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Disney Tackles Lines
- Thread starter nor'easter
- Start date
TiggersPooh
Active Member
they were not watching today...
asianway
Well-Known Member
"Another option involves dispatching Captain Jack Sparrow or Goofy or one of their pals to the queue to entertain people as they wait. “It’s about being nimble and quickly noticing that, ‘Hey, let’s make sure there is some relief out there for those people,’ ” said Phil Holmes, vice president of the Magic Kingdom, the flagship Disney World park.
What if Fantasyland is swamped with people but adjacent Tomorrowland has plenty of elbow room? The operations center can route a miniparade called “Move it! Shake it! Celebrate It!” into the less-populated pocket to siphon guests in that direction. Other technicians in the command center monitor restaurants, perhaps spotting that additional registers need to be opened or dispatching greeters to hand out menus to people waiting to order. "
Random character dispatches? Parade reroutings?
This aint happening now-is he saying theyre going to start??
What if Fantasyland is swamped with people but adjacent Tomorrowland has plenty of elbow room? The operations center can route a miniparade called “Move it! Shake it! Celebrate It!” into the less-populated pocket to siphon guests in that direction. Other technicians in the command center monitor restaurants, perhaps spotting that additional registers need to be opened or dispatching greeters to hand out menus to people waiting to order. "
Random character dispatches? Parade reroutings?
This aint happening now-is he saying theyre going to start??
Interesting concept on the wristbands. I could see them using this info and targeting "big spending" guests with more perks. Sort of what they do in Vegas except they give you quicker fast pass times or something to entice you to spend more.
hpyhnt 1000
Well-Known Member
Interesting article, and while I can appreciate what Disney is trying to do, I don't really think its going to do much to increase per capita revenue. Allowing people to wait in shorter lines is just going to allow them to ride another attraction or two (which will make guests happier overall and may persuade them to visit more often). But as far as per capita spending is concerned, technology ain't going to cut it; better food options and more merchandise variety, not hidden cameras, is what will solve that issue.
britlightyear
Active Member
Are there really 87 game stations in the Space queue? That sounds like a REALLY high number... Even if you counted each button would it be that many? :shrug:
Just In Time
New Member
Disney Research Rocks :sohappy:
WesternRiverExplorer
Member
I agree, that paragraph is completely out of left field. I'm almost inclined to think that the writer completely misunderstood the situation or is making wild assumptions. Or maybe Phil Holmes is just that out of touch with the daily operations of the park. Redirecting a parade, really?? Could you imagine a parade trying to make it into Tomorrowland or Adventureland? What about the "friends" of characters, would they just have to be on call all day, waiting to be put onstage, forced to try to somehow entertain a moving queue but not cause a traffic jam? It's either a joke, or insanity.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
This article was so horribly inaccurate, and so blatantly exagerrated and peppered with outright lies and falsehoods, that I read most of it with my mouth wide open. 
Reading this article only served to remind me that the media, even such once-trustworthy old gaurd outfits like the New York Times, simply lies through its teeth to get the right soundbite and the right hook to keep people tuned in through the commercials and keep them clicking links.
Dispatching Goofy and Jack Sparrow to long lines to entertain? Rerouting parades towards Tomorrowland to attract crowds? Pulling extra CM's out of thin air to open up more cash registers and pass out menus? :ROFLOL:
I have no doubt there is an impressive control room down in a Utilidor that checks crowd levels and monitors wait times. And I'm sure Disney Parks has a team working on taking advantage of new technology to increase sales and customer satisfaction.
But this easily impressed reporter, Mr. Brook Barnes, either wore out his VHS tape of Westworld when he was a kid and was giddy at his first expense-account trip to Florida, or Phil Holmes completely misrepresented what his team is currently capable of and bent the truth for the publicity and personal ego boost. My hunch is it's actually a combination of those two things. And thus we get ridiculously awful newspaper articles like this one, in the New York Times no less.
Reading this article only served to remind me that the media, even such once-trustworthy old gaurd outfits like the New York Times, simply lies through its teeth to get the right soundbite and the right hook to keep people tuned in through the commercials and keep them clicking links.
Dispatching Goofy and Jack Sparrow to long lines to entertain? Rerouting parades towards Tomorrowland to attract crowds? Pulling extra CM's out of thin air to open up more cash registers and pass out menus? :ROFLOL:
I have no doubt there is an impressive control room down in a Utilidor that checks crowd levels and monitors wait times. And I'm sure Disney Parks has a team working on taking advantage of new technology to increase sales and customer satisfaction.
But this easily impressed reporter, Mr. Brook Barnes, either wore out his VHS tape of Westworld when he was a kid and was giddy at his first expense-account trip to Florida, or Phil Holmes completely misrepresented what his team is currently capable of and bent the truth for the publicity and personal ego boost. My hunch is it's actually a combination of those two things. And thus we get ridiculously awful newspaper articles like this one, in the New York Times no less.
niteobsrvr
Well-Known Member
This article was so horribly inaccurate, and so blatantly exagerrated and peppered with outright lies and falsehoods, that I read most of it with my mouth wide open.
Reading this article only served to remind me that the media, even such once-trustworthy old gaurd outfits like the New York Times, simply lies through its teeth to get the right soundbite and the right hook to keep people tuned in through the commercials and keep them clicking links.
Dispatching Goofy and Jack Sparrow to long lines to entertain? Rerouting parades towards Tomorrowland to attract crowds? Pulling extra CM's out of thin air to open up more cash registers and pass out menus? :ROFLOL:
I have no doubt there is an impressive control room down in a Utilidor that checks crowd levels and monitors wait times. And I'm sure Disney Parks has a team working on taking advantage of new technology to increase sales and customer satisfaction.
But this easily impressed reporter, Mr. Brook Barnes, either wore out his VHS tape of Westworld when he was a kid and was giddy at his first expense-account trip to Florida, or Phil Holmes completely misrepresented what his team is currently capable of and bent the truth for the publicity and personal ego boost. My hunch is it's actually a combination of those two things. And thus we get ridiculously awful newspaper articles like this one, in the New York Times no less.
The level of technology integration at the parks has increased at least 10 fold in the last 10 years. Take a look at the Patent office filings and you will see how they are working to integrate the capabilities of todays communication networks with everything that is happening at DIsney in real time.
As far as dispatching a character, utilizing a mini street party or adding cast members to a busy restaurant goes, I would say its highly possilble and plausible. THere are always cast members available and believe it or not there is a certian amount of over staffing that happens to cover for such circumstances. WHile Jack Sparrow may not walk up and say "Hi I am here to entertain you while you wait in this terribly long line", this kind of entertianment does have a tendeacey to pop up at the World. Ever wonder if it is all scheduled in adavance, random or is there someother method?
cowanfamily
Well-Known Member
This article is just written poorly. I believe Disney is trying to improve wait times. It just seems like they put the most scattered brain writer on the story.
Monsterfan99
Active Member
I'm fairly certain if a parade was randomly rerouted, there would be a full scale riot of soccer moms and angry dads.
PhilharMagician
Well-Known Member
I ws just recently asked to do a survey when leaving MK. When I got home I received tha link by E-mail. It was about focused on line waits in both restaurants and rides. It also specifically asjed about how many rides and shows I was able to partake in that day. However it was not a good day for us since my daughter took a header on the barrel bridge on Tom Sawyer Island when another young guest was running and jumping and knocked her over. A couple of bloody knees and a slow limping trip to first aid to get some antiseptic and large patch bandages. So this may have skewed the survey slightly, but I made them aware in the survey of our loss of time that day.
I am all for anything they can do to reduce the wait times, but that typically happens when more capacity is added.
I am all for anything they can do to reduce the wait times, but that typically happens when more capacity is added.
Jrn14
Well-Known Member
This article was so horribly inaccurate, and so blatantly exagerrated and peppered with outright lies and falsehoods, that I read most of it with my mouth wide open.
Reading this article only served to remind me that the media, even such once-trustworthy old gaurd outfits like the New York Times, simply lies through its teeth to get the right soundbite and the right hook to keep people tuned in through the commercials and keep them clicking links.
Dispatching Goofy and Jack Sparrow to long lines to entertain? Rerouting parades towards Tomorrowland to attract crowds? Pulling extra CM's out of thin air to open up more cash registers and pass out menus? :ROFLOL:
I have no doubt there is an impressive control room down in a Utilidor that checks crowd levels and monitors wait times. And I'm sure Disney Parks has a team working on taking advantage of new technology to increase sales and customer satisfaction.
But this easily impressed reporter, Mr. Brook Barnes, either wore out his VHS tape of Westworld when he was a kid and was giddy at his first expense-account trip to Florida, or Phil Holmes completely misrepresented what his team is currently capable of and bent the truth for the publicity and personal ego boost. My hunch is it's actually a combination of those two things. And thus we get ridiculously awful newspaper articles like this one, in the New York Times no less.
That did happen once to me, but the ironic thing is the park was extremly dead it was a pirate and princess party and there was nobody in the park, but Jack Sparrow did indeed come into the line of POC and entertain people. Granted the line was of about 20 people, but it's not as farfetched as I think you guys are making it out to be.
Wow some very creative writing in that report. Imagine being in Tomorrowland and suddenly seeing a parade head in there. LOL now that would be YouTube worthy. Especially as there is no parade route sound system, parade control, or trained performers to travel through that land.
How is someone standing around in Fantasyland going to know a mini-parade is happening in Tomorrowland? And I'm sorry, but what exactly are the CMs doing at these attractions that they can't call their managers and request to add more boats? Or why can't the manager of a restaurant tell on his own that he needs to open more registers? More beneficial decisions can be made by someone who is on-site rather than by someone who is looking at a monitor...how does that CM know the line isn't being backed for some other reason, and that it is only a temporary flux? This seems to be a case when technology is being used simply because it exists.
Disney shouldn't be regularly overstaffing for "in case of" situations. That's just poor management.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
I couldn't agree more. The supervisors at each ride and shop and snack bar should/would know immediately if they need to open more registers or increase capacity. And after operating this park for 40 years, they would already know how to finesse their operation and capacity to best serve the customers.
This article was total bunk. This is like something you'd read in a high school newspaper where fact-checking and probing questions don't really exist.
It's unflattering either way. Either the reporter has a mental handicap and can't understand what is being said to him or what he is seeing, or Phil Holmes completely misrepresented how he runs the theme park and basically explained to Times readers that his front-line supervision and park managers are idiots who have to be told how to do the most basic operational tasks via remote TV screen. :lol:
hurricanepat
Member
Whenever I see a parade I turn around and go the other way.
JWG
Well-Known Member
So, I was most amused by this little fun fact:
- Data supports that on average guests are able to do 9 rides in a day (of 40 possible)
- Over the last few months (September, October and November based on date of the article) that was raised to 10