Disney wants more 'Star Wars' in its theme parks

Lear60man said:
Its a hotel....not a cruise ship, major difference. The mere fact that they are cancelling hotel...correction 'Departure dates' in the heat of summer traffic, is a very big tell. There are plenty of black out dates in the article referenced above, and thats not the only article that has caught on. The problem with this Starcruiser, is the lack of Star Wars. I want to visit Tatooine, not Batu or whatever they call it in Star Wars land these days. I had heard a rumor that every time Disney mentions or uses an original charachter, they have to pay royalties. Thus the lack of original characters, places etc.
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The "Starcruiser" is a hotel that's meant to simulate a cruise in space and everything about it, including the marketing, is meant to sell the idea that you're going on a space cruise, even if it's just a hotel.

As far as where you get to "go" and the lack of Star Wars, from what I've seen in videos, there's plenty of Star Wars in it, including "lightsaber training", a boarding by the 1st order, and so on. It may not be OT Star Wars, but there's definitely plenty of Star Wars theming and activities. In regards to destinations, that's just the limitation of the experience. There's no way that Disney can make it so that you can constantly visit different destinations without either holodeck technology or building a dedicated mini-theme park that's adjacent to the hotel that they can constantly redress to be a different planet every year or two. And they certainly can't do any better with a real cruise since real cruises are limited to actual locations on Earth and Disney would have to have their own private island or spot on an island to redress constantly to try to sell that you're visiting an alien planet and one that's conveniently located next to an ocean every time.

Personally, I think that the 2 largest problems with the "Starcruiser" are not the concept nor the setting. It's the price and lack of repeatability. A stay at this fake cruise will cost you the same as an actual 7 day real cruise but this one goes nowhere and it's only 2 nights and 1 day, not a very good value. Then to add to that, the experience, from what I understand, is mostly the same every time you go. There are things you can do differently and you can choose to change sides on a return trip, but the main plot points will remain the same as will the ending. To really make this work, Disney needs to lower the price, by a good amount to be more comparable to an actual cruise of similar length, and work on changing up the story every year or 2 (at the most) to draw repeat business.
 
Riceball said:
Then to add to that, the experience, from what I understand, is mostly the same every time you go.
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You've hit on one of my soap boxes. The concept of repeatability in immersive/interactive theater (which is what Starcruiser actually is -- a 2-day long show, thus the need for a bed) is a fascinating design challenge, that poses a few questions:

Should Starcruiser be repeatable?
Being necessarily (trust me) priced at an aspirational level, to what degree will guests want to view their once-in-a-lifetime trip as "definitive" and not merely one rotation on a spinning wheel of persistent narrative? Additionally, as was made clear in the design of Galaxy's Edge (the decisions for which made certain considerations for Starcruiser a moot point, as they are tethered to the same point on the timeline) the only way they would be able to nest themselves within the current "canon", as seen by the Lucasfilm story group, would be to have a Westworld-style daily reset that sees you visiting the land on the same fixed day every time you visit.

That was the tradeoff: if Imagineering wanted to build a systemic, ongoing, persistent narrative, you forfeit all of the cross-platform connectivity that (theoretically) comes with being an arm of the current canon. But if they wanted to depict sizeable, non-repeating events with galactic consequence in their attractions (the route they chose) they could inherit all of those benefits.

How repeatable is Starcruiser in its current form, right now?
Obviously this is a matter of personal priority, and multiple factors can contribute to how you might estimate levels of repeatability. The example you gave ("it ends the same way every time") is a plot-based value. If that's you're only metric, and your main interest in participating in this type of experience is to affect a binary plot outcome, then the answer is "not at all." But for my money (literally, I've done Starcruiser twice) there's a foundational component to the structure of the experience that lends toward repeatability:

This is a Broadway-caliber show that lasts 2 days, but it isn't structured to be experienced like a traditional show, or even a traditional "immersive" theatre production. Rather than thinking of it as a linear story or even a branching video game (or choose-your-own-adventure) narrative, it's shaped more like a cluster of story "nodes". Think of it like a cloud of character invitations and opportunities. The branches of this tree are fixed, yes (the story is considered a canon story) but the way in which you choose to climb that tree, which branches you hop to and from, and in what order, will completely redefine how you interpret the shared events happening all around you.

There are many rooms on this ship. Scenes are happening in those rooms simultaneously throughout your voyage. Which characters you choose to follow, which invitations you choose to respond to or reject, will determine which pieces of this massive story puzzle you have. Like the best real-world interactive experiences, the audience is not being told a story, they're assembling a story to tell to each other. Comparing notes and forging bonds with your fellow passengers is part of the unique appeal only something like this can enable.

That level of simultaneity affords a lot of repeatability, by my estimation. It's like a faceted jewel, and you can look at it from a different angle each time and see unique refractions. Is it infinitely repeatable? For a few, it will be. (Like folks who have seen Macbeth 100 times.) Certainly not as infinitely repeatable as a more systemic, open-ended, "emergent" structure would afford, but that would come with an experiential cost that I think few would be willing to pay for. The types of stories you can tell in a structure like that are artificially limited. The structure they have now allows them to tell a canonical tale, with a whole lot of Star Wars depths within the various nooks and crannies of its clustered story space.

It's the type of experience I've been wanting to exist for years, and I sincerely can't believe they were able to get the green light. It's a miracle of a place, and I can't wait to see what other kinds of experiences it inspires.
 
I'm not surprised that interest has waned. Most complained about the cost versus what you get. Star Wars fans come in all types and this cruise is for a select type of SW fan.

TazMan2000
 
It's a cruise. Twice a week for a three-night cruise ain't bad turnaround. I'd have to check current prices, but it's comparable or cheaper than an actual cruise on water, I believe. Less maintenance to the ship in that caustic marine environment. It helps to think of it as a cruise, because that's how it's presented and packaged. The savings in not being on water or going to space are made up for in simulating said experience. Not everyone goes on cruises. Not everyone wants to or can afford to. This will always be quasi-niche, even with the Star Wars draw. Same as the other Disney Cruises.
 
I've considered going. The price is not really the main deterrent for me: it's not really more expensive than any other Disney trip when you take all into account. For me there's really 2 problems with it:

1) my vacations have to take into account that I'm married. I don't normally vacation without my wife and this would be a waste of time and money for her. She like Star Wars OK, but she'd never dress and and play pretend for something like this so it would be nothing more than a weird two day show for her. I could go if I went with a friend.

But..

2) Batuu gives me ZERO (0) confidence in Disney's ability to build an immersive experience.

Compare with Dragon Alley: I could probably spend most of the day just in the Diagon Alley/Hogsmeade section of the park and still have fun. There's the rides and shows..OK that's an hour or two...then the restaurants, another hour...but also easily an hour or two of just walking around and "being" there. Disney got the rides mostly right, I dont even know if the shows count as shows...mostly just some character walking around with crap dialogue. The bars and restaurants are disappointing at best, and the immersion is non existent. It's built for "normies". You can go...see some neat spaceships, buy some toys, ride some decent rides, and that's pretty much it. I spent an hour or so wandering around and got bored stiff.

So I just don't feel like they are capable of taking me on a two day journey...I think at best they would be able to give me a two day "show" and that has no appeal for me.

The worst part is that the only way to really find out is to go and that's where the price becomes high:that's NOT too much to pay for a real immersive experience, but it's WAY to high to pay just to find out if I was right and that it's really as lackluster as it appears from the outside.
 
Inquisitor Peregrinus said:
It's a cruise. Twice a week for a three-night cruise ain't bad turnaround. I'd have to check current prices, but it's comparable or cheaper than an actual cruise on water, I believe. Less maintenance to the ship in that caustic marine environment. It helps to think of it as a cruise, because that's how it's presented and packaged. The savings in not being on water or going to space are made up for in simulating said experience. Not everyone goes on cruises. Not everyone wants to or can afford to. This will always be quasi-niche, even with the Star Wars draw. Same as the other Disney Cruises.
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I've checked cruise prices awhile back when this was new and it's much cheaper to go on an actual cruise, even a 5 day cruise was cheaper. And this "cruise" isn't 3 nights, it's only 2 nights and 1 full day. Check-in on the first day is late in the afternoon and check-out is during the morning on the 3rd day. About the only savings you're getting from this fake cruise is that there are no excursions to pay for and possibly no tip as well. But overall, I feel that a real cruise is not only cheaper, but a better deal overall even if you do end up paying for an excursion or two. Even if I end up paying more for a cruise, at least I went somewhere real for my money. And that's my biggest complaint about this experience, it's too damned expensive for what you're getting and for the length of stay. TLDR, great idea, way too expensive.
 
Of course there are cheaper cruises. I can do a 5 day Carnival Cruise to Mexico way cheaper than this. Comparing a "real cruise" to this isn't really apt, though because you wouldn't get the Star Wars aspect and that's really the whole point. You're paying a premium because of the Star Wars label and yes because Disney. At the end of the day you're either ok with that or you're not.
 
JoeG said:
Of course there are cheaper cruises. I can do a 5 day Carnival Cruise to Mexico way cheaper than this. Comparing a "real cruise" to this isn't really apt, though because you wouldn't get the Star Wars aspect and that's really the whole point. You're paying a premium because of the Star Wars label and yes because Disney. At the end of the day you're either ok with that or you're not.
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You're paying a big premium for the Star Wars theming. And if you really wanted that theming, you could book a Disney Cruise with similar theming, although lacking the immersion. But you'd be paying about the same or less for a longer trip and actually go somewhere for real. And as someone who doesn't have a huge amount of disposable income, I know where I'm going to spend my hard earned money, and it's not going to be a fake cruise. I'd much rather spend my money on a real cruise, and this is coming from someone who's a bit Star Wars fan. Now if you reduced the price by at least 1/4 - 1/3 the price, if not more, then it becomes both a better proposition and deal.
 
Perhaps Disney should purchase the Total Recall franchise (if you can call it that) and invent a machine to convince your brain that you've actually went to space, became whatever SW character you wanted to be, and that it was actually worth it.

TazMan2000
 
AJTaliesen said:
2) Batuu gives me ZERO (0) confidence in Disney's ability to build an immersive experience.
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Yeah, they try to keep you busy by sending you on "missions" that are just a digital treasure hunt. Walk around and point your phone at things like you're using a tricorder. Does nothing for me. And I'm pretty sure executing them has no effect on your experience back on the ship, apart from being able to tell your contact "hey, psst psst, I did the thing."
 
Treadwell said:
Yeah, they try to keep you busy by sending you on "missions" that are just a digital treasure hunt. Walk around and point your phone at things like you're using a tricorder. Does nothing for me. And I'm pretty sure executing them has no effect on your experience back on the ship, apart from being able to tell your contact "hey, psst psst, I did the thing."
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They have a huge effect. Which Batuu missions you choose to complete determines which sub-finale invitations you receive.
 
AJTaliesen said:
I've considered going. The price is not really the main deterrent for me: it's not really more expensive than any other Disney trip when you take all into account. For me there's really 2 problems with it:

1) my vacations have to take into account that I'm married. I don't normally vacation without my wife and this would be a waste of time and money for her. She like Star Wars OK, but she'd never dress and and play pretend for something like this so it would be nothing more than a weird two day show for her. I could go if I went with a friend.
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This was exactly my issue. My wife could never get totally into it which would take me out of the story. So I’m going with my brother in July. Splitting the cost makes it more manageable.
 
You know what Star Wars fans would probably really want, more than this? Perhaps the Bespin environment, where your hotel room looks at over the bustling Cloud City. At a certain point(s), Boba Fett walks by on the catwalk above with Han in carbonite. Perhaps a bird's eye view of Vader and Luke fighting a more elaborate dual in the carbon freeze chamber. Or the moment when Vader reveals the truth to Luke about his lneage.
 
I think the basic theory is kind of cool, but how they implemented the idea was flawed. This really should have been thought out more wisely. A shame all the money spent on this is basically wasted, where it could have been spent on another idea that had a better chance of long term success.

TazMan2000
 
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