I agree on your point about the vital role of music in immersive experiences. I see it when I play video games and how, later, when I am listening to the soundtrack, I instinctively tense up when a combat song comes on, because I started subconsciously associating it with fighting. I will also never cease to be impressed with the skill of the performers, because being able to keep that many things in mind at the same time, balancing the script they have to follow and improvising based on what the passengers do, is honestly incredible.
I am honestly surprised that they didn't go harder on the story-element of the experience. Like a Star Wars-themed hotel is nice and all, especially for a fan, I am sure, but being told that you can be part of the story might convince even people that aren't die hard fans to go.
I think that with better marketing and more time, this would've surely gotten more successful. Especially since I am almost 100% sure that with the money Disney makes from its parks in general whatever loss came from this was not that much of a hit at the end of the day.
Fine piece, and one of the better explanations of what the thing was all about. I am not a Star Wars fan, but the idea of being in an immersive shipboard experience in *any* property is exciting. It reminds me of the attention to detail in Universal Studios' Hogwarts/Diagon Alley.
While I think your "why it failed" analysis is correct, there is also the factor that folks who love Star Wars THAT MUCH that an immersive weekend like this sounds fun is a relatively narrow niche, add in the pricetag and your Venn diagram overlap of those who CAN and those who WANT TO becomes a narrow sliver. (At the same time, if they're paying the company anything close what they're worth, the pricetag makes sense. It's just too much for a casual fan, though.)
I agree on your point about the vital role of music in immersive experiences. I see it when I play video games and how, later, when I am listening to the soundtrack, I instinctively tense up when a combat song comes on, because I started subconsciously associating it with fighting. I will also never cease to be impressed with the skill of the performers, because being able to keep that many things in mind at the same time, balancing the script they have to follow and improvising based on what the passengers do, is honestly incredible.
I am honestly surprised that they didn't go harder on the story-element of the experience. Like a Star Wars-themed hotel is nice and all, especially for a fan, I am sure, but being told that you can be part of the story might convince even people that aren't die hard fans to go.
I think that with better marketing and more time, this would've surely gotten more successful. Especially since I am almost 100% sure that with the money Disney makes from its parks in general whatever loss came from this was not that much of a hit at the end of the day.
Fine piece, and one of the better explanations of what the thing was all about. I am not a Star Wars fan, but the idea of being in an immersive shipboard experience in *any* property is exciting. It reminds me of the attention to detail in Universal Studios' Hogwarts/Diagon Alley.
Alas. Maybe Musk can buy it... ;)
While I think your "why it failed" analysis is correct, there is also the factor that folks who love Star Wars THAT MUCH that an immersive weekend like this sounds fun is a relatively narrow niche, add in the pricetag and your Venn diagram overlap of those who CAN and those who WANT TO becomes a narrow sliver. (At the same time, if they're paying the company anything close what they're worth, the pricetag makes sense. It's just too much for a casual fan, though.)