Star Wars Hotel Sells Out for Months. Somehow, This Is Bad.
One of the strangest parts of covering a business like Disney is that you have to take everything seriously, even the most ridiculous stuff.
That causes problems for me, as I don’t like to call out other writers, especially not publicly. It’s unprofessional and often cruel.
(David Roark, photographer)
But unfortunately, a story is making the rounds right now that has picked up steam, and it’s so stupid it makes my teeth hurt.
No, folks, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hasn’t flopped. If it has, we must reevaluate why Avengers: Endgame did so poorly.
Photo:seoclerk.com
I’m not even joking, but that’s life on the internet today. So let’s walk through this latest bit of nonsense.
The Assertion
I’m not linking the article for two reasons. The first is that it would help someone else’s SEO and thereby reward them for shoddy research.
Photo:buildcreate.com
The second is that if someone begs for clickbait, you shouldn’t give it to them. Otherwise, they’ll just ask again and again.
However, if you’re interested, you can google around to find an article that asks a question about why the Star Wars Hotel has failed.
Photo: Disney
The logic in the argument, such that there is, suggests that Disney recently performed a survey to ask guests about their Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience.
Let’s emphasize that statement for effect. Disney asked customers who had already spent $5,000 each about what they had liked and disliked during their hotel stay.
Photo: Disney
Why would Disney do that? The answer is obvious. Disney would VERY MUCH like for these same customers to return.
When park planners committed to the Star Wars Hotel, they accepted in advance that it would be a niche project that only appealed to some.
Photo: Disney
We’re talking about Star Wars loyalists with the disposable income to drop a lot of money to live out their lightsaber-related fantasies.
Disney smartly built the hotel with only 100 rooms, a strategy that would never work anywhere else at Walt Disney World.
Photo: Disney
It makes perfect sense for the Star Wars Hotel because guests are paying the equivalent of $2,500 a night in many instances.
That’s the same as booking 500 rooms at $500 per night at a place like Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Credit: Disney
So, Disney’s desiring repeat business is a feature, not a bug. Obviously, the people who have already visited Galactic Starcruiser are most excited about it.
What the Argument Gets Wrong
A legal term called “fruit of the poisonous tree” applies here. It references how any information from illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court.
Photo:ofx.ie
I’m using the term here because a different site ran with a headline about the Disney survey and drew some conclusions that weren’t based in fact.
The site didn’t do anything wrong here. Instead, Disney had used the wrong phrasing in the message, referencing Disneyland rather than Walt Disney World.
Photo: https://medium.com/coding-den
That led to all sorts of wiiiiiiild internet speculation, and the author of the uniformed article based all the incorrect suppositions on this information.
So, they started wrong and got…WAY MORE wrong. The article posits why Star Wars Hotel failed.
Photo: Disney
That’s like me wondering why the Falcons won Super Bowl LI. No matter how much I may act like they did – and I *do* this – history remembers differently.
A different team won the Super Bowl that year, just as Galactic Starcruiser has done the opposite of failing thus far.
Photo: @avengers/twitter
Earlier, I joked about Avengers: Endgame, but that’s also not far from the truth. Do you remember how packed theaters were on opening weekend?
The climactic Avengers movie didn’t merely break box office records; it shattered them.
Along those lines, attendance at the Star Wars Hotel couldn’t be any better. I’m saying that literally.
(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
Disney has stated that occupancy has maxed out for the first four months of the hotel. We haven’t even finished that fourth month yet.
Demand is so strong that Disney knew it’d book every night at the resort.
Photo: Disney
Folks, there’s no universe where complete sellouts represent failure. If they do, Paul McCartney’s in a world of hurt with his concert tour this year.
What Happened Here?
Look, I cannot speak to anyone else’s intent. This individual may have known what they were saying was wrong. However, I choose to believe they misunderstood.
Photo: Motley Fool
Mistakes happen, and we’re all human. Rick Munarriz at The MotleynFool has written a similar article about the inaccurate declaration.
As part of his discussion, he mentioned something I’d discussed in early March. Some people predetermined that the Star Wars Hotel would fail.
Image Credit: Disney
A popular Disney forum actually included a prolonged discussion about what would go in that building next after Disney gave up on Star Wars!
Now, we’re only three and a half months into the existence of Galactic Starcruiser. It may yet prove to have a limited audience that only needs to try this once.
Photo: (Caitlyn McCabe, photographer)
However, I’ll refer you to this article in The New Yorker. It’s a detailed examination of what Disney has actually done here.
Galactic Starcruiser works as a permanent hotel for LARPers, Star Wars fans who want to live out their own adventures.
Photo: Disney
The experiential nature of the current generation of consumers has driven Disney’s strategy here. Thus far, the company has earned optimal results with its strategy.
Why would anyone conclude otherwise? Bashing Disney is in right now. Also, taking a contrary position on a subject where everyone feels positively is an SEO dark art.
Photo: Forbes
While I didn’t link to that article, Fool.com did, which means the author earned a massive SEO reward for their site. The shameless clickbait worked.
Most readers aren’t like me. So they won’t remember how BADLY this article evaluated the situation…and it was F- stuff.
Instead, Google will feed them more links because this article went viral and received high clickthrough rates.
Photo: Google
The danger here for Disney is that the perception may grow into reality one day.
Final Thoughts on Star Wars Hotel
This whole conversation breaks my brain. The best analogy I’ve got involves Girl Scout Cookies.
Photo: Girl Scouts
Imagine if your daughter sold more Girl Scout Cookies than anyone else in the state.
How would you feel if a critic indicated that she’d failed as a salesperson?
That’s the scenario that Disney faces right now. It’s sold out its entire hotel inventory for four straight months and now faces accusations of failure.
(David Roark, photographer)
How is that even possible?!
Before Galactic Starcruiser opened, a vocal minority of people wanted it to fail. They kicked the criticisms into overdrive about all the minutiae on display.
Since then, the Star Wars Hotel experience has earned glowing reviews and booked every room. But, somehow, that’s not enough for some people.
Photo: vecteezy.com
Meanwhile, Disney has taken the initiative to offer guests paid surveys to discover what could be done to improve Galactic Starcruiser.
That’s a company that isn’t settling for early success. Instead, Disney wants the Star Wars Hotel to succeed for years to come, and it’s asking for honest feedback.
How is that anything but a positive and a strong indicator of a company you should trust with your tourist dollars?!
This entire debate is one of the silliest I’ve read in a while, and I’ve been keeping up on the Reedy Creek nonsense.
Photo: (David Roark, photographer)
Anyone who tells you that Galactic Starcruiser is a failure is lying to you. And you should wonder why they’d do that as well as why you should ever listen to them again.
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Feature Photo:Kent Phillips, photographer/Disney
Once again a great article clearing up what is the truth. Thank you. Love your articles!