Disney to launch NextGen 'My Disney Experience' app for iPhone, iPad and Android

[Patricia Melton]

But very few phones have the ability to do RFID that is what is confusing, the technology is in its infancy on smart phones and can be vulnerable to attacks if people are stupid with it

So far, the news is really confusing, I agree.

What I think is going to happen right now is this:
* You will soon be able to buy park tickets via iPhone and receive some kind of bar code on your phone that is your entry into the park
* The ticket takers will scan your barcode and let you into the park, but will give you a paper ticket at the gate with an RFID chip in it (just like if you brought a paper ticket with you)

I think the point of this is to eliminate a step where you have to go pick up a paper ticket, wait in line to purchase a paper ticket, or have a paper ticket mailed to you.

I get the impression you can purchase your tickets via iPhone app in the near future and not worry about a paper ticket until you are actually entering the park and one would be handed to you for the fast passes and other things.

 

[Hobbes130]

To echo a previous posters comments...
My family and I travel to WDW from the UK every 18 months or so. MY wife and I both have iPhones but the mobile magic app is useless to us. We always enable our phones for international use for calls, but have to disable all the data roaming and such like. The charges with our UK based network are (last time I checked) around £6 (about $10?) per MB of data downloaded. This makes any app, unless there is going to be wi-fi ni the parks, too expensive. Disney need to get wi-fi in the parks or any future develoment like this is going to be too expensive for international guests.....

 

[tdpolo26]

To echo a previous posters comments...
My family and I travel to WDW from the UK every 18 months or so. MY wife and I both have iPhones but the mobile magic app is useless to us. We always enable our phones for international use for calls, but have to disable all the data roaming and such like. The charges with our UK based network are (last time I checked) around £6 (about $10?) per MB of data downloaded. This makes any app, unless there is going to be wi-fi ni the parks, too expensive. Disney need to get wi-fi in the parks or any future develoment like this is going to be too expensive for international guests.....

not if they cover the park with wireless beacons.... then it isnt bad at all.... its free.... infact if its open wireless you can make telephone calls on it.

 

[wm49rs]

To echo a previous posters comments...
My family and I travel to WDW from the UK every 18 months or so. MY wife and I both have iPhones but the mobile magic app is useless to us. We always enable our phones for international use for calls, but have to disable all the data roaming and such like. The charges with our UK based network are (last time I checked) around £6 (about $10?) per MB of data downloaded. This makes any app, unless there is going to be wi-fi ni the parks, too expensive. Disney need to get wi-fi in the parks or any future develoment like this is going to be too expensive for international guests.....

I believe they may be heading that way eventuall (wifi in the parks).. And wifi is now available in most of the reorts. But I wouldn't expect paper tickets or FPs to disappear anytime soon, for many of the reasons you describe. Their international visitors are still quite important to them.

 

[tdpolo26]

So far, the news is really confusing, I agree.

What I think is going to happen right now is this:
* You will soon be able to buy park tickets via iPhone and receive some kind of bar code on your phone that is your entry into the park
* The ticket takers will scan your barcode and let you into the park, but will give you a paper ticket at the gate with an RFID chip in it (just like if you brought a paper ticket with you)

I think the point of this is to eliminate a step where you have to go pick up a paper ticket, wait in line to purchase a paper ticket, or have a paper ticket mailed to you.

I get the impression you can purchase your tickets via iPhone app in the near future and not worry about a paper ticket until you are actually entering the park and one would be handed to you for the fast passes and other things.

out of curiosity have you ever had someone scan a barcode displayed on you phone.... it works maybe 10 percent of the time on my droid at most... now iphone maybe different my wife has one and it maybe works 20 percent of the time. However there seems to be certain scanners that do it better then others.

 

[spaceghost]

Phew... Windows Phone version will be coming. Well, assuming that the app isn't "teh suck."

Yes, I am the one guy that owns a Windows Phone, apparently. (Love it, BTW!)

 

[Patricia Melton]

out of curiosity have you ever had someone scan a barcode displayed on you phone.... it works maybe 10 percent of the time on my droid at most... now iphone maybe different my wife has one and it maybe works 20 percent of the time. However there seems to be certain scanners that do it better then others.

I have an iPhone and I scan things all the time. I don't know what those things are called, but they are the funny looking black and white squares with the assemblage of tinier squares on them. They have them in magazine ads now and on bus benches and things. I even saw one at the cemetery last month, stuck to a headstone. When I scanned it with my phone it had a webpage for the lady who was buried in the plot with photos of her and everything. It was very cool.

I use this free app that my son put on my phone and it turns the iPhone into a scanner. I also use it at the grocery store to scan barcodes and compare prices with other stores. It's very useful.

My son has used his phone to scan something off my phone before and it took him maybe three tries to get it right. You have to watch out for glare and also have to make sure that both your screen and his camera lens are totally clean with no smudges. Otherwise, his phone could not read my phone's screen with the barcode on it.

 

[lazyboy97o]

out of curiosity have you ever had someone scan a barcode displayed on you phone.... it works maybe 10 percent of the time on my droid at most... now iphone maybe different my wife has one and it maybe works 20 percent of the time. However there seems to be certain scanners that do it better then others.

I have an iPhone 4S and use reward cards on my phone rather frequently and rarely have a problem with the barcode being scanned.

 

[cslafferty]

You may not be talking about the same app. There is the magic guide app that has wait times all the time or touring plans which also has wait times, but the mobile magic app (official disney app) only gives you wait times once the gps officially recognizes you as in the park. It is very sensitive too. I was staying at BLT and it would not give me MK wait times from my room. I figured I was close enough, but no dice. I had to actually be in the park. I love going on touring plans from home and wishing I was there.

Sorry, you're right. I do have Mobile Magic, but I also have an app called Magic Guide that gives actual wait times in minutes. That's the one I was thinking of.

 

[GoofGoof]

Sorry, you're right. I do have Mobile Magic, but I also have an app called Magic Guide that gives actual wait times in minutes. That's the one I was thinking of.

I have that one too. It gives you prices on the food menus which I don't think the other apps do.

 

[tdpolo26]

I have an iPhone and I scan things all the time. I don't know what those things are called, but they are the funny looking black and white squares with the assemblage of tinier squares on them. They have them in magazine ads now and on bus benches and things. I even saw one at the cemetery last month, stuck to a headstone. When I scanned it with my phone it had a webpage for the lady who was buried in the plot with photos of her and everything. It was very cool.

I use this free app that my son put on my phone and it turns the iPhone into a scanner. I also use it at the grocery store to scan barcodes and compare prices with other stores. It's very useful.

My son has used his phone to scan something off my phone before and it took him maybe three tries to get it right. You have to watch out for glare and also have to make sure that both your screen and his camera lens are totally clean with no smudges. Otherwise, his phone could not read my phone's screen with the barcode on it.

oh yeah that works great the phone scanning other things. The problem is when the phone is being scanned. your phone it self using a rewards card app can display a barcode then the cashier can scan the barcode off your phone... there is a huge difference

 

[tdpolo26]

I have an iPhone 4S and use reward cards on my phone rather frequently and rarely have a problem with the barcode being scanned.

I have the droid 4 i wish mine scanned better but like i said it seems newer scanners work better. So who knows? I am sure disney is taking this into consideration now that android has a much bigger market then iphone and the diversity of phones that follow it.

 

[Ignohippo]

I totally disagree. I think TouringPlans' Lines app does a much better job than Mobile Magic. To me, it's flat out embarrasing for a third party company (Touring Plans) that doesn't have access to primary information to produce a better product than Disney does. That means Disney isn't doing there job correctly.

My complaints about Mobile Magic are as follows:

• Wait Time Information is not available when the mobile device thinks you're outside of the park
• The GPS tracker isn't accurate and will say that you're outside of the park when you're in the park (I had it thinking I was in Disneyland when I was in DCA).
• Presumably it's linked to the wait times outside of each attraction, yet it's not done in real time. When an attraction has re-opened after down time, this application should have that information before TouringPlans. This wasn't the case in California.
• Food Prices weren't available
• Wait time information on TouringPlans.com is more precise.

It sounds like you have an investment or personal connection to the Touring Plans app, Redsox.

For what I need it for (character locations and times, maps, event times, etc.), it's been the best app I've found (and I've tried MANY). The wait times apps that I've had have been complete crap, so that's not a big deal to me either way. I don't think it works well having guests of the parks sending in wait time info. I'll rely on Disney itself for that. The idea that the TP app relies on "previous statistical information" to calculate wait times is a joke.

As for GPS, I've never needed it. I can look up and see where I am. I don't need my phone for that. Yes, that should be improved, but I'm sure it's more a reflection of the massive usage of 3G within the park, rather than the app itself. Hopefully, wifi throughout the parks will help that.

As for menus and prices, I use an app called WDW Dining that I like a lot. Due to the high prices of food in the parks (due to a shortage of corn, I'm sure) I can understand why Disney wouldn't put that info on their own app.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I totally disagree. I think TouringPlans' Lines app does a much better job than Mobile Magic. To me, it's flat out embarrasing for a third party company (Touring Plans) that doesn't have access to primary information to produce a better product than Disney does. That means Disney isn't doing there job correctly.

My complaints about Mobile Magic are as follows:

• Wait Time Information is not available when the mobile device thinks you're outside of the park
• The GPS tracker isn't accurate and will say that you're outside of the park when you're in the park (I had it thinking I was in Disneyland when I was in DCA).
• Presumably it's linked to the wait times outside of each attraction, yet it's not done in real time. When an attraction has re-opened after down time, this application should have that information before TouringPlans. This wasn't the case in California.
• Food Prices weren't available
• Wait time information on TouringPlans.com is more precise.

I agree 100% with this. I tried them both in March, Lines was hands-down the winner.

 

[Minthorne]

To be fair, if the app had your GPS location wrong that's the fault of your device not the app. All the app does is get your GPS from the device.

 

[Ignohippo]

To be fair, if the app had your GPS location wrong that's the fault of your device not the app. All the app does is get your GPS from the device.

Exactly.

 

[luv]

I totally disagree. I think TouringPlans' Lines app does a much better job than Mobile Magic. To me, it's flat out embarrasing for a third party company (Touring Plans) that doesn't have access to primary information to produce a better product than Disney does. That means Disney isn't doing there job correctly.

My complaints about Mobile Magic are as follows:

• Wait Time Information is not available when the mobile device thinks you're outside of the park
• Presumably it's linked to the wait times outside of each attraction, yet it's not done in real time. When an attraction has re-opened after down time, this application should have that information before TouringPlans. This wasn't the case in California.
• Wait time information on TouringPlans.com is more precise.

ITA. Lines is a much, much better app. I'm working on my badges. I want them all! . Now there is some kind of beta game...haven't tried that yet.

I never even look at the mobile magic any more. Lines gives you so much more.

But none of them are perfect.

...and I'm in no way connected to the touringplans peeps, nor do they pay me. Although, if Len ever reads this and wants to send some money, I might be open to that.

 

[Taylor]

So this makes it the second thread people are arguing about corn this makes napkins look like a huge issue to be honest Disneys food is cheaper then my local theme park but not as good

 

[marni1971]

Fastpass reservations....

So it begins....

 

[dreamfinder]

not if they cover the park with wireless beacons.... then it isnt bad at all.... its free.... infact if its open wireless you can make telephone calls on it.

If they were smart they would set up the WiFi to make this really not worth the time. Set it up to allow free and full speed unlimited access to the severs that "The Disney Experience" app will pull its data from. And then either block general internet access, or severely throttle it. If they do deploy property wide WiFi, it would be for a purpose like allowing access to the data that directly relates to the parks, and not to things like watching YouTube and Skyping your friends back home.

out of curiosity have you ever had someone scan a barcode displayed on you phone.... it works maybe 10 percent of the time on my droid at most... now iphone maybe different my wife has one and it maybe works 20 percent of the time. However there seems to be certain scanners that do it better then others.

It is typically an issue with the scanner. Upgrading/replacing the scanners should resolve the issue. Starbucks has the ability to use their gift cards built into their iPhone app and I haven't seen anyone have a problem with that for ages now.