Disney can't figure out why its $3K a night 'Star Wars' hotel flopped

[Demovictory9]

t seems like a no-brainer. Build an immersive two-day experience for Star Wars fans in the most popular amusement park in the world, fill it with world-class amenities and interactive play, then sit back and let the fat tourist dollars roll in. But what actually happened with Disney’s Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser experience was a painful lesson in price point economics.

While the Galactic Starcruiser experience may have seemed like a license to print money, the reality has proven to be quite different. Fans are staying away in droves, and the obvious cause would seem to be the resort’s astronomical sticker price, beginning at $899 a night for a two-night stay which totals out to a staggering $6K bill for a family of four. With gas and grocery prices rising significantly over the last year, “A Galaxy far, far away” is separated as much by the family budget as it is by light-years.

Still, Disney is willing to spend more money on figuring out just why fans aren’t willing to drop the price of a used car on a two-day hotel stay. Prior guests to the resort who filled out a survey after their stay are being asked to become part of a paid focus group to solve what Disney apparently deems a mystery: why did this dream experience blow up faster than the Death Star?

According to Disneyland News, those chosen for the focus group will participate in a 90-minute virtual session between June 20 and 23, 2022, for which they will receive a $175 Disney Gift Card.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/disney-can-t-figure-out-why-its-3k-a-night-star-wars-hotel-flopped/ar-AAYjcUj

[Tetrachloride]

1. Its not Las Vegas or the Academy Awards.

[Hugin]

2. The $899 doesn't include getting there in your used car.

So, unless they want only local patrons, (of which there may be a maximum of two not counting DeSantis) or start their own airline (which I am surprised they haven’t. probably because Boeing is balking at mounting gigantic mouse ears on the already airworthiness challenged 737-max) they need to take travel into consideration.

[Mike Nelson]

3. Yikes!

... I've had better nights for $3.00!

[3Hotdogs]

4. What, in fuck, would possess me to pay $899 + tax for a hotel room.

What is in the hotel that would be "experiential?"

And yes, I'm a Trekkie.

[LonePirate]

20. That's not the nightly price. It's $5K for two people for two nights. It's $6K for four people.

[Zeitghost]

28. It's a 2 day...

Fully immersive role play experience with a full cast of actors. So I understand the expense, especially given that the 3 hotels in California start at $500-$800 a night and that's just for a place to sleep.

[roxybear]

5. Star Wars Hotel seems more like a dream than reality.

I heard about the Star Wars Hotel and thought it would be great to visit there. When I learned the cost of the Star Wars Hotel I was shocked. I got a sense of Deja Vu. When I was a kid we saw Disneyland and Disney World on TV but could only dream about it; families like mine couldn't dream of ever going there. My parents couldn't afford it. It was in a galaxy far-far away. I always loved Disney and their theme parks but it seems that bubble is popping. Disney is changing and I sense that dream will disappear in the not too distant future. They're destroying a wonderful thing.

[JCMach1]

6. Price point.. when it came down to take a 7 day cruise, or go to Disney

A few years ago, the family chose Cruise. This was pre-pandemic.

Literally, why would I pay the price of a luxury vacation to sweat, have overpriced mediocre food, and wait in endless line for a 'branded' experience.

No thank you.

[Hugin]

7. I think a better word may be...

A ‘branding’ experience.

[CurtEastPoint]

8. moo? LOL!

[JCMach1]

17. Yep, lol

[Phoenix61]

9. Disney Animal Kingdom was actually pretty good.

Avatar Flight of Passage ride was amazing. Park food was good and pretty reasonably priced. Adult beverages available. Nice way to spend 1 day. I thought Magic Kingdom sucked although Space Mountain was still a blast.

[brooklynite]

11. You seem to be conflating the Star Wars experience with Disney World in general...

Plenty of people are more than happy to spend their time and money there.

[JCMach1]

18. Plenty of people also voted for Trump as well... Also won't be joining them

Either.

Not hating, if you ARE that into Disney, or particular rides and can afford it, please go and have fun.

You just won't find me there is all...

[spinbaby]

10. It would have been okay as a hotel

If they’d just done a Star Wars hotel, it would have been okay, but it’s an overpriced and lame larping experience. My son is a Star Wars fanatic who was excited by this thing until he saw it.

[Demovictory9]

29. The youtube reviews are sominated by the disney asskissers who get freebies so its hard to

Determine the real experience but it doesnt appeal to me.from what ive seen

[sinkingfeeling]

12. Msn needs a math lesson. $899 x 4 isn't $6K. (As stated

In second paragraph).

[Slammer]

13. economics

"beginning at $899 a night for a two-night stay which totals out to a staggering $6K bill for a family of four"

When I for a short time played cards professionally (and unfortunately, badly), my fellow card players were notorious for renting a room for one at the event venue then sneaking in people to sleep on the floors and bathtub.

Split $899 between 10-15 people and the price isn't totally horrible.

[Brenda]

14. Totals out probably means

Taxes of which there are many and costly in FL: state, occupancy, city, county. Then add parking and food for two days.

Not defending the overpriced absurdity but guessing that's what MSN meant.

[JCMach1]

19. AND park passes/meals

[Fiendish Thingy]

15. I think that adds the cost of food and park admission to the hotel. Nt

[LonePirate]

21. Food is included as well as a few hours admission to the Star Wars section of Hollywood Studios.

There are no windows in the hotel. I think there is some sort of garden sun room but otherwise your are indoors (on a spaceship) for two days.

[KentuckyWoman]

22. $749 per person per night 2 night min $5992

From the website ...

[roxybear]

35. The $899 was for one person for one night.

At $899 for one person for one night, that works out to $1,798 for the two night experience (for one person). I suppose a family of four gets a discount per person. I assume it's $1500 per person per 2-night experience. That works out to $6000 for the family of four.

[Sympthsical]

16. It was dragged across the internet for being terrible

I'm not really a Star Wars person, so I can't speak entirely to what the problems were. But when Disney released previews and videos about the experience, the fans mocked it for a month straight. Apparently no part of it was good. I remember seeing the announcement video, and that had this very unfortunate actor clearly reading from a teleprompter. Oh, it was bad. And then the "amenities" and atmosphere were scrutinized, and the whole thing came off looking like what it was - a cheap looking cash grab by a corporation that didn't really understand the source material or what makes fans love the IP. Disney has not been doing well by Star Wars fans at all. The sequel trilogy, the tv shows aside from Mandalorian, etc.

I remember Reddit discussed it all day long for quite awhile there.

The thing is, people will pay for this stuff. Right now there's a large debate in the gaming community about how much corporate greed is too much. Blizzard just released a new game, Diablo Immortal, that is pay to win - i.e. you have the option of paying money to get in game items to make your character more powerful. People started doing the math, and it would cost $110k (you're reading that number right) to get the best stuff for your character.

There are people who will pay that on mobile games. I once dated a guy who works in tech, and he loved his mobile games. He would lay down $1-3k+ a month on games for his phone. It was like watching a bizarre online casino.

It isn't a matter of money. At least not entirely. It's if the fandom can be engaged. Disney has done an absolutely terrible job handling Star Wars as an IP according to the fandom, so it sank as soon as it started.

And once your product is declared shit from the word go, it's very hard to recover from that. The only people who are willing to meet that price point are the same ones who currently loathe you for what you've done to the thing they love.

[miyazaki]

24. They gonna pull that pay as you go crap with Diablo IV?

[Sympthsical]

27. I will riot

I think it's only because Immortal was always a mobile game and was always intended to work under the usual mobile business model. I played it a tiny bit on PC. Very meh.

I don't think anyone would stand for D4 being similar. I am looking so forward to it, because I actually love D3 and still play it when I just want to zone out and mindlessly grind. The launch was a train wreck, but by the first expansion, they had repaired it into being a pretty good game. I watched some of the test play footage at a con a year or so ago (?) and it looked great.

So, we'll see.

Then again, I'm someone who's still raiding Shadowlands, so apparently my patience is terrifically high with this company. Dragonflight looks good so far, though.

[LiberatedUSA]

31. I've been enjoying Diablo 2 on Switch.

The touch up work and everything. Been playing off and on with a hardcore sorc. Got one soj from NM Andariel; still trying to get the other to drop before I face NM Ancients.

I’ve played a crap load of D3 as well, but lots of fond memories from my D2 days back when. So far I haven’t died, as I’ve remembered a lot. Those Act 3 exploding fuckers really dealt me a lot of punishment that being aware of them was still seared in my head after all these years.

[miyazaki]

34. Been looking for a "Death's Web" for twenty years rolf.

[LiberatedUSA]

38. No getting around the drop rates with Switch either.

No botting. Gotta put in the elbow grease to get the drop.

[Sympthsical]

36. I did try it

I never played it when it was a thing, but a lot of my gaming friends did.

I think I'm just too used to how 3 works to enjoy it properly. It feels rough and clunky compared to how smooth 3 is. But that's approaching it without the nostalgia impulse, so probably inevitable.

Did you see this from yesterday?

https://www.mmo-champion.com/content/10633-Diablo-IV-Coming-in-2023-Necromancer-Class-and-Beta-Signup?fbclid=IwAR1XqcU4FYrVgCvwR7O3hcZr64m116I7gUKsueeN7D2tvyGDG_KwCEKwYhc

[LiberatedUSA]

37. I have not really kept up.

I have not done any research on Diablo 4; I’ll have to look. I don’t have the patience for MMOs anymore. With how things are here, I regularly get up to do stuff as I watch a movie and or play a game. You can’t raid like that.

The most fun I ever had in WoW was for about 5 or 6 months before Burning Crusade came out, I had a Rogue with Thunderfury; boy, did I have some fun with that! Alliance side. If I could do it again with whatever is the new king shit weapon, I would want that character to be on the Horde side.

Burning Crusade came out and the party was over. I played for about another few years before I got burnt out by it and never went back.

[Act_of_Reparation]

39. I suspect they will.

The Blizzard we used to know and love is dead and gone.

[Demovictory9]

30. Its not so much the price.for all inclusive its the execution

It seems so claustraphobic

[karynnj]

23. Using people who went there and filled in surveys will give them an atypical group

They could get a better group if they randomly offered people entering Epcot or their other resorts the same gift to participate at a later virtual session from their home. The results in any case, would reflect the population they were chosen from. As they are doing it, it will include ONLY those people who jumped to spend that amount of money for this.

The alternative I suggested would be people who came to Disney world etc. Many might have considered Star Wars experience and rejected it due to price. They could be asked willingness to pay questions to help determine what cost might work.

[Initech]

25. Man I have a hard time even paying $200 a night for a hotel.

$899 and for a very specific purpose seems absolutely ludicrous!

[Coventina]

26. Add Disney into the other vacation destinations who have no clue

what the economic realities are for the vast majority of us.

Las Vegas used to be a cheap getaway. Not anymore.

Disneyland is just miserable, over-crowded, long lines, too expensive.

I'll spend my money on the national parks instead.

[Takket]

32. I read this article the other day... there is a problem with it

The problem? It's bullshit.

The Galactic Starcruiser opened in March, and every voyage has been sold out, and they are all sold out through mid-August. It isn't a "flop" if your goal is to sell out and make money (hint: that's the goal).

My wife and I love Disney, and Star Wars. We were married in a chapel and spend out wedding day at Disney. Our recessional music was Star Wars. It is a big part of our lives.

I would never pay this insane sum of money. But, there are plenty of people out there who will, and like I said, the Voyages have all been sold out.

here is the actual pricing guide. you pay for a "voyage", not for individual nights. The nightly rate is pretty meaningless other than Disney trying to say "$899 per person per night looks a lot less scary than the Voyage total". These prices don't include airfare or taxes (which is about 13% in Florida for resort stays). Nor does it include the REST of your trip, since most people aren't traveling for two days then going home.

Two guests per cabin
$1,209 per guest per night (or $4,809 voyage total)
Three guests per cabin (2 adults, 1 child)
$889 per guest per night (or $5,299 voyage total)
Four guests per cabin (3 adults, 1 child)
$749 per guest per night (or $5,999 voyage total)

[kairos12]

33. Star Wars themed anything.

I gott dummmer just hearing that.

[Act_of_Reparation]

40. Ah, the obligatory "GET OFF MY LAWN" post

Nice.