Less than 19 months after opening Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, Disney will close the hotel's doors. Star Wars fans who are willing to splurge now have until the end of September to try the two-night experience.
“Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is one of our most creative projects ever and has been praised by our guests and recognized for setting a new bar for innovation and immersive entertainment,” Disney told CNBC in a statement. “This premium, boutique experience gave us the opportunity to try new things on a smaller scale of 100 rooms, and as we prepare for its final voyage, we will take what we’ve learned to create future experiences that can reach more of our guests and fans.”
The hotel opened at Walt Disney World in Florida in March 2022 and it promised fans a one-of-a-kind jaunt. Guests are immersed in a Star Wars story. As passengers on a starcruiser, they encounter a First Order officer and stormtroopers who board the ship to find Resistance spies. Guests can choose to join the light side or the dark side and they may encounter the likes of Chewbacca, Rey and Kylo Ren.
Along with the room, food and drink (except for alcohol), access to Disney World's Hollywood Studios park, a Magic Band and valet service are included in the stay. But for all that, guests are charged a pretty penny.
A two-night stay for two people at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser starts at $4,800. For a group of three adults and one child, the rate is $6,000. That cost is on top of travel expenses and anything else that tourists might want to do in the area. As such, the hotel is out of the price range of many parents who want to take their kids to Disney World.
Disney didn't explain the reasons for closing down Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, but the writing has been on the wall for a while. Late last year, reports suggested that the hotel was struggling with falling demand and was seeing occupancy rates of as little as 25 percent. In March, it emerged that Disney was cutting back bookings. In the end, it seems Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was an ambitious experiment for which not enough fans were willing to pay through the nose.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/disneys-pricey-immersive-star-wars-hotel-is-shutting-down-154345788.html?src=rss
