.
It’s only valuable to them as a tax write off because it happened to be convenient in this particular tax year. It doesn’t mean they can’t amend their taxes and repay it later when it’s more convenient. And we also don’t know what part of Starcruiser they actually wrote-off, if it was the whole thing or a partial write-off.
The “math” was provided me by an actuary / accountant who follows Disney closely. I guess we’ll see but according to him, the size of the venue, the logistics of the “voyage ” coupled with the intense cast requirements resulted in less profit than anticipated. And I think you’re wrong on the write-off dollars. As I also understand, they’re taking it in a lump because their finances are, to say the least, not good abd the November earningscall will show that. This past Sunday, Hollywood was pretty much empty. Special events like Haloween are, of course, close to sold out, but even the parks are hurting. And as for the 60 billion, I hear that that lots of that is going into DVC and hotel increases, not the parks. Disney has, by killing off three icons, proven that it has no idea how to handle franchises like Star Wars, Marvel or Indy Jones. We’re going to see what happens to the parks sooner than later. In short, I stand by my opinion that they won’t repurpose the Cruiser because it’s worth more dead than alive, it’s too small and remote to make a significant financial contribution, and they badly need the write-off money.
You would think that one can do SOMETHING with a perfectly good, brand new, in demand building besides razing it to the ground for “tax writeoff”.
Could they make it into a venue for their private tours? They already have a number of these running and the space would allow for several options. In other words, there could still be the dinner show, but also tours that would include some immersive story element and maybe lightsaber and/or bridge training. Just a thought. People pay large premiums for those VIP tour experiences and seems like it could fit that market, throw in some access to Rise and Smugglers Run as part of the tour too if it makes sense. Just a thought. Went on in March, loved it, but couldn’t get a slot for the remaining voyages. Wish I could’ve, hope they do something with this great idea.
They could absolutely do a condensed single-day or half-day version of the storyline–it already exists. I did a consolidated day experience before Starcruiser even opened–it was fantastic.
Oh, interesting Tom, I didn’t know that. I think there’s a lot of potential for a single day experience with various add-ons. The problem with doing that and keeping the building is all the sleeping space they built. Trying to combine all of these elements into an overnight experience is probably what doomed it from a marketing mix and pricing perspective. I’m sure we’ll see elements of what they did on Starcruiser in various other forms in GE and maybe elsewhere. Also, having a Star Wars specific VIP tour that goes through Galaxy’s Edge and maybe boards the Halcyon or some other premium immersive experience that builds on Starcruiser seems like a no-brainer.
My previous comments on this topic this year (as well as comments below from many others going back to June) have all emphatically made the case for repurposing the space as a high-end excursion/dinner show. Tax considerations aside (returns can be amended), Disney found a clever solution to shuttle guests back and forth from GE without “breaking the fourth wall” and already has the dining infrastructure and storytelling conventions in place. They should also repurpose the lightsaber training area as a paid add-on, and/or add meet-and-greets like at other high-end dining venues (subbing Din Djarin for Cinderella).
But nothing convinces me more than these facts:
1. WDW guests are obsessed with (and willing to pay a premium for) any ADR restaurant in the parks that has even a moderate level theming.. Demand far exceeds supply.
2. Star Wars fans will pay ungodly amounts of money to experience Savi’s workshop when the same lightsabers can be purchased elsewhere in GE for less $$$. And they’ll scramble to get into awkwardly cramped seats in Oga’s Cantina to gladly pay for dressed-up pre-mixed sugar cocktails.
3. Per #1 and #2 above, WDW can charge an insanely high amount for a Star Wars “dinner excursion” and it’ll still be the newly-crowned “toughest ADR” on WDW property.
I don’t disagree with you, but I think capacity and infrastructure logistics are the reasons why they wouldn’t do that in the long-term.
Unless Starcruiser is a bona-fide excursion from Batuu–like a half-day or longer–I just don’t think it makes sense to do it that way indefinitely. The dining room in there isn’t as large as one could be that they build in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and the breakout spaces are also very small.
Yeah, makes sense. But I guess per your point, I see the opportunity for it to be marketed as something akin to a half day adventure, with a menu of exclusive upcharged experiences (e.g., Savi’s) in addition to a lunch/dinner show at regular intervals. Then when/if they move the dinner show to GE proper, the “excursion” could be remade to feature other fun activities.
I personally think with a few tinkers and some creativity, it would make an ideal Escape room. You’re looking for an immersive, adult heavy, themed environment that would requite minimal staffing and limited number of people per room, yet be profitable.
I gotta say, its a heck of a lot of fun, trying to solve Disney’s problems for them. And if anything would be catagorized as a first world problem, it’s this!
Having said that….. A-hem…I love the idea of a dinner club venue, and in a bow to Occam’s Razor, use what is already there. Use a dedicated area in the already existing guest parking. Include park entry into the price of the fixe pris dinner reservation and have the meet-up area by Docking Bay 7 or Smuggler’s Run. Provide a tram (the good lord knows they’re not all being used) that runs the 800-1000 feet from HS to the Halcyon. And bonus idea: make rooms (obviously for a price) available for those who want to sleep overnight.
Yipee!! That was lots of fun for a Saturday afternoon!!!
I agree with the others who said they went from being sad about it closing to being devastated after “sucking it up” and paying full price for our voyage, once it was announced that the starcruiser was going to close. I do have several questions about Disney’s thinking here. First, where was the advertisement for the starcruiser? When I told friends about our recent trip (many who are Star Wars fans, but not necessarily Disney fanatics), NO ONE had even heard of it! Second, why can’t they “reboot” a similar immersive experience in a more cost effective way? At dinner each night on the starcruiser, my family and I brainstormed many ways where they could cut costs (do we really need stickers on the toilet paper or a buffet with so many interesting options that everyone felt compelled to take one of everything just for a taste…). Anyway, in all my years at Disney, this experience was the most “magical” and fun–and I am not even a Star Wars geek!
I went to Starcruiser after the closure was announced, and like so many others I’ve gone from disappointed that Disney is giving up on it, to absolutely devastated and inconsolable. If I had sucked it up and paid the price early on, I would have cancelled other vacations and gone multiple times, yearly thereafter. This was THE best thing that Disney had ever done, and the marketing was absolutely abysmal. Whatever Disney says these IS a market out there for this, and it could sell out. D&D players, improv classes, ren fairies… these are the places you need to advertise something like this. Most people I know in these circles either hadn’t heard of it, or didn’t understand what it was, because everyone kept calling it a “hotel”.
When you said people aren’t sad about losing the prison building, you should know that’s pretty wrong. Yes losing all the technology and characters would be bad, but even if this is repurposed it won’t be the same. Join the FB groups and see what people are feelings. So many of those that went are meeting up, crying together and struggling their way through this closure. Many of us have bonds with cast members who are similarly devastated. I’ve never seen this level of emotion over something Disney closed and that’s saying a lot.
Disney has been flooded with emotional calls and emails from this community over the past weeks. The Starcruiser team has been calling every person who emailed with their sadness over the closure. I hope and pray that has an impact and even if it doesn’t get us another RP experience, perhaps it can prevent them choosing to let it rot away.
Apologies for the autocorrect typos. On my phone.
Just got back from the antepenultimate voyage, with some interesting news. We heard from multiple crew that Disney has been testing Dinner-only services on the Halcyon with various non-Starcruiser cast members (which have apparently been a success.) Not sure what this means, but it’s an interesting development right before the new fiscal year begins. If nothing else, it’s a nice bit of hope…and I will absolutely be keeping my fingers crossed that there’s some potential future for the space regardless of what that is.
Hope you had a great experience (no matter how bittersweet) in saying goodbye to Starcruiser!
Very interesting about the dinner show tests. I think it makes perfect sense to start with that, test & adjust to refine plans for a purpose-built space, and then announce something for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as part of a ‘soft reboot’ of the land.
It was a good experience, though I will say these final voyages have a very different tone than the initial ones. There is a lot of competition for everyone’s time, as the urgency sinks in. The crew is still amazing at finding small ways to include all passengers, but I miss how relaxed and natural the interactions were for me on previous trips. That said, the higher emotions on this one did make it feel particularly special, and make me grateful for the chance to say goodbye.
I was pretty shocked to hear about the tests, as I thought for sure this had to be a complete write-off. But between that and some very subtle hints I picked up from other staff, it’s nice to get that spark of hope back.
Hey. Not sure if you also heard but they recently did 6 one day experiences for Starcruiser friends and family on days the Starcruiser was closed. From what I gather it was bridge/engineering/lightsaber training with the dinner show. Not sure if this was just a nice gesture or if it was them exploring options. I know I’d pay for this to get back on the Starcruiser again and I’d add on a nights stay and breakfast if that was an option.
Well, I just got back from my voyage on the Halcyon, and the experience pushed me over the line from”Oh, too bad, better schedule my bucket-list trip while I can” to “This cancellation is a horrendous tragedy!”
I’d do the Starcruiser again in a heartbeat. I’d like to do it as many times as necessary to see each story path. It exceeded my expectations on every front. Disney’s much-vaunted marketing department really dropped the ball on this one; all the ads I saw made it look really cheesy. Given what they actually had, surely SOMEONE could have found the way to sell it properly. Wherever blame ultimately falls for this failure, it shouldn’t land on Imagineering or on the experience they produced.
I wonder if Starcruiser might work but on a more short term scale with rotating shows. Like they could run a series of Life Day experiences around Christmas and a Mandalorians adventure in the spring. Something to keep it interesting but not something that would need to run constantly. You could run it with a smaller team have them doing one “show” a week. It would lower operating costs and you might even get away with charging more for exclusiveity. Or at least get it to a hope of breaking even.
Tom: I almost missed it then hubby surprised me with a trip on the star cruiser for my birthday. So glad we went before they announced it was closing.
Congratulations on your news.
Instead of having it be a multiday experience, why don’t they make it a couple of hours experience? In NYC they have a hotel which they converted to a fully immersive theater experience, where people wander around and see different performances and visit different rooms. It’s called Sleep No More and they make a ton of money. And depending where you wander, you get a different experience every time. They eventually expanded to include a restaurant inside the building and rooftop restaurant as well, and they have live performances in their restaurant / lounge areas – such as small acting plays and magicians. This might well work for the Star Cruiser – only Star Wars related.
Another interesting idea that deserves some real thought by Disney. If someone from Disney isn’t looking at your blog they need to soon! Tons of thought provoking ideas from readers and you as well, Tom.
They could try correcting the initial mistake of the foundational story. Build the experience around episodes 1-3 or 4-6 and you would actually attract the age groups that have the disposable income to live their childhood fantasy.
Having more popular characters definitely would’ve moved the needle a bit, but I don’t think it would’ve been enough. It just would’ve failed slower, as foundational issues with prohibitive pricing and the nature of the experience still would’ve existed.
It would be neat to reuse the bridge somehow. I really enjoyed the time in there. Second only to Sublight.
The in room droid would be a great character to host whatever adventure awaits.
Yes, glad to see someone mention something other than the dinner show. Although that is the obvious, easiest way to get people paying to use the building (kitchen and dining areas already exist, people have long wanted a Star Wars character meal), I feel like they could sell a day-long experience, with time for the bridge training, lightsaber training, maybe a tour of the ship, and time for hanging out in the bar and gift shop. And then dinner and a show.
Farren’s thoughts below on a wedding venue aren’t bad, either. I’ve seen people who rented out pavilions at Epcot, complete with performers. Why not the Starcruiser? Same with a Capture Your Moment photo package.
Wedding Venue! it has the area for the ceremony, restaurant for the reception, bar etc. Add that to the dinner show / nightclub- they could at least use the front of the building.
Out of all the fan-floated ideas, I think this one actually makes the most sense. Weddings are $$$$ for Disney and occur in a manner that necessitates certain staffing requirements, etc. Not only that, but there’s a treasure trove of photogenic locations aboard the Halcyon that would lend themselves to weddings.
I cannot imagine that’s what D’Amaro was hinting at, though.
I like this option as well. I think this would require very minimal remodeling. I also think the place is large enough Disney could simultaneously rent out the building to weddings or conferences while saving a section of the ship/resort to offer a funny interactive dinner theater show(think HoopDeeDoo)to guests. Another person suggested a pickup location to get to the building so the cruiser does not have to be directly connected to the park. Also like Hoop Dee Doo, a guest does not need a park ticket to enjoy the experience of a Star Wars. This out of the park experience will encourage guests to visit on a non park day and possibly make their trip longer or the guest may plan a future trip where they are enjoying the out of park experiences Disney offers.
Disney would be making money daily from guests who want to be apart of an experience and from people who want a unique wedding or special event.
Nightclub.
Change bedrooms into party tables.
Charge entry fee of $400 (for example) . Drinks extra $. Basic appetizers (reduce kitchen complexity) extra $ .
Merchandise . T-shirts, Princess Leia ears, glow in the dark whatever, etc $$
Activities : Make your Lightsaber while drunk contests etc $$$
Transportation by bus from designated area, or resorts. Ubers also allowed. No parking allowed.
Depending on capacity, could gross up to half a million a night.
Make it the destination for all kinds of celebratory events.
I think you’re potentially on to something with the last line–they could rent out the Halcyon for private events. Companies would be willing to drop a pretty penny to host parties here.
A Star Wars nightclub is an awesome idea, but I don’t think this venue is it.
This nightclub concept, the article “pitched” (but illogically rejected in same) ideas of a restaurant, backstage facility conversion or the like are all the most effectively viable site conversion solutions, as what some (including site=article author) seen to be forgetting is the ability to potentially put a parking structure UNDER the surrounding exterior grounds, thereby solving that seemingly sticky issue.
If the Mouse just does that, they can at least even cheaply, minimally turn the existing Starcruiser building itself into a mix of guest restaurant/club/shopping infrastructure and necessary backstage/venue management areas without having to possibly spend MORE money on decinstruction/demolition resources (contrary to traditional “popular perception”, removing infrastructure is sometimes more costly than letting it sit empty or even converting it).
So it seems like these 3 basic adaptational ideas would at least let DISNEY start making some efficient if not highly profitable use out of an otherwise “usable” structure
An underground parking structure…in Florida?