Disney shutting down Star Wars hotel

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They will be closing more

This is just the beginning

The price increases the last 5 years have been astronomical. And I say that as someone with a healthy income who enjoys WDW! We cut way back - I couldn’t believe how long demand held on.

Yup, same here They're now pricing out (upper) middle income America. Getting too greedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least in part it has to do with DeSantis declaring war on Disney.

How do you figure?

Do you not follow the news?

[Anonymous]

All in, I think it was still cheaper than a week in Europe and there are a lot of people who would rather spend 2 days in outer space hanging with Wookiees than a week in Europe looking at old art. But I’m not sure they marketed it that way. The people I know who went — it was a gift for a milestone even and the recipient was allowed to choose a trip basically anywhere. They wanted t go to outer space.
Are they doing a get it before it’s gone run? I can see my husband splurging on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All in, I think it was still cheaper than a week in Europe and there are a lot of people who would rather spend 2 days in outer space hanging with Wookiees than a week in Europe looking at old art. But I’m not sure they marketed it that way. The people I know who went — it was a gift for a milestone even and the recipient was allowed to choose a trip basically anywhere. They wanted t go to outer space.
Are they doing a get it before it’s gone run? I can see my husband splurging on that.

I’m sure bookings will spike temporarily. But that doesn’t mean there is enough long term demand to sustain.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who went earlier this year. I hope they figure out how to preserve some of what made it special. It's hard to see how they'd keep it as a hotel, with only 100 rooms and no pool or other amenities that their other resorts have. But I really hope they learned a lot that can be incorporated elsewhere. The technology for the "choose-your-own-adventure" and individualized experience was incredible. But even simple things, like the bedtime story from the in-room droid, were magical.

I personally would love to go back and drink in the bar and have dinner there again. Part of what made it great, though, was that it was a small space and uncrowded. There was a big difference between the relaxed bar on the Starcruiser and the packed (but still fun) experience at Oga's Cantina in Hollywood Studios. If they try to convert the starcruiser into more of a standard, but Star Wars-themed resort, much of the magic will change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s a real shame. I think it should just be a Star Wars themed hotel vs. the fully immersive aspect. It’s really too expensive for most people.

Did you see it only has 100 rooms though? If they drop it down to Grand Floridian/Polynesian pricing it will surely sell out but I’m not sure 100 rooms is profitable at that price point. Maybe. We’ll see.

It's only 100 rooms and it's no where near the other resorts, so it'd be isolated in it's own tiny bubble, which they need to sustain bus service to. Even deluxe hotels share buses with neighboring hotels. It also doesn't have typical resort amenities, like a pool, which is a pretty big deal in the Florida heat. The building is an unassuming concrete box, so they can't even transition it to a luxury space cruiser docked outside of Batuu without a major renovation. They'll likely scrap the building for parts, then demolish it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP who went earlier this year. I hope they figure out how to preserve some of what made it special. It's hard to see how they'd keep it as a hotel, with only 100 rooms and no pool or other amenities that their other resorts have. But I really hope they learned a lot that can be incorporated elsewhere. The technology for the "choose-your-own-adventure" and individualized experience was incredible. But even simple things, like the bedtime story from the in-room droid, were magical.

I personally would love to go back and drink in the bar and have dinner there again. Part of what made it great, though, was that it was a small space and uncrowded. There was a big difference between the relaxed bar on the Starcruiser and the packed (but still fun) experience at Oga's Cantina in Hollywood Studios. If they try to convert the starcruiser into more of a standard, but Star Wars-themed resort, much of the magic will change.

Oga’s completely sucks. What a letdown. Love SW and never doing that again.

[Anonymous]

I read besides the pricing issue that the rooms had screens instead of windows and many people didn't like that. It works on the Hogwarts train at Universal, but I don't know if I would like that in a hotel room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s a real shame. I think it should just be a Star Wars themed hotel vs. the fully immersive aspect. It’s really too expensive for most people.

Did you see it only has 100 rooms though? If they drop it down to Grand Floridian/Polynesian pricing it will surely sell out but I’m not sure 100 rooms is profitable at that price point. Maybe. We’ll see.

It's only 100 rooms and it's no where near the other resorts, so it'd be isolated in it's own tiny bubble, which they need to sustain bus service to. Even deluxe hotels share buses with neighboring hotels. It also doesn't have typical resort amenities, like a pool, which is a pretty big deal in the Florida heat. The building is an unassuming concrete box, so they can't even transition it to a luxury space cruiser docked outside of Batuu without a major renovation. They'll likely scrap the building for parts, then demolish it.

I guess they could use it as a restaurant like Space 220.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am genuinely bummed. I'd promised my Star Wars loving boy that we'd go for his 13th birthday (two years from now) and I'd been saving up.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/18/disney-worlds-star-wars-galactic-starcruiser-to-shutter.html

I mean, I think someone misjudged the market for that at the pricepoint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why they just don't lower the price. 5000$ a night is way out of reach for most people. They already have it built--charge 1-2000 a night and see what happens! Maybe it would be sold out completely.

It's not $5,000 a night. It's $2,500 a night, with a two-night minimum .

[Anonymous]

Did DeSantis do this? F him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s a real shame. I think it should just be a Star Wars themed hotel vs. the fully immersive aspect. It’s really too expensive for most people.

Did you see it only has 100 rooms though? If they drop it down to Grand Floridian/Polynesian pricing it will surely sell out but I’m not sure 100 rooms is profitable at that price point. Maybe. We’ll see.

It's only 100 rooms and it's no where near the other resorts, so it'd be isolated in it's own tiny bubble, which they need to sustain bus service to. Even deluxe hotels share buses with neighboring hotels. It also doesn't have typical resort amenities, like a pool, which is a pretty big deal in the Florida heat. The building is an unassuming concrete box, so they can't even transition it to a luxury space cruiser docked outside of Batuu without a major renovation. They'll likely scrap the building for parts, then demolish it.

Is there room to expand it, though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least in part it has to do with DeSantis declaring war on Disney.

Disney effed this one up on their own before DeSantis got involved.

+1000. The planning for this began years ago under Iger. They are trying to spin this as part of the fight with DeSantis (which is why they announced it in the same breath as deciding to pull the plug on their massive office relocations) but in truth this was part of the profligate spending at Disney in the last decade that has led to their investors revolting and the current pullbacks on multiple fronts.

There is no excuse for such a massive investment to flounder after just over a year. This is one of the most sophisticated corporations in the world - their market research should have predicted most of their operational issues and lack of scaleability. The only thing they can say wasn't their fault was the huge staffing issues they would face as the result of the COVID shutdowns and Great Resignation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s a real shame. I think it should just be a Star Wars themed hotel vs. the fully immersive aspect. It’s really too expensive for most people.

Did you see it only has 100 rooms though? If they drop it down to Grand Floridian/Polynesian pricing it will surely sell out but I’m not sure 100 rooms is profitable at that price point. Maybe. We’ll see.

It's only 100 rooms and it's no where near the other resorts, so it'd be isolated in it's own tiny bubble, which they need to sustain bus service to. Even deluxe hotels share buses with neighboring hotels. It also doesn't have typical resort amenities, like a pool, which is a pretty big deal in the Florida heat. The building is an unassuming concrete box, so they can't even transition it to a luxury space cruiser docked outside of Batuu without a major renovation. They'll likely scrap the building for parts, then demolish it.

Is there room to expand it, though?

That's what I was wondering- it sure looks like there open land surrounding it. I could certainly see demand for a Star Wars themed resort, provided they could add other amenities.