Disney's Over-Reliance on Smartphones

[BeentoallDParks]

The fact that so many people have said they don’t like the increased reliance on smartphones proves that it’s unpopular with a significant segment. There’s no denying it. The voices are clear.

Whether the world is moving that way is not the same question. The question is whether you don’t like it. And there’s clearly a significant portion that doesn’t. No question. And that matters.

 

[Disney Irish]

The fact that so many people have said they don’t like the increased reliance on smartphones proves that it’s unpopular with a significant segment. There’s no denying it. The voices are clear.

Whether the world is moving that way is not the same question. The question is whether you don’t like it. And there’s clearly a significant portion that doesn’t. No question. And that matters.

I wouldn’t say the voices here or even on other Disney Fan boards represent a "significant segment".

 

[SteveAZee]

The fact that so many people have said they don’t like the increased reliance on smartphones proves that it’s unpopular with a significant segment. There’s no denying it. The voices are clear.

Whether the world is moving that way is not the same question. The question is whether you don’t like it. And there’s clearly a significant portion that doesn’t. No question. And that matters.

You feel that Disney will be swayed by the opinions of the 87 people (so far) who have taken this poll?

 

[CaptinEO]

You feel that Disney will be swayed by the opinions of the 87 people (so far) who have taken this poll?

They should do surveys (in person) to get people's reactions. I don't know anyone who likes the usage of phone technology Disney has made mandatory.

Wait times, maps, show times, and photos are great features for a phone app. The other stuff not so much.

 

[SteveAZee]

They should do surveys (in person) to get people's reactions. I don't know anyone who likes the usage of phone technology Disney has made mandatory.

Wait times, maps, show times, and photos are great features for a phone app. The other stuff not so much.

Yes, that might be interesting an useful... the in person poll.

I personally like having everything on my phone. In an ideal world, one could have everything on one's phone but also have less digital access to the same features. In some cases, though, digital is the only way to make it happen at this point.

 

[BeentoallDParks]

I wouldn’t say the voices here or even on other Disney Fan boards represent a "significant segment it

You certainly entitled to disregard all the evidence of dissatisfaction that has been presented here.

 

[dlr74]

The fact that so many people have said they don’t like the increased reliance on smartphones proves that it’s unpopular with a significant segment. There’s no denying it. The voices are clear.

Whether the world is moving that way is not the same question. The question is whether you don’t like it. And there’s clearly a significant portion that doesn’t. No question. And that matters.

A sample size of 87 members on a Disneyland forum where most members are old-timer Disneyland purists is not an accurate representation of the general Disneyland-attending population. Nor is it a “significant segment”.

The majority of the population uses their smart phones for nearly every aspect of everyday life. The “screen time” feature that tracks how often you use your phone has proven this. Most of my family and friends record 8-10 hours of time on their phone per day (whether they’re proud of that or not is another topic).

For Disney parks to not take advantage of the technological advancements of our society would be asinine. There’s no denying that.

 

[Disney Irish]

You certainly entitled to disregard all the evidence of dissatisfaction that has been presented here.

Again the very very very very very very very small sample size of the posters here doesn't represent all or even a majority of Disneyland guests. So while its certainly representative of a small sample size of the Disneyland Fan Community, its not something that is going to sway Disney one way or another at this point. Disney very likely has data that shows the average screen time of people 18-34, which over the last 5-10 years has been the demographic they've been targeting. And a large majority of those have smart phones, and has an average screen time of over 7 hours daily. And looking at those 35 and older its even more, with those over 65 on average spending almost 10 hours daily looking at screens.

Smart phones have become ingrained in our lives. I completely understand there are those that would like to disconnect while at a Disney Park. But Disney has to take advantage of the technology in order to stay competitive.

Also I'm not disregarding anything, it seems though that you are trying to make an ocean out of a single drop of water.

 

[BeentoallDParks]

Also I'm not disregarding anything, it seems though that you are trying to make an ocean out of a single drop of water.

You’d be better off showing me proof that most people love the increasing requirement of smartphones for their Disney days. You won’t. You can’t. Twitter alone is full of complaints.

So considering that. I’ll believe my own eyes—there are plenty of huge Disney fans right here whose opinions matter.

 

[Disney Irish]

You’d be better off showing me proof that most people love the increasing requirement of smartphones for their Disney days. You won’t. You can’t. Twitter alone is full of complaints.

So considering that. I’ll believe my own eyes—there are plenty of huge Disney fans right here whose opinions matter.

No one is saying no ones opinion matters. The point being made is that the opinions here are not representative of the overall Disneyland guest, something you claimed.

So you are completely entitled to think that Disney's reliance on smartphones is the wrong move and that people aren't happy about it. But just know that the posters here only represent 0.0000000000001%, a very small drop of water in the yearly Disneyland guest attendance ocean.

 

[dlr74]

You’d be better off showing me proof that most people love the increasing requirement of smartphones for their Disney days. You won’t. You can’t. Twitter alone is full of complaints.

So considering that. I’ll believe my own eyes—there are plenty of huge Disney fans right here whose opinions matter.

88 people shared their opinions by voting on this poll. Each day at Disneyland, there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of guests visiting. That’s every single day.

Folks can have opinions about any aspect of the Disney park experience. That’s fine. They can share them here. That’s fine too! But to say that the opinions share here represent the majority of park visitors is just not true and will never be true. Same goes for Twitter. The closest Disney can get to gauging the opinions of their visitors are through guest surveys sent after each guest completes a confirmed trip to the parks.

 

[CaptinEO]

Again the very very very very very very very small sample size of the posters here doesn't represent all or even a majority of Disneyland guests. So while its certainly representative of a small sample size of the Disneyland Fan Community, its not something that is going to sway Disney one way or another at this point. Disney very likely has data that shows the average screen time of people 18-34, which over the last 5-10 years has been the demographic they've been targeting. And a large majority of those have smart phones, and has an average screen time of over 7 hours daily. And looking at those 35 and older its even more, with those over 65 on average spending almost 10 hours daily looking at screens.

Smart phones have become ingrained in our lives. I completely understand there are those that would like to disconnect while at a Disney Park. But Disney has to take advantage of the technology in order to stay competitive.

Also I'm not disregarding anything, it seems though that you are trying to make an ocean out of a single drop of water.

We're not talking about only using Smartphones, but their implementation of it. "Mobile Order" is a joke. "Virtual Queue" is a 1 second long lottery where the best phone and cell reception wins.

My entire extended family hates the phone usage and all the planning and don't intend to visit Disney again until things change. None of them would get a survey, or post online about it.

 

[dlr74]

We're not talking about only using Smartphones, but their implementation of it. "Mobile Order" is a joke. "Virtual Queue" is a 1 second long lottery where the best phone and cell reception wins.

My entire extended family hates the phone usage and all the planning and don't intend to visit Disney again until things change. None of them would get a survey, or post online about it.

My family is made up of a lot of tech-savvy, frequent phone users. They all love the phone & app usage at the parks. Mobile order is a favorite of theirs and they’re loving that it’s been expanded to the Confectionery style stores for sweets & treats. We also love the virtual queue. We have ridden Rise of the Resistance over 20 times and have never missed out on the virtual queue at 7 AM. Not even once.

My personal opinion is that with technology advancing as fast as it has, businesses relating to any and all aspects of life, including niche entertainment, have to keep up to stay relevant. In turn, we as individuals need to keep up with technology to keep up with life nowadays. Smartphones have been around for at least 15 years now. If there isn’t even one person in your traveling party who can navigate a smartphone app to help you through the day, that’s not Disney’s problem.

 

[Disney Irish]

We're not talking about only using Smartphones, but their implementation of it. "Mobile Order" is a joke. "Virtual Queue" is a 1 second long lottery where the best phone and cell reception wins.

As with any new technological change it takes time to work out the kinks and bugs in the real world implementation. We've already seen adjustments made to Virtual Queue from its initial implementation for Rise. So Disney is already making adjustments based on guest input. The same is going to happen for Mobile Order.

However this whole thread was created by you with the question on whether Disney is over relying on Smart Phones. And that is where the question is ultimately personal. As has been discussed there are guests that will hate it, guests that will just accept it, and guests that will love it. But it doesn't change the fact that the world around us has become one of mobile technology, and Disney is following suit as it makes business sense. So love it, hate it, or just accept it, its here to stay.

 

[CaptinEO]

My family is made up of a lot of tech-savvy, frequent phone users. They all love the phone & app usage at the parks. Mobile order is a favorite of theirs and they’re loving that it’s been expanded to the Confectionery style stores for sweets & treats. We also love the virtual queue. We have ridden Rise of the Resistance over 20 times and have never missed out on the virtual queue at 7 AM. Not even once.

My personal opinion is that with technology advancing as fast as it has, businesses relating to any and all aspects of life, including niche entertainment, have to keep up to stay relevant. In turn, we as individuals need to keep up with technology to keep up with life nowadays. Smartphones have been around for at least 15 years now. If there isn’t even one person in your traveling party who can navigate a smartphone app to help you through the day, that’s not Disney’s problem.

What about the situations where Mobile order is only for food 3-4 hours ahead? Are you OK by this?

I saw this when I went last month at most locations. And when Mobile order went down for 2 hours, the Tiki Bar just didn't operate and had employees telling everyone they can't make anything until Mobile Order is back up.

I actually liked Mobile Order in 2018, it was fast and the registers were fully staffed still.

 

[SteveAZee]

What about the situations where Mobile order is only for food 3-4 hours ahead? Are you OK by this?

I saw this when I went last month at most locations. And when Mobile order went down for 2 hours, the Tiki Bar just didn't operate and had employees telling everyone they can't make anything until Mobile Order is back up.

I actually liked Mobile Order in 2018, it was fast and the registers were fully staffed still.

This sounds like a Disney problem, right? Disney doesn't implement tech very well, yet it wants to shift to it quickly (too quickly) while also likely underbuilding their IT. One would think Disney would learn from their past mistakes in this area, but apparently they don't. Guests suffer, but (it seems) so does Disney through lost revenue opportunities.

Very short sighted on their part.

 

[el_super]

This sounds like a Disney problem, right? Disney doesn't implement tech very well, yet it wants to shift to it quickly (too quickly) while also likely underbuilding their IT.

It isn't an IT issue. The mobile ordering solution works pretty well within the app. The issue was always one of capacity. The cell phone argument is just a repackaging of the same tired arguments from years prior with a different wrapping.

 

[SteveAZee]

It isn't an IT issue. The mobile ordering solution works pretty well within the app. The issue was always one of capacity. The cell phone argument is just a repackaging of the same tired arguments from years prior with a different wrapping.

Capacity where? Not enough QS places to meet demand?

 

[el_super]

Capacity where? Not enough QS places to meet demand?

Generally yes. Time slots available in the app are dependent on the overall facility capacity which includes the labor required to cook/retrieve orders. Initially there was also fewer time slots in order to prevent multiple groups from arriving at the same time to reduce crowding and encourage social distancing.

It is weird to think that Disney would be purposefully leaving money on the table, after spending millions on app development, if the app was really the issue.

 

[CaptinEO]

It isn't an IT issue. The mobile ordering solution works pretty well within the app. The issue was always one of capacity. The cell phone argument is just a repackaging of the same tired arguments from years prior with a different wrapping.

Staffing issue, not capacity issue.