Is Disney's New 'Star Wars'-Inspired Hotel Turning Into A Flop?

[MouseEarsMom33]

They also say genie plus is going well. What do you think they are going to say? It was a terrible idea and is underperforming our expectations? Everyone would be fired if they told the truth.

I've been to Disney with Fastpass+. That is something I am used to and without it, I would not like the standby only lines. Therefore, I am likely going to purchase Genie+ for most of my trip days going forward. I do think they can make changes to make the experience better though.
I'm not sure Genie+ is impacting other revenue streams at the parks. Again, it goes back to my past experience and wanting to match that or make it better. If I want to pay for the convenience of Genie+ to make my day better, I am not likely going to cut my dining experiences, hotels, etc. Maybe it would be different for locals. But at the end of the day, I am going to pay more for the experience I want, which may mean saving longer.

I don't see how Genie+ is not a success for Disney. If anything, there is too much demand.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

i doubt it is/ is going to be a failure, they may have to drop the price once the initial wave of "must do's" clears out, but I would assume they're making a pretty hefty margin per guest on this one either way

I think especially on these boards a lot of people seem to be hoping and praying that Disney misses on some of these projects, whether to promote moving on from Chaepek, or losing popularity so the parks become more manageable (a return to the good ole days). The problem is, Disney doesn't typically lose on their projects, a vast vast majority are super successful, even if the hardcore fans refuse to see it that way, success isn't in the eye of the beholder in business no matter how much you personally don't like what they've done

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I don't think it's a flop, but I just think it's not doing as well as it could be, and I would not be surprised to see the experience altered in the next year or two.

Of course it will change. Any new product evolves. No one is ever going to get a completely new thing 100% the first time around.

I think especially on these boards a lot of people seem to be hoping and praying that Disney misses on some of these projects, whether to promote moving on from Chaepek, or losing popularity so the parks become more manageable (a return to the good ole days). The problem is, Disney doesn't typically lose on their projects, a vast vast majority are super successful, even if the hardcore fans refuse to see it that way, success isn't in the eye of the beholder in business no matter how much you personally don't like what they've done

People on here I think tend to see things in absolute. it's either completely perfect, or it's a flop. They miss that Disney is a bit smarter than that. They are not new to the business. They KNOW things will not be perfect the first go. They expect to tweak, play, trip, pick themselves up, evaluate what went wrong, tweak some more, etc. When they budget for this kind of thing, they budget it to not be profitable immediately and they budget for changes and tweaks. It's the name of the game and they know that. Fans do not seem to grasp that though.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

People on here I think tend to see things in absolute. it's either completely perfect, or it's a flop. They miss that Disney is a bit smarter than that. They are not new to the business. They KNOW things will not be perfect the first go. They expect to tweak, play, trip, pick themselves up, evaluate what went wrong, tweak some more, etc. When they budget for this kind of thing, they budget it to not be profitable immediately and they budget for changes and tweaks. It's the name of the game and they know that. Fans do not seem to grasp that though

I won't begin to guess at Disneys thought process on any project, but what i will say is that the literal years of planning Disney puts into any project before even announcing it to the public far outweighs a bunch of talking heads on these boards, who seem to have an axe to grind with Disney for whatever reason.

Personally there are a lot of things at Disney that i selfishly wish would change, but that is completely different from asserting my personal wish list onto Disney, and when they don't meet my demands i just bash whatever they've done as a failure. It's ok to be let down by a company for making a maneuver that would hurt you personally as a consumer, that doesn't mean the company made the wrong maneuver.

 

[Lewisc]

We have no idea what % of the experience is booked for any voyage. Some posters think its a failure if it doesn't sell out almost immediately after a new group of voyages is released. The opposite. A quick sell out suggests its underpriced.

It wouldnt work as a regular hotel. Small rooms. No pool. No outside area. Not enough rooms. Fixed costs and staffing suggests high rates
The list goes on

Repeat guests might want a different experience. I can envision a new experience based on the Mandalorium time line and characters.

What about selling a buyout. Business groups etc.

Could we see a one night dinner package? Check in at 4. Dinner with an experience or show. Breakfast the next morning. Out by 9a or so. Makes more sense then converting it to a regular hotel

 

[john7994]

I disagree on two points. I do not think it has revisits value at this particular price point.

I would say less than 5% revisits.

Unfortunaly , as a SW fan. I think we are seeing the end of the fandom. Right now, the only new fans rabid enough to match the older fans, are the children of older fans…so that does not count toward increasing guests….

Star Wars fandom is dying my friend, their light is all but extinguished in the universe.

Kids are just not interested in it anymore outside memes …..again, unless their parents were.

I think it will be viewed a bit like cowboys and indians in about 10 years, maybe Howdy Dudy..

Hrmmm ... they probably said that about a plucky little mouse 90 years ago too ... oh snap!
I think if any entity has proven how to monetize IP over multiple generations - its Disney.

 

[gorkt]

I like the dinner party or one night experience idea.

 

[CmdrThor]

I like the dinner party or one night experience idea.

Are people going to pay $750 per person for one night though? Not to mention you'd only get 21 hours tops. 2 nights is the sweet spot for managing overhead vs the total price getting too high.

 

[Tasmen]

Of course it will change. Any new product evolves. No one is ever going to get a completely new thing 100% the first time around.



People on here I think tend to see things in absolute. it's either completely perfect, or it's a flop. They miss that Disney is a bit smarter than that. They are not new to the business. They KNOW things will not be perfect the first go. They expect to tweak, play, trip, pick themselves up, evaluate what went wrong, tweak some more, etc. When they budget for this kind of thing, they budget it to not be profitable immediately and they budget for changes and tweaks. It's the name of the game and they know that. Fans do not seem to grasp that though.

So much this. Something I think people on these boards forget is that there are far more people that go to Disney than there are on boards like this. Most people don't huff the Disney pipe like a lot of us do (I am including myself in that group of huffing huffers). They may go once or twice in a lifetime. As much as we may not like some of the things that Disney puts out, there is a huge number that may find it awesome.

On that note, I would hardly call the Starcruiser a 'flop' at this point. It's too soon after opening. Yes, there have been negative reviews and I am not going to discount their experiences, but most of what I've seen is positive (even excluding the paid bloggers).

I expect more iterations on the experience to come much as Disney iterated on their themed cruises. When we did the first Star Wars at Sea cruise, there were quite a few things they didn't quite nail. The next time we went, they had addressed all that and then some. They do listen to feedback and do adjust.

 

[OppR2nist]

Here's the definitive answer:

https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/06/10/disney-worlds-star-wars-hotel-is-not-a-flop/

TL;DR - That would be a NO.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

When we did the first Star Wars at Sea cruise, there were quite a few things they didn't quite nail. The next time we went, they had addressed all that and then some.

Good comparison. That brings back some (shuddering) memories. But they did make it much better given time.

 

[PaulaSB12]

If the hotel is not a flop why the focus groups to find ou5 why it’s a flop
https://winteriscoming.net/2022/06/10/heres-why-the-star-wars-hotel-was-a-flop-for-disney/

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

If the hotel is not a flop why the focus groups to find ou5 why it’s a flop
https://winteriscoming.net/2022/06/10/heres-why-the-star-wars-hotel-was-a-flop-for-Disneys/

Figuring out where the bugs are and being a flop are two different things. I highly doubt Disney is looking into repeat customers for that experience, so maybe just maybe they are trying to see what people liked, and didn’t like so that they can make changes to make new guests even happier with the experience. I don’t know when it started, but every time a survey is put out, people assume that it means a business is doing poorly, when in reality that is a good business practice to help find out what you’re doing wrong, but also what works.

By the way, when an article starts off with a sentence like “Now, it appears Disney is looking to expand the idea…or maybe figure out where the first iteration went wrong”, it doesn’t exactly spell out journalistic excellence, more like an opinion piece at best, or a hit piece at worse

 

[DisneyMama811]

They also say genie plus is going well. What do you think they are going to say? It was a terrible idea and is underperforming our expectations? Everyone would be fired if they told the truth.

exactly this... Disney would never admit something is a terrible idea (looking at you Genie+) I'm not saying Starcruiser is/was a bad idea, I don't know nearly enough to form an opinion on it, just saying that you can't base whether or not something is going well on whether or not Disney themselves says it is...even if it was a dismal failure, they'd find a way to put a positive spin on that in the media.

 

[New Mouse]

exactly this... Disney would never admit something is a terrible idea (looking at you Genie+) I'm not saying Starcruiser is/was a bad idea, I don't know nearly enough to form an opinion on it, just saying that you can't base whether or not something is going well on whether or not Disney themselves says it is...even if it was a dismal failure, they'd find a way to put a positive spin on that in the media.

Stitches great escape thrilled millions of guests for years leaving them loveable memories for their families until it closed and was replaced with nothing.


Yeah Disney's not gonna say star wars is a failure even if it crashed into the ground like the death star.

 

[lugnut33]

From a company perspective G+ is a huge success. Everyone needs to buy it no matter how well it does or doesn't work.

As for the Star Wars Hotel, I only hope the best for it. I want it to succeed because of the crew of the Halcyon has put in so much work.

 

[DodgerGirl]

What's shocking about the Galactic Starcruiser is as I mentioned on my previous post is that Disney hasn't had any commercials advertising it at all whatsoever and Disney should start promoting it a lot more and by having more commercials it would gain more people to plan their trips. I think what Disney did was rush the construction so that it would be fully open for Spring Break instead of working out possible problems. But I can tell you once 2023 starts they will begin lowering prices for the Galactic Starcruiser and beginning in November through December Disney will offer special holiday packages with the hotel and it will gain more attention. But I will bet that they will try to turn it into a regular Star Wars resort as I have been saying all along or turn it into a Marvel experience someday. Because as we saw with Disney Institute some of Disney's resort plans are successful while some ideas are not up to par

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

What's shocking about the Galactic Starcruiser is as I mentioned on my previous post is that Disney hasn't had any commercials advertising it at all whatsoever and Disney should start promoting it a lot more and by having more commercials it would gain more people to plan their trips. I think what Disney did was rush the construction so that it would be fully open for Spring Break instead of working out possible problems. But I can tell you once 2023 starts they will begin lowering prices for the Galactic Starcruiser and beginning in November through December Disney will offer special holiday packages with the hotel and it will gain more attention. But I will bet that they will try to turn it into a regular Star Wars resort as I have been saying all along or turn it into a Marvel experience someday. Because as we saw with Disney Institute some of Disney's resort plans are successful while some ideas are not up to par

Can I ask what you are basing your assertions on. You make it sound like Disney needs to advertise it currently, but based on their bookings that would seem to be furthest from the truth. No company runs a marketing campaign for a product that is doing well, it you already can't keep "inventory" on the shelf, why would you need/ want to advertise it above and beyond. At this point in time I can't imagine Disney is even thinking about a retheme/ relaunch, i could see them changing things up to realign themselves with their customers as time progresses, which is a pretty standard business practice.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

exactly this... Disney would never admit something is a terrible idea (looking at you Genie+) I'm not saying Starcruiser is/was a bad idea, I don't know nearly enough to form an opinion on it, just saying that you can't base whether or not something is going well on whether or not Disney themselves says it is...even if it was a dismal failure, they'd find a way to put a positive spin on that in the media.

i think most every company does that, it's damage control. Defining what you think is a failure is the variable that matters in this case. For instance, people dislike Genie+, but people keep purchasing Genie+, so is it really a failure on the business, or do people consider it a failure because they don't like it. Also are the people complaining in the majority of park guests or the minority?

 

[Suz333]

We saw Lightyear today, and there was an ad for the Galactic Starcruiser. It did seem thematically consistent!