Less than a year since the Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser opened at Walt Disney World, the hotel is so unpopular that it can’t keep the doors open. Fans aren’t flocking to a galaxy far, far away. Now, we have info on what Disney might do to change things.
In March of 2022, Disney opened a brand-new, one-of-a-kind experience where Star Wars mega fans could live out their fantasies of being aboard a Star Wars vessel with characters all around them. There were a few bumps in the road, however. For more than the price of a standard cruise, guests found themselves in an impressively-themed by claustrophobia inducing structure sans views into the real world. The food was reviewed poorly. The entire experience was based around the sequel trilogy, which we worried all along simply didn’t have a big enough fanbase to carry this sort of an endeavor. It’s not the fault of the actors playing Rey and Kylo Ren, they’re just not as popular roles as Luke versus Vader.
Disney decided to kick the can down the road a bit though. Back in August of 2022, we reported that the company had decided to stick with the Starcruiser through the full 2023 year, attempting to get a bit more money out of the LARPing hotel before a quick refurbishment was required. I worried Disney didn’t have that long to make this thing last, and now it seems that prediction is coming true. Though the company may have hoped to make it to 2024 before spending big money on new stories and characters (which is why I’m told they’re not using the Mandalorian characters in Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios despite them appearing in Disneyland), the hotel as currently imagined simply can’t function with the low-level interest it has.
According to WDWNT, Disney World is already calling “voyagers” to let them know their trips are being cancelled, then offering them a ride on a different date for far less money. That’s bad for the guests and it’s bad for Disney.
Disney is calling guests affected by the cancelations and offering to move them to different voyages at a 50% discount. Demand for the expensive “Star Wars” experience has fallen significantly, with some voyages operating at only 25% capacity.
— Shannen Michaelsen, WDWNT
At this point, I think it’s pertinent to point out an article I did back in August talking about how this was going to play out:
People I have talked to say there’s still no doubt that the Galactic Starcruiser is going to have an early overhaul. According to at least one source, Disney may be padding out some of their lower attended days with recipients of prizes and charitable giving. I can’t confirm that, but even if it were true, it’s not slowing down the oncoming lull that is September. Even in August, we’re heading towards days where there’s still availability. That means empty rooms and missing players come some of these fall voyages.
What this more likely means is that the bean counters at Disney are hoping they can get through twelve more months (give or take) before they have to abandon the current vision. But if things don’t improve for this September and October, one can only assume that January through March is going to be very tough for those trying to keep this thing profitable.
Now Disney is an unenviable position of potential major turnover trying to find new actors to play Star Wars characters from a different era. Though I send my very best to all the wonderful people playing the roles of the sequel trilogy personas, we’re seeing in real time the truth play out:
The sequel trilogy isn’t popular enough to even support a 100-room capacity experience.
How long until Disney pulls the plug and updates the excursion to be all about The Mandalorian characters or the OG Star Wars trilogy, we’ll have to wait to find out. I one could have given you a solid prediction about the timeline and what would happen… but with Iger having just visited Disney World with Disney Parks chief Josh D’Amaro, I think there’s some chance that plans have changed.
We’ll find out…
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Once again Pro your spot on. How bad is it if they are cancelling the voyage on the 4th of July? As many have pointed out the experience is too expensive for most guests (like me) and lacking value and repeatability for the wealthy. This is just more evidence that the sequel trilogy is a complete bust.
I hope Disney shuts down the hotel.
The Star Wars brand is not healthy. Disney mismanaged and harmed the entire universe. The only hope is a cartoon universe.
The cartoon is Attack of the Clones, and The Mandalorian is a spin-off.
Look at the response of Andor. No one cared, and this was set in between the Lucas Trilogies.
Disney’s only hope is Knights of the Old Republic and The Mandalorian War. Yet Kennedy tried to salt the earth with High Republic.