Too beautiful, too ambitious… and above all too expensive. Less than two years after the grand inauguration of the Star Wars : Galactic Starcruiseran immersive hotel in the Star Wars universe, the American firm has just announced the permanent closure of the place on September 30, 2023. The hotel is located at Walt Disney World, the epicenter of the Disney universe, in Orlando (Florida).
The establishment, which has 100 rooms, does not seem to have found enough public willing to pay up to 6,000 dollars for a two-day “space cruise” to the confines of a galaxy far, far away. On the critical side, Galactic Starcruiser yet received many accolades.
A concept hailed by the public and observers
The two-night stay, including food, drinks (excluding alcohol) and a day at Hollywood Studios Park, immerses visitors aboard the Halcyon, a spaceship inspired by the Star Wars universe. An experience that also includes meeting many emblematic characters, such as Chewbacca.
The narration offered on board pushes the immersion to its climax. Fans of the saga as well as leisure park professionals have praised the execution of the hotel, rewarded with a Thea Award, a sort of Oscar for theme parks. Star Wars : Galactic Starcruiser also received the highest satisfaction ratings from Walt Disney World, Florida’s top tourist destination, with approximately 30 million visitors a year.
But the project is probably too ambitious. Like the Star Wars areas opened in its parks in California and Florida – and for which Disney has spent more than $2 billion – the operation of Star Wars : Galactic Starcruiser costs the firm a lot of money. Disney therefore prefers to focus on other challenges, such as sustaining its Disney + subsidiary, whose results are still stalling.
Disney recognizes prices that are too high after the health crisis
It remains to be seen what will become of the hotel, whose (high) construction cost has never been precisely communicated. This commercial failure also questions Disney about the pricing strategy it should adopt, while the company has admitted having charged too high prices at the end of the health crisis. It is also since the eruption of the Covid-19 that Disney has seen itself weakened, between closures of leisure parks, attendance at cinemas at half mast and political controversies.
But the power of the American group often allows it to cling to other branches. In 2022, Disneyland Paris thus recorded very satisfactory results. The most visited private tourist complex in Europe recorded a turnover of 1,849 million euros for the 2022 financial year, which ended on September 30. A strong increase compared to the turnover recorded the previous year (509 million euros).
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2023-05-19 10:31:21
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