The Galactic Starcruiser Is a Surprise Win for Disney 

Most of the reviews in summary: “yeah it’s an incredible experience, but definitely not worth $6000”

My husband is a huge Star Wars fan, and when I heard about this I thought it would be fun to go. When I heard the price, though, I thought it was a joke. There are so many more things I could do with $6k than blow it in 2 days.

To be fair to your video, you did say it wasn't worth the price and that it may fail in a year. It took a little longer but you were right.

A Harry Potter experience sounds way more appealing to me. Imagine getting to eat at the great hall. Or take some potion classes!

The price + the thought of having to be “on” for 2 days straight + being in a windowless building = a definite no go for me.

I know people want to remember their experience. But everyone constantly filming on their phones doesn't exactly enhance the immersiveness .

Oh dude a Haunted Mansion themed experience would be absolutely awesome in every way. That would be an experience that I might could see myself actually buying. Have your rooms be “haunted” in certain ways, creepy butlers, the works. Maybe the rooms are laid out like they appear in the endless hallway scene. I assume this would probably be a smaller group of people than the Star Wars hotel. You eat dinner in the ballroom, on and on. My brain is going nuts with all of the possibilities for a Haunted Mansion Murder Mystery experience right now lol

I feel like they could have invested more into the actual Star Wars galaxies edge. I was really disappointed with all the Star Wars stuff in Disney.

Such a win that it closed after 1 year ahah

For $2500 you could book the cheapest flight to Tokyo, get a cheap room for a few nights, go to Tokyo Disney, and do some sightseeing with cash to spare. Speaking from experience. For $6,000 you could take 1-2 people with you.

Do you 'member this? We member....😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 RIP Starcruiser

These activities should have been part of galaxy’s edge and the bar/restaurants should be open to all guests

Great video! I agree with your opinion, for me the worst thing of the Starcruiser is the fact that if you choose an experience you can’t enter others just because of the story

Very "campy" sums up my feelings.

A facility that couldn't decide if it was a hotel or a three-day LARP, with attendance costing more than a vacation in Dubai. No wonder it shut down after just six months.

This would’ve worked so much better as a dinner-theater experience Ala Aladdin. Just have a dinner, singing, and First Order hijinks. You could even do a pre-show to set the mood along with a cocktail hour.

As a Star Wars fan, I have never had much of a desire to go to Galaxy's Edge in the first place, let alone the Galactic Starcruiser. The whole thing with it taking place during the Sequel Trilogy, and specifically between The Last Jedi and the Rise of Skywalker really takes away all the potential both experiences can have. I grew up watching the Prequels, and I think I'm confident in saying that the Clone Wars is my favorite time in all of Star Wars, but anything from Episodes I through VI is just so much more appealing to me, even in productions after the Disney purchase such as Rebels, Rogue One, and the Bad Batch. The Mandalorian takes place after Return of the Jedi and it still appeals to me more than being crammed in such a specific period of time in the Sequel Trilogy. On the plus side for the Galactic Starcruiser, nothing is inherently forcing it into a box as far as time period is concerned, you just change characters and whatever the screens project, but with it having a connection to Galaxy's Edge, it's no longer the Star Wars hotel it probably should have been, now it's part of the narrative of the canon and crammed into a box. As cool as it is to see Hondo Ohnaka as a real thing, and to see a Pantoran as the captain of this ship, and as much as I admire the dedication of a few people to wear makeup and prosthetics all day, it's just not speaking to me. I don't know, I guess for me, I'm very much content in my Star Wars being movies and shows, I don't need to "live" in Star Wars.

I don’t think there is any property I love so much that I’d pay that much money for though. But man… a haunted mansion version would be sweet!

How in the world can you like a Chucky Cheese expensive birthday party inside a Space Balls Cruiser that looks like cheap plastic ATARI BATTLESTAR GALACTICA?

How much did Disney pay you

Hey there, I love your channel! I was wondering what your thoughts were on Tokyo Disneysea? Especially in comparison to U.S. Disney parks? That would be a very interesting video

Let's just call out the obvious elephant in the room, not just for Disney Starcruiser but for Disney parks-hotels in general.......it's WAAAAAAY too expensive and gives only a fraction of the entertainment value you would get in the 1980's/90's. Things like Disney genie/fastpass and all the other crowd control big brother strategies killed spontaneity and any sense of discovery-adventure that were one of the key ingredients in a Disney park. i love they attempted something like Batuu/ Starcruiser - but their pricing and marketing and corporate greed are killing (any good idea) off before it's allowed to develop. Way back when, you went to a Disneypark - managed all the rides (without much more than a 15-20 minute wait) and left feeling wow that place was so nice i could have just walked there and i would have enjoyed. Now, well you have to walk and BROWSE/CONSUME forever 'cause you can't get on any ride anyway and it looks totally congested an overcrowded. EPCOT looks like a construction site instead of a theme park and the attractions are a shadow of their former self. Guardians....not SO impressed. Test Track/ Imagination/mission to mars/even Space ship earth seem badly taken care off. They have loads of potential and not everything needs to be multimilliondollar speed attraction that takes 5 years to build only to end up as Space Mountain 2.0. Imagineering anyone ? Let's see how Fantasy Springs in Tokyo will do.... Avengers Campus in Paris....not really holding my breath. Les Avengers in French sounds really bad, Le Hulk et l'Homme de Fer.

I think you as always are spot on!

I love Star Wars but would never pay for this experience. I am with you as I would spend the money on a trip to Europe.

I feel like this is just a way more expensive and shorter version of what someone can get at the Evermore park in Utah.

There is no way you can spin this to value 5000$- $6000.

Great Video as always!

Offhand Disney had the same sentiment that this won't be sustainable I do believe that they'll lower the price but most likely reduce the quality of the trip/pull back on the cast member interaction Tbh I'd probably book a trip if I wasn't dealing with some debt that is the result of poor financial decisions from 2019. Once I'm out of that debt and more financially secure, will they be offering the same thing? Who knows.

An rpg like experience hotel is something that sounds really cool. I myself would not go there. Not for the price it is now. But I do understand why it is at this price point. Entertainment is very expensive to run and it needs to get payed. What I like about the hotel is the way it feels like you are in another place. A feeling that you are part of a movie or RL videogame. Knowing me I would never stop exploring. I think that a hotel like this is not something for the long term. At some point ppl will be searching for more rest and not something where it feels like you need to do things constantly to make your day worth in a hotel like this. After a day in a busy park you don’t want to have all the excitement when you get back to the hotel. Or that is what I think. I see a hotel as a place to rest and not to be active there as well.

Love your videos. Watched your video on Splash Mountain. Any news? Hope the re-theme is cancelled. Would love Splash to be left alone and Tiana is build somewhere else.

This review is about what was rolled out to the media for publicity. The author and RU-vid watchers should see the personal review on Overlord DVD for the current state of this experience. To get the advertised food you pay a $60 upcharge and it’s disappointing beyond what this reviewer predicts now that it has been around a few months. Predictions by the author were that it would change, and he was right, but it hasn’t for the better.

Yeah the experience may be great but not worth 6k for 2 days.

If it wasn’t 6k or something outrageous like that, I’m certain a lot of people would actually like to try it, but as this sounds like a easy way for Disney to get back money post pandemic (or however long that will go) it’s definitely not worth the asking price.

🍿 I’m just here for the comments lol 🍿

Of course we all know it’s cool. Big Deal!!! It’s not $6,000.00 cool. Hell a Disney 7 day cruise for 5 is $7,000.00 and they have entertainment, pool, spa, food, drinks,fireworks

This would be good for people with adhd or who are super extroverted

Everything about this seems simply exhausting. Miss an important plot development because you stopped to use the bathroom or were browsing the merch in the ship's store? Insane. FOMO is anxiety inducing! I miss the days when a Disney vacation was mostly unplanned, wandering around and simply encountering cool sights & experiences. Having every waking moment tied to a schedule is the opposite of fun.

Im disappointed that a lot of the things they said would be in galaxys edge got cancelled and instead got put into an experience not many people can afford. I wish at ogas cantina you saw more aliens.

*Jenny Nicholson enters the chat*

For that awkward lightsaber swap, they should have Kylo throw something at Rey to quickly dodge down and swap sabers out of view.

This dated like blue milk.

You have to admire the audacity of Disney to charge up to $6000 for a Star Wars hotel experience and then put a gift shop inside it. As much as people paid to be there, that shit better be free.

this aged worse than the galactic starcruiser

Got to love that authentic Star Wars feel of everyone recording cellphone videos.

March 2024...this video didn't age well

This experience as a whole all the customer service, emersion, vignettes, wondering droids, feeling like being in a Star Cruiser etc... is something you could have easily added to the parks. Adding value to the already increased prices. This is really just a montage of corporate greed. Updating those parks was long over due and in planning the futrue seems to have lacked real vision and heart. They need to hire, re-hire and incentivise and retain the PEOPLE that actually make going to Disney a wonderous place for everyone. BRING BACK THE MAGIC! “Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, dreams are forever.” - Walt Disney

This doesn't seem like something I would find fun even if I was given the chance to do it for free. The whole thing sounds like busy work to make it feel like you're getting your money's worth. I also get uncomfortable around people playing parts, that's my least favorite part of Rise of the resistance for me so two days of it would be torture for me

As with a lot of new Disney projects (and especially Galaxy's Edge), the Star Cruiser just seems to lack ATMOSPHERE. Places where you could linger and really admire the theming and storytelling that's built into the environment. I keep seeing shots of that one outdoor-ish space within the Halcyon with all the rock work that looks vaguely like a Japanese garden - I'm not a super fan, but to me that feels the most "Star Wars" out of the whole experience, and it's a shame that it appears you only get to see that space briefly when you're on a mission. Even experiences like Sleep No More, which Disney clearly took inspiration from, encourage you to linger in rooms, pick up objects, rummage through drawers on your own, etc., instead of constantly running after the characters the the whole time. I see the appeal of the 24/7 roleplaying, but in order to really feel "immersive" and like you're getting your money's worth, they should really have a variety of pacing built into this experience. Would also help with the claustrophobia!

The big problem here is: it isn't THAT expensive to run. It's Adventurers' Club + Disney Quest (Lite) + Escape Room + Stuff They Were Going to Do for FREE in Galaxy's Edge. Yes, there are a lot of actors, but the Adventurers' Club had 8 characters who worked from 8pm until close, so about 6 hours. This probably has two shifts and four times as many characters? Five? Six? Regardless, you could spend 6 hours at the Adventurers' Club for $20 and a few drinks. An Escape Room is, at most, like $100 per person. Disney Quest was like $45 for a full day. The entertainment portion could easily be covered if each guest paid $300. So where are the other thousands of dollars coming from? Apologists are comparing it, money-wise, to a Disney Cruise, which conveniently leaves out the fact that this amount of money gets you a week on a Disney ship. This "cruise" should either cost half as much, or go twice as long. And that's where Disney failed. In their desperate attempt to gouge their most-loyal customers even more, they've made the pool of possible guests way too small to be sustainable. So, they'll have about a year before it stops selling out - if that long. Then they'll go the discount route. After that works for 2 or 3 months, then they'll start with the budget cuts. (Actually, I believe some budget cuts will happen soon. They needed to pull out all the stops for all the bloggers and the people who HAD to be there ASAP.) These will make people even angrier, so it won't be long until it becomes the Star Wars Hotel, which will take away all the fun stuff and "free" stuff and build a themed pool out back. This hotel will then feature the "Star Wars Dinner Extravaganza", which will be a separate ticket for all, just like the Luau or Hoop-de-Doo.

Wow. This is an unbelievable post. Because now the Galactic Starcruiser is a complete failure and is shutting down for good in September.

Aaaaand it's closing

This video aged like raw milk in the tropics

I highly doubt this experience will only be $6k. Given Disney's approach to everything else, there will be inevitable pay upgrades, seasonal pricing, preferential experience upgrades, etc. I expect closer to $10k being the norm for this thing. Also, the free "influencer" stuff is rarely reflective of what the paying customer gets, usually with the paying customer getting less.

As someone who has done stage combat, witn prop lightsabers, the fight is shallow and badly choreographed. There are a ton of little choices they could have made like hiding the light up lightsaber in the support beam and switching it out for the battle lightsaber. Depending on the video I saw safety mistakes and one of my teachers said they are worried about hitting marks not interacting with each other in the fight. I expect better of Disney as they should be the high bar in an experience like this. As someone who has worked at Ren Faires for over 20 years and has had to do a lot on little to no budget, I expect Disney and it's cash to give a better experience than what we broke preformers, actors and vendors can do

Aaaaaaaaand it's closed

It's a Chucky Cheese expensive birthday party with a Battlestar Galactica atmosphere

This video did not age well lol

Preposterously overpriced for two days in a very cheaply realized environment- with an over scheduled itinerary that should’ve been condensed into a 90 minute experience. Spending two very hectic days with strangers running around very confined spaces, and being expected to ‘interact’ with supposed adults wearing obviously unconvincing-cheaply made costumes is nothing but silly and insulting, ‘let’s pretend’, a shallow experience at best, but so contrived as to immediately bore any intellectually average adult. Watching an inferior choreographed fight on a balcony, that is mostly blocked by the railings of aforesaid balcony is pitiful and embarrassing on behalf of the poor ‘actors’. If this were a Broadway show, it would closing right after the critical reviews came out.

While I don't think the experience looks bad per se, I still don't see anything extraordinary, nothing that would blew me away and nothing I wouldn't have expected. The price tag aside, it's still just too "regular" for a Disney top-tier attraction. I also asume the positive reactions are mainly driven by the fact that - after the terrible marketing - our expectations were at the bottom to begin with. The Starcruiser just still lacks any "WTF" moments - at least for me. (For example: Comparing it to the Secret Cinema Star Wars Experience several years ago, this just falls flat, considering what they COULD have done.)

I was pleasantly surprised by WDWNT'S review. They seemed to have gotten their money's worth, and the criticisms they did have seemed to be valid. I still don't see this as being sustainable even if they mix it up with different storylines; once the novelty wears off, it's going to start losing money (I can't imagine they'll ever lower prices, considering how much it takes to operate these shows and make sure nothing breaks down). 5 years from now, it'll probably be just a normal SW themed hotel.

Aaaaaand its closing down now

This aged quite poorly, eh?

I have many issues but my main two points is Disney not saying or acting like this is not larping (live action role play). They do not have safety tools for larp nor did they consult game designers to oversee some of small mistakes they make. Also I will never get the being on the Halycon a high price cruise in a planetos (world) like Star War a world of futuristic salvage-esque enviorment. There is hardly any luxury like this in the Star Wars universe. It's like we all watched a world from one side of the tracks where our experience is linked and then we go on the ship experiencing the other side we know nothing about.

It's funny the world of making videos for RU-vid. Your video about their marketing (negative title) got 150k+ views, but this video (which has a more neutral title, but similarly negative analysis) ends up with less than 40k views. Argh.

Disney did it, but Universal will do it better. Cue Potter.

Doesnt matter how you try to spin it..it looks nothing like stars wars and it's not worth the money

Its November 2022 and, to this day, the Starcruiser is at 25% capacity. They are giving free stays to travel agents... what a mess

I'm not surprised to see that your clips come from the three hour video I also watched and enjoyed. I came away thinking that the experience does indeed look fun, if a little silly at times. I agree with your assessment, however I hesitate to call this a win for Disney. For me, a win would be something like Pandora. People go there and seem blown away by it and its attractions, even the boat ride has something to offer. Oh...and it's included with park admission! True, people who have experienced Galactic Starcruiser have been blown away, but so far, all the reviews I've seen have come from people Disney gave free trips too, essentially the press and RU-vid Influencers. Can we really accept their reviews as untainted? I mean, they want to be asked back for Disney's next attraction opening, right? You did say this in the video, and I echo it: is Galactic Starcruiser something that will last? I don't think it will. Its target audience are people who can't afford it. This price point is aimed at rich people who are NOT going to want to stay in a cramped cabin with uncomfortable beds (I've read some pretty negative reviews about the comfort of those bunk beds in the walls). Rich people are used to luxury, and I don't see that being provided by this attraction. While some rich people are going to do this, I don't know that they'll do it again. Once again, those of us who would gladly do this again and again, especially in an effort to better our involvement in the story, simply can't afford it. The concept allows for repeatability, the price does not. Also, it's important to note that a LOT of the things that happen on the Galactic Starcruiser were originally promised to be free in Galaxy's Edge, but Disney naturally decided to greedily put them behind a cost-prohibitive paywall. Only the rich (and people maxing out credit cards) will be able to do these things now. Yeah.... it looks cool and fun (and often very silly) but I don't think this has lasting potential, at least in this format.

If they lowered the prices and added more quality, I would definitely go there.

Really surprised by your take on this. I think this is a cheesy embarrassment for Disney. Like high school play level acting

This won't last once people see it for what it is a windowless Concrete Bunker with Box Truck transport to a shopping mall based on the worst Star Wars movie's EVER! How Kathleen Kennedy is still in a job is beyond me. She's even inserted herself to into this with that Blue Captain K her ego knows no bounds! Definitely not my Star Wars.

It sucks though because only the highest of class will be able to experience this. Disney essentially paywalled Star Wars fans out of what was promised for Galaxy’s Edge.

I’m glad you aren’t trying to hate on it for the sake of hating on it like others. I’m sure it’s a fun experience, I just don’t think it’s worth the price tag. Like you said I’d rather spend that money to go to Tokyo Disneyland. I also think if they themed it to the original trilogy or mandolorian they would have more people willing to shell out the money for it. I know I would love to see mando and boba fett fight on the halcyon against imperials. The lightsabers don’t seem to be real enough to be convincing yet.

It was horrible on all levels.

This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever spent $6k on. I think any hardcore Star Wars fan would be massively disappointed. It’s a bullsh*t Disney Quest space inspired murder mystery escape room experience.

I give this whole thing a shelf life of a year. 2 tops. Unless they find ways to make it enticing to revisit more than once, like a Medieval Times. But with the current #boycottdisney I doubt many will be going to this anytime soon outside of the opening week, maybe month.

I totally disagree.... for the amount of people that this actually serves, it's not a good trade off for the amount of people that see it as just another sign Disney is not for them... Or more accurately... doesn't want them

I have the money and I don't find it worth it. I could go to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico for multiple weeks and have real adventure instead of a simulated one.

It's so much fun watching these in 2023! This thing has been pared down to two "voyages" per week, and has been a complete and utter fail.

Would never stay at a place like this. Not our cup of tea…and I felt the rooms looked a little sterile and bland. I’d take wilderness lodge over this

$6000 to LARP and push buttons. Lol. Hard pass

Definitely correct with the sustainability part, this is easily a one and done experience if you even choose to pay that price point. plus a note here the experience will also probably degrade over time, I remember the first couple mouths the Rise of the Resistance ride actors were very into it now they just act like any other tired, bland cast members. Maybe if they set it in the original movie era, fix that final fight and make it a day/tour like experience for less id be interested

I too have the fiscal ability to experience this BUT at roughly 6k (hotel and flight) I could take my family to an all inclusive resort for almost 2 weeks.

So you find this interesting, but don’t like rise of the resistance?

All this work looks good. But, does it replicate the feeling you got, just after finishing up OG Star Tours with Paul Rubens, stepping out and hearing the Star Wars theme playing as you walked down the corridor? That feeling the experience gave me was worth every nickle I spent. This looks interactive, but not Star Wars, at all. And, they want alllll my nickles!

Disney should just retheme one of their older cruise ships for this concept, have it be a week long with excursions and then maybe it would be worth it

it is so not worth the price to me. i love star wars, i love things like larp, and it’s cool that disney started one of their own in a way, but i can attend a wizarding school themed larp in the uk (i live in florida) for about the same price. plane ticket and all. that sounds much more exciting, especially for it being NEARLY THE SAME PRICE than an officially licensed experience here.

This aged poorly...

My biggest issue with Starcruiser, other than the money, is the fact that literally everything they put into it could have easily been folded into Galaxy’s Edge as walk through attractions, interactive queues, dinner shows, etc. honestly they could plop the Starcruiser into the land without the rooms and be Disney’s version of Poseidon’s Fury or the next gen of Disney Quest. It just feels like they took all the interactivity and the more ambitious plans for Galaxy’s Edge and locked them behind a huge paywall. Although it looks fun and I know I’d enjoy it if I ever got the chance to go (or could afford to go) it feels like a very classist move on Disney’s part for me.

Ah yes, $6000 to see a Rey cosplayer make a dumb pose on a conveyor belt.

Might be a win for Disney, but it’s a no go for most middle class folks… this is a loss for most of us barely trying to make ends meet. If you can afford it and enjoyed it, more power to you.

An issue with this experience, beyond the price, is that this really caters for the extroverted. You only get the full experience if you don't have any issue with heavy interaction, which includes a fair bit of Star Wars improvisation on your side too. You also have to be up for "theme park acting", if you get what I mean. Personally, all that wouldn't make it a fit for me. Or at least too much of gamble for the money involved. I also already heard rumours that Disney wants to bring this experience to other places, which quickly would mean Disneyland Paris, as it still is supposed to get a Star Wars land. The issue here however is how the heck they expect to deal with all the European languages. I also don't think the price tag would go down well in Europe either. Not to mention that Disney has to up their game even if they go French only, as also in France and Spain you've got Puy du Fou, parks that entirely consist of shows, including interactive ones. This also at a French ticket price tag of just €39. (The parks are worth looking up!)

I can imagine a Bioshock experience. I don’t think any park would do it but imagine a Rapture themed concept similar to this.

It isn't Star Wars, but Tony and Tina's wedding is only $100 or so a person and you got free food in the meantime. I'm not sure how the novelty becomes worth over $1k a person for cosplaying in the sequel trilogy over the course of multiple days.

I’m very surprised PE found this impressive. I’ve seen a good 7 videos of the media soft opening and found it boring and disappointing. As a fan of Star Wars I wanted a win but what was being offered fell very short. Maybe if the experience wasn’t rushed it would be more tolerable and less overwhelming. Not to mention the cost is stupid redic

I can understand the appeal, but for me this is just exhausting. When I go to a hotel, I just want to relax, not spend every moment in a theater kid's interactive skit

No it's not. And I am a Disney super fan and I love Star wars. This whole thing just doesn't feel Star wars to me but it does look like a cool experience. I will never pay that much money, I rather go to Tokyo Disneyland.

Disney refuses to acknowledge no one likes the sequel trilogy

Hmmm... no thanks. I'd rather gouge my eyes out

Lmao they gentrified LARPing