Disney Considered Re-Theming The Star Wars Hotel To The Mandalorian In An Attempt To Save It
Disney has done an awful lot with "Star Wars" since purchasing all of Lucasfilm from George Lucas back in 2012 for more than $4 billion. They've generated billions at the box office with movies like "The Force Awakens," created a living, breathing version of a galaxy far, far away at Disneyland and Disney World in the form of "Galaxy's Edge," and even made the franchise successful in live-action on TV. Recently though, Disney suffered a gigantic, pricey failure as it was revealed that the "Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser," aka the expensive "Star Wars" hotel at Disney World, is shutting down this fall. But the company did try to save it, and it was nearly Mando and Grogu to the rescue.
The Wrap did a deep dive into what went wrong with the "Galactic Starcruiser," which was billed as a cruise-like, immersive experience that lasted two days for fans who could afford to pay for the privilege. With an average cost of $1,600 per person, it was out of reach for many. That being the case, attendance started to dwindle quickly and Disney was looking for ways to save the venture. One idea? Re-theme the whole thing after "The Mandalorian." Theme park historian Jim Hill offered some insight, with the report stating the following:
"Another option recently emerged according to Hill: re-theme the entire hotel to the popular Disney+ 'Star Wars' streaming series 'The Mandalorian.' Reports have since emerged that Imagineers were at the Starcruiser as recently as last week, looking at ways they could retrofit or change the experience."
Ultimately, CEO Bob Iger shut these plans down and the whole thing will be scrapped entirely instead. Disney never officially confirmed the cost of the venture, but this report pegs it at around $1 billion. Yikes.
This is not the way
It's understandable that the brass at Disney and Lucasfilm might look to "The Mandalorian" to save the day. One big problem with the "Galactic Starcruiser" (aside from the outlandish price tag) was identifiable imagery that the general public could lean on to understand what they were getting themselves into. Thanks to the success of the Disney+ series, Mando and Baby Yoda are about as popular as any "Star Wars" character with modern audiences. Yet, re-skinning the entire 100-room immersive hotel would have been extremely costly. So Bob Iger decided to cut losses instead.
Other plans were apparently floated, including offering tours of the "Galactic Starcruiser" to those who were already paying to be at Disney World for somewhere between $50 and $100. Maybe people would shell out for that sort of thing as a mere fraction of the intended immersive experience, or maybe they wouldn't, but it seems like a desperate move considering what the space was designed for. It's a rare, huge-scale blunder for Disney Parks, which is typically a cornerstone for the company and a reliable backbone for annual profits.
But at $1,600 per person, not counting travel and other costs, this was an unattainable experience for the average "Star Wars" fan. It was merely for the well-off or well-connected, and a major installation at a theme park needs the average fan to make it work on a longer timeline. Hopefully, Disney learns from this misfire and leans into more affordable ventures in the future, particularly connected to this franchise.