The folks over at WDWNT have received a great survey, which teases an all new Star Wars themed resort that will be on Walt Disney World property.
The new survey is being done from an outside company, but it does showcase an all new idea for Disney. The new Resort could allow guests to sleep in a starship from the Star Wars Universe. The rooms would be highly themed and actually do more than just be highly themed immersive. The rooms and the entire resort experience would continue the story of the new Star Wars themed land. Imagine walking the decks of a star ship, with a cantina full of aliens and droids. Ordering food to your room, only to have it delivered by a service droid.
You are surrounded by the Star Wars story at all turns, and your choices follow you from the parks and into the hotel. That seems to be the point of the new survey.
Even more, the new experience would be all inclusive, meaning that you would pay one price. It would include your hotel stay, your meals, even your theme park tickets. The days would be limited so that everyone in the hotel would be on the same story experience.
Pop over to WDWNT for more details.
While this is welcomed news, it’s not really unexpected. You have each and every major theme park trying to outdo each other in immersive storytelling. Universal has done it already with Jimmy Fallon’s Race Through New York. They start the second you walk into 30 Rock, and you are immersed completely. You don’t wait in line, but rather lounge around and take part in the Tonight Show experience. The story doesn’t end until you walk out of the building. Universal is also about to do it on a much larger scale with Volcano Bay. You will walk into a tropical paradise, and won’t have to do things like wait in line. Instead you’ll be able to explore the paradise.
With this new rumor from Disney, it honestly seems like the natural progression of a rich storytelling experience. The next step from there would have to be an entire park based on that concept, where not only do you just explore the park, but your experiences are tied into your stay and what you do on that stay reflects what happens next.
It’s a genius idea, honestly. An entire vacation where you spend the week living inside your favorite stories, being part of them, instead of just seeing a piece of the story that you already know. It’s also a vacation where the tech or ride system isn’t the most important part of the experience. Granted, the next generation would have to have tech and ride systems that break the mold of what is currently available, but the rides would be a secondary aspect. You become the focus of the story. Something like that is more meaningful than riding through a familiar story that you’ve seen a million times.
Also something the industry has been working towards for years is the all inclusive experience. Discovery Cove has done it for over 15 years with a huge success. It’s a rumor that has been persistent over almost the past decade that Disney was working on their own all inclusive park, focused on animals. While that concept seems to have fallen to the wayside, it looks like more and more parks are looking to try and replicate that success. SeaWorld announced that they would be creating onsite and partner resorts at many of their parks a few years back. While we haven’t seen any movement on that lately, it’s just one step to creating that experience. After all, the longer you keep someone from leaving your park and area, the more they spend on just your park.
So while the Star Wars Resort may just be rumor at this point, it’s definitely not something that is limited to a galaxy far, far, away. You may see it sooner than you think.
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