DISNEY launched an immersive Star Wars vacation experience that took guests on a two-night $20,000 “space trip” in 2022.
But just eighteen months later, the $300 million “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser” was cut.
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Found at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, the ‘Star Wars Hotel’ was actually a landlocked spaceship-style boat.
Passengers were taken on a two-day, two-night experience designed to feel like they were traveling through space.
The “Halcyon” was Disney’s most ambitious attempt at a themed, immersive experience.
But it didn’t come cheap, with prices ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.
After closed, Forbes dubbed the project “a $300 million write-off.”
Although the hotel came and went quickly, its story is now going viral following a four-hour documentary produced by YouTuber Jenny Nicholson.
She details her stay – paying more than $6,000 for two nights – in 20 video chapters.
She calculated that the cost of her stay ended up being $2 per person, per minute.
And throughout the massive video, she concludes that it wasn’t worth the money.
Entitled “Spectacular failure of the Star Wars Hotel” – the video was viewed more than 4.6 million times until publication.
Jenny said: “I was continually frustrated the entire time I was there and left extremely disappointed with our particular experience.”
Star Wars fans were treated to an itinerary packed with curated activities scheduled almost to the minute, according to a former guest.
The intention was to make people feel like they were living in the world of Star Wars.
Guests were taken off the ship only once, to visit the Star Wars section of the Hollywood Studious theme park in Orlando.
Everyone dressed up as someone from the infamous film franchise and acted like them throughout their stay – surrounded by actors on the other side of the ship.
Photographs aboard the Galactic Starcruiser show the deck design of a spacecraft with guests gathered around control panels.
The rooms were designed as futuristic capsules, with bunk beds and windows facing the space.
Passengers had the opportunity to learn the “ancient art of wielding a lightsaber” in a special lightsaber training pod.
Guests were also served “galactic-inspired” food.
And an SK-620 model was on hand to greet guests while paratroopers patrolled the ship.
It was the first of its kind when it came to Disney’s immersive experiences, miles ahead of other theme parks in its commitment to the area.
But the bold project did not last two years.
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In May 2023, Walt Disney announced that the attraction would be closed until September.
Despite the exorbitant prices, the Star Wars experience was not complete.
Beers were $13, cocktails were $23, and an official Star Wars-themed photo was a whopping $99. New York Times reported.
In January, a few months before its closure was announced, Disney said it was offering discounts of up to $700 to members.
They told travel agents: “When the travel calendar is live, you may notice that the schedule has been modified to offer two trips per week, except for holiday weeks where we may have three trips.
“We learned a lot during our first year of operation and have adjusted travel dates to meet the needs of our guests.”
In May 2022, just a few months after the launch, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek told Forbes that guest interest in the hotel was “phenomenal.”
He boasted that the reviews were “incredibly high,” but later that year Disney was offering discounts of between 30 and 50 percent.
An ad, shared on YouTube and Twitter, was deleted by the company after negative comments arrived.
Someone wrote: “The ‘lightsaber training’ sounds about as exciting as a road sobriety test.”
Another added: “It’s too expensive.”
A dismissive review in the San Francisco Chronicle reviewer described the rooms as a “suburban high school built in the mid-1970s.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
