Spirited News and Observations and Opinions ...

[ThemeParks4Life]

Universal spends 1.5 billion on new rides, a hotel, and possibly a water park.
Disney spends 1.5 billion in RFID.


Hmm, I wonder which one is better......

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

I am still of the opinion that Disney didn't spend this ridiculous amount of money for no reason. I believe that they will sell the data, but will stand to make more selling the entire system to other parks, museums, zoos, malls, retail giants, and even maybe government agencies.

The amount the park will make off the data collected and used within the park will not even come close to the money invested in this project.

 

[wm49rs]

'74 asked me to drop this here for him, due to his inability to post certain things.
Enjoy!

Data mining writ large....

 

[Bolna]

One thought - part of the whole system is obviously the new website (which I personally am starting to hate already and I have been very patient with Disney's previous attempts). Supposedly they sell lots of packages to UK travellers - and from what I understand they do it under the name of their UK subsidy. It will be interesting to see whether they might not meet a few problems with some European data protection laws there. For example the Irish data protection commissioner did a very in depth audit of Facebook as their European presence is registered in Ireland.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I'm trying to follow the money.
Can just the booking enhancements and FP+ create enough revenue to justify a nearly $2Billion investment? I doubt it, at least not in the short term.
Do they hope to profit from the sale of the data they accumulate? I would assume so.
How much added revenue will be generated by being able to better target their advertising?

They see a huge pile of money out there that NextGen will allow them access to.
The mystery, to me, is how are they gonna get it.

Simple pass on your travel dates and address to local organised crime, money recouped im a few weeks. Just focus on DeLuxe resort guests.

 

[djlaosc]

So resort guests will not be allowed to use cash for purchases, or they cannot pay for their hotel in advance?

 

[djlaosc]

One thought - part of the whole system is obviously the new website (which I personally am starting to hate already and I have been very patient with Disney's previous attempts). Supposedly they sell lots of packages to UK travellers - and from what I understand they do it under the name of their UK subsidy. It will be interesting to see whether they might not meet a few problems with some European data protection laws there. For example the Irish data protection commissioner did a very in depth audit of Facebook as their European presence is registered in Ireland.

I think that UK attendance is falling at the moment - one of our travel companies has pulled out of Florida, and the others are combining flights - so they won't be able to depend on the UK much longer!

 

[njDizFan]

Our consumer spending habits are incredibily important in these days of new media and advertising. The way people watch TV now through Nextflix, Hulu, DVR etc. , advertisers are scrambling to find new ways to market directly to the individual. The only people with the power right now are the cable companies. They own your broadband and will in the near future be upcharging for usage, to make even more money since on air advertisements revenue is at an all time low. I even heard that networks are now charging more for the commercials right after or right before the broadcast in a hope that they at least see a few seconds of the commercial before fast forwarding.

Disney extending this NextGen initiative is the next step in marketing. With 10's of millions as a captive audience each year, they can now sell their products( and their partners) unlike any current model of advertising.

 

[marni1971]

More to the point this is the BIGGEST waste of 2 BILLION dollars for a company supposed to be running theme parks.

This will not enhance my theme park visit one bit more than it is now. And if I have to wait longer for a ride because I'm staying in the wrong place I know where I'm taking my tourist dollars. Simple.

Lunatics and asylums.

 

[Sneezy62]

One of the few things I dislike about cruising is the need to keep a running balance in my head of my room charges...usually just the bar tab since almost everything is included on a cruise. For me this one thing alone would be enough to keep me offsite.

Bolna, the RFID shielded wallet or backpack sounds like a great idea.

 

[WDW1974]

'74 asked me to drop this here for him, due to his inability to post certain things.
Enjoy!

Just wanted to drop in and thank Lee for getting that up quickly. ... It beat having to run out to a friend's or even a hotel this a.m. to use another computer. I have no idea what the issue was, but I have had it before when trying to import things to MAGIC.

I can only vouch for the source. And state that I took portions of it out to protect the identity and anything that might lead to where this document came from. It is not a new one and was not new when it was forwarded to me.
But it is recent. ... And it has elements/aspects of what others have sent and/or said to me, so I felt it was definitely something to put out and see what you guys/gals thought.

I am still sifting through stuff to see what I might be able to put out either in original form or my words, but I am also working on a home improvement project this weekend (it sorta even involves Disney) and won't be able to do so for a few days. But I will check back in later to see what you have thought and see if your concerns are mine.

Thanks again to @Lee, I owe you some chicken fried rice.

 

[Lee]

Thanks again to @Lee, I owe you some chicken fried rice.

Likely having some later this evening. I'll forward you the bill...

 

[ChrisFL]

The idea of having more guest tracking by itself doesn't bother me, but if I'm to believe that statement posted (which I do) then its more involved and feels quite odd. Requiring everyone to wear a wristband? Ever watched Battle Royale?

IMO Disney parks were always supposed to be relatively care-free, go there to escape the rigors of stress of the real world, and have random activities based on what we want to do. Having a required wrist strap to track my every move doesn't make me feel care-free at all.

 

[lazyboy97o]

For those thinking that they will just take the wristband off, Jim Hill has discussed the hurdle of keeping the wristband on people for the entirety of the visit. What if taking off the wristband destroys it and your ability to gain admission to the parks?

 

[Lee]

Tell 'em Ned...

 

[HTF]

For those thinking that they will just take the wristband off, Jim Hill has discussed the hurdle of keeping the wristband on people for the entirety of the visit. What if taking off the wristband destroys it and your ability to gain admission to the parks?

Welcome and enjoy your stay with us. Never take this wristband off. Doing so will put a huge dent into our testing and our ability to track or I mean assist you in having a magical time with us.

Fine Print
Please remember once this band goes on we will know everything about you including where and what time your daily bowel movement could occur. No worries though as this is just a beta test as next time on your visit you can schedule a stall for your daily BM up to six months in advance.

 

[njDizFan]

It's kind of ironic that the company that has branded itself as good olde time Americana, is the first company to impliment a full scale technological data mining regime upon its customers.

 

[jt04]

C'mon, JT.

You gotta do better than that.

If that's your A material, I'd suggest you take a break because there's just nothing to it ...

Rats! you have figured out my schtick. Now I have to find a new foil. Suprised it lasted this long. Of course that does not mean there is not a speck of truth to my comment,

 

[TalkingHead]

There are many things in the quote provided by 1974 (via Lee) that disturb me. Perhaps chief of which is:

Does this mean Disney intends to sell the information and technology to third party companies? Despite all my doom-and-gloom posts on NextGen, even I never thought Disney would be so brazen, so disgustingly money-hungry.

That was the quote that jumped out at me, too. We've known that Disney wants to track guest spending habits through NextGen. But now they can sell your data to other companies -- AND, according to the post, sell the NextGen technology to other corporations...

Wowwee. Imagine if every big box store you entered had a similar "program" -- Target, Walmart, department stores tracking you...

Makes me a little queasy.

 

[TalkingHead]

I'm trying to follow the money.
Can just the booking enhancements and FP+ create enough revenue to justify a nearly $2Billion investment? I doubt it, at least not in the short term.
Do they hope to profit from the sale of the data they accumulate? I would assume so.
How much added revenue will be generated by being able to better target their advertising?

They see a huge pile of money out there that NextGen will allow them access to.
The mystery, to me, is how are they gonna get it.

Is this sentence key? "To reach the profit targets and overarching design goals set for this project, as well as export the technology and its fruit to other companies, Disney understood early on that there could be no opt-out for any guest."

"Export the technology...to other companies"

That sounds a lot like Disney's getting out of the entertainment business and into the surveillance-for-hire business.

Would that justify the investment? If they could sell this technology to Walmart, for instance? I honestly don't know how much of the tech is proprietary, but it stands to reason they see a profit to be made by encouraging other companies to follow their lead.