Don't Wanna Be "That Guy"

[SorcererHeidi]

I’m not 100% sure but I don’t think you can go to DCL, board the ship, have a meal and do some shopping just to “check things out” without actually going on the cruise. This is supposed to be the same thing, just in space, so technically you can’t just go board it.

Hmmmm @Jimmy Mouse - Interesting way of looking at things, and you're totally right - when DCL first started sailing, I even called and asked if I could just go "look around" when the ship was in port, or just to go on for a bit when friends were sailing, but of course, I got a negative answer., Which I can understand, due to security, to a point.

But you're right - they have no problems selling that product without "eyes on" marketing. The only thing I will conjecture is that the marketing pool for cruising - no matter who the vendor is - is much more generic, and deep, than a totally immersive experience, especially Star Wars themed. Just a thought.

 

[disneysteve]

Hmmmm @Jimmy Mouse - Interesting way of looking at things, and you're totally right - when DCL first started sailing, I even called and asked if I could just go "look around" when the ship was in port, or just to go on for a bit when friends were sailing, but of course, I got a negative answer., Which I can understand, due to security, to a point.

But you're right - they have no problems selling that product without "eyes on" marketing. The only thing I will conjecture is that the marketing pool for cruising - no matter who the vendor is - is much more generic, and deep, than a totally immersive experience, especially Star Wars themed. Just a thought.

I agree, Heidi. Anyone who has been on a cruise, or even looked into cruising to a decent extent, has a pretty good understanding of what a cruise consists of. This is a totally different animal. Nothing like this has been done before as far as I know. Folks have no point of reference.

There are also laws governing getting onto a ship, similar to those for getting onto a plane. There are no such laws for hotels.

 

[Tonyz]

Oh Heidi... as someone who is still in mourning over the demise of The Adventurer's Club... that hurt.

 

[disneysteve]

To be perfectly honest, my guess is the immersion factor is much less than advertised in practice. Right or wrong, I’m assuming they are over promising to begin with.

That aside, I think they’re going to have to be able to account for people who aren’t going to be playing along. By the nature of this being an experience over the span of a couple days, you’re going to have less enthusiastic fans or people who aren’t fans at all there with their friends and family.

I agree with both points. I don't think the immersion is going to be as complete as they're making it out to be. It's a hotel in Disney World. There are going to be families coming because mom or dad is a big Star Wars fan but the rest of the family not so much. Look at some of the backlash from Galaxy's Edge with them calling the bathrooms "refreshers" and having to rename the menu items at the restaurant twice already. People started complaining right away that they couldn't get a CM to answer their questions because of the role playing they were doing.

I'm also curious about the logistical issue. Nearly every guest will be doing a split stay since this is only a 2-night event and most people will come for longer. They're going to need a crew for all of the luggage transfers and getting people in between hotels.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Oh Heidi... as someone who is still in mourning over the demise of The Adventurer's Club... that hurt.

Sorry, @Tonyz (funny - Tony is my ex's name that I allowed to hang out at the AC for extended lengths of time! Yes - the word"allowed" "IS said with a HEAVY dollop of sarcasm!!) . I wouldn't mind YOU going, just don't expect ME to set up shop there for any length of time at a clip.
It was nice being your friend while it lasted.

 

[Beer Me]

To be perfectly honest, my guess is the immersion factor is much less than advertised in practice. Right or wrong, I’m assuming they are over promising to begin with.

That aside, I think they’re going to have to be able to account for people who aren’t going to be playing along. By the nature of this being an experience over the span of a couple days, you’re going to have less enthusiastic fans or people who aren’t fans at all there with their friends and family.

Exactly. And it’s funny but I loved Adventurers Club but never felt pressured to play along. You could just observe and in my experience the CMs had good instincts and would move along if you weren’t into it.

I think OP had some bad, but not typical, experiences there.

I’m sure the Star Wars hotel won’t pressure anyone to do anything they aren’t comfortable with.

My family are just casual Star Wars fans but I would love to check it out depending on cost. I wouldn’t worry at all about having to cosplay. I mean, even if I tried, beer bellied middle aged dads in cargo shorts aren’t really going to sell it.

 

[disneysteve]

I’m sure the Star Wars hotel won’t pressure anyone to do anything they aren’t comfortable with.

Galaxy's Edge did.

 

[disneysteve]

If they really want to do a fully immersive experience, they need to hire actors. Actual trained experienced entertainers. Not run of the mill cast members with no theater experience. Everyone from the parking lot security guard to the valet to the front desk clerk to the housekeeping people need to be involved in the game. I just don't see that happening.

I hope this place is wildly successful and there's a waiting list a mile long to get a room. I hope it makes a boatload of money and becomes a world-famous groundbreaking experience that sets a new standard for themed entertainment. And obviously nobody can pass judgement until the place is open and guests start experiencing it. It just seems to have a lot of areas where things could potentially break down.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

Agreed people may be underestimating the cosplay fandom. I know a guy who once a year takes his family, they pitch a tent and for a week with hundreds (thousands?) of other people cosplay the medieval time period, this is just one local chapter and they take it extremely seriously. Everything from food preparation to clothing must be time period correct.

Of course, I can’t imagine giving one vacation week a year to that! But there are a lot of people who would say our “Disney fandom” with podcasts, news obsession, trips is beyond “weird.”

 

[disneysteve]

I know a guy who once a year takes his family, they pitch a tent and for a week with hundreds (thousands?) of other people cosplay the medieval time period, this is just one local chapter and they take it extremely seriously. Everything from food preparation to clothing must be time period correct.

Yep. I know a guy who is like that with Civil War reenactment.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Yep. I know a guy who is like that with Civil War reenactment.

 

[Beer Me]

Galaxy's Edge did.

I didn’t know that. I guess I missed those accounts.

I still haven’t been so my experience is too many hours of video from various vloggers. The interactions I’ve seen with role playing cms haven’t been very involved.

 

[disneysteve]

I didn’t know that. I guess I missed those accounts.

I still haven’t been so my experience is too many hours of video from various vloggers. The interactions I’ve seen with role playing cms haven’t been very involved.

I haven't been either but there were many reports of guests asking simple questions and getting cryptic answers or no answers at all from a CM who was role playing. Kevin spoke on the show about a couple of issues he ran into.

I think they've toned it down a bit since then.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Wasn't Galaxys edge suppose to be super immersive with characters walking around, and tons of atmosphere things going on...Cast mentioning to me how I did on the Falcon??

Also it's going to pretty much be a cruise on board...things you can participate in and things you can't. I'm sure they'll be a nightly show, diner, characters, activities, games, and experiences...it's not going to be literally you in a wall to wall story.

 

[rteetz]

Wasn't Galaxys edge suppose to be super immersive with characters walking around, and tons of atmosphere things going on...Cast mentioning to me how I did on the Falcon??

Also it's going to pretty much be a cruise on board...things you can participate in and things you can't. I'm sure they'll be a nightly show, diner, characters, activities, games, and experiences...it's not going to be literally you in a wall to wall story.

There are characters walking around. The droids didn’t happen though. There was supposed to be more interaction about your score on the falcon but that never owned out either. I find it super immersive.

 

[VandVsmama]

There are thousands of Star Wars cosplayers. Ever heard of the Legion? It's an international cosplay group with many subsections - not just Stormtroopers.
This will appeal to them.

The 501st Legion. Friend of mine is working on a Tusken Raider costume so he can join. Later this year, I'm going to start putting together a costume for a tie fighter pilot. I'm stoked about the possibility of me and my family playing Star Wars for a couple of days. But I totally understand that it's not for everybody.

 

[Cherry Limeade]

This is a great perspective. In some ways, I'm the same way. I may want the experience but not the "stuff". However, that often makes the price point prohibitive. As I said, I'd love to go over and see and explore the Star Wars hotel, take pictures, get a drink, have a meal... but there's no way we would ever spend the money to stay there. Doing the wand experience at Ollivanders at Universal would be cool but I don't need or want to own the wand so I wouldn't spend the money to do it. If I could pay a nominal fee to go through the show and walk away when I'm done without a wand, that would be perfect.

We were just at Universal. You can TOTALLY go through the wand show and not purchase. It’s a cute show. Even if you get picked as the participant you don’t have to buy the wand.

 

[fla4fun]

I don’t think they will let random people in. If it’s an all inclusive experience, there won’t be normal restaurants for people to go in and buy food. Using the cruise analogy, it would be like a random person going to one of the main dining rooms while the ship is in port and trying to buy a meal.

One thing I could see them doing is having some kind of preview before they officially open. Whether it would just be CMs, or passholders, or first come, first serve for a limited number of people, I don’t know. It could even be a combination of the three. But once it starts, I think it will be registered guests only.

As an extreme introvert, I do not like situations where I am forced to participate. If I could just wander the “ship” and observe, that would be my speed.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

I must say - I am very much enjoying the conversations, and different points of view here! This is exactly what I was hoping for when I started this thread. Color me pretty happy,. Thanx, all, for making my weekend.

 

[TomorrowlandKD]

A lot of assumptions in this thread for a hotel that hasn't even been opened, and also hasn't really given any details about what experiences will be present.

To put it simply: if the hotel isn't for you, "move along" (as the stormtroopers would say!)