For some people free WiFi is something that is highly useful and valuable. It allows the chance to connect to the internet from many convenient locations. Walt Disney has shown that is cares for the needs of their guests. In considering free WiFi for WDW the question that was most likely asked "Is offering free WiFi good for the guests at the parks in WDW?" ]
Would free WiFi allow you to get more from what you paid for?
It is not common to find public WiFi at a theater. The experience of going to the theater is the ability to enjoy the atmosphere and focus on the audio and visual experience. A WDW park has been designed as a visual and audio experience much like a theater. With ideas of cast members, backstage, and the Show being implemented every WDW park is akin to a theater experience. Could someone who paid for a theater experience obtain such a experience better with the ability to logon to web site like myspace? When purchasing a audio and visual experience could you gain the most out of your money by spending forty minutes to chat with someone online? By offering free WiFi some people would miss out on the audio and visual experience they paid for.
Could WDW guarantee WiFi security?
The campus of Boise State University recently ran a test with its free WiFi service. With a system that was implemented with basic security was infected with one hundred and twenty malware programs within a hour of using the campus WiFi. A test for activity was also conducted and found that illegal file sharing, online gaming, ography, VOIP phone, and malware dumping was happening daily. An audit for wireless access points was implemented finding two wireless access point that were setup to fool students into using them. All this was found on a small campus with only about eighteen thousand students. Park attendance can reach from forty to sixty thousand a day, would you feel safe with that many other people using the network around you? It is not difficult to find packet intercepting applications or packet sniffers. With Walt Disney unable to legally guarantee security in a high traffic area like WDW could leave many guests easy targets for predators.
Do guests using laptops increase the atmosphere of WDW parks?
If free WiFi was implemented at WDW parks it would encourage people to bring their laptops to a very public area. With a family oriented parks could WDW make sure all guests with laptops keep it that way? Would you feel comfortable if someone next to you with a laptop plays a R rated movie? A U-tube video of cow getting blown up? What happens if they start playing ography? If laptop usage becomes more widely used the family oriented atmosphere of the parks could disintegrate.
Is offering free WiFi good for the guests at the parks in WDW?
Offering free WiFi does not improve the experience offered by the WDW parks. Free WiFi could distract guests from the highly detailed experience they paid for. By offering free WiFi loitering would increase as guests setup camps at benches and in restaurants reducing traffic flow and availability of seating. If Walt Disney offered free WiFi at parks they would reduce the very service they primarily offer, the magic that is Disney.
On a personal note
Free WiFi does not make money. You would chiefly use free WiFi as draw for businesses you expect people to sit around for a extended time. At WDW parks you don’t expect people to sit around for that long. They are there on vacation to go around and explore. I do not think Disney would want to encourage people to sit around all day. Being a former coffee shop hound like myself you could view people buy one cup of coffee and sit around for like seven hours. That wouldn’t be good for business. Since I want Disney to remain profitable and continue to be in business I hope they never ever allow free WiFi at the parks. At the resorts sure but at the parks I hope not.
(warning attempt at humor)
The thought of distraught teenagers sitting along benches on Main Street blogging about their tortured lives and how lame their family WDW vaction is fills me with dread for humanity.