The following article is based on a tip from a source that may remain anonymous. However, should the source wish to be named in the future, we will update with proper credit given. For now the source is withheld to protect potential unwanted disclosure.
Allegedly, the reveal of Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser to the press has not gone as The Walt Disney Company has wanted. While the reviews of journalists and influencers are positive overall, within their actual articles they often bury the lede. Yes, they my title their article in a beneficial way for Disney, and they may conclude on a happy note… but the interior paragraphs often express skepticism or disappointment. They certainly aren’t sure about a price tag that can go north of six-thousand dollars for a family of four on a two-day “excursion”.
Thus is the contortion of an influencer or journalist who wants to maintain credibility with readers but also wants continued access with the biggest entertainment company on the planet. Give a bad review on the Galactic Starcruiser and see how quickly Disney will want you to come back for a future all-expenses-paid review.
Len Testa of Touring Plans is a lovely person who tries to present information about Walt Disney World in the most unbiased fashion possible (we may work together on a future article about Lightning Lanes). Yet even Testa is coming out with an assessment of the media’s relationship with Disney that should cause everyone to pause when reading some of these first-waver reviews:
With the Galactic Starcruiser media embargo ending tomorrow, here’s a couple of consumer advice points:
1) Many writers about to tell you how great this is, don’t believe it themselves
2) Disney pressures media outlets to say only positive things
From people inside right now: pic.twitter.com/JtBy38BVIO
— Len Testa | mastodon.social/@LenTesta (@LenTesta) February 24, 2022
We’ve heard the same from Steve of WDW Magic posting on the WDW Magic Forums… people with connections are getting the real scoop from those who have boarded the Galactic Starcruiser.
So I’m hearing interesting buzz coming out from the media who have been staying there. “$6k. No way.”
Who is going to dare say it/print it.
There is, however, a much larger problem for Disney Parks. No matter how the reviews are officially put together for print in the big, national media outlets, the real reviews are about to happen as guests with skin in the game start the experience. That’s where things could get ugly. Regardless of what the first-wave of reviews have said, the videos that people are seeing is one of those situations where you have to ask yourself: who do you trust, the influencers or your own lying eyes?
Note the people yelling in awe are not guests… these are influencers, journalists, and cast members. If you think this is worth six-thousand dollars, feel free to spend that money how you see fit.
There are two reasons why the videos are a major problem for Disney:
- The poor reception of the videos is an indicator that Disney’s Imagineers or management are not in sync with the market. If they anticipated this would drive interest, they were badly mistaken.
- Because the videos are actually harming public interest, it is likely reviews from real guests will not be as positive as desired, and that is likely to dry up support even more.
Now, will we see reservations go up in the short term? Surely. There are going to be plenty of people buying up reservations as a result of commercials, network television specials, and more. And there’s no doubt that this experience is for a very specific demographic. If you’re into role-playing, larping, Star Wars, and the Kathleen Kennedy style of a Galaxy Far, Far Away… this might be something you will enjoy. Does this website want to rain on your parade? Far from it. We hope everyone who goes has a wonderful time and we wish Disney all the success in the world.
It’s just that I’m also a realist.
Realistically, you should know that a source very close to everything going on with the Galactic Starcruiser is reporting to That Park Place that Disney is developing a contingency plan. It may be that the Star Wars hotel cannot sustain enthusiasm sufficient to keep it going even until a refurbishment date after a year-or-so. That’s quite disappointing, allegedly, to Disney management, but they do have a way to mitigate the public relations fiasco as well as a means by which to put the company in a good light.
Check this video out before the explanation:
The bantha in the room: the #StarWars #GalacticStarcruiser is quite expensive ($4,800 to $6,000 per voyage), and for many fans, it’s out of reach. Here’s how Disney creative execs Wendy Anderson and Ann Morrow Johnson answered when I asked if the experience is “worth it”. @Newsy pic.twitter.com/4EiwThBe2h
— Clayton Sandell (@Clayton_Sandell) February 25, 2022
What if Disney could fill the Galactic Starcruiser while simultaneously making themselves look altruistic in the process? Enter the reported Plan B:
According to our source, the four and six hour excursions aboard the Galactic Starcruiser that some influencers had was not a one-off event. No, these were trial runs for a Plan B Mode that may be implemented if the Galactic Starcruiser is unable to fill enough passengers after the initial opening rush. We’re talking about September-ish of 2022, as well as the early months of 2023. The concept is simple: declare that you want to make the experience available to families that previously could not afford it, open it up to rotating multi-hour experiences, and lower the cost. Continue to provide the full experience on more limited days, and try to salvage the situation while appearing to be on the side of the working class that can’t (or won’t) drop many thousands on what you’re seeing in the videos.
And as I’ve written in the past, there is a potential refurbishment rewrite that Disney may go to if Rey and Kylo Ren just won’t drive fans:
So the leading option for the Galactic Starcrusier’s first changeup is to have Grogu on board the hotel and revealed on the first night. He’s a stowaway, being taken by Chewbacca across the galaxy to avoid detection by Admiral Thrawn. During the second night, however the ship would be boarded by unnamed baddies; they’ll be there to take Grogu. One of the scripts allegedly calls for Grogu and Chewbacca giving themselves up so that the rest of the guests are not harmed instead. Just as Grogu is being handed over to the bad guys, Luke Skywalker would arrive and save Grogu once again. A thank you message potentially could then be played for the guests from Princess Leia, expressing gratitude for their help in protecting “the child”.
Is there any doubt that Grogu, Mando, Luke and Leia would sell more tickets? And if any of these alternate plans have to happen, is there any doubt that the Pablo Hidalgo / Kathleen Kennedy / Story Group push that influenced this hotel (and Galaxy’s Edge) will be even further diminished?
All of this depends on the guests, though. Who can say for sure what will happen. After all, none of these changes occur if guests are satisfied with what we’ve seen so far. And in that case, Star Wars will keep right on trucking down the path they’ve been on for a decade… box truck and all.
Let us know what you think in the comments below, and as always, keep checking out That Park Place for all your latest Star Wars updates!
“And if any of these alternate plans have to happen, is there any doubt that the Pablo Hidalgo / Kathleen Kennedy / Story Group push that influenced this hotel (and Galaxy’s Edge) will be even further diminished?”
No one wants these influence diminished. They want them gone.
Exactly. Seriously how much damage to Star Wars do those people need to do before Disney has had enough? Expecting them to suddenly start coming up with good ideas after a decade of horrible ones, is idiocy.
Did Admiral Thrawn make an appearance in Mandalorian? Not yet. The rumor is he’ll appear on Season 3. Relying on this is just too soon. It also makes no sense in the Sequel Trilogy timeline. Grogu is in the Original Trilogy timeline especially with how Luke is portrayed in the younger version.
They need to just capitulate. Lower the prices ($1000 per night) and redesign both Galaxy’s Edge and the Hotel to original trilogy. Giving non-guests opportunities to go without staying is an insult to actual paying guests.
I think they missed a huge opportunity in theming this and Galaxy’s Edge to the Galactic Civil War period. That’s where you get the most crossover of fans and it’s also probably the era that is most recognized by/appeals to the casual fans of the saga. I was watching one of the videos that came out of this with a friend and I remarked how they could have done something of a re-enactment of Vader in the hallway in Rogue One for example. We’ve also seen how in Book of Boba Fett how they’ve managed to do a convincing younger Mark Hamill which they could generate some video content for. Not to mention they’ve used the animatronics of Threepio and Artoo for years in Star Tours. Heck, you could even put Din Djarin in the experience somewhere in his pre-Beskar armor.
I’m also not sure how much they consulted with their cruise division in terms of planning activities. On a cruise ship there’s a multitude of activities to cater to different ages and interests. I feel there’s a number of parents who will probably want to take their kids to this but don’t necessarily want to get involved in LARPing non-stop for 48 hours, for example. There needs to be parallel activities for those who are ‘just along for the ride’ so-to-speak.
Marketing became more bold to appeal to Rey and Kylo fans, especially the romantic/shipping angle; however, because he wears a mask, the name Kylo is used, and the romance/shipping not a focus, they’re not interested either (unless the amount is play money for them).
It’s very obvious that if Chapek and Arnold were in charge during most of development, etc, this would not have happened. Because of construction timing, etc, it seems there was no choice, but to move forward with this….will be interesting to see how Chapek/Arnold can salvage it.
First, it’s clear WDC doesn’t understand the Star Wars Phenomenon of 1977. There wasn’t an oversaturation of Sci-Fi IP’s during that time and it was the first blockbuster. Today’s there are so many different types of IP’s like video games, anime, movies, etc. for people to choose from.
Second, LFL was a small independent studio with its main focus on Star Wars and its licensing was very limited. Today, LFL is part of an international conglomerate and a division of the Walt Disney Studios that abuses its license to make a profit not an experience.
Third, Disney (Iger) allowed LFL to world destroy Star Wars Canon and its Expanded Universe. WDC has now had LFL for almost 10 years. They allowed LFL to waste their time creating a new lore that picks and chooses parts from Star Wars Canon and EU. The Canon and EU were not all great story but those in charge were not insulting their fans if their story wasn’t widely accepted. Now everything and everyone associated with LFL is mediocre and not creative but use identity politics to cover up their inferior products.
Like everything else from Disney Star Wars, Galactic Starcruiser is a disappointment but I’m not disappointed because it’s what I expect from Disney.
Seriously, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Galaxy’s Edge hasn’t been “closed for refurbishment” and just tweaked slightly here and there to reopen as Tatooine/Mos Eisley Space Port/Mos Eisley Cantina. I realize there is no fun droids roaming around or anything above our heads on some cool tracks (droid people mover) and no fun lively entertainment (even something remotely lively like Tomorrowland Galactic Grill stage area at Disneyland) because Chapek cut costs drastically. We all expected Mos Eisley meets Tomorrow Land/Star Tours meets Endor meets Han and Lando walking around cracking jokes and taking pictures with guests and instead we got a nicely designed, boring set on a planet no one cares about and a bad impression of the Star Tours ride that pales in comparison but was cheaper than a real ride (I haven’t been on Rise though but whatever). Anyway, my point is Disney cheaped out and we’re all stuck with it and it’s sad but at the very least change the F*ing name to Tatooine and Mos Eisley I mean come on already!! It’s like they can’t take the L even if it means getting a win and we all move on. What the in the actual hell!?
I was just at Galaxy’s Edge three days ago and the park was packed. I would never ever spend $6K to stay at this hotel. Or any hotel that expensive to be honest. However, Star Wars is a huge IP and undoubtedly someone will pay for it. Living outside the Orlando area now for over 15 years I’ve always been stunned at the money people spend for stuff at the parks. Most Star Wars fans aren’t losing their minds online about this story choice or that story choice. The next Star Wars Celebration will be sold out. It’ll have people dressed up as all the characters that people complain about online.
Also, I finally got to ride Rise of Resistance a couple of days ago. My first trip to the park 2 years ago it was impossible to get on the ride. It was a 3 hour wait for most of the day, but I jumped in line at 5pm and waited two hours. It really is an incredible experience. Disney really did a good job with the cast as well. Everything on this site seems negative about Star Wars. That’s not the experience at the park or judging by the people on the ride. It certainly wasn’t the experience of the 5 people I was with.
Some good points in there. I also think Rise of the Resistance is a technical marvel. And while we are sometimes negative about Star Wars on this website, we’re also sometimes positive. I think that’s important when you’re finding a place that will just review things down the middle. Did you know that we rated two episodes of The Book of Boba Fett as highly as Spider-Man: No Way Home?
Keep reading and watch for those times when we give kudos to a galaxy far, far away.
I’m going to start sounding like a broken record. Who was this whole experience geared for? 5-6 thousand dollar price point for 2 day experience is outside the scope of most people. The people who can afford that won’t want to stay in those tiny rooms (why didn’t they make them bigger and more luxurious? They had the space to do so.) All the “Experiences” are geared to those that liked the sequel trilogy. They common areas look like generic Scifi, not Star Wars and low quality at that.
The people who designed the Star Wars hotel clearly don’t understand Star Wars, don’t respect their costumers and were not interested in creating quality experience. Such a shame, an interesting concept that was horribly executed
Dear Disney,
You are providing dinner and a show. Imagine this hotel as an add on for the beginning of a trip. People can check in on the first day, the next day they spend the morning in Galaxy’s Edge. Everyone returns by 3pm, and the first half of the show starts at 4pm for an hour. Break for dinner and extras. Show completes from 7-8pm. Parents have a bar with a singer or other band to hangout at night. Remove all the different species.
Cost for two nights is $2,000-3,000
This can’t last. $5k-6k per night for most families to experience, even just once, is too much to ask. There’s a niche audience this is geared to, but are they really willing to go more than once, like most people are willing to visit Galaxy’s Edge on multiple occasions? Highly doubtful. Don’t get me wrong… there are die hard fans who will dish out $1,500 for a lightsaber, $4,000 for an OT signed poster, or $4,000 for a Salacious Crumb statue, but $5-6k for an immersive 2-night experience is a big ask, especially if you’re dependent on those same deep pockets, like you are the Disney parks. They’ll do it once, but why would they continue to drop $5-6k do it again for the same theme/story? The experience will be the same… so there’s no point.
Whether guests love it or hate it, this is going to be a money loser for Disney, unless they change the venue or decrease the cost to stay.