Today I’d like to share another rumor with you, this one coming from two rock-solid sources who shared different aspects of the same issue. All of this is regarding Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser, the new role-playing hotel at Walt Disney World Resort. We’ve done quite a few articles on this luxury experience, but information just keeps coming out, so we’ll just keep reporting on it.
The first source is one that very few people would know. Of course, I’m not revealing either source so that they can continue to provide information in the future. What was I was told is that the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser is having significant reworks taking place over the next two months to prepare for the launch. I was also told that the Starcruiser is likely to close at some point after 2022 to make more substantial changes. The timeframe I was given was early 2023 to mid 2023, although the source said that it can change depending on the pandemic, as well as audience response to the hotel in March of 2022.
So, I reached out to another source, this one being a person that many in the Disney theme park community would know. Normally I would cite this person in an article such as this, but I don’t know from whom they had received the information, so I’m going to hold from naming anyone. The source is as steadfastly correct as you’ll find though. I am told that the Galactic Starcruiser experience did not go over well from Disney internal testing. It was also confirmed that this made the prior rumor (of a future redo) much more likely. Disney already knows they have a big problem on their hands. It didn’t take guests going through for them to figure that out; they knew it as soon as they sent in consultants and testers.
So how big of a problem does Disney have?
Well, this a performer-heavy experience with people being paid more than usual to play characters at a high level of immersion. Improvisational skills are also a major part of the experience. To make this thing profitable, Disney needs to fill rooms, with families paying about $6,000 per group of four. Because there aren’t that many rooms in this hotel (one-hundred, basically), being short a few groups is a problem. So too is having to give away rooms at lower costs. Yet Disney is having real trouble filling all the spots. It’s so bad that they had openings for the maiden voyage just a few days ago.
It’s not going to get better. The opening months are the hottest this experience is ever going to be. What Disney will have to decide is how long they’re going to muddle through this thing before they shut it down and spend the money to change it. That’s not going to be cheap, if done in a way that will attract guests, and they’ve already blown a fortune on the hotel. Stopping and restarting construction during the pandemic was not cheap.
Disney Magical Holiday Celebration show tonight included a visit to Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser. A glimpse of a hallway, the ship bridge, and a performance by one of the nightclub singers. pic.twitter.com/M61apUxnWE
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) November 29, 2021
So what can Disney do?
The Galactic Starcruiser was conceived and conceptualized years ago while Kathleen Kennedy was still largely in charge of Star Wars. Disney can make bank off this hotel if they switch the experience to the original trilogy. Darth Vader boarding the ship is worth millions upon millions of dollars for them. But to pull that trigger, Lucasfilm will have to (yet again) swallow their pride. Upgrades to other experiences are also going to be required. Originally, the light saber experience was supposed to use fiber optics built into the walls to create a reflection system in the fog that would emulate laser blasts. Whether that failed in testing, or whether it was deemed to expensive, they have to improve the current system. Nobody wants to pay thousands of dollars to poke a light stick at weak laser light for points. They can already do that at Dave and Busters.
But what else could they do? Star Wars Theory on YouTube suggested a Jedi and Sith training temple system, but that’s probably off the table due to budgets and the size of the structure. What would you suggest? Let us know in the comments below. And as always, keep checking out That Park Place for all the latest Star Wars news!
