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$5,000+ Star Wars hotel reviews and impressions (“feels like a 2 day game and escape room”)
- Thread starter Lump
- Start date
Okay go on a cruise then? I don't know what to tell you when I'm just explaining how this works
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It is a bit bizarre to watch a kid get recruited into a thinly veiled Nazi analogy "for fun" in a LARP game run by Disney.
"Report on your siblings and parents, children. Hunt down any dissenters!"
Do you feel the same way when you see a kid dressed up as Darth Vader for Halloween?
5k and it's not al inclusive? wow that's going to be a big no from me, there are a lot of better options IMO for a vacation than to spend 5K+ on this. A trip to 2 Disney World parks, Universal Studios, airfare and a nice hotel cost me a fraction of this.
I'd feel the same way if I saw a child dressed as an Imperial Officer, with their very Nazi-inspired uniforms and lack of magic space powers, yes. Darth Vader is a bit more fantastical at least.
And Halloween costumes are another step removed from getting into an immersive LARP with storytelling, characters, and active measures being taken by the child.
In any case, I'm not even necessarily saying it's "wrong" or shouldn't be done, it just gave me a bit of pause watching it, despite being kind of cute.
Anecdotally, all the Star Wars fans I knew who were big on the Imperials grew up to be corrupt police officers, Trump supporters, and people discharged from the military. Take from that what you will, but might influence my feelings on this.
TIE Fighters and Stormtrooper helmets are awesome though, NGL.
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It seems like it is all inclusive save for alcohol, which is wise for a such an event.
Not saying it's a good deal, but discouraging intoxication seems smart.
It won't though lol. Anyone who can drop 5k for two days isn't going to put off by an extra few hundred in alcohol costs. Maybe for the journalists who were invited for free or with heavy discounts. But not for the people actually going out of pocket. Maybe that's the point, it's all just the ability to charge more to people who can spend whatever they want.
Yeah your right, having a bunch of drunk people would be a huge problem for everyone on board.
This is a cool post and thanks for the share but I think you're also just highlighting a major problem with this experience. I''m not paying 5-6K to watch someone else being singled out on a misson/getting attention and not me. As crappy and selfish as that sounds this is 5K and I can just do that home as I just did watching that video. Look at that huge crowd of people around them just standing there not being attended to and not getting to do their own adventures.
The Tim Tracker who is a VERY big Disney blogger did his video and at the end said one of his major disappointments (he had a few even if it was comped which is why I watch him because his reviews are pretty fair IMO) was not being called out to do a side quest or even getting attention from a character the whole 4 hours. Is the experiences of this family and Tim fine for a free event? Sure. But when this goes for $5K (and MORE on crowded times) Disney needs to step up their game or they are going to get MAJOR backlash.
How many people do they cram into this? I assume for 5k, you'd at least get some attention if audience participation is your thing. But if it's hundreds of people being churned through this like any theatre production, then jeez.
Apparently there are about 100 rooms (based on permit applications) with room for four people each, plus a couple of even more expensive suites that sleep eight. So low 400s.
It's hard to guess scale, but I'd assume the footage from this preview event represents the higher end of capacity.
They cram alot of people on here, it's Disney so they want as much as they can, but if they can't fuffill their promises and what is a bullet point of the cruise, "going on side missions", as sad as it is to say that is on them (they know they are cramming people in they should be prepared for that) and they should rightfully be held accountable for that.
who lets their kid join the first order... lol. As usual, huge props to that actor as he's doing a great job of staying in character even when he has a 5yo companion at his side... Roleplaying a space nazi alongside a kid is a delicate ordeal for sure.
I am enjoying Ordinary Adventure's coverage of this, just now working through their 2nd video.
I am enjoying Ordinary Adventure's coverage of this, just now working through their 2nd video.
If you look at the booking calendar just March , April and June are sold out. The rest is pretty much wide open
All the acting and staged scenes, just so much cringe bad park actor acting. People losing their shit cheering seeing Chewbacca on a vid screen, lol.
I think the rich hardcore fans will keep this fueled for a while, but I don't see this being sustainable at all long term. Even the positive reviews don't make it sound like something you would want to do again. Theres lot of crazy die hard Wars fans so they will do fine for a while but I can't see this being long term successful without them starting to offer all kinds of special discounts and promotional packages
I think the rich hardcore fans will keep this fueled for a while, but I don't see this being sustainable at all long term. Even the positive reviews don't make it sound like something you would want to do again. Theres lot of crazy die hard Wars fans so they will do fine for a while but I can't see this being long term successful without them starting to offer all kinds of special discounts and promotional packages
That's super cute, kids having a good time is great, but it still weirds me out how normalized Disney has made joining the fucking space Nazis for kids.
I know George has always marketed that shit at kids anyway, but it's a different level with immersive experiences like this.
I'm probably overthinking it though.
All that money and you only get access to Galaxy's Edge for a specific amount of time? If I'm paying that much, I want unlimited access to all the Disney parks. I can definitely say that this isn't for me.
It definitely doesn't seem like the Imagineering "A" team was put on this project. The special effects look a bit cheap and poorly executed. And for a few thousand dollars it's not even an open bar? Or a cantina band?
I have to say I was excited for more to be done with Star Wars when Disney bought it, but now I am legit just sick of Star Wars.
The whole point is the experience on board the ship. If you just want to go to other Disney parks, you can get any other Disney hotel and just buy Disney World tickets for your stay and it'll be less. Going to this hotel and leaving it most of the time is defeating the whole point.
More power to those who are into this kind of thing but I can't imagine spending that amount of time surrounded by Theater Kids going hog wild
This is one of those things that to me sounds like it would be amazing as hell with friends, but the fact that it's $5000 USD makes it a real deal breaker and a real hard sell for friend groups that weren't already into the Disney Experience.
I also feel like for the price, it'd be nice if they could provide costumes and wigs and such for people to get into it, really go all in on that westworld type experience.
I also feel like for the price, it'd be nice if they could provide costumes and wigs and such for people to get into it, really go all in on that westworld type experience.
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It's not $5000 though if you're going with like three other friends. I think it breaks down to $1500 per person that way. It's still pricey but seems a bit more reasonable if you're dividing the cost up among friends.
Oh, I thought it was $5000 per person. But if it's $5000 for the cabin and you can cram a couple different people in there, the price becomes way more reasonable then.
The price is dependent on how many people in your group. If I recall, it's like $1200 per person, per night for a group of two, $890 per person, per night for a group of three, and then $750 a person, per night for a group of four. That group stays in a single room. It covers the whole thing, including food and exclusive access to the two Star Wars rides at Disney World, but not alcohol.
This looks like a cheap version of "Sleep No More" at a ridiculous sum of money. I was hoping for something a bit more immersive but the staging and lighting just make it look like a food court in K-Mart circa 1994.
None of the locations look anything like the SW Aesthetic. They totally messed it up and it looks like generic cheap cosplay cardboard enviroment. Like have any of these artist who designed this place even seen SW?
That bit where you spend time turning pipes is little more than a minor throwaway puzzle in a game, I don't see how it's entertaining.
Also the Saber training looks awful, so much worse than Vader immortal or similar and much worse than the on stage Jedi Academy in Hollywood Studios
Finally Model Building yet you don't actually get a model for your $5000 oh no that's an upsell
The more I see the more I see it as a swing and a miss
Also the Saber training looks awful, so much worse than Vader immortal or similar and much worse than the on stage Jedi Academy in Hollywood Studios
Finally Model Building yet you don't actually get a model for your $5000 oh no that's an upsell
The more I see the more I see it as a swing and a miss
Yeah, the more I read up on it the more I feel like it's trying to hit too broad a demographic. Almost as if they need to cut back on some things and go all in on others. Like maybe if they did a version that was just for kids and a version that was just for adults.
Then again, and this comes to mind. I wonder how many of the complaints are coming from people expecting to be more westworldy in terms of the larp when Disney was aiming at something more Disney in nature.
I've watched Ordinary Adventures videos so far as they're my go to Park vlogs. Seems like a fun time but I wouldn't be able or willing to spend 5k on it.
I'm more curious to see how sustainable the cast and crew is. I realize it's basically a cruise ship but from the video it definitely seems like it's a full day job. At least on the first day.
I'm more curious to see how sustainable the cast and crew is. I realize it's basically a cruise ship but from the video it definitely seems like it's a full day job. At least on the first day.
To be fair, when I took my family on a Disney cruise, Star Wars was only a theme for one of our "at sea" days. Still a fun day, but it's not like the Star Wars characters (both staff and passengers) were walking around the entire week.
Also, alcohol was not included with the meal plan... maybe there was an option for one but I just bought a la carte. There is way too many kids running around to enjoy being drunk most of the time... which is a good thing, my kids loved it.
Disney cruises typically are much more expensive than a normal cruise. The point being for the price of this, you can book a two week cruise and get a drink package included for booze.
If you gotta have the Disney aspect attached, you are going to pay more of course. Disney cruise is obviously something more for family with small ones than adult oriented cruise lines
They went with the super clean and sharp sci fi look of Canto Bight. They chose to model the whole thing off a very small aspect of the universe yet ignored the aesthetic of like 99% of the franchise.
So it's 5k for what is, essentially, a completely on-rails LARP where the immersion is great on the cast side but not so great from all the other guests? Hard pass.
5k is like the cheapest. The hotel will cost more during more desirable dates and seasons
Yes, that's exactly the point of the Disney cruise versus others. We wanted some of the Disney (including Star Wars) experience with the cruise and Caribbean destinations.
My point was mainly that you can't get anything like this experience on a cruise (including Disney) outside of a particular theme day on some cruises. Not to defend this experience or Disney, as it's not worth it all for me, but my kids did really enjoy the Star Wars day on our cruise.
The biggest problem with this thing is the absurd cost. Ideally, if they refuse to lower the price as-is, they can lower it as part of a bundle and/or add bonuses to it. Like, say, 8 grand gets you the Starcruiser + park tickets, dining plan, and rooms at the Poly for the rest of the week.
It also feels kind of absurd to me that they don't include the lightsaber and droid from Galaxy's Edge as free perks.
Also, I may have missed it, but did anyone say if there's anything special on the TVs? The few people I watched were too tired to use it.
I do wonder how breaks and stuff work for them. Presumably the core crew of actors works 3-11 on the first day, does a split on the second (or just works in the evening) and then does the morning on the third day? And then swap out for a second crew for the next set of guests.
It also feels kind of absurd to me that they don't include the lightsaber and droid from Galaxy's Edge as free perks.
Also, I may have missed it, but did anyone say if there's anything special on the TVs? The few people I watched were too tired to use it.
I do wonder how breaks and stuff work for them. Presumably the core crew of actors works 3-11 on the first day, does a split on the second (or just works in the evening) and then does the morning on the third day? And then swap out for a second crew for the next set of guests.