Disney's "Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser" promises fans the "most immersive" experience ever when it was launched in March 2022 — one that won't be cheap. A year later, Walt Disney World has announced that it will be permanently closing its Star Wars "resort."
According to Walt Disney World’s official announcement, the final voyage for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser will take place on 28-39 September 2023. In other words, it’s one of the first cuts to be made and revealed before Disney’s new fiscal year starts on October 2023.
On the plus side, Disney did manage to sell out the final voyages in fast fashion as the hardcore fanbase that had quickly formed around Starcruiser – and those who thought they had more time to wait for discounts or whatever – rushed to book spots on the remaining months of voyages.
The struggles of Starcruiser are well-documented. Many have written a number of articles about it over the years. It was a fascinating and troubled topic even pre-closure. Many fans absolutely adored it, whereas others loved to hate it. Starcruiser crashing and burning so spectacularly after under 2 years of operations has only added to the mystique. It will be deconstructed for far longer than it was constructed and operational.
In the grand scheme of the Star Wars and Disney fandoms, very few people had the opportunity to experience it. It was previously remarked about how there were dozens – if not hundreds – of YouTube videos about the Star Wars hotel that were watched by exponentially more people than ever stayed at Starcruiser.
"The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel" by Jenny Nicholson has already racked up nearly 5 million views with roughly 30,000 comments. It has "broken containment" from the Star Wars and Disneyspheres into the broader internet. The video is roughly 4 hours long, which is like a weeklong viewing affair when translated to being a new parent working around the demands of a baby.
The main problem, of course, was the price. Not to belabor the point here, as the overwhelming majority of discourse about Starcruiser has revolved around the prohibitive pricing. This was patently obvious to just about everyone from the beginning, and one of the biggest reasons why so many fans cheered for its failure.
Walt Disney World had something that was awesome and envelope-pushing, but had astronomical operating costs and even higher price points for guests. The end result is something highly exclusionary that reduced a potentially large consumer pool into a very small one.
The margins on Starcruiser were not nearly as healthy as many fans assumed at first. Yes, the price was high, but the operating costs were staggering due to the high number of frontline Cast Members and performers, as well as the low number of rooms. It was really a math problem.
Then there’s the niche nature of the experience. Starcruiser was a live-action role-playing game and interactive entertainment kinda endeavor – and one that required multiple days to experience. The time and nature of the experience were two big barriers to entry, with the high cost being the third of the trifecta. Many heard from so many Star Wars and Disney fans who were curious about Starcruiser and could have afforded it as a splurge, but ultimately could not justify the risk of their vacation time for an unknown concept that they might have not enjoyed.
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