MiceAge on the latest news regarding MyMagic+ : Read it and weep.

RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
But the Key to the World card is a card, so it feels like using your Visa or American Express.
Magic Bands don't, and that's the whole point. You don't even have to reach into your pocket to pull it out.
The goal here isn't simply to allow guests to charge things to their room, but to make the kinetics of spending money as different as possible from what is familiar.
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Just throwing this out there as someone that isn't particular tech savy: There was talk a while ago about something for smart phones that would allow you to keep all your tickets (plane tickets, show tickets, etc) on your device. It's probably already available and I just don't know it. There's also a new "credit card" that allows you to sync all your credit cards to a single card and then upon payment you can select what card to use. Then there's the new wrist watch that has smart phone capabilities as well. I vaguely remember hearing Steve Jobs say that a wrist watch is a more favorable interface than glasses for a wearable device.

I wonder if Disney is speculating/hoping that this becomes the new norm and the majority of the population will be willing to tag and brand themselves with a wearable device and Disney is simply trying to get ahead of the competition before it happens.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
dxer07002 said:
This is where Disney fails to understand anything regarding guest spending... So a family budgets $1000 to spend at WDW and puts the money on the band... Do you actually think the guests will love using the band to pay so much that now magically they spent $2000? No.. They will still only spend that budgeted money... Money they were going to more than likely spend anyway...
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Right, except how many people have a firm budget when they travel. They know how much they want to spend before they arrive, but after they arrive it's often far more flexible. Sure, not everyone is going to walk into Art of Disney and spend $1K on original art work, but much of guest spending is on a whim. Previously this was dictated by demand for the product. Now Disney is hoping that ease of payment is going to make people more willing to spend on what's already there.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
janoimagine said:
Have you actually used one? Here is how it works, they give you your total, ask you to scan you band, the mickey turns green (after about 2 or 3 tries, if its in the perfect spot), they ask you to enter your pin number, then they ask you to verify the total, and if you would like to charge it to your room? Its no more magical than getting money out of your account at an ATM?!? Disney didn't reinvent the wheel, they took Mobil's speedpass and added room access and fastpass+ to it.
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They took Mobile's speedpass (10-15 year old technology) and made it slower.
 
AndyMagic

AndyMagic

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
But Disney has Magic Bands! MAGIC BANDS!!!!!
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So true! Also their recent attraction additions have been home-runs! We have the Little Mermaid, which cost more than Forbidden Journey and uses groundbreaking ride technology from the 1960's. It gives guests a stunning journey through a warehouse with cloned, plastic fish spinning on a steel pole in every other scene. And let's not forget the upcoming Mine Coaster! The way Disney took 3 years to built it so they could spread out capital costs over multiple fiscal quarters really proves their attention to detail. Also, it will definitely be a show-stopper. I hear it has a whopping two show-scenes and a ride length in excess of 60 seconds. It's sure to be worth the wait.
 
janoimagine

janoimagine

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
Just throwing this out there as someone that isn't particular tech savy: There was talk a while ago about something for smart phones that would allow you to keep all your tickets (plane tickets, show tickets, etc) on your device. It's probably already available and I just don't know it.
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Its called Passbook, and it's on the iPhone. Has been for a few generations now.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
PeterAlt said:
RSoxNo1 said:
Right... Eisner hated synergy and the parks.
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That's wrong and you know it. He pushed for synergy at great risk and, in some cases, at great loss in development cost and time spent (Dick Tracy Crime Stopper comes to mind). Even when films didn't pan out as expected that were being synergistically developed as attractions by WDI, Eisner never gave up on the idea (Bugs and Dinosaur come to mind).

That's total B.S. about him not liking the parks. Like almost immediately after getting the job as CEO, he approved Splash Mountain. Someone who hated the parks would not approve such an expensive E-ticket right away like that!

Here's a little homework for you. List all Disney theme parks everywhere in the World. Find the commemorative plaque for each park. Each plaque is signed by a Disney CEO. Count the number of parks signed by Eisner. Compare that number with the other Disney CEOs. Then tell me Eisner hated the parks...
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Sarcasm is wasted on some people.
 
janoimagine

janoimagine

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
Here's a question, why couldn't they incorporate a plastic door at the turnstyles once a guest has gained entrance? This is present in many office buildings through the world and would eliminate some of the concerns about guests walking through the open area.
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I saw a lot of people bypassing the line, walking right in, and being stopped by pretty upset managers, and in turn creating traffic jams just on the other side ... it's a challenge to police without some type of physical barrier.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
WDWDad13 said:
People have been seeing the boxes (that are very well packaged and presented I must say) in Facebook photos delivered with the magic bands and the information and some think it looks very cool and want to check it out too.
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What got me were the prices people were paying on eBay for other people's Magic Bands when they first came out.
 
Cesar R M

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
I understand, but as a lifelong Disney fan turned critic, I felt that to be able to rightfully critique The New Fantasyland, I actually had to experience it. I'm just not willing to pay for it. So when given the oppertunity to be comped in during cast previews, I took it.
And I should add that I'm not not going to WDW as a protest or send a message, I'm not going because I simply don't think it's worth it. As a local, I had been a lot and with the sky rocketing cost combined with the lack of compelling new attractions I just think my entertainment dollars are better spent else where. Particularly a place that is offering up an updated, cleaner, and more vibrant product.
I do have to admit that I find it odd that so many people keep throwing so much money, and defending to an illogical level, an obviously deteriorating product. Especially in light of the fact that 6 miles away, there is a superior product being offered.
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its called fanatism, and honestly.. it affects any company that gets loyal customers.

There are always fights between "loyal" customers and fanboys when you talk "Apple vs Computers", AMD vs Intel, AMD vs Nvidia..etc..etc..

janoimagine said:
Have you actually used one? Here is how it works, they give you your total, ask you to scan you band, the mickey turns green (after about 2 or 3 tries, if its in the perfect spot), they ask you to enter your pin number, then they ask you to verify the total, and if you would like to charge it to your room? Its no more magical than getting money out of your account at an ATM?!? Disney didn't reinvent the wheel, they took Mobil's speedpass and added room access and fastpass+ to it.
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agree with this, its as much effort as a wallet..
the only difference is.. this would be fantastic in the "so you can leave your wallet safe in your room" approach, since the wrist thingie would do it all(if it works of course lol )...

Arewethereyet! said:
Two is a couple.....three is a few......four is more then a few....five is several.....so you know five or more families that want to book a Disney trip just to check out the Magic Band.....I am calling BS on this one. Keep in mind I was a Disney centric travel agent for a few years.
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I wonder, you had good stories? or nightmare stories of booking?

G00fyDad said:
As I've said before, the vast majority of people are not experiencing any issues with the MM+/FP+/MagicBand at all. It is just a small percentage. However, if you consider the sheer amount of people that visit Disney World each day, that small 5% or so will be a very large and not to be ignored amount of people. For example, lets say that for attendance we have:

16 million per year (average) / 365 days a year = 43,836 visitors per day

(Remove 50% for those that are not testing MM+)

43,836 / 2 = 21,918 visitors per day using MM+

21,918 - 10% having issues = 2192 people per day having trouble with MM+.

2000 or more people having issues with this each day is way too many. Keep in mind that I have used the MB's and loved every minute of it. Thankfully I was not one of the lower percentage.
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MB nightmare tales have been shared in this forum, so I think goofydad was one of the VERY LUCKY ones to be able to fix it with just a "phone call".


AndyMagic said:
The similarities between MyMagic and the various schemes thought up by the second generation of big casino resorts are staggering actually. Instead of dispensing actual money, the casinos switched to pieces of branded paper and chips as a stand-in because people are much more likely to double down, let it ride, and in general be careless when they can just place a single chip on their lucky number instead of a $100 bill. People are also less likely to "cash-out" as their pile of chips and tickets dwindle due to a number of reasons. If you have a dollar and 80 cents left on a slot-machine ticket, the sense that you "might as well" finish it off kicks in. Turning your money into a magical little game for the guests is a slimy way to increase profits. All companies are looking to maximize the amount people spend on their products and this is probably the worst way to do it from a customer service standpoint. You want to increase guest spending? No problem. Develop and manufacture original and interesting merchandise and then sell it at a premium price. Give guests one-of-a-kind experiences that will make them WANT to spend their money. It's puzzling to me that Disney of all companies doesn't grasp this since they were the ones who did it so brilliantly for so many years.
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I would blame china for this.. as long you mass produce something "cheap" like memoralia, copies will spawn and will remove the "special" or "unique" feeling fast.

RSoxNo1 said:
So Imagineer Jason Surrell tweeted the following:
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do you recon they're moving to PR damage control?
 
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Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
asianway said:
What that guy ever done other than act like a smug smartass on twitter? HM refurb? The puff books?
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I think he worked on One Man's Dream and a couple of live shows here and there, including some of the Star Wars Weekends stuff.
Supposedly he was a Jungle Cruise skipper at one point.
 

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