2015 ICS Elite Eight: Competition Thread

[Zweiland]

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, boys and girls, damas y caballeros... welcome to the second annual ICS Tournament Elite Eight competition, right here on WDWMagic.com's Imagineering forum! Here for the second year in a row, I'm your host, Zweiland.

Please keep all non-competition posts to the discussion thread. The discussion thread can be found by following THIS LINK.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN.

You know which time I mean. It's the time when snow starts to fall, and frost gathers on the windowpanes. When you can see your breath even while indoors, and you don't want to risk opening your door for fear that a pile of snow 6 feet tall will come crashing down. For most people, the arrival of this time is a signal to huddle inside by the fireplace under a blanket for a few months. But not for the Imagineering forum. For us, this is a time to huddle inside by the fireplace under a blanket WITH A COMPUTER for a few months! And you know why? Because... it's tournament season!

Introducing our competitors, in order of seed:

@RMichael21
@IDInstitute
@tcool123
@Matt7187
@TheOriginalTiki
@DSquared
@JokersWild
@Sam4D23

And to those that didn't place in the top 8, never fear! You are welcome to watch, and we might have a little "something something" planned for you (or urgently being planned right now ). Thanks to everyone who participated in the 2015 ICS Season!

Just remember, out of these eight, only four will remain in the competition after December 7th.
Only two will remain after December 15th.
And only one, the victor, will remain after December 29th.

As you can see, the odds are stacked against you. But of course, you're the top eight finishers from this year. You're all about overcoming odds. Right?

Good luck.

​

 

[Zweiland]

ROUND 1
@RMichael21 vs @Sam4D23
@Matt7187 vs @TheOriginalTiki
@IDInstitute vs @JokersWild
@tcool123 vs @DSquared

THE CHALLENGE

Walt Disney World introduced the MyMagic+ system in 2013. Combining MagicBands, FastPass+, My Disney Experience, and Photopass, MyMagic+ changed the way that visitors experienced a theme park. However, the system initially opened to mixed reviews. A plethora of kinks in the system were present that needed to be worked out. After much trial and error, most of the bugs were eliminated, but of course, there were still complaints. Some people believed that the system had conceptual flaws, and others believed that it wasn't being used to its full potential. Whatever the case, it was obvious that the system wasn't entirely perfect. On the other side of the country, Disneyland guests were even hoping that MyMagic+ would never make its way to the West Coast.

Remember: you can't please everyone, but you can try to please as many as possible. This week, your task is to design an implementation of the MyMagic+ system for Disneyland Resort, using concepts that have already been developed for Walt Disney World and concepts of your own design. You may try to fix problems with the WDW version of MyMagic+ if you wish, but this is not required-- the challenge is focused on Disneyland only. Be creative with how you integrate the technology-- Next Gen opens up a LOT of possibilities that have not yet been explored!

Please include a timeframe and budget for your implementation. As well as the "blue sky" ideas, remember to focus on the logistics. Creative use of visuals or media is encouraged, but not required.

Due date is December 7th, 2014 at 5 PM E.T.

Your guest judge for this round is @sshindel


​

 

[tcool123]

Round 1

MyMagic+ was a huge project for the Disney company. After completion of this huge undertaking there may have been some kinks, but on the whole it was a success over time. The success seen at Walt Disney World is setting an example for all Disney resorts worldwide to adopt MyMagic+. What other resort should it be than Walt Disney World's sister resort, Disneyland. From the experience of MyMagic+ at Walt Disney World it will be fine tuned to fit in perfectly for the visitors to Disneyland Resort.

Conveniences
MyMagic+ has many astounding features that makes everyone's trip a little bit easier. The biggest convenience of MyMagic+ however are the magic bands. These bands are your tickets, credit card, room key, fast pass, and basically anything else you will need on a magical Disney vacation. However due to Disneyland's different demographic they will not be receiving magic bands as part of MyMagic+ instead various features originally present with a magic band have been bundled into your very own park ticket!

To have all these wondrous features on a Disneyland Park Ticket their composition and design will change. The ticket's new design will be based on a factor two things. The first factor will be the first letter in your name this will be used in the bottom right corner in the same font as the old Disneyland ride tickets. The second factor is what you chose as your favorite character from the varying options present on Disneyland - My Disney Experience*. Similar to the Walt Disney World tickets a green background will be present in the background with the character on the front. On the top of the ticket a banner will appear with the ticket type. The composition of the ticket is of recycled plastic, and embedded into the ticket is a passive HF Radio Frequency chip . With the implementation of this chip your park ticket will now also act your credit card, fast pass, room key, and most importantly it still is your park ticket even though all these great features have been added.

You may be thinking to your self; I don't have a Disneyland - My Disney Experience account, what do I do? Not to worry for the people who don't have an account their ticket will be a standard ticket with Sleeping Beauty Castle on it, and the letter D on the bottom right corner. The only way to add your credit card to the ticket will either by linking your ticket to Disneyland - My Disney Experience or at the MyMagic+ HQs located at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. Fastpasses can be linked to your ticket by creating fastpasses on your ticket at a kiosk, or by linking you ticket to Disneyland - My Disney Experience. You can link your credit card, fastpasses, park ticket, hotel, and more all on the Disneyland - My Disney Experience App. Keep reading to find out more about the Disneyland - My Disney Experience App and MyMagic+ HQs.

Dining
At Disneyland you have a mother load of restaurants to chose from to eat at. However with MyMagic+ there has never been an easier time to book a reservation for your favorite Disney restaurant. However unlike at Walt Disney World you can't book up to 180 days in advance instead the time frame to book is a lot smaller. For guests staying at a Disneyland hotel they get to book 60 days in advance where they wish to dine. For off-site guests and annual pass holders they are allowed to book 30 days in advance. You may be wondering; What if everything gets completely booked at the 60 day mark? Well it won't due to the amount of reservations allowed per time frame. On the 60th day mark 50% of a restaurant's capacity will be allowed to be booked, on the 30th day mark 25% of the restaurant's capacity will be added, and the last 25% will be reserved for walk ins. This way everyone has a chance to eat at their favorite restaurant.

FastPass+
FastPass+ is the way of the future of fastpasses literally. This will allow guests to book ahead, and ensure they ride on their favorite rides, meet their favorite character, and watch their favorite show. Similar to reservations for dining, FastPass+ has a set time frame for booking. On site guests get 30 days out in advance reservations, off site guests can start booking 15 days out in advance, and pass holders can book a week in an advance. Scared you might not be able to snag a fastpass for your favorite ride? Well have no fear as we have found a way to allow all guests to grab a fastpass for all their favorite rides. 50% of fastpasses will be made available at the 30 day mark, 25% of fastpasses will be added on the 15 day mark, and the last 25% will be added the day of when the respective park opens. To book a fastpass just use one of these methods; the Disneyland - My Disney Experience App, the kiosks in the parks, or visit the MyMagic+ HQ in the parks. Due to the amount of attractions present at Disneyland Resort FastPass+ roll out will be split into two phases. Once all the FastPass attractions are open this is how they can be reserved; On-Site guests are allowed 3 reservations, and off-site guests are allowed two. Once all the fastpasses reserved are used in the day guests can reserve another one, and once that one is used another one, and the pattern keeps on going till the guest stops. Here are the following fast passes to be available to you once all is said and done.

Disneyland FastPass+
- Mickey's Soundsational Parade Viewing
- Paint the Night Parade Viewing
- Disneyland Forever Fireworks Viewing
- Fantasmic! Viewing
- Indiana Jones Adventure
- Jungle Cruise
- Splash Mountain
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Meet Winnie the Pooh & Friends
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Alice in Wonderland
- Snow White's Scary Adventures
- The Matterhorn
- Pinocchio's Daring Journey
- Mr.Toad's Wild Ride
- The Royal Theater
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Meet Mickey
- Meet Minnie
- Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin
- Gadget's Go Coaster
- Autotopia
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster
- Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours

California Adventure FastPass+
- it's tough to be a bug
- Radiator Springs Racers
- Grizzly River Run
- Soarin'
- Monsters Inc Mike & Sulley to the Rescue
- The Twilight Zone : Tower of Terror
- Disney Junior-Live on Stage!
- Frozen : A Musical Spectacular
- California Screamin'
- Mickey's Fun Wheel
- Goofy's Sky School
- Disney's World of Color Viewing
- Pixar Play Parade

MyMagic+ HQ
New to the MyMagic+ experience will be the MyMagic+ HQ. This will act as the center for all things to do with MyMagic+. You can buy Photopass pictures and Memory Maker. You can handle your FastPass+ reservations here, or the lack of reservations. You can also link everything here with the help of one the tech savvy Cast Members here. MyMagic+ HQ will be replacing the the Main Street Cinema in Disneyland, and replacing Mortimer's Market at California Adventure. The HQ for each park will keep keep the same exteriors with slight cosmetic changes, and heavy changes within the actual location with the inclusion of various things one may need for their Disney Experience.

Disneyland - My Disney Experience App
Some of you may or may not, but Disneyland already has their app implemented into the experience. However it will receive updates to make it much more convenient to everyone, and add to the ease of MyMagic+. Now on the app you can book fastpasses, dining and hotel reservations. You can buy your tickets, photopass, and Memory Maker. You can link your fastpasses, dining reservations, hotel reservations, credit card, photopass, and Memory Maker. Another added feature is that it tells you the expected arrival of an incoming monorail or tram on Disney property. The last thing added is just something fun to do while waiting in line. This little something will be a Disneyland Trivia game with over 25 questions.

http://www./wp-content/uploads/2012/08/my-disney-experience.jpg

Timeline & Budget
- June 2016 : New Disneyland Tickets are introduced
- October 2016 : Hotel Keys, Credit Cards, Dining Reservations, and Photopass can be linked to the ticket
- November 2016 : Mortimer's Market and Main Street Cinema close
- March 2017 : FastPass+ Kiosks and FastPass+ Receivers are installed
- April 2017 : MyMagic+ HQ opens in Disneyland and at Disney's California Adventure
- April 2017 : FastPass+ Testing commences using on-site guests
- June 2017 : FastPass+ becomes available to everyone with Phase 1
- June 2017 : Paper Fastpasses end
- June 2017 : Disneyland - My Disney Experience App updated
- September 2017 : More Fastpass+ Kiosks and FastPass+ Receivers are installed
- November 2017 : Phase 2 of Fastpass+ roll out is complete
- Novermber 2017 : Disneyland - My Disney Experience App updated

I'm not a numbers guy, but guessing on the fact Walt Disney World spent a million on this, I'm going to guess it'll be less. I'll estimate this to be from 150 million - 500 million.

Conclusion
In conclusion it's not perfect, and it can't please everyone. However I feel as what I have is great, and many people can agree. It allows for more casual visits than over at Walt Disney World, and brings more value to a Disneyland resort hotel to make those high prices a bit more justifiable. It also addresses something Disneyland has more of, in fact a lot more of; Annual Passholders. These people are important to Disneyland, and I feel as if the changes I made with MyMagic+ in its implementation are fair to them, but also the visiting tourist. Not only does the updated MyMagic+ appeal to the planners, but it also appeals to the people, who visit on a whimsy.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

Putting the finished text up for right now to make sure I don't loose it. It'll be properly formatted and include pictures before the deadline.

TheOriginalTiki’s Disneyland Resort MyMagic+ Proposal​

Introducing the MyMagic+ system into Walt Disney World was definitely a trial and error process. Fortunately the time and money invested to make the system easy and reliable has translated over into a much easier transition into the next resort to get the next generation treatment. That resort is the one that started it all...Disneyland!

Starting in the summer of 2016, MyMagic+ will be rolled out to the Disneyland Resort in the first of three phases. Phase one will introduce the wristband technology to the California parkgoers and implement it in ways which will make your Disney vacation a lot more convenient and magical including instant Fastpass reservations and easy access to making dining plans and saving spots for shows, parades, and more!

Once the wristbands become a fixture of the resort, the truly next generation elements will come to Walt Disney’s original theme park. Disneyland will play host to a series of new interactive experiences using the Mymagic+ wristbands and App, all in build up to the impending opening of Star Wars Land. This will start rolling out in the Spring of 2016

Finally in the winter of 2017 the next generation experience will be complete as MyMagic+ interactive elements come to Disney California Adventure. This will allow for entirely new dimensions to iconic attractions such as Radiator Springs Racers and Soarin’ Over California.

The following will lay out exact details of what each phase will have to offer.

Phase One: General introduction and rollout of technology (Summer 2016)​

There will be two levels of MyMagic+ wristbands. The standard will come at no charge and will simply be used to scan tickets, purchases etc. A deluxe wristband will be unveiled that includes a small screen featuring the MyMagic App. This App can also be downloaded directly onto a smartphone to be used simultaneously with the standard wrist band. A scanning system and waterproof touchscreen will be a new fixture to the deluxe wristbands.

Parking:​

Guests can scan meters located at each section of the parking garage. This will pull up a Map using the MyMagic+ App to show you exactly where you parked. Just plug in the section and parking space number. The parking lot trams will be fixed with a GPS that works with the MyMagic App to track exactly when the next tram will be pulling up to the terminal so you’ll know exactly how long before you get to the park!

Tickets:​

The individual ticket booths will be scrapped and a MyMagic+ wristband distribution center will open in the Esplanade. This state of the art center will allow you to easily and quickly purchase wristbands with the use of ATM style machines located throughout. There will also be cast members on standby in case you wish to purchase your wristbands through more traditional means.

You can also completely customize the look of your wristbands using the distribution machines, and find a preview of the magic to come in the next generation of the Disneyland Resort. Much like WDW, guests using MyMagic+ will have all their in-park purchases transferred directly to their accounts. This also applies for all shops and dining at Downtown Disney and the resort hotels.

Wait Times:

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Never have to worry about going to the other side of the park for your ride of choice only to discover the line is too much for your liking. With the MyMagic App wait times for every single attraction at both Disneyland and California Adventure will be available right on your wristband or phone. In addition guests can also track how crowded popular shops such as the Emporium and World of Disney will be, and if there will be a wait for a table at any of the major dining establishments.

Guests can now reserve Fastpasses directly from their wristbands or phones! A revamped Fastpass service will allow guests to automatically sign in for a window of time at the attraction of their choice. Simply present your MyMagic App to the Fastpass attendant for automatic entrance into the Fastpass lane during your window of time. You may also make dining reservations directly from the MyMagic App.

In addition, a limited number of spots will be able to be reserved via MyMagic+ each day for popular events such as World of Color, Fantasmic, Mickey's Magical Mirror, and the resort's multiple parades/fireworks demonstrations. Much like the Fastpasses this will be distributed on a first come first serve basis.

Phase Two: Disneyland Interactive Elements (Spring 2017)​

After MyMagic Plus has tested the waters of the Disneyland Resort for a season, it’ll be time to roll out the second phase of the resort’s transition. These new additions will make the Disney park going experience more interactive and immersive than ever before.

The interactive elements will mostly come from scanning technology worked into both the wristbands and the MyMagic app. Tiny “barcode” like inscriptions will be placed throughout the park which when scanned will trigger an interaction with MyMagic.

As of Phase II, the following attractions at Disneyland will receive MyMagic Plus interactive elements

Main Street Cinema:

​

Steamboat Willie will still proudly be displayed in the center of this attraction, but now guests using MyMagic can scan the other screens of the theater and select from a diverse library of Mickey Mouse, Silly Symphony, and other Disney classic cartoons to be screened right there. All screenings will be silent to preserve Steamboat Willie as the one cartoon with sound playing in the theater.

The Jungle Cruise:

​

While waiting in line in the famous Jungle Cruise boat house, the backstory of the attraction will come to life as never before as guests can scan different artifacts and memorabilia located throughout the queue and learn the colorful history of the Jungle Cruise river expeditions.

Indiana Jones Adventure:

​

Scanning the markings located on the walls of the temple throughout the queue will reveal a translator on the MyMagic app to decode secret messages. This would be a fun homage to the fact that physical translators were handed out the first few years of the attraction’s opening.

The Haunted Mansion:

​

Each and every gravestone in the cemetery will be able to be scanned revealing the tragically hilarious backstories of the mansion’s dearly departed. This will serve as another way to elaborate on the mythology of an attraction.

The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh

​

Scan certain objects throughout the attraction to trigger different motion effects (wind, spinning, etc.) that happen to the vehicle.

Tom Sawyer Island:

​

The island will be fleshed out with many interactive elements using MyMagic.

Frontierland Shooting Gallery:​

Guests can now test their skills at this iconic shooting game using their MyMagic apps instead of the traditional riffles.

The Force Unleashed:

​

Hypothetical attraction in Star Wars land using dueling “light side” and “dark side” Kuka arms and guests engaged in a battle using the MyMagic wristbands to create simulated force attacks.

Mickey's Toon Town:

​

An entire arsenal of cartoon inspired interactive elements could be placed in Toon Town's industrial district as well as the walk through attractions such as Mickey and Minnie's houses. You can also use the App to select which version of Mickey you'd like to experience in his Meet N' Greet (Sorcerer's Apprentice/Steamboat Willie/Band Concert Conductor)

You can also go on a digital scavenger hunt for acorns in Chip and Dale's Treehouse...the world's most EPIC flight of stairs! \

It’s a Small World:​

Scan every country’s landmark for history and trivia while aboard the happiest cruise that ever sailed.

Storybook Land:​

Every miniature will be scannable revealing more of the backstory of each film.

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage:​

Scan various artifacts located throughout the attraction to trigger on-ride events.

Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters:​

​

Guests can opt to use a digital blaster located on their wristband or smartphone instead of the traditional one mounted to the ride vehicle. Your score for each ride will automatically be registered so you can always keep track of your progress as a Space Ranger in training!

Star Tours: Choose Your Adventure​

In the boarding area each group of guests will get to vote using MyMagic on which Star Wars destinations they’d like to visit on their flight. The top three choices will be your travel plan for the attraction.

-Mos Eisley
-Jakku
-Naboo
-Endor
-Hoth
-Kayshyyk
-Degoba
-Cloud City
-Jabba’s Palace
-Corrosant
-Mustafar
-Death Star

Disney’s California Adventure Interactive Elements (Winter 2017)​

Following Disneyland’s integration of MyMagic, the system will carry over to the resort’s sister park the next year.

The Art of Disney Animation:​

​

Interact with the animation mural in the lobby and select which animated film you’d like to see up on the walls next. Also the personality quizzes can now be found directly on the MyMagic app to avoid traffic overflow.

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror:

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Scan different artifacts in the library to find out their historical significance within the context of “The Twilight Zone”.

Radiator Springs Racers:

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Guests can rapidly tap on their wristband screens for additional acceleration during the ride’s climatic race scene. Also will clearly indicate each race’s winner for those close calls and photo finishes.

Toy Story Midway Mania:

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Use the MyMagic app as an alternate shooter, and also log your high scores automatically so you’ll never forget them!

Soarin’ Over California: Pick Your Destination

The most ambitious use of MyMagic tech comes here. In the preshow area Patrick Warburton will instruct guests to vote on which destinations they’d like to fly over. The top five choices will be included in the flight along with the traditional opening (flying over the Golden Gate Bridge) and closing (Flying over Disneyland)

Destinations include:

-San Francisco
-Hollywood Hills
-Malibu
-Yosemite
-Avenue of the Giants
-Santa Cruz
-Highway One
-Santa Monica
-Napa Valley
-Sierra Nevada
-Lake Tahoe
-Sacramento
-San Diego
-Redwood Creek
-Muir Woods
-Death Valley
-Mojave
-Palm Springs

And that concludes my preview of the next generation interactive elements Disney plans to roll out to the Disneyland Resort over the next few years. While the project is sure to have some trial and error much like its WDW counterpart, I feel that some of these ideas could go a long way towards making the resort an even more top of the line and engaging experience.

 

[Sam Magic]

When you have similar stuff to Tiki...

 

[DSquared]

In advance, sorry if the pictures are small, my computer is being difficult today.




Challenge 1 - @DSquared vs. @tcool123

When MyMagic+ came to Walt Disney World in Orlando, a new wave of innovative technology swept into the four parks, numerous hotel resorts, and beyond. But with Disney's billion dollar 'opus' came some disappointment. It was hard to get Fastpasses, the experience became too much revolved around scheduling, lines became even longer, and planning a trip became painful with an insecure, slow website that always crashed. When being moved to Disneyland in Aneheim, these issues must be addressed and fixed. If these issues are fixed and are main priority as you will see throughout the presentation, not much else could add to MyMagic+ to almost perfect a new innovation.


1. Fastpass+

The old Fastpass system made Fastpasses run out quick, and in turn made lines longer. Fastpass+ added to these issues by making multiple Fastpasses harder to get. It still didn't help. The only way to restrict Fastpasses running out would be to restrict when you can acquire them. But on the bright side, Disneyland already has a good balance of Fastpass and non Fastpass attractions which do not need to change.


In my new plan, 1/5 of the estimated riders per day would be eligible for Fastpasses, which would virtually 'restock' every hour. And since there are 16 hours in a park day, 1 out of every 80 guest per attraction per hour get a Fastpass. And how would people get these Fastpasses? Fastpasses would only be redeemed on site by scanning a MyMagic Band at a station outside. Your Fastpass would be virtually added to your account linked to your Band. You then scan your Band at the attraction's Fastpass line to get on the Fastpass line at any time within the hour. This system would be the upgraded successor to the paper Fastpass system seen below.

And you may be wondering why Fastpass+'s booking is bad. It's simple, try to make everybody somewhat happy and spend more money and give a 85% review is better than making the first estimated 500 people happy and everyone else giving 60% reviews.s



2. PhotoPass

PhotoPass has been a very successful photography service at Walt Disney World with MyMagic+. The photos taken of you by Disney's professional photographers can be saved to your My Disney Experience account by scanning your Magic Band on a device at the PhotoPass station. And you can edit your photos later on to feature characters, logos, ect.

To better improve Photopass, my new plan would give the photographers a small device in which they can sort out who gets what photo. So after 3 Magic Bands are scanned in a row, those 3 My Disney Experience accounts gain the same pictures! This helps with connecting big groups and helping everyone get their photos in an effective way.



3. My Disney Experience website and app

I'm not a tech whiz, but servers constantly crashing, and pages vanishing does not make it easy to book a stay at a Disney resort. So many people visit this site, it crashes. The website is insecure and has basic computing issues. The constant pop ups and heavy use of graphics makes it hard to run on some older computers (like the one I have right now!).

The main problem is clearly connecting to servers. This website isn't built for the type of traffic it gets. To aid in solving this in my plan, the website would have 50 servers in the US (I'll focus here since I don't know how internet may differ around the world). Each state get's it's own local server. Theoretically, this would slow down computer issues by AT LEAST 50%. The second way to do this would be to get rid of a lot of the unnecessary graphics that always make websites run slow. That's just a nitpick though.

And a rehaul of the booking system should come with this. Making a My Disney Experience account for each family member should be basic, like filling out info for an account on any other site. Here's a text box, now answer the question. Next, booking. As I previously mentioned, in my plan you must get Fastpasses on site with a Magic Band at a station (since booking attractions is theoretically great, but makes it hard for everyone to get on their favorite rides besides their top 3) . Dinning is booked in a normal way. Here's a picture and a description, click on me and I deduct cash from your credit card. Same with a hotel. There's nothing much to change there. At the end, you can immediately deduct money from your credit card onto your My Disney Experience account and using that to buy merchandise, food, ect. through your Magic Band.

Now onto the app. The app runs slow sometimes, like in the park. Each land should have it's own server for the app (similar to the website -state thing). You can now access all your account info by signing in with the same username and password I'm assuming Disney still has you make. Another way to sign in would be to use a new QR code on the bottom of your Magic Band. All the other features that don't go against previously said changes in my plan are still there.




5. A Little Bonus

Shouldn't people using the new system whether it be the app or site get a little something-something? Well, using that same QR code on your Magic Band can get you some free, exclusive Disney wallpapers for your smartphone device. And of course, your Magic Band can now operate as your resort room jey like at Walt Disney World. You also get to interact with the park around you. By scanning your Magic Band at new locations, you can trigger animationics, scenery change, a little show, and much more. A few of the many new interactions will be:

• Trigger a ghoulish cackle at the Haunted Mansion
• See Tinker Bell fly by at Peter Pan's Flight (using the mirroring tech used in the Michael Jackson and Tupac performances)
• Come face to face with a swashbuckeling pirate at Pirates of the Carribean
• See a car drive by at Radiator Springs Racers (a well hidden screen for this one)
• Hear a monstrous roar at Mike and Sully to the Rescue
• Change water colors during the World of Color opening and finale)

As you see, these new upgrades would usher in new innovation, and would hopefully be added to Walt Disney World as well. Here's some logistics of the new system


*Note these are rough estimates*

2016
Construction of new physical features/final planning stages
Employee training
Press statements/advertisements
technical department starts programming

2017
Jan 1 - Feb 1 - Website updates from 12 AM to 6 AM (will vary based on what is being fixed at the time)
Feb 1 - May 1 - Installation of Magic Band stations
May 1 - Grand Opening of My Disney Experience California



As for how much this would cost, I'd say around 300-800 million dollars.




I hope you enjoyed my plans for the new My Disney Experience California!!!

 

[Matt7187]

Elite 8 Challenge 1

My Magic+ has revolutionized the theme park business, letting you plan out your trip from home to ensure you can do your favorite things. After the widespread release of My Magic+ in 2013 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, there were many fans of the new system, but also critics. While some people love being able to reserve their experiences from the comforts of home without jostling through massive seas of people to get a Fastpass for 12 hours later, others miss the old paper system. While you can never please everyone, I am gonna try as hard as I can to please as many people as possible. While the core aspects of the system will remain the same, there will be innovative updates to stay 2 steps ahead of the game when MM+ debuts in March 2017.

Magic Bands
The Magic Band will receive a total facelift when introduced at Disneyland in March 2017. The band will keep the same structure, but there will be many new features. Ditching the old color scheme, guests will have a whole color wheel to pick and choose their perfect shade, with over 2000 possibilities! If you are an off site guest and buying your band at the ticket kiosk, you will have a base selection of 10 colors to choose from. Another option for the color is to have a character skin. These cost 5 dollars extra, but they worth it. You can choose from many of your favorite characters from the Disney umbrella, such as Spider-Man, Sully, R2-D2, and over 100 more! If you are off site, you will have a choice of 10 different character skins. The bands will still store your room key, tickets, credit cards, and everything else it carries in Orlando.

The biggest change to the Magic Band is also the biggest change to My Magic+. Placed where your Mickey head is on the base of the band, there will be a button. Once you press the button, you activate MARA, a virtual guide to help you out on your trek through the park. The next whole section will be dedicated to MARA and what she can do, so stay tuned! There will be a tiny microphone and speaker on the side of the base a la the speaker on an iPhone so you can communicate with her. Also, there will be a headphone jack on the side so you can communicate with MARA more clearly if you choose, but headphones are not necessary, as MARA has a very strong microphone and speaker so you can communicate in the busiest of areas.

MARA
This concierge system is the My Magic+ what Siri is to Apple devices. Mara is not just a pretty name, but also an acronym; it stands for Magical Automated Resort Assistant. Located on every Magic Band, just press the button and start talking. You can ask hundreds of questions such as:
-How long is the wait time for "X"
-Will it rain later tonight?
-When is the next bus leaving for "X"
-When is my dinner reservation?
-Where can I meet Mickey?
-Is it crowded at California Adventure?
-When was this ride built?

There are limitless things that MARA can tell you, and she will always be quick. Using a very small and fast processor in the band, it connects to a larger database in Downtown Disney that can translate an answer in less than 3 seconds. Also, to avoid the Siri issue of the voice being bland and robotic, there will be a voice actor who records countless lines so you have the sense of talking to a real person. When asking for a trivia question, there are over 1000 questions and 500 interesting facts about locations in the park so you never get the same one. MARA will also be able to interpret different ways of saying things, such as saying "Pirates" instead of "Pirates of the Caribbean", and also will know rides from other Disney resorts. So when Uncle Leo asks how long the wait is at Mission: Space she will be able to tell him that it is in Florida. You can get directions, suggestions of what to do next, where you can get a specific pin, anything. You will never need to pull your phone out again, because limitless information is at your wrist!

Fastpass Plus

The system being utilized currently in Orlando will be almost a carbon copy of what is seen in Anahiem, but with a few improvements. If you are staying at a hotel, you can book your Fastpasses 60 days out just like now, but only 3/4ths of them will be available then, the rest will be released the day of for anyone to get at a kiosk in the park. The same rules apply for how many you can get and how often you can get more, but now you can make those reservations using MARA. When you tell her what ride you want to do and what time, she will give you options around the requested time.

Fastpass Plus Kiosk
There will be a kiosk in every land where you can get Fastpasses for attractions in that specific land, if you want Fastpasses for other areas you will either have to use the app, MARA, or one of the 3 base locations in the resort; they are on a Main Street, Buena Vista Street, and in Downtown Disney.

Attractions With FP+​

Due to complaints of standby lines becoming much longer for some attractions due to FP+, the amount of attractions covered will be drastically smaller than the list in Orlando. The list is of attractions that will be open when March 2017 comes around, the list will be updated once new attractions open.

Disneyland Park:
-Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
-Firework Viewing
-Haunted Mansion
-Indiana Jones Adventure
-Jungle Cruise
-Matterhorn Bobsleds
-Mickey and the Magical Map
-Paint the Night Viewing
-Pirates of the Caribbean
-Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
-Space Mountain
-Splash Mountain
-Star Tours
-Various M&G's

Disney California Adventure:
-Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular
-California Screamin'
-Goofy's Sky School
-Grizzly River Run
-Mickey's Fun Wheel (limited amount)
-Radiator Springs Racers
-Soarin'
-Tower of Terror
-Various M&G's
-World of Color Viewing

Ride Upgrades
Almost every attraction on property will receive some sort of MM+ upgrade, whether it is in the queue or the experience itself. Some examples of this include:
-Roz being able to have a more in depth conversation with you on Monsters Inc.
-Vultures communicating with someone in boat personally on Splash
-Jungle Cruise Skipper will know who is on their boat and what they have done
-Ghosts call your name on Haunted Mansion

Image

• Matt7187
• Dec 7, 2015

The list can really go on and on to every attraction, giving something unique and personal to you or someone in your party. Utilizing the MARA technology, the characters will be able to interact with you easier when they talk to you on the ride because they can hear you from your Magic Band.

Meet & Greet​

By the Summer of 2018, every character M&G will transition to a Living Character, where they will be able to interact with you. Gone are the days of having to explain to your kids that Mickey has a sore throat and can't talk today.

My Disney Experience App

Although the app will become partially obsolete with MARA being around, if you prefer this method you can still use it. A whole refresh of the app will be rolled out, fixing all the bugs encountered on this version along with a fresh paint job.

Photopass
The same Photopass system that is in effect right now will transfer to Disneyland.

Conclusion
I feel that the version of My Magic Plus headed to California is infinitely better than its veteran counterpart in Orlando. There is new technology that will yet again revolutionize how you experience a theme park (MARA), improvements on oft criticized elements (Too many attractions w/ FP+), and keeping the favorite elements (Magic Band used for everything). Since the original MM+ cost approximately $1.1 Billion Dollars and covered much more acreage than it will in Disneyland, I would say the budget will be lower than that mark. But with the addition of new technologies and Magic Band redesign, I would peg the budget at around $900 Million for this addition.

With many of the errors being resolved in the Walt Disney World test run, the Disneyland roll out with be much smoother. And with everything that has been done, I feel that the vast majority of guests will enjoy having My Magic + as a vacation tool.
​

 

[RMichael21]

ICS Tournament II - Round 1
@RMichael21 vs. @Sam4D23
MyMagic+ | Disneyland Resort

Welcome to MyMagic+, an all-new way to experience the Disneyland Resort. Making its grand debut at this 60 year old resort in 2017, MyMagic+ will allow guests to make memories in a whole new way. Four different aspects of MyMagic+ create this unique experience. This includes MyDisneyExperience - The Disneyland Resort, Disney’s Photopass+, Fastpass+ and MagicBands. So, join us, as we experience MyMagic+.


Note: This Promo for MyMagic+ is in 480p, meaning that it is not in HD. I apologize in advance. In addition, for a full screen version of the video above, click "Vimeo" and visit the official Vimeo page for the video. Then, click "Full Screen"

Overall Experience:
In 2013, when a program of the same name was introduced at Disneyland’s Sister Resort, Walt Disney World, the system faced massive costs with little payoff. The system originally came with many issues, which resulted in many months of repeated troubleshooting. When Disney Executives decided to bring this over budget system to the Disneyland Resort, they realized that they’d have to make extensive changes to Walt Disney World’s system in order to make it a hit with on-property guests, annual passholders, day guests and guests staying at off-site hotels alike.

This includes tailoring the program to Disneyland’s demographic. While Walt Disney World guest demographic is made up of largely Florida residents and vacationers, Disney’s proximity to many high-population areas in Southern California make it a prime place for locals to spend their free time. Thus, these people often buy annual passes or come just for the day (or for a few hours) spontaneously. While tourists often visit Disneyland, they make up a much smaller percentage of attendance than at Walt Disney World. For this reason, project leaders must find a way to create a more spontaneous experience for day guests and annual passholders, while still keeping bits of in advance vacation that can be found at Walt Disney World.

For this reason (as well as many other factors that caused MyMagic+ to fail at Walt Disney World), components of the months in advance at home planning will be taken away from the program. While guests can still purchase tickets and make hotel and dining reservations, MyMagic+ users may only book Fastpas+ reservations from inside the park, at a kiosk or at an attraction. In addition, the use of MagicBands will be considerably watered down, as MagicBands will become an optional accessory for guests. If a guest chooses too, they may use their park ticket (all are now enabled with RFID capabilities) to enter the park, make Fastpass+ reservations, pay for food or merchandise and check into various locations such as your Fastpass+ reservations that you’ve already selected.

Overall, the new MyMagic+ experience strives to take Walt Disney World’s version of the program and make it rely less on using phone or mobile technology and at-home planning.

How Do I Get My MagicBand or RFID Ticket?
Well, that's simple! You can visit any guest relations or ticket office throughout the resort and exchange a voucher or paper ticket for a free of charge plastic RFID ticket or a MagicBand for an additional $15. You can also do this at every on-site hotel front desk.

In addition, you can purchase a MagicBand of any design at most Disneyland Resort Retail locations, and bring this MagicBand to a guest relations or ticket office.

Also, guests staying at an on-site hotel or Good Neighbor hotel can have their MagicBands shipped to home! This option involves pre-selecting a color and style of your ticket or MagicBand and package style.

MagicBand Package Styles:
In order to get excited for your upcoming Disneyland Resort vacation, guests can have their magic bands or tickets shipped to them. This includes picking the style of your package, helping you celebrate your upcoming vacation! Styles include:
-Incredible Times Are in Store
-Surprise, We're Going to Disneyland!
-Will You Marry Me?
-Attraction Themes (Haunted Mansion, Toy Story Midway Mania, Splash Mountain, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Peter Pan's Flight, It's A Small World, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean)
-Disney Princesses!
-Yo ho, Yo ho, It's A Pirate's Life For Me!

Incredible Things Are In Store

Will You Marry Me?

MagicBands and RFID:

One of the main components of MyMagic+ found at Walt Disney World was the MagicBand. While these were rather successful on the east coast, they focused heavily on pre-made reservations and plans. Guests could pay with a credit card that they had already connected to their MagicBand or check into Fastpass+ locations that they had made 2 months in advance. For this reason, as mentioned above, the use of MagicBands at the Disneyland Resort will be watered down. This will make the MagicBands optional, while still making them available for an added price.

But you ask, “Why keep them at all?” Well, from personal experience (from just using them for 2 days on my recent Walt Disney World vacation), the main flaws of MyMagic+ at Walt Disney World came from FastPass+ and the MyDisneyExperience app, not the MagicBands themselves. So, I have decided to keep these, as I found they provide an easier way to buy, enter and experience things that would have taken twice as long before the implementation of MyMagic+. For example, instead of reaching for your wallet to pull out your ticket to check into Fastpass locations and enter the park, all you had to do was simply tap your MagicBand!

Touch to Enter Capabilities:
A big component of the MagicBands were their RFID capabilities throughout the parks. While touch-to-enter “turnstiles” were rolled out at Walt Disney World, turnstiles will remain at Disneyland. Guests can either tap their MagicBand and scan their finger to proceed, or scan their now RFID enabled park ticket and their finger. The experience is the same, it’s simply what you prefer to use.

In addition, the touch to enter hotel doors will be implemented into all Good Neighbor Hotels, letting guests of these resorts use their MagicBand or ticket more frequently!

Disneyland Magic Moments:
Finally, another component that is being introduced at the Disneyland Resort are the Disneyland Magic Moments. Using the RFID GPS system located inside your ticket or MagicBand, guests can get personalized greetings from characters, cast members or elsewhere in the park. When a guest of a certain age (this depends on the location) comes close enough to the personalization spot, their name or some other personalized message will appear. This idea was originally included in Walt Disney World’s MyMagic+, but never really was rolled out to its full potential.

The Disneyland Magic Moments can be compared to the new attraction experiences, but the Disneyland Magic Moments will not occur in rides or attractions.

Disneyland Parking Spot Finder:
Guests parking in one of the resort's 3 parking structures (Mickey and Friends or one of the two new structures opening in 2017) can scan their ticket or Magic Band upon arrival on a RFID reader post next to the parking space. This will then register onto the guest's MyDisneyExperience account. So, the guests won't have to worry about finding their parking space after a long, but magical day at the parks. If guests don't have their plastic RFID ticket yet, there is an option to enter the parking space number manually into the app.

Fastpass+:

Perhaps the biggest problem area of Walt Disney World’s MyMagic+ is Fastpass+. Gone is the months in advance planning and reserving, and guests instead have a more spontaneous and user-friendly version of Fastpass+.

Guests can make a Fastpass+ Reservation three ways. First, guests can visit the actual attraction that they would like to make a reservation for. The return time for the reservation will appear on the board outside. Located in the former normal Fastpass distribution area, will be several kiosks. Located on the screen will be the same return time found outside. All guests have to do is touch their MagicBand or ticket and they have made their reservation. It’s as simple as that!

The second way to make a reservation is to visit a General Fastpass+ Kiosk. Located in many places throughout the park (several kiosks per land), guests can make reservations for any attraction in the park that they’re in! The final way to reserve a spot on your favorite ride or attraction is through the MyDisneyExperience mobile app. This works in the same way as the Fastpass+ kiosk, just on your Apple or Android mobile device.

Guests can make one reservation at a time. Once you use your first Fastpass+ or the window expires, you’re eligible to make another!

Disneyland Resort Fastpass+ Attractions and Entertainment:

Disneyland Park (18 Attractions, 3 Entertainment Options):
Alice in Wonderland
Autopia
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
The Haunted Mansion
Space Mountain
Indiana Jones Adventure
"it's a small world"
Jungle Cruise
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Peter Pan's Flight
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Pirates of the Caribbean
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
Splash Mountain
Star Tours - The Adventures Continue
Disney's Soundsational Parade
Disneyland Forever
Disney Paint the Night Parade

Disney California Adventure Park (13 Attractions, 4 Entertainment Options):
California Screamin'
Goofy's Sky School
Grizzly River Run
It's Tough To Be A Bug!
The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree
Mickey's Fun Wheel
Monster's Inc. Mike and Sulley to the Rescue
Radiator Springs Racers
Silly Symphony Swings
Soarin' Over the Horizon
Toy Story Midway Mania
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Pixar Play Parade
Anna and Elsa's Royal Welcome
Disney's Frozen: A Musical Spectacular
World of Color: Celebrate!

New Attraction Experiences:
As a part of the Next-Gen expansion at the Disneyland Resort, attractions in both parks will be upgraded to reflect the implementation of MyMagic+. If a MagicBand or park ticket is not scanned when entering the attraction, or is not readable, these will not occur. In this instance, a generic message will pop up.

The Haunted Mansion:
Guests visiting the Haunted Mansion are in for a scary surprise. In the graveyard of this classic attraction, guests will see their names engraved on the tombstones, as well as their birth and death years! It's not something that everyone may see, but for those who do see it, it'll give them quite the fright!

Mickey's House/Meet Mickey:
After scanning their MagicBand as they entered the house, guests will see their name on different places throughout the walkthrough. Whether is be on a letter's return address or on a postcard, you'll have to search for your name if you know to look! In addition, once guests step inside of Mickey's Meet and Greet Area, they'll scan their MagicBand one more time and the all new talking Mickey will greet them by their name!

it's a small world:
At the end of this classic Fantasyland attraction, guests will see the attraction magically giving them a farewell by their name!

Toy Story Midway Mania:
Guests will now scan their MagicBand or ticket before entering their vehicle. In several places throughout the attraction, guests will hear the various Toy Story characters cheering them on by name. This will be done by having the actors record a list of common names, and these will be put into a computer system. If someone's name isn't in the system, a generic message with no name will be said.

Goofy's Sky School:
Once guests have learned how to fly from Goofy, they'll exit the attraction to find their name and picture on a pilot's license, cycling through a slideshow on a screen.

Alice in Wonderland:
As guests take a journey into Wonderland, they'll find their name hidden on one of the leafs inside this classic dark ride.

Turtle Talk With Crush:
During every show of Turtle Talk With Crush, Crush will call out a child by name, asking for them to raise their hand. Then, Crush will talk to the child, mentioning some of their personal information like their age and the names of their parents!

Disney Photopass+ Service and Memory Maker:

Disney’s Photopass+ Service and Memory Maker provide guests with an easier way to save and purchase photos from their magical day at the Disneyland Resort! Guests can have a Photopass+ photographer take their photo, and then scan their MagicBand, park ticket or hotel key! These will go straight to your MyDisneyExperience account, where you can purchase them later.

Memory Maker will also be reinvented for the resort. Guests can purchase a variety of Memory Maker packages. 50 photo, 100 photo, 200 photo, and the unlimited photos packages are all available. A special, annual passholder version of memory maker is available, meaning that it can be linked to your annual pass and used throughout the entire year.

Also, prices for the Disneyland Memory Maker packages will be reduced from Walt Disney World’s packages.

MyDisneyExperience - Disneyland Resort Mobile App:
View attachment 122190

The final portion of MyMagic+ is the all new app for the Disneyland Resort: MyDisneyExperience - The Disneyland Resort. Here, guests can manage their plans, make Fastpass+ reservations from inside the park, make dining reservations, view wait times and receive attraction, dining, shopping and entertainment suggestions based on their location in the park. This app will be similar to the Walt Disney World version of the app, but customized to the Disneyland Resort experience.

Accompanying this new app is the all-new in-park Wifi service. Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney and each hotel will have their own Wifi network.

Timeline and Budget:
January-September 2016: Testing and Troubleshooting
January 2017: MyDisneyExperience - The Disneyland Resort Mobile App official launches
February 2017: MyMagic+ officially rolls out
March - November 2017: New Attraction Experiences and Disneyland Magic Moments are installed.

Budget: About 750 Million

-=+=-

In sum, MyMagic+ brings a whole new way to experience the magic in 2017! Thanks for reading and good luck to @Sam4D23 in this round!​

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

My project is entirely complete with proper formatting and pictures...for the record.

 

[Zweiland]

@Sam4D23 has a school-related conflict, and has been authorized to post up to an hour after the due date.

 

[DinoInstitute]

​

Whether you love it or hate it, this grand, new initiative has consistently been a hot topic of discussion here on the forums for years, going all the way back to its installment. That’s right, I’m talking about MyMagic+. MyMagic+ is notorious for completely changing the way someone vacations to WDW, and while it had many flaws at first, it has in fact started to meet its initial goal of make trips less stressful and a lot more fun after all. Now, this challenge requires us to implement this system on the West Coast at Disneyland Resort. Below is a timeframe of the installation, the addressing of several still-present problems in the system/new enhancements to it, and new features with Magic Bands and attraction technology.


Timeframe:

February 2016- Installation of groundwork technology (Wifi, RFID readers, etc.) will be installed throughout the parks/attractions/resorts

March 2016- Magic Band readers will be installed throughout the parks/resorts, such as at the Fastpass lines, park entrance, hotel rooms, and shops. Legacy Fastpass will still be in use.

April-June 2016- Testing will begin for using Fastpass+ and MyDisneyExperience.

Late June 2016- All guests planning trips will officially switch over to using MyDisneyExperience. They will receive Magic Bands in the mail 30 days before the trip and will be able to link everything together like in WDW. In addition, Fastpass+ will be the same as WDW with being able to select 3 for each park, and then one more once all are used. There will be no tiers as both parks are much more rounded out than Epcot/DHS. Custom Magic Bands and accessories will start being sold at shops throughout the parks/resorts (more on this later). All attractions will now have FP+. All current attractions that have Photopass currently will keep it, but some will receive videos. These attractions are: BTMR, SM, ToT, TSMM, CS.

Early July 2016- Legacy Fastpass kiosks will be removed. Fastpass+ stations will be installed throughout the park, replacing Cast Members with tablets.

July 2016-Onward- Testing will continually take place until all bugs in the system are worked out and to improve the system making it much more seamless. As of now the installation project will be considered completed.

Overall the installation will take quicker than with WDW, as the technology has already been established, kinks have been worked out, and Disney will know what the best way to work it in will be. Given the fact that it will be installed quicker and DLR is considerably smaller than WDW, this project will have an estimated total budget of $650 million.


MyDisneyExperience/MyMagic+ Enhancements:

As the challenge acknowledges, the initial introduction of the MyMagic+ system was not met without some kinks to be worked out. While many of the bugs did get fixed, the system is still not perfect. With the installation of the West Coast version, most of the remaining bugs to the MyDisneyExperience and MyMagic+ systems will be addressed for both coasts.

-First off, WiFi will be improved throughout all parks on both coasts. While it already is available for the most part, it is not perfect by any means, and some parks more than others can not handle all of the guests using their phones and isn’t widely available. Because this system requires internet access, the parks have to make it accessible to everyone much easier.

-A new feature added to the app will be notifications. When you are making fastpass+ reservations, and one attraction that you really want to make one for is booked, you can set it to give you notifications for if/when it becomes available. In addition, when you are in a park and visit the wait times section on the app, you can mark an attraction to give you notifications when the wait time goes under a certain point (Such as under 30 minutes, 10 mins, etc.).

- A complaint among many AP holders in Florida (and one that will be even more common in California with a lot of day-trip visitors) is the fact that, to get good fastpass+ reservations, you have to plan so far in ahead when you want to just be able to go with the flow a bit more. To address this issue, but also to keep the new, helpful process the same for the guests that plan a big vacation in advance, a new way fastpasses get distributed will be addressed. A special percentage of fastpasses will be set aside for guests that use APs/visit more sporadically for both resorts. Then, they can book fastpasses 30 days in advance from these. However, not all of the fastpasses will be available once the 30 days in advance begins. Once they hit 20 days, more will be released for reservation, then 15 days, and so on. That way, day trip guests will not be at a disadvantage for not wanting to plan what should be a fun, simple, and stress free Saturday a month in advance.

-The Shop Disney Parks app attached to MyDisneyExperience will receive an upgrade to make more in-park merchandise available. In addition, a guest can scan any barcode of a product they like, so that the in-park exclusives can be bought once they return home.

-This refurbishment will make it easier for Cast Members to plan their trip with ease. This system refurbishment will allow Main Gate passes to stay synced to their account permanently, and when a Cast Member uses a Main Gate pass to get entry to/plan for other guests, these “Guest Passes” will be able to lync to other accounts under the MyDisneyExperience app. Following off of this, there will be the ability for guests brought in by a Cast Member for use Magic Bands rather than cards, keeping with the continuity of the system and make it more convenient for these guests, as now they can have this all in one device like other guests.

-Lastly, and a much more simple change, but the refurbishment will overall give the system an upgrade so that it works much better without crashing/slow speeds throughout the app and in-park tablets.


Magic Bands:

The Magic Band concept will also receive a few changes during this time. While the current design isn’t terrible, it isn’t the most comfortable. The same version that are in use now will still be the same ones that are initially sent to guests when they plan their trip, however different ones will be available for purchase that are larger in size or made with a different plastic to make them more flexible on the wrist.

New graphics and accessories for Magic Bands will also be available. Similar to what Disney has released recently for WDW, new DL/DCA park and attraction specific Magic Band styles and Magic Slider accessories will be purchasable. In addition, when guests initially order their first Magic Bands, for $10 they are able to create their own custom one, with different possible color/character/landmark combinations.


WDW Products:

DLR Products:

DL Magic Sliders:
-Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
-Splash Mountain
-Space Mountain
-Haunted Mansion
-Pirates of the Caribbean
-It’s A Small World
-Jungle Cruise
-Autopia
-Peter Pan’s Flight

DCA Magic Sliders:
-Soarin’
-Tower of Terror
-California Screamin’
-Mickey’s Fun Wheel
-Radiator Springs Racers
-Mike and Sully to the Rescue
-Grizzly River Run
-General Bug’s Land

DLR Specific Magic Band/ Magic Sliders Concept Art:

(RSR, SM, GRR)

Attractions:

The NextGen technology that comes along with MyMagic+ offers a whole new array of possibilities to do amazing things with attractions to make them more exciting and immersive than ever before. For example, the 2012 refurbishment of Test Track allowed guests to use the technology that goes hand in hand with MyMagic+ to not only create custom cars but also to have them be a part of the ride, making a much more unique and interactive experience. This same idea will applied to several of the attractions/restaurants at the Disneyland Resort, including:

-One attraction that will be receive MyMagic+ enhancements will be Soarin’ at DCA. With the incorporation of NextGen technology, guests will now be able to chose their own destinations! After the Soarin’ Over the World refurb completes, there will now be roughly 35 different locations that guests can chose from on tablets while waiting in the line. Then, at the pre show, Pilot Patrick will inform the guests that they may scan their MagicBands against the reader for them to see what destinations were chosen. The most commonly chosen destinations among the group will be the ones that the computer puts into the show for a unique and custom experience!

-After the latest Star Tours refurbishment, different scene combinations made it so that you could theoretically have a unique experience every time, however a lot of what makes each experience “unique” can simply be a change in the order of which the scenes are presented to you. Now, with the new Star Tours scenes premiering this December with The Force Awakens, along with MyMagic+, guests will be able to truly have a new experience each trip. As guests are waiting to board, they will scan their Magic Bands against a reader. It will see if this person has ridden the attraction yet, and if so, it will be able to see what version it was they rode. That way, it can try to find a common version that no guests have yet experienced. In addition, because MyMagic+ has access to your information (such as what your name is), when they are looking for the rebel spy, it can have your name come up for an even cooler effect!

-Back in November 2013, a new game for World of Color debuted that guests could play on their smart device before the show. "The Fun Wheel Challenge is a matching game in which you compete to match specific sequences of colors on Mickey’s Fun Wheel using your mobile device. And here’s my favorite part – if you win, you get to control the lights on Mickey’s Fun Wheel right from your mobile device."- The Disney Parks Blog. This game will return now with MyDisneyExperience! With custom questions based off of your experiences throughout the day, you can have a friendly battle for control of Mickey's Fun Wheel colors!

-Like with Be Our Guest at WDW, some restaurants will allow pre-ordering meals via MDE, that way when you arrive your food is magically brought to you!

-Magic Band/MyMagic technology will be made use outside of the rides themselves in another way, too, this time being in interactive queues! One example is Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. When your'e waiting in line, the toy screens that you find will suddenly come to life, as Magic Band readers will be scattered about for you to touch with your band. When you do so, it activates different effects, including different characters on screen, sirens turning on, a live view of space, and sound effects. In addition, both Toy Story Midway Mania and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters will now receive new features in their vehicles. There will be added Magic Band readers and new screens, and before riding guests can touch their Magic Bands to the readers. With this, the ride will allow your MyDisneyExperience account to record your scores. Then, the next time you ride, your former scores will appear on the new screens when you scan your band, giving you a number to beat! In addition, on Toy Story Mania only, your names will appear at the final score screen for a more personal experience!

-One of the coolest uses of the NextGen technology is with Test Track, allowing you to create your own vehicles to test. A similar thing will be applied to Autopia, except much more literally! While waiting in line, there will be a spot with tablets to be able to create your own custom vehicle. This includes color, designs, and accessories. Of course, there will not be nearly as many possible combinations as with Test Track, but rather enough so that there are several different copies of any one design as actual vehicles to ride in. If there are too many of one design reserved/in use/not on the track for maintenance, then that combination simply will not be available for creating. When you go down to the loading dock, you will scan your Magic Band, and the CM will direct you to to one of the numbered stations. A rider that is currently riding in the same version as you selected will then be directed to pull into the same station you were waiting at. And because RFID readers can tell how far away a magic band/card is, a screen will be able to give you a wait time of how far away your vehicle is! For those who don't care to design a vehicle, there will be an alternate (and shorter line) without designing. Current riders that do not have anyone waiting at a station to use their car design will pull into that loading dock to depart.


Overall, the MyMagic+ West Coast initiative is going to be much more successful than its WDW installation with Disney learning from their mistakes, having new and improved software, and many new features to make MyMagic+ and MyDisneyExperience more accessible and user friendly than ever. With new uses of the technology, including in the attractions at the parks, MyMagic+ will make trips to Disneyland Resort much more stress-free, exciting, and all in all amazing. Thanks for reading!

 

[Sam Magic]

Sam4D23 Presents:

http://mymagicplus.weebly.com
​

Note: added video

 

[DinoInstitute]

Just to let you know, the edit for mine was because of some images that didn't show up that I had to re-upload.

 

[sshindel]

Hello and howdy Imagineers!
So, I've been asked to be the guest judge for this competition. I hope that I can do an admirable job and do not start some sort of controversy that causes feuds, fighting, and the eventual downfall of the entire forums and the collapse of human civilization itself!
It's an interesting challenge, that is for sure! I've done some thinking about MM+ lately (<cough> plug <cough> ), and in the past as well around here, so this is going to be really good to dig into. I tend to have a different opinion on the little plastic bands than most folks do, so I'm looking forward to seeing some of your thoughts!
Also, I'm going to have to try very, very hard to keep myself from getting over-analytical here. My profession leaves me in the place where I want to find and dig deeply into any and all assertions made and try and find data to prove/disprove them. I'll do my best to be open, fair, and as honest as I can. I know you folks put a heck of a lot of work into these, so if you can do that to create them, I want to do the same to judge them.

That aside, let's get to the judgment. I want to go one matchup at a time, read them both, think about them in comparison to each other, write up the results, and then move along. That way each matchup is judged against each other and not againt the other competitors.

So here we go. By virtue of posting first, the matchup I'll start with is @tcool123 vs. @DSquared

Right off the bat, we see a few of the major changes that each has offered up. @tcool123 is getting rid of the band itself, going with a Key to the World style card with an RFID chip. @DSquared is keeping the band, but going back to an Original FastPass style ride booking system. Both are looking to try and implement some sort of limitations on the number of people who can book FPs, though doing so in different ways.

Let's talk about those changes a little. With @tcool123 I get what you're going for here I think. Californians, with their more local annual passholder guest base, might have problems with the big clunky plastic bands. I can see swaths of ultra-hip teenagers refusing to wear their bands. The key card idea has worked in the past, so there is precedent for it, and it's partially proven technology. I'm not sure how thin the different RFID chips inside the band itself are, I haven't decided yet to take one of my bands apart. I have no idea if the technology needed for both long and short range readings will fit inside a credit card, and how well will it work from a wallet/purse/backpack? Easy things to test I guess. That said, there is something about the actual bands themselves that are different. Love them or hate them, they are distinct and not like many other things out in the theme park world. A card just isn't. Maybe that is a good thing, maybe not. Maybe there is an alternative design that is less chunky plastic band, more "Californian". RFID Reusable Water Bottles? I kid, I kid.

On to the bigger change from @DSquared, getting rid of the pre-schedule FP+ aspect. In this regard, it's a lot like what Californians are used to already, it's a known entity, probably would be quickly and easily adopted by the park goers. Also, it does work well with groups of locals who just decided to pop into the park after school for an afternoon. They don't have to pre-plan anything and can get on their rides as usual. On the other hand, this loses a key element of Disney's benefit from the MM+ system, the ability to work crowd optimization into their system. The ability to try and influence guest behavior to try and anticipate problems, improve crowd control, adjust to things in realtime. As a parkgoer, I still have to walk all the way to the attraction, get my FP, then figure out what to do in the meantime, then come back to it at my appointed time. I think if we want to get rid of pre-planning, there might be ways to still use the bands and app to allow some of the benefits (and all of the data) without requiring the person to physically go to an attraction. From a data person's aspect, the fact that what would end up happening is a group of people would give all their bands to one person, who would run to an attraction to get FPs, and they would do other things in the meantime. This makes sense for the guest, but as a data scientist trying to analyze and anticipate guest patterns, it would invalidate all the data on all of the bands that were handed over, and I wouldn't have a true understanding of what was really going on with the guests, therefore any predictions I'd want to make would be invalid.

On to other topics. @tcool123 attacks the problem of the differing type of park-goer by keeping preplanning alive, but reducing the windows and coming up with some standard ratios of how to allocate the FPs to different types of guests. As a data science-y type person, I'd suggest using those ratios as a starting place, but allowing them to dynamically shift based on the predictive models that use the data being collected to predict guest patterns, allowing different times of year or different times of day to have different allocation ratios that are optimal. Still, you have a good idea here in trying to come up with the right ratio to allow day-of FPs, and give resort guests a bonus.

Same with @DSquared , drastically limiting the fastpasses to 1/5th of the guest population. Without knowing what the numbers are for current FP at Disneyland (what percentage of guests do they currently give FP to, etc), I can't judge how drastic of a change that will be. I'm guessing it would be a drastic change. I think it would be an interesting experiment to see how it would impact standby lines. I'm all for giving this a shot, but would again like to experiment with the ratio to make it optimal.

@DSquared is the only one of the two to try and come up with some new experiences, interactive uses of the RFID, which I think is a big part of the spirit of this competition. I'd love to hear more about the interactive experiences, because that is a huge area that Disney has not yet tapped.

@tcool123 had the addition of the MM+ headquarters, which will be greatly helpful and would give a good place for people to have help setting up day-of passes. I am however too lazy to look up what exists in the suggested locations to see what we'd be "sacrificing" in changing to the HQ.

@DSquared you were honest in not knowing enough about computers, so I can't really poke holes in your 50 states / 50 servers solution. I'd suggest potentially looking at population instead of state boundries. California likely could use 10X as many servers as Alaska. Also, plenty of technologies exist to help them load-balance on the fly between many servers. I won't hold any of this against you though.

Ok. So, now it's time to choose a winner. Wow, this is a hard one. I feel like I just spent a ton of time lobbing criticism, but I promise that it's not because I have bad opinions about your ideas. You both I feel attacked the task at hand very well, and it's a tough nut to crack. Disneyland is a park that on the surface is similar to WDW, but has so many interesting little differences in how people experience it, that you went for the right problems and offered up good, differing solutions.

In the end I guess I think I'm going with a gut feeling here, and I think I need to declare the winner to be @tcool123 because I think that the solution presented would likely be implemented with more success. The fact that there were no extra "Bells and Whistles" added, interactive experiences, really came close to swinging it the other way, and if @DSquared fleshed out the ideas a little more, it probably would have been enough, but as is, I have to declare:

The winner is @tcool123

Wow, that is a lot of writing! You'd think that I'm the kind of person who has a manifesto or something...

I'm in the middle of cycling the kids through bath, so there may be a bit of a window of time between a couple of these reviews. Especially if I'm going to end up writing as much as I did up here ^

 

[sshindel]

Game 2: @RMichael21 vs. @Sam4D23

If I am going to finish these tonight, I might need to cut down the length of these. Who am I kidding, I'm unable to do that.

So here we have a battle of personalized experience vs. the gamification of the in-park experience. It's obviously much more than that, but those are two of the standout "big ideas" put forth in the two competing proposals. Let's get to the analysis shall we.

@RMichael21 starts off with something that really is surprising that has not been really exploited yet, the different themed MagicBand packages. I loves me the Incredibles, I really do, but it's time they expand their packaging, extending that experience further. And wow, that MagicBand engagement ring box, they'd make a killing on the new MouseMingle.com crowd A question, would the cards come in similar styles and packaging? There should be no reason they couldn't right?

From there, taking the pre-planning out is interesting. Day-of-Only booking would be interesting to see in action, seeing how many locals would make their decision on whether or not to visit the park at all based on their ability to get a FP+ for an attraction. "Man, Radiator Springs Racers is booked today, I guess we'll just go to the mall instead". Granted, I have no idea how much this would happen, and we'd need some experimentation to gauge the actual impact on the guests. I've never really had any problems getting a slew of day-of FP+ at WDW in all my trips, so it might not be a big deal, but that's a discussion for another thread I'd guess.

The other big point in @RMichael21 's proposal is to go into detail on some of the additional experiences added, the extra personalized experiences that guests would/could get in the park. I like the ideas. I could see my kids really enjoy seeing their names in the Haunted Mansion on a gravestone, or to have some extra experiences in Toy Story Midway Mania. I think that Disney really needs to look into their options on doing this across every park / cruise that has bands. The more personalized the experience, the better.

Moving on to @Sam4D23, I think that the big idea here is the "gamification". It's actually an idea I've discussed with some people recently, how Disney should look at Gamifying MDE. I was thinking about some form of RPG based in the park, but my friend argued that there is already enough people staring at their phones and not their family in the parks. Your idea of doing it based on park experience is much better. It would be interesting to see what they could do to make it enough for people to want to do, but not too much to really encourage people in spending all their time in the parks just trying to "level up" or get more points. Disney wants them spending money not racking up points to cost them money

But I do think that gamification is a very good and useful tool for Disney to use. Maybe instead of the 4 teenagers standing next to each other talking to each other via text, they'll be competing together toward some goal, and actually interact! Plus, you could use rewards to draw people to one attraction or part of the park to try and spread crowds out.

Wait, this is not MY proposal on gamifying, it's yours. I'll stop now. I may steal it and riff on it at some point though

The rest of the proposal has hit on a lot of the same notes that others have. Bands or Cards. Scheduling ahead to ease vacations (which I'm a big fan of). Small personalized experiences added based on info put into MDE. I've already commented for way to long on some of those topics above, so I'll spare you.

I will take a moment as well to give props for the video/website combo. Both very well done, though I could nitpick a couple of typos, I'll also remember you were getting this together with school time constraints, so I'll leave it at that. Heck, you had a responsive design, so when I had to go through the website while one kid was in bath, I did it from my phone just as easily as from the computer.

So, we're looking at a battle of personalized experiences against gamification. As much as I love the gamification idea and the presentation in the video/webpage, I feel like there was a little a little more of a fully fleshed out proposal from @RMichael21 with more details around the personalization of the entire experience. It hurts a little to pass up on an idea that I think has real promise, but I think that the full details provided really make the call in the end.

The winner is @RMichael21

Ok, time to get kid 2 out of the bath and both of them into bed. I'll be back in a short bit to finish up the other 2 brackets.

 

[sshindel]

Game 3: @Matt7187 vs. @TheOriginalTiki

Once again, breaking it down to the big ideas, we're looking at MARA vs. Park-wide MB interactions

@Matt7187 starts off swinging big, introducing a digital assistant to the MagicBand. I'll be honest, I've had iPhones for years and turn off Siri as soon as I get my new phone. I've never found her helpful, at all. That being said, I could absolutely see the benefit of having a personal assistant on my wrist while visiting a Disney park. There are enough things that could be going on at any given time that having this easily accessible would be fantastic. "Is it going to rain today?" "Where can I find a churro?" "When's the 3:00 parade?". But seriously, I've spent plenty of time already looking up simple info on MDE that could be given to me via assistant. I would hope though that we could come up with some sort of "automatic mute" while within an attraction, because the last thing I'd want to hear while riding It's a Small World is the teenagers in front of me thinking of funny things to get their personal assistant to say in different Disney voices. If we can get a location based mute, bingo. No way do I want to listen to "I don't know the attraction Harry Buttz, please try again" over and over.

I do however wonder at the cost associated with implementing this functionality on every band that gets shipped out for DL. Of course, you can try and reduce sending a new band for every single person, but adding the technology for microphone, speakers, and processing to do voice recognition and interface with some form of cloud based computing seems like it could make those little plastic bands pretty darn expensive. I would bet that for a lot less money they could work with the major smartphone manufacturers to get MDE fully integrated with Siri /Cortana/Whatever-Andoid-Has and have people use their existing technology as their digital assistant nearly as effectively. A great deal of what made up the billion(s) of dollar cost for MM+ in WDW was in technology, RFID readers, replacing all door locks, Wifi, and huge, massive IT changes to get their systems able to link together and their data into some form of Big Data platform to do their analytics on. Cutting down on technology spend in DL is going to be key to not repeating the budget overrun had at WDW, and there are some things that wont be able to be shortcut.

Coming up with as many personalization options as possible for the MagicBand design is just smart, and something Disney I feel will be doing more and more of as years go along. It's nice that I can pick my favorite color (orange), but let me pick a Kitchen Kabaret themed MagicBand and personalize it to say "Save EPCOT" or something? I'm paying for the band in a heartbeat.

Also interesting concept in just splitting the FP+ reservations to onsite get to reserve in advance, or you do it day of. That would seem to get a little of the day guests handled and still give advanced planning it's place. I'd be willing to bet that the true result would end up being a different number than a 75/25 split to be optimal, but the good thing with all these ratios is that you'd never advertise them and you could just adjust them as you get enough data to build your predictive model well enough to improve efficiency.

Ok, before I spend too long, let me get along to @TheOriginalTiki

First, let me commend you on hitting a good number of attractions. Coming up with these kinds of interactive ideas can be challenging (which I'd bet is a small part of the reason they're not at WDW yet), so based on the sheer number of them you did a good job coming up with different ideas.

I'm wondering though how many of these effects should be "active", meaning I have to go out of my way to scan some of these things. I think there should be some for sure, but I'd also think that the element of surprise would be great in some attractions (Tower of Terror / Mansion / Tom Sawyer's Island). Also, you'd want to see how to make them varied as much as possible, because having each person see/hear the same thing as the person in front of you could make the lines quite tedious.

I guess that leads me to something I was curious about, I'm not sure if a lot of these things, especially the history and details ones, are going to be via speaker, or just text on my screen? I can see positives and negatives of each way. Speakers / sound has the problem I've mentioned before, having to listen to the things while on an attraction. It would however be a "heads up" experience as opposed to having whole attractions with people just staring at the screen on their wrist. Maybe I've just watched Wall-E too recently, or see too much screen staring in myself, but I'm starting to get really worried that we're soon going to be evolving with a bend in our neck looking down onto our phone screens.

Either way, those are some minor pieces. Overall, you've got quite a range of different options and interactions. I'm not quite sure how the games (shooting gallery / Toy Story / Buzz) would have me "shooting" from my app. If I'm getting to purchase an extra Iron Man repulsor attachment to add to my band so I can pretend to be Iron Man, I'm all in. Sign me up now. And make a Spider-man web shooter one for my kid while we're at it. And of course, it seems that The Force Unleashed would heavily be included in this as well. Do I get to be Starkiller???

It would be interesting to see how these Choose Your Own Adventure pieces would work out. As a huge fan of Horizons, voting on your favorite ending will always hold a special place in my heart, but I'd wonder if you'd have a few scenes that would just never get chosen, and if you visit often, you'd end up seeing some of the same "favorites" over and over. Maybe you could get one or two crowd favorites and randomize the other scenes? Just looking out for re-ridability in a park that has a large return visitor population.

Now, how do we rate this. We've got one really innovative technology idea that would be a massive boon to guests as they experience the parks. We have another proposal chock full of ideas on spreading the NextGen technology across the parks and really getting an interactive experience going on. I honestly am not sure how to choose on this one. Let me ponder for a moment.

Ok. I pondered, I swear. Pondering is putting laundry in the dryer and trying to decide if I can fit another cookie into my overloaded stomach, right?

Ugh, I'm having a hard time here. I think that I have to give the nod to @TheOriginalTiki based solely on feasibility. MARA, as presented, I feel is too much of a technological and budgetary limitation that it would end up in the same situation that the original MagicBand ended up in. Too many people asking why Disney dropped nearly a Billion dollars for Siri and not new attractions (I am not one of those folks BTW, I'm a huge MagicBand Fanboi).
@TheOriginalTiki has a lot of different proposals, some that I think would likely end up tweaked prior to launch, but still, overall, would have a larger impact on the experience visiting the park. The focus of the proposal is on wide-reaching park experiences, which more visitors would end up enjoying in the long run.

The Winner is @TheOriginalTiki

Ok, home stretch now. One more. Seriously, y'all are whetting my imagineering appetite here, I might have to try and sneak in a blog post tomorrow!

 

[sshindel]

Game 4: @IDInstitute vs. @JokersWild

Ummm... I only see 1 of the 2 posts unless I'm completely missing something. I'll admit to being tired, stayed up last night bingeing on the last 4 episodes of Jessica Jones. Am I just overlooking @JokersWild 's post? I'm just tired enough to do that.

I'm leaving this matchup be right now because I'm not 100% sure how to handle this as a guest judge. Do I call it a win by default? Do I wait until morning? Do I tag in and write up my own FP+ proposal and then guest judge myself so that I can be guaranteed a win?

Help me @Zweiland, you're my only hope...

 

[RMichael21]

Game 4: @IDInstitute vs. @JokersWild

Ummm... I only see 1 of the 2 posts unless I'm completely missing something. I'll admit to being tired, stayed up last night bingeing on the last 4 episodes of Jessica Jones. Am I just overlooking @JokersWild 's post? I'm just tired enough to do that.

I'm leaving this matchup be right now because I'm not 100% sure how to handle this as a guest judge. Do I call it a win by default? Do I wait until morning? Do I tag in and write up my own FP+ proposal and then guest judge myself so that I can be guaranteed a win?

Help me @Zweiland, you're my only hope...

I believe that it's a win by default. That's how no-posts usually work on here.

 

[Zweiland]

Yes, @IDInstitute wins.

Thanks sshindel! We'll have the next round up later today.

 

[sshindel]

Yes, @IDInstitute wins.

Thanks sshindel! We'll have the next round up later today.

Thank you for having me!

I mean, I know @IDInstitute was left out of getting my brilliant* feedback, so if you want me to judge it @IDInstitute just let me know



*brilliance only guaranteed in the author's mind, your opinion may vary