Walt Disney World’s highly hyped Star Wars hotel that debuted to months of sold out “voyages” has seen demand cool so dramatically that the Florida theme park giant has been forced to offer steep discounts on the pricey experience and cancel dates in the middle of summer.
The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida has begun offering 30% to 50% discounts on 3-day, 2-night experiences that cost $5,000 to $20,000.
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The “galactic cruise” invites costumed passengers to hatch plots against the First Order, fall in with a band of underworld smugglers and sip space cocktails for as long as they can suspend disbelief and buy into the interstellar cosplay theater of what’s been billed as the “most immersive Star Wars experience ever created.”
The Star Wars hotel that debuted to much fanfare in March 2022 initially opened with three months of sold out dates.
Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek said interest in the Galactic Starcruiser was “phenomenal” and customer ratings were “incredibly high” a few months after the hotel opened, according to Forbes. At the time, Chapek said strong demand would keep the Galactic Starcruiser at “100% utilization” during the summer, Forbes reported.
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The initial buzz that helped fill Disney coffers with galactic credits has turned into a concerning quiet in the halls of the Halcyon — the Star Wars starship created by Walt Disney Imagineering and Lucasfilm at the center of an immersive storytelling hotel experience.
You can book a stay on the Galactic Starcruiser this weekend and virtually any night through September 2023 now that the once solidly booked calendar is wide open.
The Star Wars hotel has about 100 rooms with a capacity of about 500 people — with the footprint kept intentionally small to allow for intimate storytelling moments throughout the 45-hour galactic journey.
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The Galactic Starcruiser began offering 30% discounts to loyal Disney Vacation Club members in November when hotel capacity dropped to as low as 25% on some dates, according to WDW News Today. The low turnout forced the Starcruiser to cut the second dinner seatings on some evenings, WDW News Today reported.
“The low demand has brought concerns for the future of the experience,” according to WDW NewsToday. “As Master Yoda says, ‘Difficult to see. Always in motion the future is.’”
In January, Disney canceled dates for Starcruiser stays in July, August and September and offered to rebook impacted guests on other voyages at 50% discounts, according to WDW Magic.
At the same time, Disney World rolled out discounts as steep as $700 on hotel stays at the Florida theme park resort before or after a Starcruiser voyage, according to WDW News Today.
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Disney World is offering the huge discounts in hopes of reversing the tide for the “struggling” Star Wars hotel, according to Inside the Magic.
“As the one-year anniversary of the hotel approaches, things seem to be faltering already,” according to Inside the Magic. “The cracks are starting to show and fans hope that something happens soon to make the experience more accessible.”