$6,000 for a motel room!?
Ten Reasons Why Disney's Star Wars Hotel Was A Spectacular Failure
Social media influencer Jenny Nicholson's four-hour long video of her nightmare vacation experience staying at Walt Disney World's Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, before it closed down, has garnered over three million views in its first three days.
Nicholson said she paid for the vacation herself, and that the issues began the moment she tried booking a room. Here is a breakdown of what Nicholson encountered, and why she's calling it a nightmare.
The rooms were on a 'IYKYK' basis
Nicholson said that the hotel management gave her the run around when she called to make a reservation. When she booked her room — for roughly $6,000 — she assumed that all of the rooms were equal, especially since no upgrades were mentioned. However, she learned that many of the elusive premium accommodations were already booked on an informal if you know, you know basis, and she had missed out.
Not paying extra meant things, kind of, got worse
Among one of the premium experiences was a seat at the "captains table." However, since Nicholson did not buy this, she was later seated behind a pillar during the entire dinner show, obstructing her view completely.
Space travel is not more efficient than TSA
Guests were greeted with an outdoor waiting area at the hotel and while it was hot, they also had to wait for a "special elevator" meant to replicate space travel. While it was a cool visual effect, waiting for it reportedly took very long, especially with everyone's luggage involved.
Too big to fit in space? Oh well...
While the rooms were designed in order to be shared, Nicholson believed that Disney overestimated just how small the rooms actually were. She said that maybe five adults could squeeze in together to help save money, but it would be a rather uncomfortable experience over the course of a two-night stay.
It wasn't based on any fan favorite locations
Despite Star Wars having a list of popular locations, Disney decided to take a different approach for the resort. Guests were aboard a ship that was so old, it was said to exist through "the entire franchise." While Disney's intention was to make set design changes easier, had the resort stayed open longer, remodeling things set in different Star Wars eras would've been a bigger hit with fans. Another downside was the conflicting reality of a "luxury" Star Wars hotel and no indication of the rebellion, or its causes.
Not all actors are created equal
While trying to immerse herself in the experience, Nicholson said she was able to pick up on one major flaw. Looking at their ear pieces, she said she believes the actors were being fed information about the guests, and when she used a fake name during the experience, the actors weren't too pleased.
The app was pointless
Nicholson said that despite tracking her app activity diligently, she did not see any difference in her experience. The app was supposed to allow guests to text with AI versions of the hotel's many Star Wars characters and give visitors a customizable experience. However, not only did her data never show up, it didn't give her an accurate experience either.
There are no vegetarians in the galaxy, apparently
While Nicholson spoke highly of the abundance of food in the hotel, the same could not be said regarding the resorts vegetarian options. As part of the experience, guests food costs were included in the total price of the package. However, while the hotel promised that their chefs could make custom meal options, their offerings for vegetarians ended up being a plate of steamed cauliflower.
Dressing up was frowned upon
As odd as it sounds, dressing up only got Nicholson strange looks by a lot of folks, including some resort staff too. The resort was advertised as a complete role-playing experience, but choosing your own character was not really embraced by the actors. In her opinion, it appeared the hotel seemed apprehensive at the idea of catering to the vast majority of main characters.
Do not exit through the gift shop, there are just cobwebs
You'd think Disney would be taking the resort gift shops as a chance to grab more money. Upon visiting them, only empty shelves could be found instead. Indeed, all of the exclusive merchandise promised to guests was often out of stock and never restocked, according to Nicholson.
Customer service was worse than the empire and rebellion combined
Nicholson shared that not only did Disney lose her merchandise, they also did not take any photos of her despite her having purchased a photo pass. With no photos of her trip, even her request for a refund and merchandise replacement were ignored by Disney — until she posted about it online, and they realized she was an influencer. She also noted that other guests faced similar issues.
The final conclusion
Nicholson closed by saying that many of the hotel's features were once meant to be part of the actual theme park. Pointing to several examples, including the hotel's theater dining experience, she said these last-minute changes appear to be a part of Disney's latest trend in moving it's best features behind a paywall. As for the empty hotel now, she believes it will most likely either be used for corporate meetings, storage or ironically enough, an expensive add-on dining experience for park guests.
Watch Nicholson's complete video:
Via Jenny Nicholson.
