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

[PhotoDave219]

MM+, like it or not is and will be the future standard for all things theme park/hospitality. What Disney is accomplishing is updating an ancient and tired PoS infrastructure into something modern and ultimately personalizing a vacation like no other has or will. You cannot make an omelet without cracking a few eggs, and if MM+ is behind in the development stage so be it, it will be worth it when implementation is complete.

I highly doubt anything was canceled like "reported" by Micechat due to the simple fact any new areas, specifically a Star Wars area will more than likely be designed around MM+ as a drawing card.

MM+ is bigger than anyone can think or speculate about, bigger than anything Universal will produce in the next ten years, and attendance will prove than point splendidly.


Jimmy Thick- Funny how people thought Eisner was the devil and now wish he was back...Hilarious...

People forget that Michael Eisner created this poisoned political management culture.

I agree this is the future & there's no going back.

Also, had no idea you were such a fan of Stalin, with the omlet quote.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Define selfishness and greed being performed by Disney please.


Jimmy Thick- ?

Continuing to raise prices while cutting entertaining offerings and quality. You get less for your money over the past 10 years.

If you really want to look at greed, look at CEO/executive compensation and compare that to the average salary within the company.

 

[flynnibus]

Do you think it's any worse than what were facing now? All the truly good talent like the Baxters, Sotos and Skylars are long gone ... I am not overly impressed with todays imagineers.

It seems like a political game and not a creative one.

The politics were worse under esiner - it was all about him.

And for talent - there is more to the company than p&r

And when something is bad - you don't jump at anything. That's called jumping out of the pot into the fire

 

[flynnibus]

Yeah, that is true. I don't necessarily believe DL folk hate any and everything WDW does, though.

It's more a figure of speech

 

[flynnibus]

How about charging $70 for a hard ticket even with special entertainment then when you get their finding out you have to pay another $25 for premium viewing of said entertainment ... seems like double dipping to me which could be viewed as greedy to most.

Your logic here is weak. Are you equally upset that parking is not included in your ticket?

Or why is food an add on? Or photo pass ?

Should Disney do nothing unless it's included for free?

 

[WDWDad13]

How about charging $70 for a hard ticket even with special entertainment then when you get their finding out you have to pay another $25 for premium viewing of said entertainment ... seems like double dipping to me which could be viewed as greedy to most.

while I don't like it anymore than the next person... people pay it, and they are running a business. I don't like the price of lots of things but it's basic business principles of supply and demand

 

[Jimmy Thick]

How about charging $70 for a hard ticket even with special entertainment then when you get their finding out you have to pay another $25 for premium viewing of said entertainment ... seems like double dipping to me which could be viewed as greedy to most.

So if you had a backyard barbeque and you made impressive hot dogs that you used to give away for free but people liked them so much they were willing to give you 7 bucks a dog you wouldn't take the money and run?


Come on now.


Jimmy Thick- Mustard and onions please.

 

[janoimagine]

Your logic here is weak. Are you equally upset that parking is not included in your ticket?

Or why is food an add on? Or photo pass ?

Should Disney do nothing unless it's included for free?

Please. No I am not talking about parking. I am referring to the christmas party, where you pay $70 for a parade and fireworks, and then you get their to find out that in order to view the fireworks from a preferred area you need to spend another $25.

You really don't think that it's sketch and seems a lot like double dipping? During regular park nights I have no problem with charging extra for it, but during hard ticket events it doesn't sit well with me.

 

[janoimagine]

So if you had a backyard barbeque and you made impressive hot dogs that you used to give away for free but people liked them so much they were willing to give you 7 bucks a dog you wouldn't take the money and run?


Come on now.


Jimmy Thick- Mustard and onions please.

I'm sorry but I can't make the connection. Just because your offered it doesn't mean you should take it, their was a time when companies had moral compasses.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

People forget that Michael Eisner created this poisoned political management culture.

I agree this is the future & there's no going back.

Also, had no idea you were such a fan of Stalin, with the omlet quote.

Eisner saved the company and turned it around for the better with his skill as a businessman, whatever became of the management culture because of him should be forgiven based on that fact by itself.


As for that quote, I first heard it from my barber, a little Polish guy 30 years ago when he gave me a pep talk about why my Pop Warner football team was bad, its stuck with me ever since.


Jimmy Thick- Back when I had hair of course...

 

[Jimmy Thick]

Continuing to raise prices while cutting entertaining offerings and quality. You get less for your money over the past 10 years.

If you really want to look at greed, look at CEO/executive compensation and compare that to the average salary within the company.

I'll never understand why Disney can't raise prices? Disney is a business and they always have been and always will be, even when uncle Walt was running the ship I assure you they made sure they were making money and if they were not Walt had heads rolling.

We have no access to Disney's books, we don't know how much things cost and how much it costs to maintain and staff them, all we can do is guess and criticize ignorantly, even while Disney has to keep money rolling in to pay people to perform for their business.

As for CEO/ executive compensation, none of that stuff is of my concern because it does not effect me, not does it effect the parks and building new attractions.


Jimmy Thick- Funny thing about excuses, after a while, people start to believe them.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'll never understand why Disney can't raise prices? Disney is a business and they always have been and always will be, even when uncle Walt was running the ship I assure you they made sure they were making money and if they were not Walt had heads rolling.

We have no access to Disney's books, we don't know how much things cost and how much it costs to maintain and staff them, all we can do is guess and criticize ignorantly, even while Disney has to keep money rolling in to pay people to perform for their business.

As for CEO/ executive compensation, none of that stuff is of my concern because it does not effect me, not does it effect the parks and building new attractions.


Jimmy Thick- Funny thing about excuses, after a while, people start to believe them.

If Disney's well above inflation price increases are due to cost-of-business increases than the Company has serious financial issues.

 

[psukardi]

How?

How on earth doeS MM+ make them money? How is it a revenue stream?

This isn't just a tag for you to get FastPass. It's about big data analytics and how the park can use it to make more $. The longer the system is in place the more profitable it will be for them. Initial costs will be a hassles - but they will be overcome.

MM+ can and will improve logistics and by doing that you can control costs and improve the bottom line. If every person in the park is wearing a passive RFID tag (Magic-band) and there are sensors all over the park, you have enough data to drastically change the way the park runs. You don't need to hand someone in line some stupid card to give to the CM when they get to the front of the line - now everyone is being counted constantly.

If you can determine how long the queues are you can better shape the experience for everyone. The more time people are in line the less time they are in shops and the less time they are spending money on food. So if you see based off of trending data that you need an extra car or two for a ride - you add it. If you see that you don't need to run extra cars, you don't. Heck, now you have really reliable information on how long each ride line is. If you're in MGM no walking to the big board or saying hmmm let's check out ToT and see what the queue is, now you know with up to the minute real time data.

You can determine how long patrons spend in each gift shop. What shops are most popular and when? What items in the shop are getting the most attention? You can determine the most popular paths of patrons throughout the day. Even better yet over the long haul determine how more 'experienced' guests plan their trips. You'll start to see trending data and this lets you control your staffing for your CMs. It allows you to be aware of potential issues before they happen.

Additional ways to make money with the system? Use the location of the patron in the park to send them real-time coupons to their smartphones. Now that family that's walking out EPCOT gets a coupon for Mouseworks and they go inside and buy that trinket that they normally wouldn't have.

I wish people wouldn't poo-poo MM+.

 

[Cesar R M]

Continuing to raise prices while cutting entertaining offerings and quality. You get less for your money over the past 10 years.

If you really want to look at greed, look at CEO/executive compensation and compare that to the average salary within the company.

pretty spot on.. CEO compensations have gone up like 2000% in the past 10 years.. while the real value of the salary of most of the guys below, decreased.

So if you had a backyard barbeque and you made impressive hot dogs that you used to give away for free but people liked them so much they were willing to give you 7 bucks a dog you wouldn't take the money and run?


Come on now.


Jimmy Thick- Mustard and onions please.

Id give a few for free, so the people are hooked and sell the "extra" ones for 7$.

Ie, 1 free hotdog, next ones for 7$

This isn't just a tag for you to get FastPass. It's about big data analytics and how the park can use it to make more $. The longer the system is in place the more profitable it will be for them. Initial costs will be a hassles - but they will be overcome.

MM+ can and will improve logistics and by doing that you can control costs and improve the bottom line. If every person in the park is wearing a passive RFID tag (Magic-band) and there are sensors all over the park, you have enough data to drastically change the way the park runs. You don't need to hand someone in line some stupid card to give to the CM when they get to the front of the line - now everyone is being counted constantly.

If you can determine how long the queues are you can better shape the experience for everyone. The more time people are in line the less time they are in shops and the less time they are spending money on food. So if you see based off of trending data that you need an extra car or two for a ride - you add it. If you see that you don't need to run extra cars, you don't. Heck, now you have really reliable information on how long each ride line is. If you're in MGM no walking to the big board or saying hmmm let's check out ToT and see what the queue is, now you know with up to the minute real time data.

You can determine how long patrons spend in each gift shop. What shops are most popular and when? What items in the shop are getting the most attention? You can determine the most popular paths of patrons throughout the day. Even better yet over the long haul determine how more 'experienced' guests plan their trips. You'll start to see trending data and this lets you control your staffing for your CMs. It allows you to be aware of potential issues before they happen.

Additional ways to make money with the system? Use the location of the patron in the park to send them real-time coupons to their smartphones. Now that family that's walking out EPCOT gets a coupon for Mouseworks and they go inside and buy that trinket that they normally wouldn't have.

I wish people wouldn't poo-poo MM+.

What you mentioned regarding MM+ is imho.. applicable in "a perfect world".
Sadly, We are not in a perfect world.
they would require a very extensive and powerful network (and computers too) to process everything if they really want to follow every client.
Its easy if you think 100 users or less, but... 4,000 or more a day?
now add the bandwidth required to keep the user's cellphones, tablets..etc.. feed to the MM+ network for their plans...

like another person mentioned in twitter.. they are making these things so complex for the visitors.. its a nightmare.. next you will need a calculator, perfect excel sheet management and a PhD in statistics to be able to enjoy the park correctly.
And we are supposed to be here at disney to FLEE from such troubles and worries of the job, life..etc.. from home!!!

I dont understand how this is "magical" in any way for the consumer/visitor/customer.
This will ony and only benefit the money margins at most.. the client? not so much.

to resume, all the pros you said seem to benefit only the guys who get money from Disney right now.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

If Disney's well above inflation price increases are due to cost-of-business increases than the Company has serious financial issues.

Disney is a privately owned company that can charge what ever they want for the privilege to be on their property. And from what it looks like, people are still going to the parks so...


Jimmy Thick- Inflation, um yeah, riiiiiiight.

 

[lazyboy97o]

This isn't just a tag for you to get FastPass. It's about big data analytics and how the park can use it to make more $. The longer the system is in place the more profitable it will be for them. Initial costs will be a hassles - but they will be overcome.

MM+ can and will improve logistics and by doing that you can control costs and improve the bottom line. If every person in the park is wearing a passive RFID tag (Magic-band) and there are sensors all over the park, you have enough data to drastically change the way the park runs. You don't need to hand someone in line some stupid card to give to the CM when they get to the front of the line - now everyone is being counted constantly.

If you can determine how long the queues are you can better shape the experience for everyone. The more time people are in line the less time they are in shops and the less time they are spending money on food. So if you see based off of trending data that you need an extra car or two for a ride - you add it. If you see that you don't need to run extra cars, you don't. Heck, now you have really reliable information on how long each ride line is. If you're in MGM no walking to the big board or saying hmmm let's check out ToT and see what the queue is, now you know with up to the minute real time data.

You can determine how long patrons spend in each gift shop. What shops are most popular and when? What items in the shop are getting the most attention? You can determine the most popular paths of patrons throughout the day. Even better yet over the long haul determine how more 'experienced' guests plan their trips. You'll start to see trending data and this lets you control your staffing for your CMs. It allows you to be aware of potential issues before they happen.

Additional ways to make money with the system? Use the location of the patron in the park to send them real-time coupons to their smartphones. Now that family that's walking out EPCOT gets a coupon for Mouseworks and they go inside and buy that trinket that they normally wouldn't have.

I wish people wouldn't poo-poo MM+.

We're all well aware of that as a potential when the system is finally working and optimized. Disney was clearly not prepared for what that would actually involve.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I'll never understand why Disney can't raise prices? Disney is a business and they always have been and always will be, even when uncle Walt was running the ship I assure you they made sure they were making money and if they were not Walt had heads rolling.

We have no access to Disney's books, we don't know how much things cost and how much it costs to maintain and staff them, all we can do is guess and criticize ignorantly, even while Disney has to keep money rolling in to pay people to perform for their business.

As for CEO/ executive compensation, none of that stuff is of my concern because it does not effect me, not does it effect the parks and building new attractions.


Jimmy Thick- Funny thing about excuses, after a while, people start to believe them.

Wait, you asked for examples of greed. They were given. You choose to disregard them, thats your issue.

For example, I criticize raising prices while cutting entertainment offerings yet you only choose to address the former and completely ignore the latter.

So I'll be more direct with my question: Why do YOU feel it is okay for TWDC to raise prices yet cut entertainment offerings.

As for their financials, I base my criticisms on their SEC filings and public financial disclosures. This information is out there. Its not a guess nor is it ignorant criticism. Its fact.

CEO/Executive compensation should concern you. It does affect you. It steers the company to only servicing the shareholders and Wall Street at all costs.

 

[ABQ]

The more time people are in line the less time they are in shops and the less time they are spending money on food.

Nice post, and I think this is one point that need be noticed by many who maintain that FP+ is doing nothing but making longer lines. Your point alone should imply that WDW will do everything they can to change the problem with FP+ return lines if only to get people out of those lines and into their true revenue generating "experiences".

 

[PhotoDave219]

Eisner saved the company and turned it around for the better with his skill as a businessman, whatever became of the management culture because of him should be forgiven based on that fact by itself.


As for that quote, I first heard it from my barber, a little Polish guy 30 years ago when he gave me a pep talk about why my Pop Warner football team was bad, its stuck with me ever since.


Jimmy Thick- Back when I had hair of course...

Yes well, Thats Stalin. Not necessarily disagreeing with you though. Sacrifices must be made. Lets start with middle management IMO.

Rewrite history all you want but the simple fact is that Eisner - while saving the company with Frank Wells in 1984, brought in by Roy E. Disney - created this poisoned, political, paranoid management culture that lives within TWDC today. I think Eisner was the right man at the time and did some fantastic things, especially saving the company.

But that doesnt excuse the culture he brought in and created. Not one bit.

 

[psukardi]

We're all well aware of that as a potential when the system is finally working and optimized. Disney was clearly not prepared for what that would actually involve.

I think you're underestimating how hard of a challenge this is IT wise. Even if they knew and were prepared for what it would involve to make it work - it's not going to work overnight. This is a major project with too many moving parts to count. Between the infrastructure costs, software dev costs, data-mining and the rest there are going to be hiccups. I would argue this thing right now is in "beta" they are getting user-feedback and will slowly make change and fix bugs as they come up. No amount of in-house testing prepares you for a real world roll-out. This is not an easy task. I just wish I could be behind the scenes and see how it's all working.

Plus there is the issue of how long it takes to fix bugs as they come across. I won't claim to know what the staffing levels are on this project. However, you can't just hire a bunch of consultants and throw them on this and expect it to magically get better. The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month tells us that this just can not and will not work.

It's going to be a while until this thing works - but when it does we'll be better for it. Well, scratch that, the share holders will be better for it.