THE I.S.E: The Immersive Stay Experience: How the Galactic Star Cruiser Would have Succeeded: the Difference between a Hotel and Immersive Stay Experience

 THE I.S.E: The Immersive Stay Experience: How the Galactic Star Cruiser Would have Succeeded: the Difference between a Hotel and Immersive Stay Experience

Hello readers,

As many of you know, this Blog initially started when the Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser was failing, and I created it as a way to explain my own concepts for how to save something, i always wanted to experience, and yet couldn’t afford, until it was too late. 

For those of you who don’t know, the Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser was an Immersive two night Experience Set in the Star Wars Galaxy that opened in March of 2022, it was attached to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios. It was an all inclusive yet heavily criticised for its Marketing(it was cringe-worthy),Theming(being set in the Sequel Era of Star Wars), and its Price(which ranged between $2,000 and $15,000) leading to its eventual closure in September of 2023.

To me the argument was never the way this “hotel” was. It was never if the Hotel made sense. The problem was the word “hotel”being used to describe this two night immersive experience. Which is why I have coined the phrase I.S.E or Immersive Stay Experience, when describing the Star Cruiser, and projects like it.

The concept of the I.S.E is an experience that is lived by it, it can include L.A.R.P but doesn’t really need to, but it allows guests to sleep and wake up in a world that isn’t their own. This concept stems from what film scholars would call the unheimlich or the Uncanny, in a different way. Normally when referring to the Freudian concept of the Uncanny, the uncanny attaches to a strange sensation of the familiar meeting the unfamiliar, or familiar but distinctly strange, the only difference between this and the I.S.E’s version of Uncanny would be that rather than making people uneasy, as it would in say a horror film. The Uncanny, as I refer to it in terms of the Galactic Star Cruiser, should provide to the L.A.R.P and living environment created by this Simulacra of Reality that Imagineers attempted to create. The G.S.C was a liminal space set within the Star Wars Galaxy, where the show was happening all around them, for an Introvert it was pretty uncanny, for extroverts it wasn’t as much unless they weren’t really Star Wars Fans, then things became uneasy or strange. The entire space was made to make guests feel like they were in space, and was essentially an attraction in its own way, but also a Hotel with all inclusive food. 

Therefore part of the risk of making an I.S.E. is understanding the elements of Transmedia Theory that make not only a Theme park, but the Mis En Scene that goes into Film making, and Theater as well, to create an Enviroment that is familiar, yet Uncanny in a way that is appealing to a specific audience or fandom.  

As mentioned in a previous article I discussed the three types of Park Goers, the Amusement Park Person(Thrill seeker, wants the most bang for their buck), the Looky Loo(doesn’t care they just want to look and see) and the Theme Park fan(the people walt envisioned, not always a Disney Adult, respects the legacy,the cast members and wants to be part of the story). What I lacked to mention in that article was the concept of who would be drawn to an I.S.E.

 The Thrill Seeker is definitely off the table, in-fact one could argue marketing the G.S.E for everyone was their biggest problem because of the Amusement Park person, who want adrenaline and doesn’t care for the story. They are the low art, blockbuster person within the theme park preferring high speed thrills and alcoholic beverages to what anything the G.S.E offered. 

The Looky Loo and Theme Park goer both would have gone if they could afford it, and many of them did however they avoided it, because there were cheaper offerings to go to the parks(hotel stays) and simply because not all Theme Park Fanatic’s especially in Disney’s case are Star Wars Fans. 

Disney Imagineering was catering to the niche, to the Star Wars Fan, Looky loo’s and Theme Park Fanatics, but there was also another problem, they marketed the star cruiser as a “Hotel” an over priced hotel with only a two day stay. All media outlets across the board used this word constantly “hotel” or “star Wars Hotel” when describing it, and guests could have at the time stayed at the Grand-Floridan for a week at the price that was being asked for the G.S.C. when the term their marketing team should have released is my new term the Immersive Stay Experience(I.S.E)which would have caused the journalists to ask questions, in interviews what is an I.S.E? So it’s a hotel? And rather than agreeing it is a hotel, they could have argued it’s more than a hotel, but I digress. 

The I.S.E is more than a hotel, because it provides showmanship, values of theater and L.A.R.P allowing guests to feel immersed in the liminal space using concepts of Hyperreality, it isn’t just check in and go drink pina-colada’s by the pool. It is go play sabaac, help with the bridge crew, help with the engineering bay, meet with the First Order Lieutenant and play along placing guests at the center of the simulation. An I.S.E by proxy to a hotel is like comparing Dollywood to Magic Kingdom or Home and Work. It is DND by comparison to Skyrim. An I.S.E. allows guests to have full agency over their LARP, it allows them to cosplay, it allows them to meet people who have the same love and passion for the stories and franchise they love.

The goal of an I.S.E isn’t simply to be a Hotel but to blur the boundaries between reality and fantasy, allowing guests to enter a simulation set our reality more in line with the traditionally theme park or virtual reality gaming, the only exception is there is no head set, and every single employee and other guest is also playing or should be playing within this same world as the guest, making the simulation into a form of hyperreal- experience that they get lost in and for many would have to detox after, as the closeness to this galaxy or other world being touched became to much to bear. It is psychological, as well as physiological, fun and new, and completely and utterly something that more Theme Parks should pursue in the future.

How could the Galactic Star Cruiser have worked?

What was underestimated was the demand. If I were Disney, I wouldn’t have completely ruled out that I.S.E’s in the future are not going to work in fact, i would pose the question, of why this I.S.E didn’t work, what can be done in the future if a New I.S.E is made and how can they make it succeed.The reason this I.S.E didn’t succeed had nothing to do with how it was an I.S.E and most of it had to do with the way it was marketed towards guests, had they marketed it properly and followed what I am about to discuss there is a possibility it would have not only returned investment but would still be opened today.

For one: The Galactic Star Cruiser was completely talked over the Phone to book it. This was a problem because they didn’t tell guest that Disney would help them “Finance” their vacation, and if i had known this I would have probably gone, at least once. They should have done everything over the internet not just over the phone as accessibility for an experience like this is key to its success. Calling over the phone isn’t as accessible to most guests, many would have wanted to see and compare rates on their computer screen rather than set it all up with a travel agent over the phone, for obvious reasons.

Next the Star Cruiser was all inclusive except for alcoholic beverages. All inclusive is great and all ,but vacation packages, taking a page out of Royal Caribbean's or Carnival’s  book for what is essentially a Space cruise could have helped lower the price for guests. Adding in different tiers of all you can eat, all you can drink and perhaps even a costuming package would have made this I.S.E, succeed if they hadn’t tried to get everyone food from the get go. Giving access to guests to have a grab and go meal for $15 for a family of 4 on their way to Hollywood Studios vs paying for a sit down buffet that was included in their ticket should have been a choice not just something included immediately. Different guests as mentioned have different values and all inclusive packages aren’t always the way to go when discussing something like this. 

Third Hollywood studios access, the ticketing was included in this stay as well, however, I would have cut the ticket price for DHS in half, simply because, these guests didn’t want to go to Hollywood Studios, they came to get the most out of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. they were given a lightning lane for Smugglers Run and rise of the Resistance and missions to do in Galaxy's Edge. As well as food vouchers for their stay as part of their immersion. Disney could have set up check points at the entrances to Galaxy’s edge and handed medallions out to their guests identifying themselves as larpers, these check points would have kept them in galaxy’s edge and the slashing of the ticket price down to two attractions could have made for lowering of costs. They are paying for Galaxy’s Edge as guests for the Star Cruiser so they should be confined to Galaxy’s edge as that is what they paid for. We also all know the my Disney Experience App is a tracking and map within the park, if they left Galaxy’s Edge they could have risked being charged more since they were in the rest of the park, not just Galaxy’s Edge.

Fourth, Disney could have made the stay longer by a day and using the tricks of Hyper-reality and scheduling they could have made it so that the guest of the G.S.C. went to Batuu after hours once the land was vacated, by the normal park guest, adding value. They then could have allowed the late night cast members, dress up, included aliens, and blocked off the exits to galaxy’s edge for the evening, allowing guests to cosplay with Cast Members, who were working the graveyard shift. They could have had a different Galaxy’s edge experience entirely, that came with their stay, without the need to deal with the florida sun, and runny make up. The extra day would have allowed them to recover, from their late night adventure to Batuu, and given them an extra day aboard the ship before their finale at the end of the night on their 3rd day, before leaving the next. This concept would have added value to the experience and been more exciting as it is a way to experience Galaxy’s Edge without the crowds, in a new exciting way, to take in every detail and see character interactions that normally wouldn’t occur while day guests were around.

Fifth improvements to the vehicle between the GSC and Batuu, we all know by now it was box truck with extreme theming inside of it. So why not put an animatronic DJ rex type character aboard it, and video of space as they steered guests from the ship to the surface and vice versa, this could have been extra exciting providing new visuals and a mobile Star Tours type attraction to the backlot, allowing G.S.E guests a third attraction which is more valuable to them for choosing such an attraction.

Sixth, more to do on the G.S.E. there was alot of story elements, entertainment and video games on the G.S.E what they lacked however were features for an extra day or for guests who didn’t larp to experience. I would have added two more food options, more shopping, another cantina, another LARP room or activity, a pool and a spa to the G.S.E. for the guests who wanted that Hotel experience and didn’t understand the concept of the I.S.E providing more value to the stay and more to do if the voyage was longer than two nights.

People pay for Experiences and in the future I hope Disney will give I.S.E’s another shot as they are truely the future of Immersive Story Telling and Hyperreality, within the theme park industry. Allowing us explore new worlds and new foods unlike ever before. Leave a comment and let me know what you think perhaps we can discuss I.S.E’s more in the comment section below.