[Rumor] Disney Starcruiser Hotel in possible crisis?

[Starcade]

I know they are not in major media outlets but I keep seeing news stories pop up over and over claiming the Starcruiser hotel is facing huge backlash and cancellations and Kathleen Kennedy is being possibly set for for scapegoating over it. Does anyone have any credible info on this? I had also heard they were going to announce bringing another to DLR but that has now been cancelled.

[jish5555]

Not really a shocker. It feels like too much of a gimmick that isn't really worthy of Disney. Worse is that they're pricing anyone who'd be interested in it out of being able to experience it while those who could easily afford it aren't really the type that will go to the parks when they can travel over seas and spend a week at top of the line resorts and yet still pay less then they would at Starcruiser. If anything, the only way the Starcruiser could truly work is if it were more like something to visit without needing to stay in, because then you'd get a lot more Star Wars fans interested in it and Disney fans who want to check it out.

[Mr Wiggins]

With thanks to jcruise86 for first posting the link to this story...


Backlash to Disney's $5,000 Star Wars hotel grows: 'Poorly executed idea for the rich'

For years, Disney has been hyping up its mega-expensive, hyper-immersive Star Wars hotel in Walt Disney World. But now, as its opening date approaches, sneak peeks have fans concerned the luxury space resort is the latest Disney dud.

The Galactic Starcruiser is Disney's most ambitious hotel concept yet. Guests must book two nights — which will set you back nearly $5,000 for two people or $6,000 for a family of four — and will spend most of their time inside the spaceship resort, much like a cruise. There's an "excursion" into the Galaxy's Edge part of Disney World, while the remainder of the stay includes interactions with characters, lightsaber training (more on that later) and exclusive restaurants.

With the big price tag and big promises from Disney, Star Wars fans were expecting a mind-blowing, life-changing experience. As the March 1, 2022 opening day grows closer, however, glimpses of the finished product have been underwhelming. The look and feel of the hotel has been criticized as looking plastic and cheap, and reception to one sneak peek video was so bad, it has since disappeared from Disney's YouTube channel.

The video showed actor Sean Giambrone of "The Goldbergs" being given a tour of some of the ship's features, which look pretty bare and antiseptic for the Star Wars universe, and listening to a strange musical performance. (Another user uploaded the deleted video here.) The promo prompted one Twitter user to comment, "Bro this isn't Star Wars, this is 'Space Conflicts.'"

Fans responded similarly to a demo of Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro testing out the vaunted lightsaber training. Instead of a flashy, super realistic adventure, the training consisted of a standard light-up lightsaber and some lasers.

Comments on the YouTube video are generally negative, with one of the top comments reading: "If this were free I’m not even sure I’d queue 30 minutes for it, let alone spend thousands of dollars. An entirely poorly executed idea for the rich."

Things got even worse this week when Disney dropped its welcome video for booked guests, which features a character heretofore not part of the Star Wars universe. Endario Zinn, a representative from the starcruiser, looks decidedly low-budget with cheap purple makeup and a clearly repurposed iPhone for space tech. Some fans on social media also noted the actor's eyes appear to be moving left to right, as if reading off a teleprompter.

Reservations booked up quickly when the hotel was announced but now, as the 90-day deadline to cancel approaches, people appear to be ducking out of their expensive commitments; a number of openings have begun popping up in March, April and June.

"A big thank you to Disney for doing everything they can to make me not feel like I’m missing out by not being able to afford the Star Wars hotel," blogger Alicia Stella wrote on Twitter. "I’m grateful for your efforts."

[Jaygatzby]

While I am trying to keep an open mind till the ‘real’ reviews come in (not the Disney will essentially write the review for you media friendly ones), the last could months of PR on this look underwhelming.

The latest Disney videos on this experience, especially the one with the Goldberg’s sitcom kid (which Disney later took down in less than a week) have not be helpful and Josh’s Destination D23 filmed lightsaber footage looked like something out of a 1980s mall arcade.

The more common narrative, much like SW: GE is again the same: Disney over promised and under delivered.

It seems like much of the wow factors of the initial concept were replaced be significant budget reduced leftovers (like the dinner show and character interactions) that were cut from the SW: GE initial plans.

Also, so far from what has been shown, this concept just does not look Star Wars. Whereas the SW has, for the most part, a gritty lived in adventure look, these sets from experience this look like low budget, fanboy built Star Trek pieces, such as the bridge. From the videos so far, it reminds me of a lower quality version of the Star Trek Experience that used to be at the Las Vegas Hilton.

I liked the initial idea and think there is a live action role play (LARP) market that would pay for this if the experience was better executed and the costs were a little more budget friendly.

One positive though is, so far, it seems Disney is spending high on the performers of this experience, so that may help (like what was promised for SW: GE)

But as is the case of today’s Disney, it seems like the company continues to over promise, and overcharge for a under delivered product.

I have a feeling if Uni tries this concept within the Wizarding World down the road that the execution would be much better in quality and pricing.

[merlinjones]

Someone should add up all the money they lose by doing creative things on the cheap -- while spending wildly on schemes to fleece people with unnecessary tech.

[bigcatrik]

This video claims to have received advanced moment-by-moment details about the 2-day experience. Take with a grain of salt, but SPOILER If you like those murder/mystery hotel weekends you might not feel like you totally wasted $6,000 (but then, maybe even so). And isn't this what SWGE was supposed to be like before all the actors got cut?

Video contains rumors that are SPOILERS if true:

[Dtimeisnow]

I've been keeping my eye on this for a while and have tried to keep an open mind, especially since it hasn't even opened yet. But everything that the previews have put out was incredibly underwhelming.

Disney should be ashamed by the promos they've put out, since they were the first glimpse of the nearly finished product. Years of concept art and consistent talks at D23 have gotten people really hyped to see how immersive the experience can be, and what do we get? Some Disney employees playing a laser game that probably can be found at an arcade and the kid from Goldbergs getting excited (and very forced) for an empty, soulless looking hotel that, as fans have noted, seems more Star Trek then Star Wars.

What was Disney expecting? Even a more typical ad of a family seeing some of the rooms and entertainment would have been more accepting. Something that was more on the line of what was promised.

I'll be curious further as we get to opening...whether or not that happens. I could see a major delay to retool the experience to either bump up the experience or even dial back into an ordinary hotel.

[Tamandua]

Imagine paying $6000 for a two day immersive star wars experience and everyone is wearing covid masks. How can you possibly get lost in the experience when you're constantly being reminded of what's happening in the real world?

[Captain Andy]

This video claims to have received advanced moment-by-moment details about the 2-day experience. Take with a grain of salt, but SPOILER If you like those murder/mystery hotel weekends you might not feel like you totally wasted $6,000 (but then, maybe even so). And isn't this what SWGE was supposed to be like before all the actors got cut?

Video contains rumors that are SPOILERS if true:

Wow. Guests cannot take photos and videos in the hotel?

After you pay $6,000+?

Whaaaaa?

[Brian PieGuy]

Honestly, I will be more likely to stay at the hotel if there are no photos or videos of it. In the social media era, everything gets overexposed to the point where there aren't a lot of surprises. If there aren't images of what the experience looks like, that makes it all the more special to be one of the people that gets to experience it. At the very least, I'm intrigued by the idea.

[Eagleman]

IMO- Disney wants guest pay more to get less,
over promised and under delivered.............This type of service , will hurt Disney
if they do not learn get better , in quality and pricing !

[Spongeocto4]

Also, so far from what has been shown, this concept just does not look Star Wars. Whereas the SW has, for the most part, a gritty lived in adventure look, these sets from experience this look like low budget, fanboy built Star Trek pieces, such as the bridge. From the videos so far, it reminds me of a lower quality version of the Star Trek Experience that used to be at the Las Vegas Hilton.

^This. I'm baffled that WDI & Lucasfilm missed the mark over the aesthetic of the hotel. Even the dramatic lighting does not come off as Star Wars. Say what you will about the sequel trilogy, at least they got the look right.

Also, where are the droids? Making an AA of a Droid should be easy, because they are BOTH ROBOTS!!

If that insider video is correct, then yeesh...
Deliberately designing a plain hotel room, so you won't stay in it during the experience? Did they not assign any of hotel Imagineers to design the Starcruiser? A hotel is supposed to make you feel relaxed and let you unwind. Yet, the Starcruiser will allegedly shuffle guests around on a pre-set iterinary. Will you get scolded if you get back late to the Starcruiser from visiting H̶o̶l̶l̶y̶w̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶S̶t̶u̶d̶i̶o̶s̶ Batuu? Will the First Order let you use the bathroom during the Dining Room Show? How much over-immersiveness will make a tourist get ticked off?

Wow. Guests cannot take photos and videos in the hotel?

After you pay $6,000+?

Whaaaaa?

Disney: Don't use your worldly possessions during the trip, it will ruin the effect.
Also Disney: Want us to take a photo of your family? You can access it on PhotoPass later. Wait...you haven't heard about Photopass?! Well, let me tell you about it!....

[Captain Andy]

Honestly, I will be more likely to stay at the hotel if there are no photos or videos of it. In the social media era, everything gets overexposed to the point where there aren't a lot of surprises. If there aren't images of what the experience looks like, that makes it all the more special to be one of the people that gets to experience it. At the very least, I'm intrigued by the idea.

I wouldn't mind this if the word on the street was a bit different. It just sounds like Disney is trying to hide how bad this hotel might be... which is a bit scammy. :|

[JLee1226]

I was in the cautiously optimistic camp for a long time. Of course became waaaay more skeptical as time went on, and now these videos.

The worry I had initially was that the experience may not have enough for adults to do. Lightsaber training...I mean, I feel like I've done it already from watching the video. Maybe younger kids will enjoy it, but...like, really? Couldn't we at least have gotten a 'laser emitter' that moved? Even just up and down? Look, I don't expect Disney to imagineer a floating sphere moving in three dimensions, but maybe design something for the starcruiser that resembles the original prop in some form?

I will play a little devil's advocate on the bridge though, it's the least offensive thing they've shown. It looks a lot better in the darker shots where they are not trying to light the room for a TV spot. And I would argue that it's not necessarily incongruous that a civilian 'starcruiser' in the Star Wars universe sequel timeline would not be a beat up "hunk of junk." The control panels look a little goofy? I mean, I guess? IRL the 'control room' for the Death Star laser was really just a control room from a real LA power plant that looks a lot more like a bunch of goofy 60's lights and random buttons with the lights on too.


The hallway though, looks NOTHING like the concept art.

Expectation:

Reality:

Now ok, sure, concept art is one thing, and projects routinely end up somewhat different in the end. But a sterile hallway with only the slightest suggestion of theming? For that price? For an "immersive experience?" The Grand Californian does a better job at theming! I've been to the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite many a time, and the Grand Californian does a great job of replicating the ambiance without directly copying. But what is this bleak hallway? And I am by-in-large a defender of Batuu! Galaxy's Edge makes me feel like I am in the universe. The Star Destroyer hallways on ROTR are great! But I've seen more visually interesting hallways in hospitals. This doesn't even make it look like that nice of a hotel, to say nothing of a space ship.

Masks don't break my immersion, cloth facial coverings are canon (Zam Wessell). What does break my immersion is the regular looking popcorn ceiling. There's not even any cool lighting fixtures here. That would have been the easiest thing! And like, there really wasn't an angle where they could not have the EXIT sign in the background? I know the exit signs have to be somewhat conspicuous for obvious safety reasons, but was there really no way to make it look a little less like a standard hotel hallway? And with all the screens they have in this place, they just put the lit glass display here?

The bar I don't have a strong opinion on. It seems fine to me that Oga's is a little more 'dive bar' while the ostensibly luxury cruiser has a more upscale looking lounge. It's kind of hard to get a sense of the room (which the more skeptical might say is on purpose).

TL/DR: yah, very underwhelming. Many rhetorical questions.

[DisneyIPresume]

If Imagineers can create a crystal ball to float in 3 dimensions they could have figured out a way to do this for the light saber experience. After all there are masters level engineers working on this team. On the other hand there are masters level accountants working in administration. Never mind.

[BasilOregano]

Things got even worse this week when Disney dropped its welcome video for booked guests, which features a character heretofore not part of the Star Wars universe. Endario Zinn, a representative from the starcruiser, looks decidedly low-budget with cheap purple makeup and a clearly repurposed iPhone for space tech. Some fans on social media also noted the actor's eyes appear to be moving left to right, as if reading off a teleprompter.

My God. This is just astonishing.

[Captain Andy]

So what I'm getting out of this whole thing is that costs were assessed.... pennies were counted... corners were cut...

(looks right at Chapek)

[Spongeocto4]

So what I'm getting out of this whole thing is that costs were assessed.... pennies were counted... corners were cut...

(looks right at Chapek)

I think it's also "Executive Meddling"*. That would explain the weird disconnect over the theming and tone. I can see an executive demanding for a "polished & bright spacey design". Unfortunately this bleeds into other IPs, namely Marvel. The aliens look more like the ones from Guardians of the Galaxy, than Star Wars.




*See the link below for more details

[Eagleman]

I was in the cautiously optimistic camp for a long time. Of course became waaaay more skeptical as time went on, and now these videos.

The worry I had initially was that the experience may not have enough for adults to do. Lightsaber training...I mean, I feel like I've done it already from watching the video. Maybe younger kids will enjoy it, but...like, really? Couldn't we at least have gotten a 'laser emitter' that moved? Even just up and down? Look, I don't expect Disney to imagineer a floating sphere moving in three dimensions, but maybe design something for the starcruiser that resembles the original prop in some form?

I will play a little devil's advocate on the bridge though, it's the least offensive thing they've shown. It looks a lot better in the darker shots where they are not trying to light the room for a TV spot. And I would argue that it's not necessarily incongruous that a civilian 'starcruiser' in the Star Wars universe sequel timeline would not be a beat up "hunk of junk." The control panels look a little goofy? I mean, I guess? IRL the 'control room' for the Death Star laser was really just a control room from a real LA power plant that looks a lot more like a bunch of goofy 60's lights and random buttons with the lights on too.


The hallway though, looks NOTHING like the concept art.

Expectation:

Reality:

Now ok, sure, concept art is one thing, and projects routinely end up somewhat different in the end. But a sterile hallway with only the slightest suggestion of theming? For that price? For an "immersive experience?" The Grand Californian does a better job at theming! I've been to the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite many a time, and the Grand Californian does a great job of replicating the ambiance without directly copying. But what is this bleak hallway? And I am by-in-large a defender of Batuu! Galaxy's Edge makes me feel like I am in the universe. The Star Destroyer hallways on ROTR are great! But I've seen more visually interesting hallways in hospitals. This doesn't even make it look like that nice of a hotel, to say nothing of a space ship.

.

IMO
I get a better "immersive experience"from my backyard and looking at the Real Stars !

I one that , stop trusting in Disney Concept Art- long time ago.......
They don't even get near ,what it turn out to be
IMO

[JLee1226]

So, I have no evidence for this, it is purely speculation on the disconnect between what we can see off the hotel, and broadly speaking, the Star Wars aesthetic.

With Batuu, Lucasfilm was fairly closely involved, at least up to a certain point, Doug Chiang, the Executive Creative Director of Lucasfilm, worked on the project with Disney (see: The Imaginering Story). I don't find any references to him working on the starcruiser. With galaxy's edge, news write ups made a big deal of the partnership between the Lucasfilm and Disney. I didn't do an exhaustive search, but I only see Disney folks quoted in write ups of the starcruiser.

This reads to me like it was an entirely in-house job on the Disney side. Or at least perhaps Lucasfilm was not as closely involved. Again, no evidence, just speculating.