Why Disney Closed the Star Wars Hotel 

Also: Too Expensive

Lol

Nobody was gping to pay 5k for 2 days

Yep.

Even as a huge star wars fan i wouldnt pay 5 dollars to see that trash. Retheme it to the orginal trilogy

They spent so much money making it and maintaining it is also expensive from the basic hotel maintenance as well as paying the actors Pair that with only 100 rooms and they were practically forced to make it expensive if they wanted to break even on it

No it was Ron

Other than the actors which I have heard was ace and did the best they could do the food and rooms and overall experience didn't seem worth it. It looked more like startrek than starwars

@@liamcollinson5695 please stop making excuses for your communist governor. He can fools Cubans and Porta Ricans but not us.

Most people thought it looked like garbage, it's not just about the price.

Tell me you're rich without telling me you're rich. 😛

@@englishatheart Sadly, no. Just a nurse. I just happen to work 3 day of 12 to 16 hours a week, showing me 4 days a week to travel or work extra so I can travel in the future 😁

Disney should have targeted legacy Star Wars fans, and it would have been a success. If Darth Vader or the Mandalorian were part of the experience, it would have been amazing. As a die-hard Star Wars fan since ESB hit theathers back in the 80's, absolutely NO WAY I would waste thousands to see Rey, Kylo or that terrible lounge singer Gaia. Total wasted opportunity

Tell me you're rich without saying you're rich ​@@JeramyWare

The true fans would’ve made it happen no matter what.

As a former disney fan i hate em so much right now they leaned away too far from what they represent and too corrupted it's just sad

In their hubris, they thought they were cultivating a new generation of Star Wars fans while completely ignoring us legacy fans who have supported the franchise since the 1980's. If Darth Vader or Mando were on that starcruiser it would have had double the demand. They failed to listen to fans, so their investment failed miserably.

You should know by now that Disney is TOOOOOO arrooooogant to even think about getting feedback. They ruined the entire SW franchise with their arrogance and keeping that dumpster fire known as Kathleen Kennedy. They wrecked their own franchise. That's impressive. I knew this hotel/cruise was going to be a failure because it didn't even resemble anything from SW. Disney needs to stop being arrogant and face reality. AND IGER NEEDS TO GO!!!!!!

You mean listen to their customers? No! We're bigots! We're not going to want the gayest Star Wars ever because the vast majority of us just are not gay. And we don't matter just our money does. How have you guys not figured this one out yet?

lol holly u gotta be rich but also agree

Huh? People who aren't rich go on vacations and cruises still lmao

Boycott Disney

I have been on other cruises including budget ones like Carnival and high end like Viking. Cost a lot to do Disney VIP tour for max of 10 hours one day up to 10 folks. Food extra. Park tickets extra. No immersion in story. Again Disney has value, moderate and deluxe options depending on what is affordable for you. This was high end and unique. That is reality in our stratified society. I wish everyone could experience first class everything but we would have to build a different world for that.

Except you're in a dungeon basically. It's a scam.

More like CRYING now…

Hilarious example considering Jurassic Park is at the theme park of their worst enemy Universal! I really wish they would open a Jurassic Park/World themed hotel.

Well at least nobody got eaten 😅

@@methos-ey9nf “Yeah, but John, if the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists!” Such a great line!

@@Berret25 Among many 😁

@@batshtcrazy5293 for realllll! Disney has GOT to learn that they NEED the middle class for profit and hopefully they learn to make the prices more affordable

@@multifantv1245 all about demand..even with the high prices, the parks are packed and until they start losing crowds it will continue to cost massive money…

​@@multifantv1245The "middle class" doesn't exist any more. Even if it did, stuff like this shouldn't only be available to the mid and upper class. One's worth and what they're allowed to experience should not be based on how much money they have. The hardest workers are nearly always the ones paid the least, and they deserve a break and to be able to enjoy life, too.

It really should never have been advertised as a hotel. It really wasn't.

Yep. I was honestly amazed that Disney never arranged to comp families who were unhappy with night one Club rooms at one of the big places for the duration. It's like, you've *got* the money, if they're not happy with what they paid for, give them something that will make them happy that *costs less.*

I think the advertising was lacking too but that was probably part of the issue. They couldn't just advertise for this like they can for WDW or Disneyland as a whole. This was a small limited capacity experience and it wouldn't really make sense to have a large nation wide/global advertising campaign specifically just for it.

Yeah, I think that it ties into what the video was talking about - not only was the price outrageous, but a lot of people just didn't know what it was all about, and that threw a lot of folks (it seems to me that a basic description of it was that it was supposed to be both the hotel AND the attraction rolled into one, rather than the two being separate entities).

@@carlycrays2831 yeah, it continues to annoy me when people are just calling it the "Star Wars Hotel."

That’s a great idea to 😊

All good ideas except the patio and pool. They have a patio technically with the climate simulator. But it doesn't need a pool. It's a hotel in space, there aren't pools in space!

@@caitlynskiff2001 it’s not a hotel in space though, and the larping aspect only goes so far. People like fresh air and sunshine

@@caitlynskiff2001, why couldn't there be a pool in space? After all if you could simulate gravity and since this is all make-believe anyway, why not?

Not likely it would be to expensive to transform the building and area into a full scale hotel - its a very atypical building for a hotel no windows, no exterior entrances etc. Its designed more like a ware house. Prob. be cheaper to level it and start over and build a hotel complex.

This is my main takeaway as well. Honestly, given that they were expected to be "on" at all times while maintaining the plot and improvising with each guest's unique storyline, I feel they should have been paid guild wages. But you know that's not at all where any of that $6k per stateroom was going.

Disney will come up with something perfect they always do

7,000 layoffs are coming, these folks will be included.

They will most likely be relocated to galaxies edge, but knowing the current disney with all of their layoffs on the creative side, I wouldnt be surprised if they terminated them (but this could also lead to massive backlash as their are a lot of cast members working for starcruiser)

@@spaceflight1019 Parks arent being touched by that, that is only on a creative and office type job level, park ops cast will (or at least at this point should) be fine, as firing cast members is shooting themselves in the foot with park opperations of disney world is one of the only profitable things disney has (that isnt speculation btw).

That was the thing it wasn't an attraction it was a hotel. If it was an attraction people would have paid the price. If you could see Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker arguing over dinner at the hotel, if you could see Han Solo and Leia talking about their love over a beautiful glass of wine, if they had used anything that wasn't Disney Star Wars it probably would have done well. People would have taken out as much debt as they needed to to go to this place. But they just made a slightly themed hotel.

Maybe they can be retrained as castmembers for one of the two water parks.

I have seen some videos of the experience, the guy who plays the lightsaber trainer and the guy playing the First Order general were superb. I feel sorry for them.

@Adam Efimoff to each their own. I don't like Harry Potter in the least, I've never read the books, nor have I watched the movies. If you want to see a theme park land that understands its audience, that would be what Universal did, and those areas are fantastic. Disney really dropped the ball. I think Galaxy's Edge isn't awful, but it is nothing like what was pitched.

Agree that Disney “fumbled” the brand. I completely lost interest in it.

Totally agree. All this immersive interactivity was SUPPOSED to be in Galaxy's Edge, but then the locked it up in an underground bunker behind that paywall you mentioned. The average Star Wars fan and the die-hard SW fans were pissed that the SW "land" we were promised turned out to be a shopping mall. We thought we were going to get the SW version of the Wizarding World, you know, something that had more than 2 rides (one of which doesn't work half the time), an icee stand, a sausage cart, and a casual dining space. Where were the characters we knew and loved, the ones we used to get during Star Wars weekends? Where were the wandering aliens and droids? Where was the ride-on alien mount we were promised? Honestly, they put more into Pandora than they did to Galaxy's Edge. And then they said, Hey remember that experience we promised you? Here it is...but you gotta pay more than a cruise for it. Come on in! But the average SW fan doesn't have that kind of money. Even most of the diehards like me don't have that kind of money. And Disney always, always, always was wrong to set GE in the sequel era. (Poseidon Entertainment's channel has a great vid on how and why GE should be re-themed away from the sequels). This was just never something I was going to spend the price of a used car on, even if I could have come up with that kind of money.

I completely agree. That's what I thought when I heard its closing. It's overall worth as a regular hotel with fantastic theme. People would pay for a really nice star wars moderate or even deluxe hotel. I don't want to see this completely shut down.

Would love themed hotels based off Disney IP to have interactions like this during dining, just needs to not get too crazy but definitely more interesting than your standard character dining options.

Absolutely. I always felt the massive immersive multiday story should be a special premium option that is only for a few die-hard fans every week. The rest of the location should always have been a Star Wars Hotel with a few Star wars themed attractions like an interactive dinner show.

They should add windows to the rooms through because otherwise they're a quick ticket to claustrophobia lol!!

@@Esmerelda-rm6qj But that would break the immersion that you're in space! The design of the Starcruiser was created with immersive storytelling as the #1 importance. That's why there isn't a pool or windows. It makes no sense for a Starcruiser to have those things.

Agreed. Make the immersive experience an add on for those that are interested.

Problem with that is, it’s not a big enough property on its own to sustain itself as a pure Disney hotel. It holds only about 100 rooms, none of which have windows to the outside. They’d have to dramatically change the structure and in doing so I don’t see them wanting to keep it in the Star Wars mold. Especially after the blunder this has turned out to be.

later they will learn how to do it cheaper.

That’s a great idea to 😊

Won't happen. There aren't even windows in the building.

I wonder what will happen

My group went once. We expected it to be a kind of one-and-done experience. To our collective surprise - we were ready to go again. As for the park access... this is not a hotel. Its a game. If you really, really wanted to go to another park then nothing kept you in the bounds of Hollywood Studios much less Galaxy's Edge. But then you weren't playing the game. And there was already too much to do for the 2.5 days you were playing. It's a pity so many folks were priced out of this experience.

@@arandomnamegoeshere I went in March of this year and I want to go back so badly.

@Adam Efimoff you're not wrong. It's very hard to separate price from this issue as that has been the main reason that stopped people from giving the experience a try. I have family and friends who I'm sure would have loved this but couldn't afford to go. Side note: everything has some kind of cost to it. So yeah - we're always making choices on what we're going to do with what we have available to us. Though I'm not sure people fully understood what this particular option was. It wasn't the same thing as laying about in some hotel - no matter where it is located.

Why would you want an actual cruise ship for an immersive Star Wars experience? I want to be in SPACE.

@@andrewjenkins9965 i mean, the hotel is just a concrete building... you could achieve the same thing on a boat that takes you different places, verses a stationary building

That’s not too bad of an idea

My thoughts, too.

I hope this will happen.

They could add more Star Wars themed activities, maybe perfect that holo-chess game for guest to play. Maybe add more in-park interactions exclusive to hotel guests...think like how you can use an interactive wand at Universal Studios. Maybe have some animatronics that only reacted to Starcruiser guests, or special Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run mission.

If Disney had better business practices, they wouldn't have priced you out. Especially during times of inflation. Those Disney execs are out of touch idiots who think everyone has six grand folded up in their pocket wallets.

Actually, I found that most people who did this experience did it multiple times. On our second voyage this past June, most people we talked to were also on their second or even third trips. Once you do it once, you realize how amazing and special it is, and you have to do it a second time to see the other storylines. I think the biggest problem is marketing and actually getting people on board that first time.

Now that is clever. MM is a creature from a galaxy far far away. Haha.

My son (16 at the time) and I went last June. Loved the experience. Being on the West Coast, about 20 miles from Disneyland, I am not able to get to Florida easily, or cheaply, in comparison. Was planning to go again in a few years once the new the park at Universal with the 3rd Harry Potter land was open and the initial rush was complete. Wish they would have tried to make it a seasonal offering, confining the trip dates, say to April - September and lowering the price a bit as well, before closing it outright. Hopefully they can re-imagine the space as an attraction or regular themed hotel as it is connected to gel with Galaxy's Edge.

I'm 40 and had the same feelings. It was amazing.

Of course you will love the experience, but if we consider the price i dont think its worth it unless you really loved star wars

Not all of their things are over priced

@@Isaiahslifeexperience Most are.

I think it would be better as a Star Wars themed restaurant

Right… it has like 100 rooms.

Tbh, go to a ren faire. You'll get a similar concept, although not Star Wars themed, for cheaper.

Oof yeah I never seen it as well I just go to the parks since it’s 20min away

Yeah it’s mainly the price and the space

cruises can spread the cost over 1000 plus cabins per trip. The hotel only had 100. It is reasonable for any small venue ticket to cost more than a large venue ticket.

@@MrWookie1981 well sure, but again still the star cruiser hotel still cost a fraction of what a cruise ship like the Disney Wish did. Those ships are staggeringly expensive.

had they gone on DCL or ABD ?

DVC 😂

Yesss they made it so beautiful 😍

You're absolutely right!

I wonder why they don’t just scale it back to a themed hotel? I’d love to stay there!

Oof yeah I never seen it myself

Bingo, people dont want to drop thousands to be taken to the "First Order time period" 😬

The largest generation is currently Millennials and the new Star Wars movies of their childhoods were the prequels. Thankfully Disney didn’t theme the hotel on those.

@@OrangeFluffyCat I’m not sure the Millennials are collectively as wealthy as the Baby Boomers. I was not thinking about the sizes of the generations but whether or not they would likely have the financial resources to invest in a very expensive two-day experience.

Absolutely, those who can afford to go, don't care about the sequels

​@@OrangeFluffyCat I honestly would have preferred that. Many of us in the 25-30 age group who love both the OT and PT actually have the money to spend on this. Then you have the older generations that are even more attached to the OT. Who is the customer base for the sequels? Those with young children who would need to pay the higher $6k price?

@@OrangeFluffyCat I think Gen X would be the main target for disposable income...not Boomers (many of whom would be on a fixed income) and Millenials are still just trying to get on their feet financially....problem is Disney has been pissing on all their customers for years now and folks are just getting tired of it. Universal is going to overtake Disney parks in the next few years because, as a company, they are not trying to push a particular message or agenda through their form of entertainment, like Disney is.

Lol

She is on Disney's payroll. Only those that aren't paid by Disney or get "free marketing vacations" spoke the truth.

@@Corn_Pops_Rusty_Razor Wait a minute... DFB is LITERALLY on Disney's payroll, getting paychecks from them? Or FIGURATIVELY on the payroll, getting free vacations and perks to write positive reviews and promote the company and parks?

@@tpg5974 Figuratively. Free perks and early access to special events for good reviews.

@@Corn_Pops_Rusty_Razor That's what I figured. I appreciate the content these influencers put out, but can't stand them gushing over the latest overpriced merch / meal / clothing / snack...

that thing was never meant for people like you who need to save the money it was for people who can spend WHILE going on a vacation. You should be glad the pull they rug before you burn your hard earned cash for a overblowing escape room.

Take out a home improvement loan for $10,000 and go now!

Lol

Definitely not wrong, but I don’t think it fits with the space theme. I certainly don’t like the idea of being trapped inside for two days 😅

Brooke i’m curious what you mean about “can’t factor in cost from MCO to WDW” isn’t that a free shuttle to most hotels, or about a $30 uber ride?

The free shuttle went away. Now you have to pay to shuttle from the airport to a resort.

I heard Evermore was in the process of bankruptcy. Have they not gone under yet?

I love that you mentioned Evermore! Evermore was the most immersive place with the coolest story I’d been to before going in the Starcruiser. I mentioned in a video I made last week that Evermore realizes they need to just have immersive role playing on the weekends…not every single night like Disney did for a while.

It looks like Star Trek.

@@Keith1210 The lighting and bad costumes make it look more like Farscape!

Yes…main problem was it is NOT Star Wars…should have been based on the original trilogy, that’s where most die hard fans lean..AJ won’t mention this because it is critical of Disney. The new Disney movies are mostly bad.

No. This wasn't the cost - a family of four with one 'Kid' as defined by Disney paid 6000 dollars *total* , or about 750 per person per night. Expensive, yes, but not *that* expensive. (Incidentally, four adults would be 6150.) ...which is a major part of the problem. Disney fumbled the ball on communicating the actual price and what you're getting for that price so badly that these inflated runaway numbers keep getting repeated and exaggerated. In five years when this gets talked about people are going to claim it cost 10K a person for a standard cabin you had to share with whoever you were assigned or something equally ridiculous.

@@Saviorsrdenver that is just for the hotel stay. 2 nights! Tack on a flight and the price is even more. How heck is a family of 4 supposed to afford this "reasonable" price seeing how you think it is not over priced, when they can hardly afford to pay the bills at home! For the common family, this was way over priced and was a big part of the problem! $6000 not that expensive! Lol. $3000 per night! Clearly you are rich and live in a different reality than many families.

Disney is a luxury destination 🤣🤣"luxury"🤣🤣 Marina bay Sands Singapore, Amman Luxury hotels line, Maldives Luxury Hotels, etc are luxury, Disney Hotels are an ovepriced joke with just decent food. In Las Vegas alone you find more luxurious hotels (Aria Resort Corner suites or suites for example) for less money than overpriced Disney Hotels. And in Europe the Europa Park is 5 times better than Disneyland Paris even Six Flags Holland and Phantasialand are better. Some years Europa Park had 5 times more visitors (5.7 millions) than Disney (976000) and it is half the price of Disney park.

Lol well I mean they are a billon dollar company lol and make everything high quality but the Star Wars hotel I could agree with

100%

I'm pretty sure that's not it. Cultural conservatives have never been the main Star Wars fan (fascist/racists/theocrats are the bad guys in star wars, and trek for that matter), and those people can't afford these prices anyway

I would have tried it if the price was right 😊

If you go hood you enjoy the magic 🪄

@@barry888 Nah, hardly a 1%er. Just someone that isn't afraid of working hard to get what he wants. Be well.

I disagree to an extent. The price was too much, but at the time, the full immersion was also incredibly unappealing. Even if the price was cut dramatically, spending three days doing nothing but play acting sounds so exhausting.

@@carlycrays2831 As someone who went, can't argue there. It was an absolute blast, I knew what I was in for, and I turned into a snarky Brit long after I was home if I wasn't careful about my accent every time I heard John Williams music. But afterwards I basically crawled into a closet for a full day to sleep and relax it off.