Disney to close luxury Star Wars hotel that opened just last year

Walt Disney Co will shutter its immersive Star Wars-themed luxury hotel in Orlando this September, less than two years after it opened, as the media giant cuts costs throughout its entertainment and parks businesses.

Disney announced the closing of the two-night "Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser" hotel and experience on Thursday but did not provide a reason. The hotel debuted with fanfare at Walt Disney World in March 2022.

Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger announced in February that the company would reduce costs by US$5.5 billion as it works to make its streaming TV business profitable.

Some Star Wars fans had complained that the cost of staying at the Starcruiser was too high. Bookings started at $4,800 for two guests.

The price included two days and two nights in one of 100 Starcruiser cabins, galactic-inspired food and drink, and a visit to Batuu, the "Star Wars" planet inside the Disney World theme park.

The 100 rooms at the site represented less than 0.5 per cent of Disney's room inventory in the area.

Disney also said on Thursday that it was cancelling plans to build a nearly $1 billion corporate campus in Florida, in part due to "changing business conditions" amid a battle with Republican Gov. Ron Desantis.

The company was expected to spend as much as $864 million on the project, according to the Orlando Sentinel, on a campus that would have served as a base for Walt Disney Imagineering and the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products division.

Disney's decision to move the California-based Imagineering staffers across the country drew complaints from employees, many of whom said they did not want to move to Florida.

A Disney spokesman said the Starcrusier experience was "praised by our guests and recognised for setting a new bar for innovation and immersive entertainment."

"We will take what we've learned to create future experiences that can reach more of our guests and fans," the spokesperson said.