Walt Disney World made headlines last year when it closed its much-publicized Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel. Operating for only just over a year, the ultra-immersive hotel’s operation costs proved to outweigh its revenue. With only 100 available rooms priced at $5000 per day, most fans were unable to justify its exorbitant price, and Disney had calculated that even if the venture had been much more successful, it still would most likely not be sustainable.
I came up in my career in theme parks with one of the hotel’s masterminds. He’s one of those people with vision from day one, 35 years ago when we met, and since. He’s a unique talent with a gift for marrying experience and technology. I know from an artistic standpoint the project was so well and carefully designed. And the concept was bold, but it also felt very ambitious as a set of illusions and expectations to maintain day to day. And certainly, from the beginning the math of this hotel seemed impossible. I think there might have been a sense that it could be an event destination—weddings, reunions, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. But the finances of once-in-a-lifetime can be hard to pull off, especially with the costs required to support all the immersion this property was trying to provide.
To me it was a miracle it even got to happen, and it’s definitely one for the design books for its ahead-of-its-time aspirations. I do believe that attractions much like this will succeed in the future. But not yet. It’s quite common in theme park design to blaze trails, sometimes prematurely, just not usually to this scale. Because the team behind Galactic Starcruiser had such a proven track record, I’m sure it helped give it a chance.
On a small scale, in my work experience, I got to do things that later caught on, like 3D filmed attractions in the ‘80s. And I did things that didn’t catch on, like smell-o-vision (don’t ask). I got to use a lot of technology that seems standard now but was miraculous (and finicky) at the time. Developing—and building—place-based entertainment happens on the frontier.
If you’re really curious about the details of Galactic Starcruiser, there are some videos online talking to the designers, but there is also video of one guest’s incredibly candid assessment. It’s a four hour deep-dive into the rise and fall of the hotel that has gone viral online. Created by YouTuber Jenny Nicholson, “The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel” gives a firsthand account of her one-night stay in the hotel, giving an intimate look at the immersive experience she received for $6000. My colleague at SVC summed it up in a few words, suggesting that perhaps Galactic Starcruiser flew too close to Tattooine’s two suns. If you want four hours of detail about why, Nicholson’s video is for you.
