In one of the most bizarre twists of the week, Disney has timed the announcement of a quasi garage sale effort for the defunct Star Wars Hotel so that it lands just ahead of the Disney Board vote.
According to a new report, The Walt Disney Company and Disney Parks are busy selling off parts of the Galactic Starcruiser which closed last year. The expensive Star Wars role playing experience combined a two-day hotel stay with larping and theater for a one-of-a-kind endeavor that didn’t attract sufficient audiences. With costs that soared into the thousands of dollars, families simply did not attend in numbers that could satisfy Disney’s needs for keeping it open. After less-than-two years of existence, the Star Wars Galactice Starcrusier closed down and has been vacant of guests ever since.
Now, however, SF Gate is reporting that parts of the experience are going up for sale. According to the publication, Disneyland will begin selling alien-style, out-of-this-world, Star Wars inspired glassware that was used during the hotel’s run. These items will be sold as souvenir items for those who attend Disneyland’s Star Wars area bar and purchase them along with an adult beverage. There is no announcement that Disney World’s own Star Wars land still operating will do the same.
Both drinks are available without souvenir glassware, but if you want the martini with something from the Starcruiser, you’ll order the Chandrilan Chalice. For the spicy cocktail, you’ll order the Chandrilan Orb Glass. Both cocktails and souvenir glasses were served on the Starcruiser’s Sublight Lounge and come emblazoned with a “Chandrila Star Line” logo. In the now-closed hotel, the storyline was that you were taking an interstellar cruise on the Chandrila Star Line, aboard the Halcyon starcruiser.
— Julie Tremainne, SF Gate
The number of “souvenir” glasses is limited to only two per person, but even still these will surely not last long. For even as the demand for the Galactic Starcruiser was low… we can’t imagine there are many of these glasses in existence.
Drinks and drinkware from Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser are debuting at Oga’s Cantina at Disneyland during Season of the Force, April 5-June 2: The Silver Sea Martini and Fiery Mustafarian + Chandrilan Chalice and Chandrilan Orb Glass. pic.twitter.com/mutUpKUeC6
— Brooke Geiger McDonald (@BrookeGMcDonald) March 25, 2024
Of particular interest, it seems bizarre to this author that Disney Parks is letting this go public days ahead of the Disney Board vote at the shareholders meeting. Rumors are swirling that Nelson Peltz may actually win a seat on the board. The perception that Disney is having a “blue light special” / “going out of business sale” for Star Wars hotel merchandise is not the sort of public relations maneuver we would have expected. But that appears to be exactly what is happening.
And, of course, George Lucas’ prior position that making magic isn’t for amateurs… seems a bit off-point in light of this latest Disney Parks PR stunt.
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They sold both of those glasses as souvenirs on the Star Cruiser, so there may be more than we’d like to think.