After spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build an immersive “Star Wars”-themed hotel at Walt Disney World, Disney said on Thursday that it was closing the unprofitable attraction amid drastic corporate cost cutting. announced that it would close in September, just about 18 months later. It was opened.
Called the Galactic Starcruiser, the attraction was marketed as part luxury hotel, part theme park ride, and part role-playing game.
Guests are greeted by a 275-year-old spaceship and embark on a journey through the skies where they may deliver secret messages, visit the engine room to help repair fuel valves, or participate in lightsaber training.
Disney has announced that the hotel’s “last voyage” will take place September 28-30. The company said it will be contacting guests who had booked the hotel since September to discuss options for rescheduling, and has paused new bookings to prioritize bookings. The guests.
All visits are two night stays with a starting cost of over $4,800 for two people and approximately $6,000 for a family of four. Truth be told, her 100-room cabin in a Florida hotel has no windows. Instead, stars, planets and asteroids are displayed on the video screen.
The announcement comes as Disney backs down plans to build a $1 billion office complex in Orlando, a decision that was said to have been influenced by a feud with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. ing. It came not long after Robert A. Iger returned as the company’s chief executive and announced a restructuring aimed at cutting $5.5 billion in costs.
Expectations were high for this hotel since it opened in March 2022. Two months later, then-Disney chief executive Bob Chapek said demand was strong and that the company could expect “100 percent occupancy” by the end of the third quarter. .
“The response to next-gen storytelling like ‘Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser’ has been phenomenal,” he said at the time.
Some fans weren’t shocked by the plans to shut down the Galactic Starcruiser. Among them is Dylan Dixon, who runs the Galactic Starcruiser. Theme park obsession YouTube channel.
of video Following the closure, he said the hotel’s poor performance was “disappointing” and “disappointing”, suggesting the company had tried to cover up the news.
However, the story went viral on Twitter, with one user lamented He said he didn’t have a chance to try the blue shrimp offered at the hotel. Also, teasing the futuristic concrete building with few windows, joked That the hotel can be turned into a prison.
Dixon believes the exorbitant prices have led to the hotel’s “demise” and argued that Disney fans should pay the same price to visit parks abroad. He himself has not stayed at the hotel and said in an email that “the price does not match the experience.”
He thought another “big problem” with Galactic Starcruiser was that it only offered one scenario. Guests are recruited to help either the evil First Order or the valiant Resistance. That limits his motivation to return, he said.
“It’s strange that Disney won’t come up with ways to discount the experience to make it more accessible to the average family,” Dixon said.
In a YouTube video he said: “All the money, company money, time, blood, sweat, and tears spent on this was wasted. To me, it’s distasteful to the Imagineers. It’s like a slap in the face.”
“Imagineer” is a team that develops theme park attractions at Disney. The company had planned to move most of its division to its now-defunct Orlando campus.
in the statement Disney said this week, “We are proud of all the Cast Members and Imagineers who brought ‘Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser’ to life, and we look forward to delivering amazing experiences for our guests on the remaining voyages in the coming months. there are,” he said.
Disney theme parks and consumer products chairman Josh D’Amaro said in an email to employees on Thursday that $17 billion will be allocated to building Disney World over the next 10 years, which will result in $10,000. He said he estimated that 3,000 jobs would be created.
“I remain optimistic about the direction of Walt Disney World’s business,” he wrote.
