'Star Wars' hotel disaster

The first ‘Star Wars’ hotel was called Galactic Starcruiser. In spring 2022, Disney World in Orlando, Florida, would open this luxury for the wealthiest and most dedicated fans. A two-night solo experience cost $4,809.

There were cheaper prices, but they were all astronomical: $1,209 per guest for a single night, $5,299 for two nights for a couple with a child in a Millennium Falcon cockpit-themed room. Disneyland’s most expensive hotel has 100 rooms. One of Disney’s most disastrous businesses.

This is a small theme park for rich, grown-up children, not a hotel, hence the price. We jump through hyperspace to the Halcyon space cruiser, where we find Rey, Chewbacca, and Kylo Ren actors in special rooms like the casino and cantina. The visit includes role-playing: you can be part of the First Order or Resistance and receive small missions and entertainment at the hotel.

Once inside, there are lightsaber combat tutorials, virtual X-Wing rides, and even a trip to Batuu, more like a cruise and its multidisciplinary entertainment than a hotel. There are many inexpensive ways to enhance the experience, such as wearing Jedi robes or renting Coruscant’s high society party dresses.

At galaxy’s edge
This project was to be the center and most desirable part of Galaxy’s Edge, Disneyland’s ‘Star Wars’-themed corner that opened in 2019 for $1 billion and included two attractions, five restaurants, and nine stores. Galaxy’s Edge was struggling with lower-than-expected attendance before Galactic Starcruiser opened in March 2022. With COVID-19 in 2020, the revenue deficit exploded.

Despite the uncertainty, Disney decided to bet on safe, closed places where customers wouldn’t get infected. So it bet on this massive building, which, a year and a half after opening in the spring of this year, had to close due to a lack of reservations. The Halcyon made its last trip on September 30, a year and a few months after its launch, and customers’ reservations for later dates were refunded.

In March 2023, one year after opening, Disney announced that from October, they would only accept two weekly reservations instead of three or four. This was the project’s downfall. With the September closure, they didn’t have time to implement that change. The amusement park industry has received other slaps recently.

Along with the announcement of Galactic Starcruiser’s departure, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that they would not build a campus in Lake Nona, Florida, where they planned to relocate 2,000 California employees. Bob Chapek, the company’s former CEO, proposed it in July 2021. The project was canceled after the relocation date was delayed to 2026 from 2022-2023.

This latest delay is due to Disney’s longstanding dispute with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, which includes its opposition to the governor’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law. In another controversy, Pixar animators say the company publicly supports the gay community but does the opposite internally.

After spending $400 million on construction, Disney has lost $3.5 billion in the Galactic Starcruiser’s first year and a half. According to industry consultant Dennis Spiegel, “in the theme park sector, we live off repeat visits,” but the Galactic Starcruiser’s high price prevented this.

This temporary setback should not detract from Disney’s parks, which are its core business. Profits are consistent—near $8 billion in 2022.

Spiegel says only 100 rooms would barely cover the monstrous cost of a high-tech hotel where almost all the staff are actors, which may have contributed to the Galactic Starcruiser’s disastrous miscalculation. Additional factors included the CEO change, the general crisis, and the parks’ post-COVID-19 slump. A small disaster that shouldn’t make us forget that park projects like this keep Disney a giant in entertainment.

‘Star Wars’ hotel disaster

By knl9j

Related Post

Almost as fast as its steel industry

‘Kraven’ highlights the inadequacy

This 16-episode Prime Video series

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You Missed

Almost as fast as its steel industry

‘Star Wars’ hotel disaster

‘Kraven’ highlights the inadequacy

This 16-episode Prime Video series