A new four-hour video deconstructs everything that made Disney’s Star Wars hotel a flop, from the cost to the half-brained story.
In March 2022, Star Wars fans could have the experience of a lifetime by spending two days in a hotel, fully immersing themselves in an experience that had a set itinerary intended to put you directly in a galaxy far, far away. And then the entire thing exploded faster than the Death Star, with Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser closing the following September.
In an exhaustive four-hour video titled “The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel”, YouTuber Jenny Nicholson breaks down everything that went wrong with Galactic Starcruiser, hitting on every aspect you’d want to learn about the worst qualities of: the small rooms that made you sign into a Disney account, the characters with confusing arcs, the limited custom journey, and the cost, which for Nicholson and her friend exceeded $6,000.
Nicholson also pointed out that the micromanaged schedule – which offered, by her estimate, 25 hours of actual “entertainment” – had a lot of kinks to work out, as events would sometimes overlap with each other, not allowing her to fully experience what there was to offer…or at least was advertised as being offered. One notable feature was the use of an app, in which you could further communicate with Star Wars characters you met in the hotel. The app would provide data to let you know your relationship status, but, as Nicholson points out, despite her best efforts, most of her outcome was “neutral” and so felt like she wasn’t even participating. Added to this that it often appeared that certain decisions in your individual storyline didn’t matter and the “custom” aspect of the experience was clearly lacking.
While Nicholson does praise a number of elements in the Star Wars hotel such as the character designs, the advanced technology and the usage of live actors, there was evidently a lot of cutting in terms of cost and creativity. The vast majority of us never got to experience Galactic Starcruiser, but if this video is any indication, we just saved ourselves a weekend…and thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, Disney wasted, on the low end, $350 million.
Did the Star Wars hotel experience look promising to you? Would you ever support a fully immersive experience on this scale? Give us your thoughts below.