So. Got to talking with a fellow Disney-ite and topics ranged all over the place (like they usually do when you talk Disney...the Guinness' didn't hurt either)
The cashless topic came up and it does make a lot of sense. Can anyone see a "World" where cash and credit are no longer accepted, in lieu of "loading" up your magic band with a credit/debit card (thus ALL payments would be made via MB).
Before you arbitrarily dismiss this.....it would solve a lot of issues and it would give Disney a lot more information into guest spending and behavior.
Think of a world where everyone visiting Disney has an MDE account. The data relative to that alone, along with the ability to track guest behavior (tourist and local alike), spending habits, etc., would be mind boggling.
They'd know John Q Public had 36 drinks last Saturday at F&W over a three hour period ... and only ate an egg roll. They could in essence look at capping alcohol sales at x per y (x being amount - y being time). Sure there are ways to game that, but it'd be fine tuned over time and morph into some top secret algo. (Yeah, some will say Disney would never give up the opportunity to make money by capping alcohol, but the calculus also need include liability and guest experience - They'll let you get "Happy" but won't let you get "Goofy")
Get on a bus MB, get on a boat MB, get on a Gondola MB. Today, how do they gauge utilization? I've yet to see a bus driver do a head count. Maybe they do and are just sneaky that way. But the bus driver doesn't know "who" is getting on their bus. Think of the ability to gauge utilization (resort guest and non-resort guest) vs time window. Better planning = cost saving for Disney.
RFID is watching...it's always watching. If you're wearing a MB they know when you got there, know when you left, know where you went. But in a lot of cases they don't know what you did. They can tell you were in the Emporium last Wednesday at 2:45pm - but they don't know if you made a purchase (unless you voluntarily used a MB - a lot of locals and guest still use CC's, GC's, and cash). Forcing you to use the MB for purchase is a goldmine of data and information.
It would also aid in identifying ways being used to try to game the system. They'd quickly be able to identify that an inordinate amount of locals were catching the bus from DS to the Contemporary or Beach Club and stayed there for 9 hours before they caught the bus back to Disney Springs.
The algo's created by this info would be downright scary.
The cashless topic came up and it does make a lot of sense. Can anyone see a "World" where cash and credit are no longer accepted, in lieu of "loading" up your magic band with a credit/debit card (thus ALL payments would be made via MB).
Before you arbitrarily dismiss this.....it would solve a lot of issues and it would give Disney a lot more information into guest spending and behavior.
Think of a world where everyone visiting Disney has an MDE account. The data relative to that alone, along with the ability to track guest behavior (tourist and local alike), spending habits, etc., would be mind boggling.
They'd know John Q Public had 36 drinks last Saturday at F&W over a three hour period ... and only ate an egg roll. They could in essence look at capping alcohol sales at x per y (x being amount - y being time). Sure there are ways to game that, but it'd be fine tuned over time and morph into some top secret algo. (Yeah, some will say Disney would never give up the opportunity to make money by capping alcohol, but the calculus also need include liability and guest experience - They'll let you get "Happy" but won't let you get "Goofy")
Get on a bus MB, get on a boat MB, get on a Gondola MB. Today, how do they gauge utilization? I've yet to see a bus driver do a head count. Maybe they do and are just sneaky that way. But the bus driver doesn't know "who" is getting on their bus. Think of the ability to gauge utilization (resort guest and non-resort guest) vs time window. Better planning = cost saving for Disney.
RFID is watching...it's always watching. If you're wearing a MB they know when you got there, know when you left, know where you went. But in a lot of cases they don't know what you did. They can tell you were in the Emporium last Wednesday at 2:45pm - but they don't know if you made a purchase (unless you voluntarily used a MB - a lot of locals and guest still use CC's, GC's, and cash). Forcing you to use the MB for purchase is a goldmine of data and information.
It would also aid in identifying ways being used to try to game the system. They'd quickly be able to identify that an inordinate amount of locals were catching the bus from DS to the Contemporary or Beach Club and stayed there for 9 hours before they caught the bus back to Disney Springs.
The algo's created by this info would be downright scary.
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