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

[Recon443]

Is it 2 billion? I had read 1 billion but not 2.

If you add attractions shouldn't one also expect an increase in attendance? So if the complaint is that there are too many people, then adding attractions may not be the best solution. Adding attractions would add people as we saw at DCA with CarsLand.

One of the things I note with DL is that folks attend just to get on their favorite attractions. (Peter Pan comes to mind.) How many new things does the park need? Are we going there for constant updates? I am not. If there is a new ride I will endeavor to get on it, but not at the expense at the rest of my day. Radiator Springs sports 60-120 minute wait times and FP's are gone by 1000. I only rode the thing when I had EMH available to me.

One of the positives of the old E ticket system is that it kept the number of folks riding the E rides steady. Say you only had 3 E ticket ride coupons. If there were 20k at the park then at most that meant 60k would ride it all day. Most folks would not use all three coupons on a single ride so in reality that meant no ride had more than 20k riding it all day. But nobody is advocating limiting the number of rides you can get on, and doesn't FP+ makes it easier to avoid the crowds?

It is typical in Cali for AP holders to pop into the park, catch a ride, eat a whatever, and leave. I once spent a 40 minute lunch at DL from parking to tram to DL to POTC back to tram and back to car.

 

[flynnibus]

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.

Disney dollars anyone? Another scheme to make sure money ended up being spent with Disney.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Easy to imagine AP holders getting special bands with FP selections made like an appointment. For us in Cali that works great. Pop in to the park, jump on your ride, no matter how crowded, and head out.

I'm VERY curious as to why you think this system would work at Disneyland. Disneyland folk don't even make dining reservations, what makes you think they're going to reserve a FastPass? If locals, like me, pop into Disneyland or California Adventure just for a while, I highly doubt they're going to be thinking about reserving a ride, which is absurd. They're going to be ED, including me.

Here's to hoping this stupid program doesn't fully make it to CA.

 

[PeterAlt]

But I thought that Eisner had another person in he upper ranks of Disney that was the "creative" mind behind the Eisner era. I thought that person came up with the ideas and Eisner just made it happen. That person (I cannot remember his name) died in a plane accident didn't he? If this is true then just bringing back Eisner wouldn't do a whole lot.

P.S. Don't get me wrong.... I'd prefer Eisner over Iger any day.

You're talking about Frank Wells. And he was not Eisner's Walt. In the analogy, Eisner would be Walt's brother, Roy. Both Frank Wells and Eisner were creative equals who also were good business men. It is said that during a brain storming session between the two on what attractions would open at DHS (then-MGM) on opening day, roughly half of the attractions were Eisner's ideas and the other half were Wells.

They made a great team. Walt's nephew Roy E. Disney was also on that team and so was Jeffrey Katzenberg. When Wells died (in a skiing accident), the team broke apart. Katzenberg expected Eisner to promote him from studio management to company president (Well's job). Eisner, for some reason didn't trust Katzenberg and didn't think he was right for the job. Katzenberg quit and started Dreamworks with Steven Spielberg. Eisner took on not only the CEO position, but made himself president as well. Then, bad news happened. Disneyland Paris was going bankrupt and Roy E. Disney was no longer on friendly terms with Eisner. Eisner had a heart attack and had quadruple by-pass surgery and his transition to Darth Vader was complete (just kidding). After his surgery, he was both Darth Vader and the Emperor in one. Those were dark days of his tenure and Roy devoted all his time trying to get him out of power. During his last days at Disney, Eisner, I think, actually felt bad about some of the iron fisted unpopular decisions he made. He forced the most unpopular managers of Disney Parks out (Cynthia Harris and Paul Pressler) and ordered another round of massive spending on attractions at the parks, which included Soaring and Expedition Everest.

 

[flynnibus]

• "It seems pretty clear that new attractions drive attendance"

There was also another commonly quoted study that challenged that thought. It studied the long term impact of adding attractions and their impact on attendance (the idea of a spike vs long term gains, etc).

'Keep adding' isn't a sustainable model in itself either because you must get enough gain AND KEEP IT to ensure revenues keep pace with expenses.

It should be noted, your regional amusement park relies on the 'we need new attractions' every summer model.. and they ultimately flatline too and need the new attractions to keep from LOSING attendance.

The real answer is far more complex.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm VERY curious as to why you think this system would work at Disneyland. Disneyland folk don't even make dining reservations, what makes you think they're going to reserve a FastPass? If locals, like me, pop into Disneyland or California Adventure just for a while, I highly doubt they're going to be thinking about reserving a ride, which is absurd. They're going to be ED, including me.

Why would you be ed to be able to pull up the FP availability as you drive to the park and score a ticket before you even enter the park? Who wants to walk all the way back to RSR when I could get my pass before I parked? Who wants to back track around the parks to collect FPs? You may not want to do it weeks out, but you will want the electronic version.

 

[Recon443]

I'm VERY curious as to why you think this system would work at Disneyland. Disneyland folk don't even make dining reservations, what makes you think they're going to reserve a FastPass? If locals, like me, pop into Disneyland or California Adventure just for a while, I highly doubt they're going to be thinking about reserving a ride, which is absurd. They're going to be ED, including me.

Here's to hoping this stupid program doesn't fully make it to CA.

I would use it. Especially if I can do it from a smartphone. Can you imagine? On the 5 southbound setting up FP for the rides while I am on my way there. Wow. Having the ability to set my limited time there instead of playing the "hope the park is empty' game. You can stand in line, because you think reserving is absurd, while I breeze past you.

And why don't we make dining reservations? We could. We don't because we know where to eat off property. Disney is looking to get you on and keep you on property. Making special dining offers based on your preferences is next.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Oh Hai! Welcome to magic, we aren't all negative per say. That's nice you went at a slower time, it makes the parks much more bearable. The lack of new/good attractions outside of MK isn't as noticable for a infrequent visitor. It''s also nice that the FP lines were ordinary and normal, do you think that 2 billion dollars for normal fp lines and mobil speedpass was worth it? As a DL local do you really want MM+/-, unless you work in burbank or glendale... At the end of the day, if for the cost of MM+/- we could have had 6/7 attractions was it really worth it.?MK and especially the rest of the parks suffer from a capacity problem, there are not enough attractions to absorb the current amount of humanity that descend on the parks during peak times.

Yes, I've been on record multiple times of saying how I liked the magicband after testing it and how it worked for me without any issues.

I'm also on record for wanting more transparency on the behind the scenes analytic collections as well as criticising the idea that you can turn this into a revenue stream.

It has it's positives - easy to use, easy to set up, horribly convent.

It has it's negatives - horrible cost overruns. Lack of transparency. Lack of spontaneity.

 

[janoimagine]

I would use it. Especially if I can do it from a smartphone. Can you imagine? On the 5 southbound setting up FP for the rides while I am on my way there.

Yes, because thats exactly what SoCal needs ... more people on the 5 messing with their smartphones.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Why would you be ed to be able to pull up the FP availability as you drive to the park and score a ticket before you even enter the park? Who wants to walk all the way back to RSR when I could get my pass before I parked? Who wants to back track around the parks to collect FPs? You may not want to do it weeks out, but you will want the electronic version.

I'm not only talking about quick trips, I'm talking about the whole thing in general. People are going to be mad in general if they're told they have to stay on property in order to reserve FP-. That's what I'm referring to, not just quick trips.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

You're talking about Frank Wells. And he was not Eisner's Walt. In the analogy, Eisner would be Walt's brother, Roy. Both Frank Wells and Eisner were creative equals who also were good business men. It is said that during a brain storming session between the two on what attractions would open at DHS (then-MGM) on opening day, roughly half of the attractions were Eisner's ideas and the other half were Wells.

They made a great team. Walt's nephew Roy E. Disney was also on that team and so was Jeffrey Katzenberg. When Wells died (in a skiing accident), the team broke apart. Katzenberg expected Eisner to promote him from studio management to company president (Well's job). Eisner, for some reason didn't trust Katzenberg and didn't think he was right for the job. Katzenberg quit and started Dreamworks with Steven Spielberg. Eisner took on not only the CEO position, but made himself president as well. Then, bad news happened. Disneyland Paris was going bankrupt and Roy E. Disney was no longer on friendly terms with Eisner. Eisner had a heart attack and had quadruple by-pass surgery and his transition to Darth Vader was complete (just kidding). After his surgery, he was both Darth Vader and the Emperor in one. Those were dark days of his tenure and Roy devoted all his time trying to get him out of power. During his last days at Disney, Eisner, I think, actually felt bad about some of the iron fisted unpopular decisions he made. He forced the most unpopular managers of Disney Parks out (Cynthia Harris and Paul Pressler) and ordered another round of massive spending on attractions at the parks, which included Soaring and Expedition Everest.

Sounds like the stories I've always heard and what I thought had happened.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm not only talking about quick trips, I'm talking about the whole thing in general. People are going to be mad in general if they're told they have to stay on property in order to reserve FP-. That's what I'm referring to, not just quick trips.

I think it's safe to say if it were deployed at DLR - those criteria would differ.

 

[nor'easter]

I would use it. Especially if I can do it from a smartphone. Can you imagine? On the 5 southbound setting up FP for the rides while I am on my way there. Wow. Having the ability to set my limited time there .

You shouldn't drive and use your smart phone.

And your fast passes will be gone, since others have booked them months in advance.

 

[Lee]

And your fast passes will be gone, since others have booked them months in advance.

Yes, that.
"Hey, I'm gonna run down to Disneyland and ride Indy real quick. I'll just pull up the app and book me a FP for it now and....wait...what? How can there be no FP available? What do you mean they were all booked a month ago?!?!??"

*sigh*
If it ain't broke, don't spend a couple billion trying to fix it.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Yes, that.
"Hey, I'm gonna run down to Disneyland and ride Indy real quick. I'll just pull up the app and book me a FP for it now and....wait...what? How can there be no FP available? What do you mean they were all booked a month ago?!?!??"

*sigh*
If it ain't broke, don't spend a couple billion trying to fix it.

In this case, they spent a couple of billion only to break it... And a few billion more to fix what wasn't broke until they broke it...

 

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

For us in Cali that works great. Pop in to the park, jump on your ride, no matter how crowded, and head out.

What an incredibly boneheaded investment this was, Disney.

Spending $2 BILLION on a system that encourages guests to spend as little time as possible on property.

Now where is that additional 11% spending coming from again?

 

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

And why don't we make dining reservations? We could. We don't because we know where to eat off property.

You just made baby Iger cry.

 

[flynnibus]

Yes, that.
"Hey, I'm gonna run down to Disneyland and ride Indy real quick. I'll just pull up the app and book me a FP for it now and....wait...what? How can there be no FP available? What do you mean they were all booked a month ago?!?!??"

*sigh*
If it ain't broke, don't spend a couple billion trying to fix it.

Hrmm.. it can't be both ways. If the majority of guests don't know their arrangements in advance, they can't book out all the capacity.

If people want to complain that DLR is adhoc.. well then it's not going to be dominated by advance bookings.

 

[WDWDad13]

http://www.themeparktourist.com/new...ic-really-spell-doom-disney-theme-park-empire

 

[Californian Elitist]

And why don't we make dining reservations? We could. We don't because we know where to eat off property.

No. We don't make dining reservations because we don't have to.