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

[danlb_2000]

Spending $1.2 billion on infrastructure makes sense if you get $1.2 billion worth of infrastructure. Disney didn't get $1.2 billion worth of infrastructure.

A big part of NextGen is RFID, which I have (in the weaker form of NFC) sitting next to me right now. Another big part is a website to handle FastPasses. I could crank that out in a couple of months on my own. The technology components are worth next to nothing, as far as I'm concerned.

The only other major part of NextGen (that I can think of) is interactive queues, which are honestly a poor investment. It's asking to fix things, and we all know TDO doesn't like doing that.

Now trying integrating this into a whole bunch of legacy systems, that is where costs can really start to add up.

 

[Longhairbear]

Are the magic bands recyclable? I'm reading on other sites that families are getting multiple bands for the same trip, or trips to be made later on. One person wrote they had 3 sets of bands for their family of 5. They didn't mention if they had AP's, or if they keep the bands once the trip is over. A huge waste in my opinion.

 

[Nubs70]

The Double Dumbo is EXACTLY the kind of thing Disney should be doing, ie careful unbiased analysis and then creating or upgrading an attraction.

So the true problem that plagues WDW is lack of ride capacity. The greater the lack of capacity creates longer lines for given attendance level. The longer the lines, the less you are spending. The proper supply of rides to satisfy the demand of the attendance will maximize the return for WDW.

In conclusion, if you have more guests, you must build more rides.

 

[nor'easter]

I guess they couldn't possibly be tracking people (if they even are) for crowd control data

Nope. Much easier ways to do that, and much cheaper than $2 billion!

 

[HTF]

Apologies in advance but instead of going through 58 pages, I was wondering if someone could elaborate on how this affects the Avatar project at Animal Kingdom if at all? I'm hearing some funky outlandish things and would love some clarification.

 

[jdmdisney99]

Apologies in advance but instead of going through 58 pages, I was wondering if someone could elaborate on how this affects the Avatar project at Animal Kingdom if at all? I'm hearing some funky outlandish things and would love some clarification.

From what I've heard, it is all still a go, as it is "Iger's baby".

 

[luv]

I never heard any clear explanation of how this was anything but Disney foolishly spending tons of money on unnecessary tech stuff, so I will not be surprised if it turns out that they foolishly threw a bunch of cash away on unnecessary tech stuff.

 

[janoimagine]

Just for sake of argument, if all discounts are correctly applied to your account (be it AP or DVC), could not the band's be loaned out to friends and family so they can get the discounts?

I guess you could ... I never thought about that ... if, you were comfortable giving them your pin code ... however then it would only be good at merchandise locations outside the parks ... because they would still need to get by the biometric scanner to get into the park, which are a lot more sensitive than the old scanners.

 

[janoimagine]

There's a fairly large assumption being made here, that at some point in the future, Disney will actually link your AP and/or DVC data to your TragicBand.

Methinks Disney isn't worried about the IT logistics of this extra step because the discounts might not exist in the foreseeable future.

In our case, both were already, the fact that we were DVC members and our AP's linked ... but you still had to ask and show ID to get the discount ... it was not automatic.

 

[Cesar R M]

I never heard any clear explanation of how this was anything but Disney foolishly spending tons of money on unnecessary tech stuff, so I will not be surprised if it turns out that they foolishly threw a bunch of cash away on unnecessary tech stuff.

I think the best resume is.
Did they not spend more than the allotted money ? (y/n)
Did the Tech make things more simple and easier ? ( y/n)
Did everyone received benefits from the tech? (y/n)

so far, that a 3x NO.. the recipe of a total disaster and a total failure that as sank many companies, govs..etc...

 

[Disneyhead'71]

You start with a very big 'if'...

I'll pose it another question for you - why would Disneyland bother rolling out the system with variables they know won't work for anyone? Why does everyone think this will be some system locked in concrete with universal variables everywhere on everyday?

Disney can offer the same service of FP+ at different parks with very different objectives and very different inputs to control how many and WHEN FPs are available.

My point is they will have to alter the current perimeters to be a viable system at DLR AND WDW.

 

[FutureCEO]

It seems like a lot projects are done without being thought out and not just at Disney either

 

[asianway]

Apologies in advance but instead of going through 58 pages, I was wondering if someone could elaborate on how this affects the Avatar project at Animal Kingdom if at all? I'm hearing some funky outlandish things and would love some clarification.

Spirit said somewhere in here it's still ago

 

[MMFanCipher]

Well, just finished all 58 pages, and yes I have no life, and what did I find out?

-That the original article that started all of this had most of it wrong.
-Next Gen is behind schedule and over budget. I'm shocked! Shocked I say! (OK who can tell me what movie that's from?)
-FP+ sucks.
-The Keys To The World Cards could have been made to do what they want the bands to do.
-The roll out of the bands wasn't well thought out.
-It's the one timers and/or the once in 10 years visitors who are to blame for WDW's decline, not the people who
run WDW.
-New IT roll outs are difficult. This I already knew since I work in IT.
-WDW network infrastructure wasn't up to the challenge. This I also knew, because I tried to use the MDE App in June and the connections where very spotty.

Well, it was time well spent.

 

[Admiral01]

It's funny, but I really don't mind the tracking aspects of the bands. That's just me personally. I know I'm being tracked via my cell phone for much more nefarious reasons.

It's the other things, like the band's non wallet friendly shape, the FP+, and the expectations by Disney that I'm an idiot.

 

[flynnibus]

My point is they will have to alter the current perimeters to be a viable system at DLR AND WDW.

And it's certainly within reason to be able to do so. None of this is inherently doomed - it's all up to how Disney chooses to implement. They can certainly hang themselves... they've shown their stubbornness in that respect. But value or hate... are both still on the table as viable paths.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Apologies in advance but instead of going through 58 pages, I was wondering if someone could elaborate on how this affects the Avatar project at Animal Kingdom if at all? I'm hearing some funky outlandish things and would love some clarification.

It should not. I think. But Avatar is still.... 3-4 years out SOOOOOOO who knows.

Anyways, MM+ should only affect unfunded/future/blue sky projects.

There's a lot of things floating around that are being said; the general consensus is in more of a wait and see. I heard something about the BOD meeting soon to discuss CapEx for P&R (Not 100% on this) and if so, we should have a bigger feeling for the future afterwards. (Its late and I'm not digging up TWDC BOD schedules)

 

[PhotoDave219]

I never heard any clear explanation of how this was anything but Disney foolishly spending tons of money on unnecessary tech stuff, so I will not be surprised if it turns out that they foolishly threw a bunch of cash away on unnecessary tech stuff.

I really like the general concepts & idea of what youre doing - You control your whole trip through a smartphone app or logging online. Its rather brilliant, when it works. The issue is, it doesnt always work. Instead of doing any of this in house, theyre trying to integrate multiple components programmed through multiple contractors.

Now not all of this is managements idea to outsource the entire thing..... a lot of the guests who have problems, a percentage of them can be attributed to user error - That being, they didnt set up anything before they left. Why that is? Dunno, either the user just didnt .... or no one told them to.

I've made this observation many, many times: For a multi-billion dollar entertainment and communication giant, they do a horrible job of actually communicating information to its guests.

 

[WDWDad13]

Nope. Much easier ways to do that, and much cheaper than $2 billion!

So explain to me what else they would be tracking them for

 

[WDWoptmist]

I think I'm going to buy a Universal AP in January.

Yay one less person crowding Disney parks!!! But you are welcome back aboard whenever you want lol anybody else see the Transformers ride get stuck and Rip ride rockit yeah I think I'll stick with Disney MM+ screw ups and all...Star Wars being on hold doesn't mean much they will want plenty of theme park presence when that movie comes out in 2015