Boardwalk Times: Stories from the Seashore — Disney Lake Nona Move Canceled and Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Shutters
Disney made some major business moves this month. A cancellation of a campus and a shuttering of a Star Wars hotel/experience. Let's dive into it.
Welcome back to Boardwalk Times: Stories from the Seashore! This month we will cover the fallout of Lake Nona and the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, we’ll reminisce about Disney’s Q2 call and its after-effects like the Disney+ content purge, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 box office, a Boardwalk Store scoop, podcast plugs, and the LINKS OF THE MONTH.
But before all that here are the monthly poll questions…
Now pour one out for Lake Nona/Galactic Starcruiser…
Lake Nona Is No More And Say Goodbye To The Galactic Starcruiser
The Disney news this month has been a lot to process.
Both Lake Nona and the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser were highly touted projects for Disney. Both for different reasons, for the Starcruiser it was because the project pushed the boundaries and limits of themed entertainment. For Lake Nona, it was the sheer fact that Disney would move Walt Disney Imagineering closer to its flagship resort.
Now let’s zero in on Lake Nona. Disney’s move to Lake Nona made a ton of sense on paper. Tax breaks. Proximity to Walt Disney World. A potential talent pipeline from UCF, SCAD, Full Sail, etc. It made sense from Disney’s perspective to make the move. In the long run, Disney was going to save money.
If Disney would’ve made Lake Nona a thing on its own without forcing employees out of California there would’ve been zero pushback. I think Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products could support two headquarters, one in California and one in Florida. Imagineering having an actual campus or building near Walt Disney World would be a win, as long as it wouldn’t mean the closure of the iconic Flower Street office. I actually think the move would’ve made Imagineering stronger (obviously contingent on the original office remaining open).
Disney decided to pull the plug on Lake Nona due to new leadership and changing business conditions. Other websites will run a headline saying this was all because of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. In reality, that was only a minor factor in this decision. As I’ve said above the Lake Nona plan wasn’t popular internally at Disney. A lot of cast members and Imagineers quit, so they didn’t have to uproot their families’ lives and move across the country.
Then we got the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. A Star Wars hotel seems like a home run, right? In my honest opinion, Disney overthought this. Instead of just making a Star Wars hotel that was just a hotel with some interactive elements. They went and created a two-night immersive experience that requires a good amount of participation. It was ambitious in concept and in price. The experience was highly rated by the guests that got to do it, and it also won industry awards.
Yet the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser faced challenges. The pricetag made the experience unattainable to most, and even hardcore superfans decided to spend their money elsewhere. Not to mention the fact the concept had very little wiggle room. They locked themselves into a timeline for “accuracy” sake, and the size of the hotel and the all-inclusiveness of the experience didn’t allow them to lower the rates.
Now Disney is writing it off to the tune of $300 million.
Disney Parks Chair Josh D’Amaro admitted that Galactic Starcruiser raised the bar but just didn’t do well enough. But for a project as highly-touted as the Galactic Starcruiser, doesn’t it seem like Disney pulled the plug too fast? They didn’t even try to pivot? At one time according to TheWrap, this concept was supposed to be replicated at Disneyland Paris Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, and Disneyland Resort.
Disney was thinking about giving day tours and even retheming it to The Mandalorian. But then they just decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. Now we wait to see if any characters or elements of the experience find their way to Galaxy’s Edge.
So what’s the common denominator behind the Lake Nona and Galactic Starcruiser projects?
Both were backed by former Disney Parks head and former Disney CEO Bob Chapek.
With Bob Iger back in control, he’s wasted no time in unraveling decisions made by his successor-predecessor. Iger didn’t seem enthusiastic about Lake Nona and was even telling his top lieutenants how the plan didn’t make sense when he came back to Disney. Iger was likely okay to drop the axe on Galactic Starcruiser due to Chapek’s involvement, Chapek shifted elements that were supposed to be a part of Galaxy’s Edge over to the Galactic Stacruiser like having your actions follow you, lightsaber duel shows, and table service restaurant with entertainment.
Both were good ideas on paper that needed some tweaking. Galactic Starcruiser needed more flexibility in its business model and the Lake Nona move needed to be more organized and optional.
Have a topic you want me to cover? Drop me a line at boardwalktimes@yahoo.com!
Disney Q2: Disney+ Cuts
Bob Iger and Christine McCarthy steal a play from Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav as they decide to do a content purge on Disney+ and Hulu. It’s a write-off galore at Disney. Sure, a lot of this content underperformed but erasing it likely forever is a brutal fate. The content purge seems counterintuitive but hey I guess it will save money somehow. I don’t know why Disney doesn’t just reroute some of these series to ABC, Freeform, FX, etc., or even sell them off to Roku, Amazon, Apple, etc. If Iger wanted to get back into licensing on a smaller basis wouldn’t these be the titles to try it with? One of the unsettling highlights of this Disney content purge was the fact that Howard, a Don Hahn documentary was slated to go away. Thankfully fans spoke up and told Disney how bad of a look it would be to remove a documentary about a Disney Legend, over the opening weekend of the live-action reimagining of a story that Ashman contributed to. The Disney+ content purge is just sad all around.
Now going back to the rest of the Q2 meeting.
Iger was asked about AI, and he had a few comments on it. The biggest takeaway was how he said Disney’s legal team is working overtime to address the threat. A future edition of this newsletter will tackle Disney’s potential relationship with AI from protecting its properties to how the Mouse may utilize it.
Disney Cruise Line is dominating. Disney CFO Christine McCarthy shouted the business out on the Q2 call, she then hyped it up again during a Q&A. Disney Parks Chair Josh D’Amaro reaffirmed it and even shared that 40% of Disney Cruise Line guests wouldn’t cruise unless it was with Disney. That division is one to watch.
Another reveal from Q2, Walt Disney World hit its ceiling. The unstoppable demand has come to a halt. Disney has to make some changes so attendance stays up. Like giving perks to APs again and in 2024 the reservation system will be phased out. Disney finally realized that guests have a breaking point when things cost more and become increasingly more complicated.
In case you missed it, my mailbag for Q2 featured box office predictions, Disney+ questions, the areas surrounding Splash Mountain, Star Wars Land in Paris, and Avatar at Disneyland. Read it here.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 Box Office Performance
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 made $114 million over its domestic opening weekend. It made $62.7 million in its second weekend, that’s just a 47% drop. One of the smallest MCU drops ever. At a time when Marvel needed that win the most. The third weekend resulted in $32 million, another 47% drop. Guardians is eyeing a big worldwide haul. It truly deserves a good run. It’s a fantastic film. At the time of this writing, it sits at $667 million worldwide. If the momentum sustains the film could pass Vol. 2’s haul of $863 million. That would be a gigantic win.
These results should give some hope. Hopefully, the 2024 MCU slate is just as good as Gunn’s epic send-off.
Boardwalk Store Is Here!
For the last few months, in between writing stories, writing newsletters, and doing podcasts. I’ve been working on Boardwalk Times’ expansion. The first part of this expansion for the multimedia company is Boardwalk Store. We launched this month and we’re going to continue to add products and fandom designs.
Make your voice heard here on what products, designs, & collections you want to see…
BOARDWALK STORE LAUNCH TEE — LIMITED EDITION
A little Boardwalk Store scoop just for readers of this newsletter: The store will soon have Boardwalk Store branded gear, not just Boardwalk Times. I received feedback on how cool the logo is and how you all wanted it on merch. So, that will be coming shortly. And another little scoop, I’m working with a stable of talented graphic designers from the Disney/theme park community to bring you all some new excellent designs.
Want to write for Boardwalk Times? Check this out.
Podcast Plugs 🎙
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Discussion with Giovanni Delgadillo and Joaquin Fernandez. We dive into James Gunn’s spectacle and where the characters may go from here. (Apple) (Spotify)
I was a guest on Reckless Rebellion. I got to chat about Star Wars with Thomas Carter Rochester and Klein Felt. We discussed upcoming Star Wars projects and the closure of the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. I even gave my bold pick on who should play The First Jedi in James Mangold’s film. (Apple) (Spotify)
LINKS OF THE MONTH
— New Book Alert: MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, will be a behind-the-scene look at the entertainment powerhouse. (Entertainment Weekly)
— New Book Alert: Wall Street Journal reporter Robbie Whelan is writing a book called The House of Mouse: Bob Iger and the Fight for the Soul of Disney for William Morrow (HarperColllins). The book will examine Iger’s legacy and be a Iger vs Chapek book. (Twitter via Puck News)
— How much profit did the 2022 MCU films make? (The Direct)
— James Gunn’s Guardians: How Chris Pratt and His Marvel Castmates Rescued Their Director’s Career. (The Hollywood Reporter)
— James Gunn Always Knew How Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Would End. (The New York Times)
— Boardwalk Times Star Wars writer/podcaster Sara Edwards shares how to celebrate May the 4th in Sonoma County (The Press Democrat)
— My friend Ayla has another first report. This time on Deadpool 3. (The Cosmic Circus)
— A phenomenal crossover: Daisy Jones and The Six & The Electric Mayhem. (Entertainment Weekly)
— 50 Questions We Have After Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3. (Boardwalk Times)
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