Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser closing?
- Thread starter nwjedidave
- Start date
NakedMoleRat
Master Member
As much as I would have enjoyed going…my wife and I went on a real 7 day cruise for just over 3k.
Lightning
Master Member
The price was always the issue. And then it's clear on top of that they cut every corner they could get away with. Repeatability seems to have been accounted for in the original plan, with the Starcruiser backstory allowing it to be reskinned for every era. But it was simply too expensive to last long enough to get to that point. And that's without even mentioning the app being broken for way too many guests.
Rawktrooper
Well-Known Member
a 4 themed hotel would be awesome. JUST A HOTEL. You could have Empire theme, Rebel theme, scoundrel theme, Bountyhunter theme... then everything that goes along with those. Maybe each wing has a ship-type-area..
4 wings of the hotel each has its own theme and character workers. The blended parts could be just strictly planetary or something.. the restaurants, shops, pool etc.. themed to wherever the resort is.. so you could have themed hotels. one in Texas for desert places, one for Colorado for maybe Alderaan or Hoth.. one for California for Endor and one for Tattoine... one in Florida for Scarif.. one in New York, Chicago, LA for Coruscant.. Seattle for Kamino or MonCalamari areas.. etc.. you get the idea.
If you want to dress up, all the better. If you want to hang out, fine.. if you want to take the shuttle to DW if its in Orlando, cool... You want to just stay in the hotel overnight.. great!
Kids would love it.. adults would love it.. families would come back to stay in the other wings.. or in the other city location themes.. it would be like a tailored kind of experience because there would be games you could participate in, or little scenarios... or you could do a little academy for the Rebels or Empire or Bountyhunters.. you could accept little missions to maybe go on with another actor.. even outdoors.. like hikes and scavenger hunts on the planet cities you are staying in..
And make it affordable. Stay for a week. be recruited and change sides perhaps.. lots of interaction and fun. People would want to stay at the hotel.
Dont make it 5000 per 2 night visit. Choose your own level of involvement.. if you want the extras then go pay to a-la-cart them for a day or a week or whatever.. or book it all up front with a travel agent.
Maybe a themed celebration week for each hotel! Perhaps its Moisture farming harvest festival.. maybe its independence celebration on Coruscant.. or maybe its Empire week across the galaxy.. or its the Death Star 2 destruction celebration on Endor.. Hoth olympic week.. who knows..
Thats my idea. if i was a kid i would love it. And parents would hear all the time... lets go to Scariff! or i want to see Chewie.. or can we go to Endor?
its not going to happen.. but that would have been cool....
4 wings of the hotel each has its own theme and character workers. The blended parts could be just strictly planetary or something.. the restaurants, shops, pool etc.. themed to wherever the resort is.. so you could have themed hotels. one in Texas for desert places, one for Colorado for maybe Alderaan or Hoth.. one for California for Endor and one for Tattoine... one in Florida for Scarif.. one in New York, Chicago, LA for Coruscant.. Seattle for Kamino or MonCalamari areas.. etc.. you get the idea.
If you want to dress up, all the better. If you want to hang out, fine.. if you want to take the shuttle to DW if its in Orlando, cool... You want to just stay in the hotel overnight.. great!
Kids would love it.. adults would love it.. families would come back to stay in the other wings.. or in the other city location themes.. it would be like a tailored kind of experience because there would be games you could participate in, or little scenarios... or you could do a little academy for the Rebels or Empire or Bountyhunters.. you could accept little missions to maybe go on with another actor.. even outdoors.. like hikes and scavenger hunts on the planet cities you are staying in..
And make it affordable. Stay for a week. be recruited and change sides perhaps.. lots of interaction and fun. People would want to stay at the hotel.
Dont make it 5000 per 2 night visit. Choose your own level of involvement.. if you want the extras then go pay to a-la-cart them for a day or a week or whatever.. or book it all up front with a travel agent.
Maybe a themed celebration week for each hotel! Perhaps its Moisture farming harvest festival.. maybe its independence celebration on Coruscant.. or maybe its Empire week across the galaxy.. or its the Death Star 2 destruction celebration on Endor.. Hoth olympic week.. who knows..
Thats my idea. if i was a kid i would love it. And parents would hear all the time... lets go to Scariff! or i want to see Chewie.. or can we go to Endor?
its not going to happen.. but that would have been cool....
ScourgiousJinx
Master Member
When die hard fans will pay nearly anything, Disney will continue to charge anything it wants. Honestly if this "cruise" was significantly better and involved the OT a lot more fans would've spent the ridiculous amount of money on it. The problem isn't just Disney, it's also the fans who would give a kidney to have a well done, realistic Star Wars experience.
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Lightning
Master Member
Luckily, they found out just how few of those fans there are, at that price point. I hope the bean counters learned something from this.
ScourgiousJinx
Master Member
I don't think its failure was just the price. But then again all the evidence I have to back that up is anecdotal...knowing quite a few people and hearing of even more, who would've forked out for it if it was a better experience and involved the OT.
I don't think it would've mattered at all. Let's be honest, the experience looks lame. Like super lame. Fiddling through an app on your phone is not exciting. Neither is scanning crates and reporting luggage or whatever that task was. The bridge console "games" have about as much depth as an Atari game from the 70's. The lightsaber training looks uninspired and boring. So what are you left with? A few conversations with the crew and pretending to force-push a rock? Is that what people want out of a Star Wars experience? I'm not trying to be a Disney hater here. This could've been a pre-Disney venture and I'd still be saying the same thing. I don't see what the attraction is. I just see fans trying to convince themselves they didn't just throw away 6 grand for a cosplay and cheap theatrics.
I don't get the sense that any of those Disney execs in the video have any idea why people love Star Wars. They don't strike me as either fans or creative types. They strike me as corporate pencil pushers that are trying to mimic other aspects of Disney which is to say mimicking the "Princess" experience. In other words: playing pretend in the most superficial way. Get dressed up, take pictures with characters, and walk around. You needed visionaries to even attempt something like this (although even then I don't see it working). Disney is no longer a visionary company. They're now an acquire IP & exert minimum effort company. None of this should be surprising. Galaxies edge isn't much better. With the exception of a couple rides and the Millennium Falcon, it's a shopping mall. Simulating Star Wars means simulating ADVENTURE. Not cruise lines and plushies.
I agree with Rawktrooper . Just make a themed hotel and leave it at that. Maybe have a dinner show or something. Or some actual fun games like an X-wing simulator or lazertag.
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Jodo
Master Member
That was why we didn’t go either. For the same price, we could have actually went somewhere instead of being trapped inside of a hotel.
Having said that, I have two friends who went and got a significant discount for being Disney employees, and they loved it. They also went right before the cancellation announcement, so it was relatively empty. We still talk about their experiences and I really do wish I could have afforded to go.
After hearing about their trips, my wife did say if I funded the entire thing we could go, or alternatively, I could go alone. That wouldn’t have been until around this time though, and since losing my job, I would have never afforded it yet again, so glad I avoided that heartbreak.
This.
The problem was, they wanted a GENERIC area that could integrate with the new SW Trilogy and give more flexibility for future TV and feature film. And the Starcruiser was connected to this environment, which also limited it to the sequel trilogy era. Having been a few times, I will say the Batuu does feel sorta' like Moss Eisley on one half (where the Falcon is located... it's basically docking bay 94), and sorta' like Endor with all of the vegetation where Rise of the Resistance is located. So there is that.
There WERE thoughts to place Galaxy's Edge in a familiar environment (Tatooine for example). And initial plans showed a more lively environment... there were supposed to be free roaming droids, bounty hunters, and alien spies that guests would interact with. But live actors and robotics operators mean increased payroll. So what we got was:
1) TWO FIRST ORDER TROOPERS (you heard me, there are only ever TWO at a time, in a pair strolling around)
2) The occasionally appearance by Kylo Ren and Rey and Chewie.
3) They have broken the timeline by bringing out Mando/Grogu, Boba Fett and Fennec Shand, which is the immediate post ROTJ era
Now the Starcruiser integrated some of the planned interactive ideas behind its $$$ paywall. But that left the Galaxy's Edge Batuu rather flat and unfinished.
4) A canceled third attraction... they designed a large animatronic Bantha-like creature that would carry guests on a tour around the land, and it was tested but never materialized in the wild.
5) Other cuts were made... Oga's Cantina was SUPPOSED to be connected to a larger dinner show/dining area. But the larger eatery never happened, and the cantina was left as an attraction on its own.
P.S. Should have made the SW hotel the Cloud City of Bespin.
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Riceball
Master Member
That's why I didn't even bother trying to save up and convince my wife to go with me to this, from the same amount of money, or less, I could go on an actual 7 day cruise. The fact that it was set in the ST didn't bother me in the least, nor did the overall lack of exciting things to do, it was the price tag for a mere 2 nights and 1 day stay. I thought that it was a poor return on my investment.
Haven’t seen this chick in years…
Jodo
Master Member
Experiencing Galaxy’s Edge is probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. I love the generic adventure idea of it, and there’s just something about it that rekindled my love for Star Wars. I’ve been three times, one time alone, and it’s legit a dream come true walking around there. One of my best friends also works there, and the inner mechanics of everything absolutely fascinates me. If I could work somewhere, it would honestly be there.
I also think it’s what you make of it. The first time I was expecting to be unhappy and was blown away. The second time was a bit rushed, but the third time I went alone and literally stayed open to close. It was a fantastic experience and loved role playing with a several people. I dressed up just a bit, and had a blast.
Having said that, I totally understand why people would have wanted something familiar or at least different than what was delivered. I wish a couple more aliens or generic characters would roam around, or at least another pair of Stormtrooper in the FO area…but a ton of the workers are characters too. Sure, a lot just have jobs there…But the people I’ve met really make it feel special. On one occasion I was “detained” by first order stormtroopers and I said the worker watching the Dok Ondar’s entrance had my ID. That turned into he and I bickering back and forth, and then I told them he was a resistance spy. It actually drew a crowd because I’m sure it seemed like we were doing a skit. A couple of the shop keeps were equally invested in their stories and were really fun to interact with.
I do think the canceled third attraction was absolutely stupid. There’s no way that would have ever worked logistically. And it’s too bad there isn’t a sit down restaurant outside of Docking Bay. To compensate, Oga’s should have been bigger to accommodate more people since the restaurant was canned. I don’t feel like the land is uncompleted with those absences, but maybe there will eventually be a phase 2 of the land…
“The people most likely to have fun at Star Cruiser would be children ages 7 – 12. Based on my own childhood playing neopets I believe that’s the age range where children have the most patience for completing busy work games in exchange for meaningless points.
I also think kids of that age probably wouldn’t be so cognizant of how little their choices were affecting the story outcome. So, they would be harder to disappoint. When I was little my mom would play video games and hand me a controller that wasn’t plugged in, and I had fun. So, the Star Cruiser is kind of like that.” Jenny Nicholson.
I also think kids of that age probably wouldn’t be so cognizant of how little their choices were affecting the story outcome. So, they would be harder to disappoint. When I was little my mom would play video games and hand me a controller that wasn’t plugged in, and I had fun. So, the Star Cruiser is kind of like that.” Jenny Nicholson.
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nickytea
Master Member
A few things to keep in mind about her video:
Trips as troubled as her's were statistically very rare. Even at the point where she tried to pull as many similar posts as she could find, there were only a handful out of 72,000 guests who experienced the Starcruiser, which in its 18 months of operations earned the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the history of the company. (It's a shame she had a bad trip, but all of her speculations as to why that occurred are incorrect.)
Her video is being shared around as a "definitive" look, but she dismisses the majority of guests who sincerely enjoyed themselves, and whenever she encountered a story element she was unfamiliar with, rather than researching what it was, she just said she didn't know and moved on. A big part of the joy of the immersive theater aspect of the experience was the continuous simultaneity. There are many rooms on the ship, and scenes pushing the story forward happening at the same time in different locations. You'll see things others won't, and others will see things you won't. It created a really satisfying collaborative environment where guests worked together to piece together the multidimensional narrative.
Other youtubers have made more comprehensive attempts to document as much of that story for others as they can:
Trips as troubled as her's were statistically very rare. Even at the point where she tried to pull as many similar posts as she could find, there were only a handful out of 72,000 guests who experienced the Starcruiser, which in its 18 months of operations earned the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the history of the company. (It's a shame she had a bad trip, but all of her speculations as to why that occurred are incorrect.)
Her video is being shared around as a "definitive" look, but she dismisses the majority of guests who sincerely enjoyed themselves, and whenever she encountered a story element she was unfamiliar with, rather than researching what it was, she just said she didn't know and moved on. A big part of the joy of the immersive theater aspect of the experience was the continuous simultaneity. There are many rooms on the ship, and scenes pushing the story forward happening at the same time in different locations. You'll see things others won't, and others will see things you won't. It created a really satisfying collaborative environment where guests worked together to piece together the multidimensional narrative.
Other youtubers have made more comprehensive attempts to document as much of that story for others as they can:
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