Just listened to Ryno and Fiasco review of the StarCruiser. Honestly they sounded a bit negative on the shows leading up to their voyage (which so many people and podcasts and vloggers were and I always said how you have such negative feelings about something you havent even experienced?) so I expected a terrible review.
We must watch or listen to different podcasts because every review of the Starcruiser I've seen has been fairly positive. Even WDWNT's Tom Corless gave it a positive review.
I have to say it was so refreshing to hear them say that first of all everyone saying its $6000 is wrong.
I thought that was a little petty. It's $1209 + tax per night per person with a minimum occupancy of 2 on
weeknights between 08/20/2022 and 09/17/2022 excluding taxes and fees. So, it's $4809 + taxes & fees minimum. Add a couple of kids in there (which is Disney's typical target market—a family of 4) and you're at $6,000 or more. Saying "$6,000" is not an exaggeration. Most people are not going to go with their adult friends who are going to split the costs with them. It's targeted at families (unfortunately).
Apparently, the pricing changes by season too so if you go Spring Break, Easter, Summer, Christmas, etc., it's even more expensive just like theme park/hotel/cruise pricing.
I'm just glad they all got into it and went in 100% even if it knocked them out of their comfort zone.
I actually think Craig and Deni should get a waiver on this with a disclosure and just let them speak their mind about it. If you want to get technical about it, Ryno and Corey didn't pay for their stay either. I feel like this is completely different than a dining review. However, there's a lot of the pay to play/influencer nonsense in the Disney vlog world. I understand where Pete is coming from and respect his decision.
I used to work for a newspaper that had a features section that reviewed concerts, plays, shows, comedians, etc. We always got media invites, but the paper would reimburse the theater, venue, etc. for the cost of of the ticket.
As for the Starcruiser experience itself, I have my issues with it. I remember the Galaxy's Edge press conference and the promise of roaming droids, live characters, reputation system, etc. Putting all that behind a 2-night paywall for the price of an entire week at WDW seems out of touch to me.
But I'm just so glad this thing wasn't budget cut. It doesn't look cheap. The character interaction looks amazing (Gaya? Very talented!) and it's not some cheesy experience like the original promotional video showed. Do they have some problems to fix? Yes, but in the Chapek era where there's supposedly no money for rides or entertainment, I was expecting the worst.
And I was blown away by Craig's video. I saw the length of it and expected to just skip through it. He edited it like a TV show or movie. It was actually entertaining and I got invested in all of their storylines (and upset when Kylie was locked out, etc.). It's by far the best coverage I've seen.