News Disney launching 'Play Disney Parks' app this summer

FigmentJedi

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
MrPromey said:
Since the article specifically said "activities that interact with the surrounding environment." I'm guessing it'll be along the lines of things like the Agent P experience and the Pirate Treasure Hunt in Adventureland in terms of the "environment" part. If so, cheaping-out isn't too much of a concern as this may get people to pay more attention to aspects of the environment while giving Imagineering a solid reason to go into deeper and richer environments in a way that'll be measurable even on basic guest surveys.
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There's definitely an opportunity here to bring some of the stories a little more forward to casuals. Like imagine if minigames tied into different attraction stories and utilized some of those off-screen park characters. Or offered up a "Story Scavenger Hunt" mode that would actually encourage people to look for story breadcrumbs and easter eggs and digitally piece things together on the app into a greater whole.
 
Castle Cake Apologist

Castle Cake Apologist

Well-Known Member
Hatbox Ghostbuster said:
This is just sad. The sheer fact is, the beauty and detail of a Disney park used to be enough to hold a person's interest. How times have changed :/
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It seems like this app may actually encourage people to look at and interact with the details. If this is the case, I'm in full support of this.

However, if the "game" is contained to the app itself, I'm opposed to it. I'll take a wait and see approach to this one.
 
BoarderPhreak

BoarderPhreak

Well-Known Member
Meh. While I bring a phone with me, it's for MDE and emergency use or contacting other members of the party if necessary. Not playing games or even taking pictures.
 
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jaklgreen

jaklgreen

Well-Known Member
I use my phone to look up my FPs and my dining reservations. I used to write those on a piece of paper and keep it in my pocket before. But that really stinks when you forget it. I also use my phone to look up wait times to decide where to go next, pictures, mobile ordering, and to read a book with my nook app. I don't use it quit as much when I am with my family but solo trips I do a lot of reading when I am in line or eating. At this point, I don't think I would want to leave my phone in the room.
 
beachlover4444

beachlover4444

Well-Known Member
Wow, how about families talk to each other, you know since you are on vacation and mom and/or dad aren't working and have your full attention? Maybe I am old school, I understand all kids have phones, ipads, etc and are constantly on them which drives me crazy but I have 2 grandkids, 3 years old today, and one who is almost 5. They've been to Disney 4 times already and they can play Eye Spy "Disney" by memory and it's amazing. They notice everything in the queue, the ride, walking the parks, and it's because they are fully immersed in the vacation trip, not buried on an app. Their last trip they were there 3 days, saw 27 princesses, gave each one a picture they drew, loved Star Wars and came back telling me every detail about their time at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios and the All Star Music resort. Disney has already made the queue lines so interactive to keep toddlers busy I just think it's sad an app is needed as well. I've always said fastpass just slowed the lines down so badly, when lines moved constantly nobody minded waiting.
 
jaklgreen

jaklgreen

Well-Known Member
beachlover4444 said:
Wow, how about families talk to each other, you know since you are on vacation and mom and/or dad aren't working and have your full attention? Maybe I am old school, I understand all kids have phones, ipads, etc and are constantly on them which drives me crazy but I have 2 grandkids, 3 years old today, and one who is almost 5. They've been to Disney 4 times already and they can play Eye Spy "Disney" by memory and it's amazing. They notice everything in the queue, the ride, walking the parks, and it's because they are fully immersed in the vacation trip, not buried on an app. Their last trip they were there 3 days, saw 27 princesses, gave each one a picture they drew, loved Star Wars and came back telling me every detail about their time at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios and the All Star Music resort. Disney has already made the queue lines so interactive to keep toddlers busy I just think it's sad an app is needed as well. I've always said fastpass just slowed the lines down so badly, when lines moved constantly nobody minded waiting.
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When our kids were young they did not have the interactive queues yet and they certainly did not have any phones or electronics on them. We just talked to each other during the waits. But to be fair, lines were much much much shorter back then.
 
bhg469

bhg469

Well-Known Member
DisneyExpert said:
It seems like this app may actually encourage people to look at and interact with the details. If this is the case, I'm in full support of this.

However, if the "game" is contained to the app itself, I'm opposed to it. I'll take a wait and see approach to this one.
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Yes, if this is something that will interact with the environment and have fun while in the parks but not taking away from the parks, totally in.
 
DoTheImpossible

DoTheImpossible

Active Member
MrPromey said:
Since the article specifically said "activities that interact with the surrounding environment." I'm guessing it'll be along the lines of things like the Agent P experience and the Pirate Treasure Hunt in Adventureland in terms of the "environment" part. If so, cheaping-out isn't too much of a concern as this may get people to pay more attention to aspects of the environment while giving Imagineering a solid reason to go into deeper and richer environments in a way that'll be measurable even on basic guest surveys.
Click to expand...

If that's what it ends up being, then moving those types of experiences to the smart phone and expanding them makes a lot of sense. What gives me pause is the article mentions specific locations being spots where more content is unlocked and that "wait time becomes play time."

I'm just worried it will be more of an in-queue or on-ride distraction than a new park-wide experience. I would love to be wrong, guess we'll see!
 
ppete1975

ppete1975

Well-Known Member
I wish this is something you could play while not at the park id love a Disney pokemon style thing to do in the park.. or just random games built on the park.
Instead I just think it will lead to more people ignoring the park, eyes locked on the screen walking into people and not even seeing the most magical place on the earth.
I am surprised they haven't had an audio track that you can listen to like many museums etc. On your right is small world, it was originally built blah blah blah blah inside are (insert number) animatronic figures. That way your eyes are on the beauty and you aren't bumping people but you are learning.
 
Oriolesmagic

Oriolesmagic

Well-Known Member
I've always thought that having achievements that guests could earn (like you'd see in a video game) would be a really neat and, if utilized correctly, a smart business decision for the parks.

"Ride every water ride at the Magic Kingdom" Earn an achievement.
"Complete the Behind the Seeds tour at EPCOT" Earn an achievement.
"Meet with Donald at the Mexico pavilion" Earn an achievement.
etc.

Disney could use these to drive interest to attractions that are typically not as popular. In addition, there's the option to have pop-up achievements on a day by day basis to help drive guests toward where you want them to go. Perhaps we'll see something like that in this app?
 
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