Environmentally Irresponsible

[Club Cooloholic]

Right now I think just the Mine Train's on-ride photos. There were other plans for additional features but it's unclear whether they've been cancelled or just delayed.

Example: You tell My Disney Experience that it's your daughter's birthday. You're walking down Main Street and a sensor sees her band. A window lights up with "Happy Birthday Emily".

That would be cool, could blow away the magic wand intereactions at Potter land

 

[Gomer]

The short range RFID (admission, payments, FastPass+) will all still work if the battery is dead. It is the long range reader which is what tracks your movements and is used for Memory Maker that would stop working when the battery dies.

Which is likely the real reason Disney keeps shipping them out. Many would choose to stick with old bands if they didn't get new ones. The long range capabilities are meaningless to most. But they are not meaningless to Disney. They don't want their tracking capabilities minimized because all the batteries died.

That being said , I'm with the OP. My five yeAr old asked after we got our most recent magic band shipment, "why do they keep sending is these? It's wasteful?" I think he picked up the word at school, but the point is still obvious enough for a kid to get.

 

[englanddg]

I used a MagicBand 14 months after using it for the first time, it still worked well! Going to try it again soon. How would I know if it doesn't work for RFID? What is lost?

The coin cell can last years. But, I can see why Disney's "official" answer would be 1 year. It's basically a watch battery. I wouldn't give it more than a 2 - 3 year life, max, with it probably dying on average somewhere between 1 and 2 years.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Which is likely the real reason Disney keeps shipping them out. Many would choose to stick with old bands if they didn't get new ones. The long range capabilities are meaningless to most. But they are not meaningless to Disney. They don't want their tracking capabilities minimized because all the batteries died.

That being said , I'm with the OP. My five yeAr old asked after we got our most recent magic band shipment, "why do they keep sending is these? It's wasteful?" I think he picked up the word at school, but the point is still obvious enough for a kid to get.

95% of guests don't visit frequently enough to have multiple sets of Magic Bands and, as @englanddg pointed out, it's more difficult than it's worth to customize the process for the 5% than to just do the same thing for every reservation.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Which is likely the real reason Disney keeps shipping them out. Many would choose to stick with old bands if they didn't get new ones. The long range capabilities are meaningless to most. But they are not meaningless to Disney. They don't want their tracking capabilities minimized because all the batteries died.

That being said , I'm with the OP. My five yeAr old asked after we got our most recent magic band shipment, "why do they keep sending is these? It's wasteful?" I think he picked up the word at school, but the point is still obvious enough for a kid to get.

I'm pretty sure Disney hasn't "switched on" crowd tracking yet. It's definitely built into the system but I don't believe it's functional at this time.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Which is likely the real reason Disney keeps shipping them out. Many would choose to stick with old bands if they didn't get new ones. The long range capabilities are meaningless to most. But they are not meaningless to Disney. They don't want their tracking capabilities minimized because all the batteries died.

That being said , I'm with the OP. My five yeAr old asked after we got our most recent magic band shipment, "why do they keep sending is these? It's wasteful?" I think he picked up the word at school, but the point is still obvious enough for a kid to get.

Disney also planned to actively monetize the long range features. Memory Maker is one. The customized endings to "it's a small world" is another that has been delayed along with the characters personally greeting guests. It'd make sense for Disney to offer recycling of the MagicBands, but then it might be harder to get suckers to pay $13 for a different ticket.

 

[Gomer]

95% of guests don't visit frequently enough to have multiple sets of Magic Bands and, as @englanddg pointed out, it's more difficult than it's worth to customize the process for the 5% than to just do the same thing for every reservation.

Note: I didn't say Disney was making a poor financial decision. I just said even a five year old can see how ridiculous and environmentally harmful it is for us to have 8 sets of bands after 3 trips. I haven't had the heart or will yet to explain to him that Disney doesn't care about the environment, it just wants our money. He's a bit too young to become that cynical just yet. He just got over watching the original Imagination ride and trying to understand why Disney "tore down the cooler version". This might be a bridge too far. I'll try to make it to his teens before he rejects Disney for political reasons and then eventually returns to the fold in his twenties when he's become complacent and forgotten his ideals.

 

[englanddg]

I suppose this is a good time to point out that Uni is completely paperless?

You get nothing mailed to you for an onsite stay / package.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I suppose this is a good time to point out that Uni is completely paperless?

You get nothing mailed to you for an onsite stay / package.

And somehow you still find yourself excited for the vacation right? Loved my last trip there. They open Diagon Alley and its crowning feature us that Dragon in top of the Gringrotts ride! Scared the heck out if my kids. Fastasyland opens and crowning feature....is a restaurant....ok.

 

[lazyboy97o]

In terms of all of the mailers, a simple paperless choice on the shiny new website seems like it would be easy enough. Does the app push notifications for when the reservations, FastPass+ and check-in windows open?

 

[englanddg]

In terms of all of the mailers, a simple paperless choice on the shiny new website seems like it would be easy enough. Does the app push notifications for when the reservations, FastPass+ and check-in windows open?

Last time I went it didn't, but it easily could (and should). But, I was in a late stage MDE testing group (summer 2013).

 

[englanddg]

And somehow you still find yourself excited for the vacation right? Loved my last trip there. They open Diagon Alley and its crowning feature us that Dragon in top of the Gringrotts ride! Scared the heck out if my kids. Fastasyland opens and crowning feature....is a restaurant....ok.

I don't mind what Disney is doing, but it certainly shows how they are impacted by the design structure of Apple. Shiny box with shiny toy for expensive vacation = perceived value.

That said, DCL sends a welcome packet as well, and that's the one I'm really looking forward to of all the Mickey Mail.

Disney would also send out a welcome packet anyhow (not everything could be paperless) as they'd need to send you your yellow luggage tags for DME.

 

[Rob562]

Just though I'd throw in that pretty much everything in the Disney mailings (except the Bands themselves) is easily recyclable...

-Rob

 

[AnCsMommy]

I have 200-and-something days until my next Disney trip. Every piece of mail I receive from them builds excitement and anticipation. I can only imagine the effect is magnified when you have kids old enough to understand (my daughter is not yet 1).

We got one of these boxes with the booklet last week. I don't remember this from our other trips, but I'm sure we got them. But either way, my three year old has been carrying it around for days. I don't mind the little things like this, and if someone is concerned over waste, toss them in with the recycling.

 

[MinnieWaffles]

I noticed in March our Magic Bands were given to us on a paper/cardboard insert, not the fancy box we had last year.

 

[fractal]

Well for the rest of us there should be an option to not have the paper mail. My kids will appreciate lower emissions more trees and Disney can take the money saved and invest it in things like fixing the Yeti

If you really want to save the environment, don't go to Disney. It takes a lot to get you there, keep you comfortable in the middle of a hot swamp, transport you around the property, power the parks,rides, restaurants and resorts, and get you safely back home. The packaging you receive should be the least of your worries.

 

[Gomer]

If you really want to save the environment, don't go to Disney. It takes a lot to get you there, keep you comfortable in the middle of a hot swamp, transport you around the property, power the parks,rides, restaurants and resorts, and get you safely back home. The packaging you receive should be the least of your worries.

That's a classic "there's so much wrong, so why fix anything at all" argument. The mailers are low hanging fruit. You fix what you can, when you can, one thing at a time. It's all small things and you can't fix them all at once. And turning away, does nothing to fix the problem. I love Disney World, but I also know they are wasteful and could do better. What's wrong with those that have a problem with it complaining so Disney will know? That is how companies change their practices. When enough of the consumers are upset, they will see that it in their best interest to make change. It may take 30 years (see pepsi and aspartame) and it may not be the exact change you wanted (again see Pepsi and aspartame) but its progress. The kind of small, measured steps that make a difference in the long term. Its not a problem you fix all at once.

 

[Gomer]

Just though I'd throw in that pretty much everything in the Disney mailings (except the Bands themselves) is easily recyclable...

-Rob

Recycling is nice, but it mitigates only a portion, and not nearly all, of the waste. The production, printing, delivery, and even the recycling itself all consume resources. Its a nice step, but more could be taken.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well their system should be able to figure out you only need in set of bands for a split stay if the people in the rooms don't change

Split stay doesn't exist in the hotel industry. your stay at the Contemporary is completely separate from your stay at Coronado Springs - just as your stay at Fairfield Inn is completely separate from your stay at Marriott.
Its not the hotelier's responsibility to recognize, connect, and inform based o customer decisions.

 

[Gomer]

Split stay doesn't exist in the hotel industry. your stay at the Contemporary is completely separate from your stay at Coronado Springs - just as your stay at Fairfield Inn is completely separate from your stay at Marriott.
Its not the hotelier's responsibility to recognize, connect, and inform based o customer decisions.

But Disney is now connecting everything into one vacation account via MDE. So they are in a different position than other hotels. MDE knows where I'm staying and who exactly is there. So that information is available to them. They just aren't using it.