The Walt Disney Company reportedly announced the closure of the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser after barely just a year. The closure is just the latest in an ever growing mountain of evidence that the company succeeded in fundamentally destroying the Star Wars brand.
Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser was described by the hotel’s official site as a “a revolutionary 2-night experience where you are the hero. You and your group will embark on a first-of-its-kind Star Wars adventure that’s your own. It’s the most immersive Star Wars story ever created—one where you live a bespoke experience and journey further into a Star Wars adventure than you ever dreamed possible.”
When the hotel was initially announced, Disney was charging $1,209 USD per guest per night or $4,809 USD voyage total for standard cabin rooms for two guests.
For families of three the price increased to $889 USD per guest per night or $5,299 USD voyage total. Families of four cost $749 USD per guest or $5,999 voyage total.
As reported by Disney-owned ABC News, the hotel’s last 2-night stay will be between September 28th and 30th.
A Disney spokesman attempted to spin the the hotel’s shuttering after just a little over a year saying, “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is one of our most creative projects ever and has been praised by our guests and recognized for setting a new bar for innovation and immersive entertainment.”
The spokesman added, “This premium, boutique experience gave us the opportunity to try new things on a smaller scale of 100 rooms, and as we prepare for its final voyage, we will take what we’ve learned to create future experiences that can reach more of our guests and fans.”
Scott Gustin also relayed that in a statement Disney wrote, “We are so proud of all of the Cast Members and Imagineers who brought Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser to life and look forward to delivering an excellent experience for Guests during the remaining voyages over the coming months.”
Gustin also detailed that individuals who had booked the hotel for dates after September 30th Disney would be contacting them. The statement noted, “For Guests who previously booked a voyage on or after Sept. 30, we will be contacting you soon to discuss your options and modify your plans. As we prioritize these Guests, at this time, new bookings are temporarily paused and will reopen on May 26.”
Gustin also detailed that “Disney is making it clear that this was strictly a business decision, citing the fact that it receives the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the history of Walt Disney World.”
He added, “Going forward, Disney says it will focus resources on opportunities that will be more accessible to a larger group of its fans.”
Despite Disney’s attempt to spin the hotel’s shuttering, they still shut it down and according to Gustin admitted it was a business decision, which leads one to believe it was losing the company money.
This is just the latest piece of evidence that the Star Wars brand is in decline. One of the first pieces of evidence was the declining box office returns for Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy. The Force Awakens grossed $936.6 million at the domestic box office and another $1.1 billion at the international domestic box office for a global gross of $2.064 billion.
The Last Jedi’s domestic box office declined to $620.1 million domestically and $711.4 million internationally for a global gross of $1.3 billion. The Rise of Skywalker declined even further to $515.2 million domestically and $557.5 million internationally for a global gross of $1.072 billion.
Even worse Solo: A Star Wars Story was a box office failure given it only grossed $213.7 million domestically and $179.3 million internationally for a global gross of $393.1 million globally. The film had a production budget of $275 million.
More recently Andor creator Tony Gilroy admitted the series was chasing an audience. He told Variety, “I thought the show would go the other way, that we would have this gigantic, instantaneous audience that would just be everywhere, but that it would take forever for non-“Star Wars” people or critics or my cohort of friends to get involved in the show.”
“The opposite happened,” he added. “We ended up with all this critical praise, all this deep appreciation and understanding from really surprising number of sources, and we’re chasing the audience.”
To that point Andor didn’t even chart on Nielsen’s Top Overall Streaming Programs during its premiere week. It did manage to chart on Nielsen’s Top Original Streaming Programs in the 6th slot with a total of 624 million minutes.
The Mandalorian, Disney+’s flagship Star Wars series, also saw its worst rated episode debut during the most recent third season. “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire” featuring Jack Black and Lizzo received a 6.3 from IMDb users.
Not only did the third season receive the worst rated episode from IMDb users. It actually featured three of the show’s worst rated episodes. “Chapter 19: The Convert” received a 7.0. The season premiere “Chapter 17: The Apostate received a 7.4.”
What do you make of Disney shutting down Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser?
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