by Ray Keating
Commentary/Analysis
DisneyBizJournal.com
April 5, 2023
It’s been more than a year since the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser – or the Halcyon or, simply, the Star Wars Hotel – opened at Walt Disney World. And it hasn’t exactly been a smooth flight. Indeed, the engines seem to be sputtering.
As SFGate reported last month: “In the year since its opening, Disney World may have discovered the limits of charging top dollar for a niche experience. Earlier this year, it began offering its first sizable discounts to the general public. Now, the Starcruiser booking calendar shows only two voyages per week will be available for most of October, November and December. Only Thanksgiving week and Christmas week are offering three voyages.”
Disney also has turned to offering discounts for this pricey experience for Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members and annual passholders. The offer for annual passholders offers 30 percent off during various dates from April 15 to June 28 of this year.
As the Starcruiser was getting ready to set sail, I raised doubts and questions in a February 2022 DisneyBizJournal piece, including the following points:
• The Price Tag. “First, consider that the Starcruiser hotel has 100 rooms or suites. Compare that to approximately 36,000 hotel rooms on the Walt Disney World property, and the Halcyon barely registers. But then there is the price tag for a two-night stay, roughly coming in at a whopping $1,200 per person per day. So, the required two-day stay will hit a couple up for about $4,800.”
• Big Dollar LARPing? Really? “Second, the key selling point for this two-day experience is its immersion. That is, for 48 hours you’re effectively LARPing. Some might ask: LARP? Live Action Role Playing. Now, as long as I’ve been around nerd stuff, from comic books to Star Trek to Star Wars, LARPing even at sci-fi/comics conventions was a pretty limited activity. But the videos from the Halcyon, in fact, point to an intensive, ongoing role playing experience. I’m far from an introvert (my family notes that I seemingly will talk to anyone), but this didn’t look like an enjoyable experience to me (perhaps I’m just getting old). I can’t imagine introverts – of which there are more than a few among intense sci-fi fans – would fork over substantial funds for this kind of experience.”
• Rooms or Bunkers? “Third, the reviews have been all over the place on the experience and hotel itself, with assessments of the rooms ranging from ‘spacious’ to ‘small and cramped,’ and one noteworthy reviewer (the Disney Food Blog) saying that the hotel put ‘the wealthiest guests inside a windowless bunker for two full days.’ Yikes.”
Told you so? Hmmm. Disney is and will be making changes, so we’ll see how this plays outs in the coming year. But, quite frankly, I’m not seeing how this Star Wars hotel makes it over the long run.
And by the way, I stick by the alternative I laid out previously:
“Consider that Disney World’s moderate resorts range from 1,000 to 2,400 rooms. Picture the demand for a large, expansive Star Wars resort with 2,400 rooms, with in-depth theming from the rooms to the pools to the restaurants to the grounds and beyond. All kinds of events and activities could allow people to engage to the degree that they truly choose for their own comfort and vacation time. And the rooms could be priced, again, at the moderate level, or even a bit higher. OMG, there would be a long, long line of individuals and families vying to stay at such a resort – and they could just enjoy a Star Wars vacation at Walt Disney World, even if they were introverts or extroverts who wish to have nothing to do with LARPing. Oh yes, and the family members who care little about Star Wars would likely have a great time as well, given that this would be a full resort with all of the amenities that are missing on the Halcyon.”
Just sayin’.
__________
Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, and the Alliance of Saint Michael novels; and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?
Consider books by Ray Keating…
• The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist. Signed paperbacks at RayKeatingOnline.com or paperbacks, hardcovers and Kindle editions at Amazon.com.
• Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel. Signed paperbacks and/or paperbacks, hardcovers and the Kindle edition at Amazon.
• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. You can pre-order the latest book in the series – Under the Golden Dome: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel. Get the signed books here, or paperbacks and Kindle editions right here.
• The Lutheran Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement, inspiration and consolation from the Christian faith.
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• Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know is available at Amazon in paperback or for the Kindle edition, and signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com.
Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.
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