At Disney World's Star Wars-Themed Hotel, a Weekend for Two Costs $4,800 (sfgate.com) 91
"If you've ever dreamed of living 'a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,' now is your chance — as long as you've got a spare four to six thousand dollars sitting around," writes SFGate:
This week, Walt Disney World announced more details about its new Galactic Starcruiser hotel opening in the spring, an immersive, two-day "Star Wars" experience that evokes the feeling of being in the movies. The tech will be more advanced than any other Disney experience, including Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland and the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge lands... "Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is a revolutionary new 2-night experience where you are the hero," according to Walt Disney World's website. "You and your group will embark on a first-of-its-kind Star Wars adventure that's your own. It's the most immersive Star Wars story ever created — one where you live a bespoke experience and journey further into a Star Wars adventure than you ever dreamed possible."
There are lightsaber experiences, interstellar entertainment, characters hanging around and an overall feeling that you're closer to being in Star Wars than you've ever been in your life. The idea is that you're staying on a luxury space cruise, so immersive that the hotel's windows look out into "space" and you never leave the property unless it's to "board a transport" to Batuu, the land where Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge takes place. Admission to Hollywood Studios is included in the price, as is all of your food and non-alcoholic beverages. But really, for $4,809 for two nights' accommodations for two guests in a studio, they could throw in a space beer or two...
But then again, for some Star Wars fans, you can't put a price on total immersion in the fandom, from cast members acting as though they're really intergalactic travelers to the ability to make infinite Wookee jokes free from the harsh judgements of people who wouldn't spend $4,000 to sleep in a "spaceship."
There are lightsaber experiences, interstellar entertainment, characters hanging around and an overall feeling that you're closer to being in Star Wars than you've ever been in your life. The idea is that you're staying on a luxury space cruise, so immersive that the hotel's windows look out into "space" and you never leave the property unless it's to "board a transport" to Batuu, the land where Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge takes place. Admission to Hollywood Studios is included in the price, as is all of your food and non-alcoholic beverages. But really, for $4,809 for two nights' accommodations for two guests in a studio, they could throw in a space beer or two...
But then again, for some Star Wars fans, you can't put a price on total immersion in the fandom, from cast members acting as though they're really intergalactic travelers to the ability to make infinite Wookee jokes free from the harsh judgements of people who wouldn't spend $4,000 to sleep in a "spaceship."
"Let it die. Kill it if you have to." (Score:4, Insightful)
It just needs to do the Marvel thing (Score:3)
The real problem with the prequels was 2 fold:
1. Rey needed to be the ultimate Mary Sue so that she could be slotted into the Disney Princess brand. That's why you got dumb crap like her going toe to toe with a Sith apprentice in Force Awakens.
2. The writers couldn't figure out what to do with Luke and how to pass the torch. They needed him in the movie for the fans but needed him out of the way so they could write new stories since
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Re:It just needs to do the Marvel thing (Score:4, Insightful)
1. Rey needed to be the ultimate Mary Sue so that she could be slotted into the Disney Princess brand. That's why you got dumb crap like her going toe to toe with a Sith apprentice in Force Awakens.
There's a guy on Youtube, his channel is called "The Critical Drinker". He gives some pretty good reviews, throws some strange humor in there, but is entertaining in his own right., but especially in relation to Rey and Luke, he "fixes" the movies/characters. Here's fixing Rei: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] And as they say, he's on fleek
It's a pity that an outfit like Disney has lost the art of storytelling, and can no longer do character development that .leaves fans actually caring about the stars. See the live action reboot of Mulan, where the men are all stupid, and the heroine's only flaw is that she doesn't use her superhuman powers enough. No character arc.
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It has changed (Score:5, Insightful)
Like Dr, Who, Star Wars needs to dramatically change stewardship
In real terms it has changed. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni effectively control Star Wars now, after the Mandalorian was a more powerful Star Wars property than the new sequel movies.
As a result they are way more in control of future story direction...
With Favreau and Filoni in charge, I am pretty optimistic about the future results for Star Wars movies and TV shows.
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In real terms it has changed. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni effectively control Star Wars now, after the Mandalorian was a more powerful Star Wars property than the new sequel movies.
As a result they are way more in control of future story direction...
Has it though? Kathleen Kennedy still works there. And outranks both of those guys. Twice. Once by Disney title and once by Woke Points. Unless and until her contract isn't renewed, I'll take any claims of Favreau/Filoni supremacy as wishful thinking.
Disney may be the first in Hollywood to quietly ditch all attempts at currying Woke Points because the mouse famously likes money ($4800 for 2 days of LARPing anyone?), but it hasn't happened yet.
Re: "Let it die. Kill it if you have to." (Score:3)
Star wars (Score:5, Insightful)
There are a few cheaper rooms (Score:2)
Disney doesn't advertise this, but there are a few less expensive rooms which will still give you a similarly immersive experience. Only $1800 will let you enjoy an entire weekend where you'll swear you've been stuffed inside a dead Tauntaun!
Re:There are a few cheaper rooms (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:There are a few cheaper rooms (Score:4, Funny)
You walk in past the dumpsters at the back entrance. When you get to your room there's a specially prepared bin full of dead fish that's been left to rot for a week and you exclaim, "I thought these things smelled bad... gack.. on the outside".
Star Wars Themed (Score:2)
So, an Imperial Prison cell?
Good advertisement with links to purchase (Score:2)
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Given that people seem to regularly pay $3000 for a weekend to dumb their brats for a weekend at the park,
Is that some weird slang for cooking sausages? Or... something else sausage-like?
Demand (Score:4, Interesting)
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I think it's also fair to consider that this is, most likely, a test. Disney is trying to reinvent all inclusive vacations. If this does well, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they open several more larger, more elaborate hotels with lower price points that are targeted at more middle class families. They know they have the demand to, at the very least, break even on this property, so this serves as a test of demand, and even if it "fails", they'll just reboot it into a normal, boutique hotel.
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Re:Demand (Score:4, Insightful)
If you can afford to (Score:2)
drop this much money on such schlock, President Biden believes you can afford to pay your fair share in taxes so that working families with children can also enjoy a schlock-based vacation?
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Annual passes also run over a thousand dollars
Compared to other leisure activities, an annual pass to Disney is about the same or a bit cheaper. The most expensive cable TV offering by Spectrum in my neck of the woods runs $1,679.76/yr, and that's the introductory rate. That's over a grand and a half just to sit at home and watch whatever lousy crap they show on cable (who even still does that?). Go out drinking every weekend? You'll easily blow thousands [huffpost.com], annually. A membership at a snooty country club can easily run over a grand, per month.
This,
It sounds pretty cool (Score:3)
But I'll wait until the price hits around what the same time in Animal Kingdom costs.
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. . . That this is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of, except then I remembered that universal studios has the Harry Potter equivalent.
It's for kids. When you're an adult, the reasons to go to a theme park are to eat the food (which at Disney can actually be quite good), go on the rides (which vary from mildly thrilling to somewhat relaxing), see the shows, and in the case of Animal Kingdom - watch animals do animal things. The play pretend that you're inside a movie attractions are for kids who still believe it's magic, not projectors, LCD screens, and animatronics.
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. . . That this is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of, except then I remembered that universal studios has the Harry Potter equivalent.
It's for kids. When you're an adult, the reasons to go to a theme park are to eat the food (which at Disney can actually be quite good), go on the rides (which vary from mildly thrilling to somewhat relaxing), see the shows, and in the case of Animal Kingdom - watch animals do animal things. The play pretend that you're inside a movie attractions are for kids who still believe it's magic, not projectors, LCD screens, and animatronics.
You forgot about drinking at each country in Epcot.
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Yeah the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot is terrific, and Mission Space is the best attraction there.
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Bill's Jupiter 2 (Score:2)
We'll see how it does, financially .... (Score:4, Interesting)
I think Disney keeps trying to push, to find out what the maximum amount of money is they can extract from people in the name of entertainment.
I used to be a huge Star Wars fan, but most of that is because I remember what a profound impact it had on me as a kid in the 1970's. It's essentially what introduced me to the science-fiction genre of movies (because yeah, movies like "Close Encounters" existed too -- but they weren't quite the right formula to excite and suck in a kid looking for a high action film). The fact they coupled it with so many excellent toys from Kenner ensured that long after watching the movies, I could still play Star Wars with my best friends (who also owned a big collection of the action figures and toys).
What I don't quite get is why so many adults apparently never outgrow that phase of life, though, and move on? I can understand how someone who never saw the Star Wars movies until recently, as an adult, would finally see the "magic" of them and perhaps want to do a Star Wars themed vacation trip. But I think a whole lot of us around my age just feel like we've "been there, done that" with the whole thing at this point? The original actors in the Star Wars movies are old and dying off, and the current material feels like Disney just setting up "reboots" to tell the tale to a new generation of kids, with a younger set of actor/actress heroes for them to relate to. IMO - that's fine and the obvious thing a movie studio would do when they own rights to that material. But most of us with the money to be able to afford a multi-thousand dollar resort hotel stay are more likely in that mindset that it's "history" to us, now.
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What I don't quite get is why so many adults apparently never outgrow that phase of life
When I was kid I was really into making things with Legos.
About thirty years later I forked out to spend a few nights at Legoland hotel in San Diego.
But this wasn't because I hadn't outgrown Legos ... it was because my kids were in that phase of life, and they loved it!
I would expect that most customers of this Star Wars hotel are going because they want to show their kids a good time.
What movie? (Score:2)
The sequels? So two days of an incoherent mess where you wonder what's going on for a third of the time, then get unrewarding explanations the second third and finally you get everything retconned in the end in a failed attempt to make the incoherent mess come together somehow?
Is there really a fan of that franchise left that even cares about what Disney considers canon?
I reently realized it is nothing like Westworld. (Score:2)
No I am in Jail. :(
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-you butchered a good joke.
$4k is for two people... (Score:4, Insightful)
At first glance this seems expensive, but remember this base price is for two people.
If you add more people (the smallest rooms sleep up to five) it's less per person.
That's still expensive, but what you really have to compare this to is luxury cruise pricing, where it's not so out of line...
The thing is the stay is going to be one of the most immersive experiences ever attempted. They are going to have people dressed up as aliens, and droids wandering around the ship. They are going to be having various missions you can take part in, for the resistance, or smuggling, or first order as is your preference.
On top of that they are really pushing the luxury food angle....
I can see quite a lot of people being interesting in this, I see a lot of people in the Star Wars community planning to go even though most think of the price as very expensive.
I personally hope the idea takes off so that more extremely immersive hotels are built like this for other story universes. Can't wait for the Doom hotel...
luxury cruise has alcoholic beverages part of the (Score:2)
luxury cruise has alcoholic beverages part of the rate
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luxury cruise has alcoholic beverages part of the rate
This one does as well, there are alcoholic beverages and very gourmet food on the ship for free, and also listed are drinks and food you get for free when you have a "shore excursion" to the Star Wars park next door.
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very gourmet?
Don't you need to be 21 to drink, SuperKendall?
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"Yes but they can also be more expensive (sometimes a lot more expensive)."
How many 2 days cruises are there for $5000? Surely you know, SuperKendall?
"I think this Galactic Starcruiser experience will be much more packed though, so probably two days is about the right level of immersion for most people."
And you'd be the expert on this topic...
The most interesting thing is how think anyone would care about your opinion on this topic. As usual, talking up stuff that interests you despite knowing absolutely
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That's still expensive, but what you really have to compare this to is luxury cruise pricing, where it's not so out of line...
Do you go to sleep in the hotel in Los Angeles and wake up in Paris? If not, then it's not comparable to a luxury cruise, to say nothing of the fact that for $4k you can get four people all inclusive cruises which go 2 weeks, not 2 days.
Paris is not as far, far away (Score:1)
Do you go to sleep in the hotel in Los Angeles and wake up in Paris?
You enter a shuttle that takes you into space to board the Galatic Starcruiser which then enters Hyperspace, so that actually beats Paris in terms of mental distance.
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I think you missed the point. A cruise it not about a cruise. It's about going places while you sleep and enjoying the journey in an effortless way. It's why cruises come with literally hundreds of on shore activities and excursions.
Starcruiser has an excursion and activities (Score:1)
I think you missed the point. A cruise it not about a cruise. It's about going places while you sleep
No, I think YOU missed the point, the point is that you are going even farther places on the Galactic Starcruiser.
I have been on many cruises and after a while they all kind of blend together... the star cruiser is a way more unique cruise that transports you much farther, as long as you are willing to suspend disbelief.
It's why cruises come with literally hundreds of on shore activities and excursions.
The
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"No, I think YOU missed the point, the point is that you are going even farther places on the Galactic Starcruiser."
You are going literally nowhere.
" have been on many cruises and after a while they all kind of blend together... the star cruiser is a way more unique cruise that transports you much farther, as long as you are willing to suspend disbelief."
I doubt that, you're nearly a child. You haven't lived long enough for "many cruises" to "blend together". But this isn't a cruise at all, and you think i
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You are going literally nowhere.
And with that I leave the reader to wonder at a human who lacks even a shred of imagination.
Stopped reading there, since you are so wrong and completely missies the point of the whole thing, how can the rest of what your write make any sense?
I'll let you have the last response since you don't seem to understand the fundamentals at all, and are beyond reasoning on this.
I hope you are able to find enjoyment in your life somehow anyway, even without being able to do so in imagin
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For a mental midget, maybe. Hopefully daddy will write you the check.
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Well, it's certainly better for the environment than taking a real cruise. But I wouldn't compare a hotel with a bunch of video screens to being trapped on a boat for the duration of your trip to the next port. Presumably, Disney will allow guests to break kayfabe and go shopping/dining "off property", if so desired. That's actually a lot better than a real cruise, imho.
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Presumably, Disney will allow guests to break kayfabe and go shopping/dining "off property", if so desired.
I think there is that ability, at first people didn't think you'd be able to leave but something in the released promotional material hinted that you could.
The schedule is pretty tight, not sure when you would... but possibly some of the people staying would not be as into the whole Star Wars thing so might need an escape for a bit.
That s a good point that you are not as stuck as on a real cruise.
For comparison (Score:2)
First class round trip New York to London [google.com] costs about $5300 per seat, and Google says that's about $2500 lower than normal. So apparently a significant number of people are willing to pay this much.
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Didn't Star Trek The Experience do this too before they folded up too?
Great comparison! (Score:1)
Didn't Star Trek The Experience do this too before they folded up too?
That actually seems like an excellent comparison!
I was on Star Trek, the Experience, and it works a lot like I imagine this Starcrusier working, except the Starcrusier operates over a longer period of time and with much more personal involvement and choice in story participation elements.
In fact having been on the Star Trek Experience makes me really think what they are trying to do on the Star Cruiser could work...
Star Trek actually last
Re: $4k is for two people... (Score:2)
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At first glance this seems expensive, but remember this base price is for two people.
If you add more people (the smallest rooms sleep up to five) it's less per person.
That's still expensive, but what you really have to compare this to is luxury cruise pricing, where it's not so out of line...
. . .
On top of that they are really pushing the luxury food angle....
I can see quite a lot of people being interesting in this, I see a lot of people in the Star Wars community planning to go even though most think of the price as very expensive.
This is a lot of money, but it's not crazy expensive compared to WDW. It's been a few years since I took the family to WDW, but we decided to do it once and stay at one of the resorts on the monorail system, have a nice room, and have reservations for every meal where it was feasible because I get hungry and hate to wait. The food at WDW was a really pleasant surprise. Sure, you can get amusement park fare at a food cart, but there are tons of restaurants that take reservations and offer pretty amazing serv
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"The thing is the stay is going to be one of the most immersive experiences ever attempted. "
Or maybe it's not. Who knows? You sure don't. Classic SuperKendall, talking up shit you know nothing about.
"I can see quite a lot of people being interesting in this, I see a lot of people in the Star Wars community planning to go even though most think of the price as very expensive."
Sure, and if anyone has a finger on the pulse of that community, it's SuperKendall!
"I personally hope the idea takes off so that m
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Better options available (Score:2)
Hotel Barcelo Sants is also sci-fi themed, with more of a stylish 2001 vibe, and it costs about 100 euro per night. Even better, when you leave Barcelo Sants you're in the middle of Barcelona instead of fucking Disneyworld.
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Oh come on. Googled that, and it's just a normal hotel with sci-fi decorations on the wall. No real comparison.
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Oh come on. Googled that, and it's just a normal hotel with sci-fi decorations on the wall. No real comparison.
Sounds like an improvement.
Can I attack people with my toy lightsaber? (Score:1)
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You can attack people with one without going to this hotel.
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Disney Princess suite on the cruise line, has a 4 night stay running $27,789 for two adults. There are plenty of other rooms you can get in, $1500 for a dinner or $10k for a night isn't unheard of.
So we're just talking about bigger fools here?
Head scratcher (Score:2)
I've never understood the appeal -- I've been to a few of the Disney resorts (as well as Disneyland), mainly because my MIL wanted to take our daughter. The whole experience to me was exhausting, overpriced, crowded beyond belief, and the whole thing feels so artificial and fake. You have to work and plan so hard to get your money's worth, and even then I didn't find it a great experience.
You could do so much with $5 k, go to Hawaiian and snorkel/surf/hike/chill. Good old fashioned road trip to all of the U
I stood in line for Empire with my Dad (Score:2)
I stood in line for Empire with my Dad. I don't know how much it cost, because he paid. A dude I knew from high school saw us. We didn't usually get along very well, but that day we were friends, and we stood in line with him because he was there earlier. Thanks, dude; wherever you are. Dad's gone now, but of course I have memories aside from this.
No fancy pants Disney motel room can do that. No lame re-cut or endless cash-in can take it away.
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I stood in line for Empire with my Dad. I don't know how much it cost, because he paid. A dude I knew from high school saw us. We didn't usually get along very well, but that day we were friends, and we stood in line with him because he was there earlier. Thanks, dude; wherever you are. Dad's gone now, but of course I have memories aside from this.
No fancy pants Disney motel room can do that. No lame re-cut or endless cash-in can take it away.
I guess I'll go ahead and be the one to tell you, but you sound like a typical old man complaining about how the times have changed.
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This. Parent gets it, and whoever modded them down is on crack.
So... the beginning of Delos? (Score:2)
In real life the Force is money (Score:2)
Which is this?
the fact they only have drawings and no photos (Score:2)
makes me very suspicious if this is even real.
Fully booked. (Score:2)
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Absolutely... some people, not the richest, pay hundreds for shoes, or like you wrote, thousands for a bag. I went to Disney Hollywood Studio, Star Wars is amazing for sure, and I'm sure the hotel will be fully booked, I'll stay in the campground at 80$/night instead :)
Re: Fully booked. (Score:2)
Expensive but not unreasonable (Score:3)
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Rooms of the Polynesian regularly run $600 a night, before tax, the Disney meal plan is like $120/day/person.
The Polynesian, Contemporary, and Grand Floridian are right at the gate and offer exclusive access to The Magic Kingdom. Will this resort have some sort of exclusive access, or will you be stuffed on a bus with the unwashed masses?
IMHO, getting in and out of the parks is the biggest hassle at Disney World.
Re: Expensive but not unreasonable (Score:2)
cross fit with Jedi Master Yoda? I'm in (Score:1)
Luminous beings are we... (Score:2)
... not this crude matter.
It's probably better and cheaper to spend a weekend at a Daoist retreat if you dig the Star Wars ethos.
Re (Score:1)