For many tourists, this isn't the hotel they're looking for
Dwindling demand for the role-playing `Star Wars' attraction leads to slashed prices and canceled dates
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 attraction and cancel dates in the middle of summer.
The Star Wars: Galactic Star- cruiser hotel at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida has begun offering 30%-50% discounts to some customers on three-day, two-night role-playing stays that cost $5,000$20,000.
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.”
Walt Disney World officials say the hotel is one of the most ambitious and immersive experiences ever created and continues to receive outstanding feedback from guests.
The hotel, which debuted to much fanfare in March, opened with three months of sold-out dates.
Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek said interest in the hotel 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 hotel at “100% utilization” during the summer, Forbes reported.
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 the hotel attraction.
You can reserve a stay this weekend and virtually any night through September now that the once solidly booked calendar is wide open.
The 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 45hour galactic journey.
The hotel began offering 30% discounts to loyal Disney Vacation Club members in November when capacity dropped to as low as 25% on some dates, according to WDW News Today, and the low turnout forced the hotel to cut the second dinner seatings on some evenings.
“The low demand has brought concerns for the future of the experience,” according to WDW News Today. “As Master Yoda says, `Difficult to see. Always in motion the future is.' ”
In January, Disney canceled dates for stays in July, August and September and offered to rebook affected guests on other dates 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 resort before or after a Starcruiser voyage, according to WDW News Today.
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.”