Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser previewed for media

There isn’t this much fluffing on a chilly porn shoot

Wow, you’re not kidding. I finally decided to go on instagram and have a look.

egad.

I don't follow.

The "influencers" all got their free-visit invitations. Those who want to keep getting those invitations might feel some subconscious pressure to review things favorably when they go about their "influencing."

I'm not bothering with any reviews until the first paid trips start returning. And, being honest, I probably won't bother with any reviews at all. If I'm going to drop mid-four-figures on an all-inclusive experience, it's probably not going to be this. We've had our eye on a TradeWinds cruise. A 60' catamaran with about ten guests, a captain and a chef. One week of sailing from one of about a dozen different home bases, all-inclusive. List is the same order of magnitude---about 7K for a couple on the TradeWinds cruise vs. 5K for the starcruiser trip.

The most prominent negative reaction I've seen is that a lot of the activity around the hotel is activity that was teased as being a part of Galaxy's Edge but left out: light saber duels, droids and characters, the cantina experience. I've seen several videos of an awkward light saber transition by Rey in one of the duels, but as many comments pointed out, it looks worse on video than in person because you're probably distracted by the other character in person. There's also some grumbling about a dance party with the electric slide.

I intentionally did not link to any "influencer" bull****. The Verge and Gizmodo don't care what list they're on, and don't typically cover Disney anyway. Those are clearly strategic picks by the marketing folks to reach outside of the fan nonsense, and they got a ton of positive-ish attention all over the place.

I dunno, if I get a solid bonus this year, I wouldn't rule it out (without my kid, because he would only care about how everything works). I'm not proud of what I spent on a New Year Disney cruise a few years ago to crappy ports in the Eastern Caribbean, but I don't regret it.

Well none of these are “reviews”, as most clearly lay out. Full reviews are embargoed until first paying customers arrive in March. I’m not certain, but It also appears that they were just invited for a 4 hour tour, not the full 2 day experience. (Could be wrong on that, but the lack of actual “lived in rooms” and actual food on plates confirms my suspicions.

even with that caveat, these are so concurrently positive ;and lacking in details of how the story lines actually play out that I’m still suspicious.

as I’ve said before, Star Wars isn’t my jam, but if they pull this off, then more power to them. While I haven’t done the “Ghost town Alive” product at Knott’s I’ve watched it, and kids and adults seem to love it. The “story engine” is critical and if it connects well with the tech, great.

i still remain convinced that Universal will be watching this closely to do a Harry Potter version

You didn't read all of the linked reviews. Some did stay two nights, and they certainly had opinions about the activities, the interactions, the food and the app.

There are videos on YouTube from people who stayed for the 2 nights. I am shocked that Disney is allowing so much it to be shown.

What difference does it make? Paid guests will be doing it in a few weeks. If the product is really lacking, there's no hiding it now.

I wonder if Imperial Star Destroyers have a gift shop.

There's something about Disney integrating this "ship" purposely into the canon that I find especially cringeworthy.

None of the reviews moved the meter on wanting to do this. It looks very...cramped.

I don’t know if it makes a difference or not. I just find it surprising.

> lacking in details of how the story lines actually play

Depending on what you mean by details, this might be a good thing. I get the sense that knowing in advance what might happen spoils the fun.

A) first two or three pieces I read all alluded to things that “will or could happen”, but were worded in a way that made it sound like what you would say if you were reading off a list of potentials, but hadn’t actually experienced it.

I’m sure some of that was the rule of not being an actual “review”, so how do you write an article successfully using that construct. Again a small quibble.

b) if people did the full thing great, I actually want this to be successful.

c) I don’t want spoilers, I’m just curious to know how the tech works. Much like watching Smugglers Run go off on its real time actions but then get brought back and “spliced” Into the boundaries of the story line.

I read a couple of the articles linked here, as well as an article that I suppose was from an influencer (which was very positive of course). And I am now intrigued, which I can say I never was before. Not $5K intrigued, but it seems pretty cool.

I wonder if, assuming this is successful, the plot lines will change from time to time, or maybe you'll be able to select a specific experience based on the dates when you attend. I also would imagine if it's successful we'll see another one in Southern California. (I mean, they could put it on the ugliest plot of land in Anaheim.)

And I suspect even if they can't hold the line on the price, there's some room to reduce it and still make a handsome profit.

The gross receipts will be in excess of $500k every two days, plus drinks and merch. I'm sure there's margin to play with there. I mean, actual cruise ships cost a billion dollars to make, and the crew to guest ratio is almost 1:2, and there's a ton of margin in that.

Well, when you pay near slave wages to most of the non-engineering crew, you do have a lot of margin left over. You are correct though, at the quoted prices there would appear to be a metric f-ton of margin in the Disney model.

I read other articles since my first post and most allude to a 4 hour preview. So, were their two tranches? The staged preview for one group, and a full two-day run through for another?

from an “insider” article……”Writer and editor Shay Spence shared a TikTok about his experience after attending the four-hour media preview.”

I have to think that this is something that, at least on this scale hasn't been done before. Add to that the two huge brands associated with it, and it should be easy to find an audience. Maybe too easy, A very high price tag will definitely limit demand. Also, that's a bit of a price ceiling right now...even if it sells out it would be difficult to increase prices after a few "cruises".

I'm thinking they honestly don't know what this experience is worth to their customers. I expect quiet price adjustments, possibly through actual pricing changes, but more likely through discounting or bundling. They will find the price point that keeps the "ship" fully booked but minimizes the waiting list, and I suspect they picked a pretty reasonable starting point.

Gotta be careful, though. A significant price cut might just be an indication that they found the proper price point. But you know the Disney fan-universe will take that as conclusive proof that the whole thing is a huge failure. Even if they are running it with all seats full and a waiting list.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.