The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[MoonRakerSCM]

Um, required reservations?

Bingo!!!!! I'm just amazed at how things creep up onto the parks when they have massive amounts of data to go off of and daily numbers from a required system. They should be so familiar with crowd movements during events/evenings/weekdays yet somehow 'whoopsie, we only have 1 turnstile open!'

 

[Phroobar]

I've been to many theme parks through out the country. I've never experienced problems getting into a park like this. Why do they setup these high tech entry systems that do not work? This is hardly what I would expect from a world class theme park.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I've been to many theme parks through out the country. I've never experienced problems getting into a park like this. Why do they setup these high tech entry systems that do not work? This is hardly what I would expect from a world class theme park.

I wouldn't call their security set-up high tech, but I don't understand their apparent inability to anticipate surges in attendance and scale up accordingly.

If they can't even adequately anticipate attendance with the reservation system, the alleged reason it's all still in place, they should abandon it.

Though to be fair to them, a lot of guests aren't really doing their part to speed up these lines either by not having their tickets ready in time and so on.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I wouldn't call their security set-up high tech, but I don't understand their apparent inability to anticipate surges in attendance and scale up accordingly.

Is it an inability, or an unwillingness?

They know their guests will put up with it because it's Disney.

 

[Phroobar]

I wouldn't call their security set-up high tech, but I don't understand their apparent inability to anticipate surges in attendance and scale up accordingly.

If they can't even adequately anticipate attendance with the reservation system, the alleged reason it's all still in place, they should abandon it.

Though to be fair to them, a lot of guests aren't really doing their part to speed up these lines either by not having their tickets ready in time and so on.

I thought they had these cool paperless entries with no turn styles. You could just walk right through. Maybe the guests aren't technically savey to use their phones for something more than Facebook?

 

[PiratesMansion]

I thought they had these cool paperless entries with no turn styles. You could just walk right through. Maybe the guests aren't technically savey to use their phones for something more than Facebook?

To me it's been very obvious for years that many people are *quite* bad at using their phones for anything other than scrolling social media.

Nor does it occur to people that they should pull their tickets up in advance.

Or turn up their brightness.

Or do literally anything to help speed up the process for them or anyone else around them.

 

[Touchdown]

If only if there was another way, a collectible that works faster, is nearly idiot proof and fits on your wrist. Imagine Disney could give out one of these for free to every AP and onsite guest, sell them to others and make “special ones” and charge more for collectors.

I cannot understand why you Californians are so resistant to MBs. They are infinitely easier to use and work in those machines much faster.

 

[Disney Irish]

I cannot understand why you Californians are so resistant to MBs.

67 years of tradition before they were introduced at DL? I mean just look how many people were resistant to just switching to the app and that has been a thing for almost a decade, wanting instead to keep paper tickets even if just printed at home.

 

[mickEblu]

If only if there was another way, a collectible that works faster, is nearly idiot proof and fits on your wrist. Imagine Disney could give out one of these for free to every AP and onsite guest, sell them to others and make “special ones” and charge more for collectors.

I cannot understand why you Californians are so resistant to MBs. They are infinitely easier to use and work in those machines much faster.

I don’t think we’re resistant as much as they aren’t as useful out here.

 

[DLR92]

I hate magic bands. I refuse to buy them. Waste of money.

 

[Phroobar]

To me it's been very obvious for years that many people are *quite* bad at using their phones for anything other than scrolling social media.

Nor does it occur to people that they should pull their tickets up in advance.

Or turn up their brightness.

Or do literally anything to help speed up the process for them or anyone else around them.

It drives me nuts when I'm behind someone that can't bring up their tickets on their phone. They stand there using the Force to press random buttons hoping it will come up while I stand behind them with my bar code ready. Almost every time it is a iPhone user.

 

[Touchdown]

I don’t think we’re resistant as much as they aren’t as useful out here.

It still works for tickets and LL which is 80% of my taps at WDW.

 

[Figments Friend]

Don’t forget kids…

Mickey can track you when you are wearing one of his ‘Mouse Arrest Bands’….aka Magic Bands.
He knows all about where you are on Property….from what Attractions you are on, to what shops and restaurants you like to cruise.
Some choose not to wear MagicBands because of this…

Oh, and they can make your wrist pretty sweaty too…. especially in Florida!
But hey, they can have some cool and fun designs on them.


-

 

[Touchdown]

Don’t forget kids…

Mickey can track you when you are wearing one of his ‘Mouse Arrest Bands’….aka Magic Bands.
He knows all about where you are on Property….from what Attractions you are on, to what shops and restaurants you like to cruise.
Some choose not to wear MagicBands because of this…

Oh, and they can make your wrist pretty sweaty too…. especially in Florida!
But hey, they can have some cool and fun designs on them.


-

Because if you don’t wear one, the hundreds of cameras on property will definitely not record your every movement…

 

[Disney Irish]

Don’t forget kids…

Mickey can track you when you are wearing one of his ‘Mouse Arrest Bands’….aka Magic Bands.
He knows all about where you are on Property….from what Attractions you are on, to what shops and restaurants you like to cruise.
Some choose not to wear MagicBands because of this…

Oh, and they can make your wrist pretty sweaty too…. especially in Florida!
But hey, they can have some cool and fun designs on them.


-

Hey kids, don’t forget that Mickey doesn’t need the MB to track you when in the Parks. If you have one of the Park apps on your phone they already can track you when inside the Parks whether wearing a MB or not.

 

[chadwpalm]

I don’t think we’re resistant as much as they aren’t as useful out here.

I mean, what are the additional perks east-coasters have over west-coasters? Using it as a hotel key and tapping it when paying for merch/food to have it charged to your hotel room? Seems like nice perks, but are they make or break? I'm curious, for those of you on this board who do stay at Disneyland Resort hotels, would these perks be enough to actually get one?

Since Disneyland is always stated as being more of a locals park, I can see why most people don't want to spend the money just to be able to tap into the parks and lightning lanes a little faster. I personally enjoy that and find it more convenient than pulling out my phone, opening the app and scanning it. I also enjoy a round or two of Batuu Bounty Hunters as well, but I know I'm very much in the minority for that.

And yes, I'm aware of the arguments that have been made that you have to take your phone out anyway to make the LL reservations, but to me there's a big difference between taking out my phone and making a reservation when standing bored in a queue and probably have my phone out anyway than having to pull it out when I'm approaching an attraction to scan into it, especially when behind big groups that take forever. I don't want to be that person. In a dream world magic bands would be free, everyone would have them, and gate entry and LL entry would be really fast. Sadly, that's not the case.

I hate magic bands. I refuse to buy them. Waste of money.

It's all relative. To me there are many things that I find a waste of money at the resorts like popcorn buckets, pins, specialty foods/snacks, specialty merch for anniversaries......heck.....even staying at an onsite hotel is a waste of money to me. Not to imply you are into any of those things, but a lot of people are. Again, what people choose to spend their money on for their enjoyment is all relative. Much like LL itself, it's just a paid convenience that isn't required to have or use.

To me, my magic band is not only is useful for the scanning, but I find it to be a nice little souvenir since I only vacation to the parks once or twice a year.

Don’t forget kids…

Mickey can track you when you are wearing one of his ‘Mouse Arrest Bands’….aka Magic Bands.
He knows all about where you are on Property….from what Attractions you are on, to what shops and restaurants you like to cruise.
Some choose not to wear MagicBands because of this…

I could be wrong on this, but I find it very doubtful that TDA spent the additional money to incorporate the resort-wide tracking portion of the system on the west coast.....especially given the lack of enthusiasm when it was announced (much like we are seeing with these replies about resistance to them and it being a waste of money - See Above) and that only about 1% of the guests actually use them.

Other parts of that system is knowing when to take your picture on an attraction (like SDMT and SM) or where you are seated in Be Our Guest restaurant, but we don't see anything of that level here. The only thing that remotely comes close is Batuu Bounty Hunters, but that's GE specific and was probably added as part of its budget.

Hey kids, don’t forget that Mickey doesn’t need the MB to track you when in the Parks. If you have one of the Park apps on your phone they already can track you when inside the Parks whether wearing a MB or not.

This just furthers my point. There are plenty of other ways they can track you and the app is a good one (if you actually have your location services for the app on which a lot of people do cause it's convenient to your app experience).

 

[mickEblu]

I mean, what are the additional perks east-coasters have over west-coasters? Using it as a hotel key and tapping it when paying for merch/food to have it charged to your hotel room? Seems like nice perks, but are they make or break? I'm curious, for those of you on this board who do stay at Disneyland Resort hotels, would these perks be enough to actually get one?

Since Disneyland is always stated as being more of a locals park, I can see why most people don't want to spend the money just to be able to tap into the parks and lightning lanes a little faster. I personally enjoy that and find it more convenient than pulling out my phone, opening the app and scanning it. I also enjoy a round or two of Batuu Bounty Hunters as well, but I know I'm very much in the minority for that.

And yes, I'm aware of the arguments that have been made that you have to take your phone out anyway to make the LL reservations, but to me there's a big difference between taking out my phone and making a reservation when standing bored in a queue and probably have my phone out anyway than having to pull it out when I'm approaching an attraction to scan into it, especially when behind big groups that take forever. I don't want to be that person. In a dream world magic bands would be free, everyone would have them, and gate entry and LL entry would be really fast. Sadly, that's not the case.

It's all relative. To me there are many things that I find a waste of money at the resorts like popcorn buckets, pins, specialty foods/snacks, specialty merch for anniversaries......heck.....even staying at an onsite hotel is a waste of money to me. Not to imply you are into any of those things, but a lot of people are. Again, what people choose to spend their money on for their enjoyment is all relative. Much like LL itself, it's just a paid convenience that isn't required to have or use.

To me, my magic band is not only is useful for the scanning, but I find it to be a nice little souvenir since I only vacation to the parks once or twice a year.

I could be wrong on this, but I find it very doubtful that TDA spent the additional money to incorporate the resort-wide tracking portion of the system on the west coast.....especially given the lack of enthusiasm when it was announced (much like we are seeing with these replies about resistance to them and it being a waste of money - See Above) and that only about 1% of the guests actually use them.

Other parts of that system is knowing when to take your picture on an attraction (like SDMT and SM) or where you are seated in Be Our Guest restaurant, but we don't see anything of that level here. The only thing that remotely comes close is Batuu Bounty Hunters, but that's GE specific and was probably added as part of its budget.


This just furthers my point. There are plenty of other ways they can track you and the app is a good one (if you actually have your location services for the app on which a lot of people do cause it's convenience to your app experience).

Yeah believe they are able to use it get into their hotel rooms and purchase things too. They also have the cooler tap styles. No not make or break for me personally. I think the issue is two fold. They are not as useful as WDW nor do they enough cool things at the parks. I finally bought one for my son because of those cool Fantasyland windows and because he had asked for one it in the past. More stuff like that and they think you’ll get a lot kore people on board.

I think part of it is also MBs took off before the parks became so phone centric and got baked in over there at WDW. Not to mention the better infrastructure and functionality as well.

One other thing to consider is most locals/ MK’s aren’t buying lightning lanes. So that eliminates a big part of the magic bands appeal.

 

[Disney Irish]

Yeah believe they are able to use it get into their hotel rooms and purchase things too. They also have the cooler tap styles. No not make or break for me personally. I think the issue is two fold. They are not as useful as WDW nor do they enough cool things at the parks. I finally bought one for my son because of those cool Fantasyland windows and because he had asked for one it in the past. More stuff like that and they think you’ll get a lot kore people on board.

I think part of it is also MBs took off before the parks became so phone centric and got baked in over there at WDW. Not to mention the better infrastructure and functionality as well.

One other thing to consider is most locals/ MK’s aren’t buying lightning lanes. So that eliminates a big part of the magic bands appeal.

I think the 70th's tap experiences has gotten a lot of the MK crowd to buy MBs. Especially that first month when everyone was scrambling trying to get the 70th Key unlocked.

Now that has passed for the most part I think most will try to use it for entry so its worth the expense but beyond that aren't really into it like over at WDW.

They really need to add the tap to pay option like WDW, and then add more of the interactive experiences on season basis. That'll get more buy-in on MBs long term at DLR in my opinion.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I cannot understand why you Californians are so resistant to MBs. They are infinitely easier to use and work in those machines much faster.

As a Midwesterner, to be fair, the primary reason they got so big in Florida is because they were given away for many years for free to anyone staying on site. You could/can also do things like charge to your room that aren't possible or widely available at Disneyland.

It's much less appealing when they have limited applicability and also were never free in California.

 

[chadwpalm]

One other thing to consider is most locals/ MK’s aren’t buying lightning lanes. So that eliminates a big part of the magic bands appeal.

True. I was looking at the hotel aspect of why locals don't use them, but the lack of using LL was something I didn't immediately think about.

They really need to add the tap to pay option like WDW, and then add more of the interactive experiences on season basis. That'll get more buy-in on MBs long term at DLR in my opinion.

Tap to pay doesn't have to be linked to your hotel room. Since the bands are already linked to your account they can also be linked to a credit or gift card already on file. No different than tapping your phone for Apple or Google pay.

Yeah, more interactive stuff would be cool. As I mentioned in my previous post I enjoy a few rounds of Batuu Bounty Hunters. It's probably not the most innovative use of the bands for an interactive game, but it's still kinda fun and something unique only people with bands can do, which I like. It really is a shame that Disney didn't follow through on the whole reputation deal they promised like getting reprimanded or complimented on how well (or not well) you did on Smugglers Run. That would have been a great selling point for the bands.

One of the more fun experiences I had on my visit to Magic Kingdom was the Pirate's Adventure ~ Treasures of the Seven Seas game. A good old fashion treasure hunt which incorporated interactive elements in areas around Adventureland....and I thought it was cool that they are things right in plain site that the average guest doesn't see unless they play the game.

The 70th interactions were mostly underwhelming and I didn't care about collecting the cards. I think the Fantasyland one was the best. There were always at least 2 or 3 other parties waiting to do them, so at least some MB's were being sold. I didn't want to pay for the key unlocking experience, but I saw a lot of families doing that one.

Another aspect at Magic Kingdom that I already mentioned above is the ride photos. I liked that it knew who I was and automatically imported our ride photos into my account without having to enter a number (or take a picture of the number to enter later). It was convenient.

You're right though, if they just invested in more reasons to use the bands they would sell tons more and make a return on that investment.