Some Fans Roasted The Closing Of Disney’s Star Wars Hotel, But Some Were Just Sad

Yesterday was a pretty big day for Disney World-related news. At almost the same time it was announced that Walt Disney Imagineering would not be moving to Florida as previously planned, it was revealed that one of the most ambitious projects in the history of WDI, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, would be closing down in September.

The Galactic Starcruiser was an incredibly divisive topic from its early inception. It was a multi-day Star Wars experience that had a pretty hefty price tag. Many were interested or intrigued by the idea, but it was felt by a lot of people that the high price tag would keep many interested fans out. As one might expect, the closing of Starcruiser has led to some equally strong feelings.

Many Felt Galactic Starcruiser’s Failure Was Inevitable

A lot of people felt that the high price tag for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was ultimately going to doom the project. While many Star Wars fans would certainly go, it was felt that the audience of Star Wars fans able to afford it was not big enough to sustain the experience, and those people are certainly vindicated.

While Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser sold out months in advance when reservations first opened, once that initial influx was worked through reservations became much easier to get, assuming you could afford the price. While the people who experienced the Galactic Starcruiser almost universally loved it, there were a lot of people who would have gone but felt it was out of reach.

Considering that the Galactic Starcruiser wasn’t actually a massive hotel, and had a fairly limited number of rooms, the number of people who could actually pay to go on a two-night “voyage” at any one time was limited, and with all the amenities that were offered, including paying Cast Members to play characters in Star Wars story, it seems likely that cutting the price simply wasn’t an option, but then that was sort of the problem.

While Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is far from the only high profile flop in the history of Disney Parks, it could be the biggest. Certainly the Starcruiser was never cheap to operate, and in the barely two years it will have run, it’s unclear if the thing has paid for itself. 

Many Fans Saw The End Of Galactic Starcruiser As A Great Loss For Cast Members And Themed Entertainment

And while there is plenty to laugh about when it comes to what can be seen as an obviously bad idea by many, there is reason to be sad as well. While not everybody had the chance to experience it, those that did almost always had wonderful things to say about it. Starcruiser was a success as far as being what it wanted to be.

And a lot of that success can be attributed to the Cast Members who worked in the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. While Disney has said it will do its best to move the people who worked the Starcruiser to other locations at Walt Disney World, it’s possible that some may end up out of a job, especially considering that Disney is currently going through layoffs. 

The other great loss that comes with the end of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is a creative one. Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was quite simply something that we’d never seen in themed entertainment. It was an entirely new idea and what the Imagineers did was incredible. Losing that sucks, and the failure likely means that we won’t see anything quite like it for a long time, if ever.  

Maybe Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was an idea that was destined to fail. Having a laugh at the expense of the massive company is fine, but there are also reasons to be legitimately upset that the long shot didn’t pay off.