News Disney launching 'Play Disney Parks' app this summer

EricsBiscuit

EricsBiscuit

Well-Known Member
I don't see why people are so against this. It's completely optional and it's something most people won't do. I think it's a great idea and I love the aesthetic. Even if people are on their phones all the time, who are we to judge them? Sometimes we just have to mind our own business and while everyone else has their head buried in their phones, just enjoy the park.
 
MrPromey

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
DoTheImpossible said:
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!
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I guess from the info we have, it could end up being either, both or neither, eh?

I really hope it doesn't become an on-ride thing but I'm not against it being a distraction in the queues that used to move fairly briskly but are now a lot more standing around as a result of FP+. Obviously, you don't want to be stuck 30 people back behind the family that is stopping the line from moving forward because they are playing with their phone to get something to happen in the spot they're waiting in line but an intelligently developed system would be able to adapt to line flow and draw people forward rather than hold them back when that kind of situation arises.

The question is if that's what we would get or not.

Disney is a few generations deep into this overall interactive concept, now. With enough people wearing magic bands, they can also track paths through standby lines if they choose to do that. Setting up something cool in the lines with the idea of it being flexible enough to adapt on the fly when people need to start moving again is something they could do. It's not beyond their technical ability to pull this off. It's just a matter of whether or not they're willing to invest in getting it right.

With the state of many standby lines today, it certainly feels like they need to do something right. My hope would be that they internally recognize the problem and are going to do a way better job with this than they did with say, the Little Mermaid stuff that doesn't account for real-world traffic flow and is ignored by most guests.
 
MrPromey

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
surfsupdon said:
I’d prefer a fix to lower wait times. But that’s my opinion.
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Me too but I think they've dug themselves a hole by setting expectations around FP+ that they can't back away from now.

I'm glad they at least appear to be acknowledging something needs to be done. A lot of those original queues were somewhere between great and tolerable for the time you spent in them previously but standing still in them repeatedly and for extended periods of time definitely isn't what most of them were designed to handle in terms of guest attention.
 
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MrPromey

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
Oriolesmagic said:
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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"Go on a Disney Vacation Club Tour" Earn an achievement. :joyfull:






... Sorry. You make a great point but I couldn't resist.
 
HauntedPirate

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
MrPromey said:
"Go on a Disney Vacation Club Tour" Earn an achievement. :joyfull:






... Sorry. You make a great point but I couldn't resist.
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"Special achievements only available during certain up-charge events!!!" - You know it's a very real possibility.

Why are some against this? They probably are not, just as long as it doesn't ultimately result in a degraded theme park experience. I'm not against it, I just won't do it, because I don't want yet another thing I need to use my phone for while in the parks, and can't see the point in this. I'm absolutely guilty of spending too much time on my phone on a day-to-day basis. But when I'm at WDW, I don't want to be on my phone. I want to be engaging my senses while there. I want to see the sights and architecture. I want to listen to the music and sounds. I want to smell the smells. I also don't want to be run into by people focused on their phone trying to complete some insipid "achievement", or holding up a line while trying to do something on the app. Don't blindly assume people are against something just to be antagonists. But it also looks, on the surface, like Disney is attempting to gloss over/cover up/ignore the fact that wait times are increasing, and this is happening as a direct result of their decisions in theme park investments over the past 12+ years. Rather than increasing capacity (which they are doing... slowly...), they're just going to give people another thing to do while sitting in line? I thought the interactive queues were supposed to do that, apparently it wasn't enough, when lines routinely extend well past the interactive features - Mermaid, Big Thunder, HM, Space, etc. The Star Tours queue is, IMHO, a better way to entertain guests while in line, but what do I know...

Sometimes, I just can't help but think, "I just wasn't made for these times..."
 
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Jones14

Jones14

Well-Known Member
This feels like the sequel to Pirates Adventure, Sorcerer's, and Agent P, so I'd expect it to be primarily based in things not located in attractions or their queues. If it's anything like Pirates, count me in.
 
munchiezxx

munchiezxx

Well-Known Member
So you can’t use it away from the parks at all? :/ I thought it might be more like something you could use at home, if it’s just for use in the parks then that’s a little disappointing
 
ParksAndPixels

ParksAndPixels

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
I like to try to stay off my phone and enjoy what’s around me in the parks. That said, if you’re an exec at Disney realizing everyone is on their phones anyways (and at least electronically leaving the bubble), why not do what you can to “fight dirty” and use guests habits for company gain? I get it. Not crazy about the direction, but makes sense.
 
MrPromey

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
HauntedPirate said:
"The Star Tours queue is, IMHO, a better way to entertain guests while in line, but what do I know..."
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The Star Tours queue was inspired.

Now, having to explain to first-time guests I've gone with why the back side of things outside are unfinished is a bit annoying since people seem to not pick up on the "set" aspect of it but the sheer awe they experience, seeing that initial inside scene for the first time, is awesome.

It really does feel too large and elaborate to really exist. I always thought the big MIB office room part of the queue at Universal was kind of their way of emulating that but a big, relatively empty open space is, well, just that.
 
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JS514

JS514

Well-Known Member
The fact is, people are glued to their phones already in line. My wife have always had this thing where we play Phase 10, pool, etc through apps on our phone against each other while waiting in line. It really only makes sense, and is honestly a great idea, to have an official Disney app for this very reason. People are going to be looking at their phones regardless, might as well divert them to a Disney app.
 
KBLovedDisney

KBLovedDisney

Well-Known Member
JS514 said:
The fact is, people are glued to their phones already in line. My wife have always had this thing where we play Phase 10, pool, etc through apps on our phone against each other while waiting in line. It really only makes sense, and is honestly a great idea, to have an official Disney app for this very reason. People are going to be looking at their phones regardless, might as well divert them to a Disney app.
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So what you and Disney are saying is:

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