MyMagic+ article from Fast Company magazine

[arko]

But thats an existing technology that was integrated with you phone. Fastpass already existed.... you can now just make a reservation. I'm not sure how thats new or groundbreaking.

Edit: My point is that NGE didnt break any new ground. All NGE did was a massive infrastructure upgrade.

well not exactly the FP system was a paper based system that required you to be present in the park to get one before they ran out. If this was just an existing technology being transferred to my phone, then I should have been able to show up at Disney 30/60 days out and get a paper one. We all know this wasn't the case.

So its a re thinking of how people plan their vacations. Many would argue that it killed being spontaneous, but thats only if you want it to, because nothing stops you from simply going to standby lines and not using the system at all.
One could also argue that park overcrowding and a lack of new and exciting attractions has made existing lines longer and longer, or that FP in general was a mistake from the beginning MM+ not withstanding.

But your also right in the sense that this was also a massive infrastructure upgrade, one that WDW needed and pretty much had to do anyway.

But as you and others have indicated the full potential of magicbands and MM+ has not yet been fully realized with its ability to enhance the guest experience other than attaching your pic or video to your photopass account. This unfortunately goes lock step with WDW not investing in enough new rides and general upgrades etc. IT provided the infrastructure, WDI said wow we can do all sorts of things with this, and then the strategic planners came in and value engineered it.

 

[Master Yoda]

Where do I sign up for the neural interface? If I could have a churro delivered to me by drone just by thinking about it that would be so cool. I do wonder what would happen if I was thinking about.......never mind.

Be careful what you wish for. With the amount you think about churros you might end up being buried in them. While that might sound great on the surface, the bill at the end might have you second guessing your decision.

 

[wdisney9000]

@xdan0920 , Look, since were are both so obviously in love with Austin and 74, lets all go out on a double fanboi date to Uni and ride Gringotts and make fun of screen based attractions. We can get @sshindel and @jakeman to chaperon as their clever but always funny remarks will add to the experience. What do say guys? Lets have a G.A.I ! (Guys Afternoon In) The Office reference for anybody wondering

 

[BJones82]

But as you and others have indicated the full potential of magicbands and MM+ has not yet been fully realized with its ability to enhance the guest experience other than attaching your pic or video to your photopass account. This unfortunately goes lock step with WDW not investing in enough new rides and general upgrades etc. IT provided the infrastructure, WDI said wow we can do all sorts of things with this, and then the strategic planners came in and value engineered it.

It's also a tight rope if people really want the integration that can truly come from Magic Bands... Disney can track where you specifically are and what you buy and what you are doing with who... I have had no problem with this because it is nothing new but in the recent years there has been a lot of push back on privacy and if Disney just blatantly shows everyone that every cast member knows who and where you are just because of your magic band there are many people who would not like it because they don't understand the technology and are not comfortable. I think this has also slowed what they are doing with MM+ and how quickly they are pushing forward with it...

 

[sshindel]

@xdan0920 , Look, since were are both so obviously in love with Austin and 74, lets all go out on a double fanboi date to Uni and ride Gringotts and make fun of screen based attractions. We can get @sshindel and @jakeman to chaperon as their clever but always funny remarks will add to the experience. What do say guys? Lets have a G.A.I ! (Guys Afternoon In) The Office reference for anybody wondering

I'm in.
Though I'm much more likely to complain if we're forced to ride Transformers. That ride sucks with a capital S.
Do you think '74 will buy us express passes with all his faux 1%er money?

 

[arko]

All of that just sounds....awful to me.

Maybe it's just me...someone who never minded gathering up FP, never buys onride photos, doesn't want to pre-order a meal or even think about having an itinerary to be tracked on a phone.

For me, the negatives, or non-gains, simply outweigh the positives.

see for me the thought of running around and gathering up FP's just ruined my day. As AP holders our family rarely plans out a trip to WDW more than a week before and we pretty much decide on which park the night before, and generally we get most of the fp's we want in a condensed window, leaving to us to do whatever we want for the rest of the day.

 

[Nubs70]

I agree with you on the integration of the existing technologies being the "innovation" that came out of this, and it's not exactly groundbreaking. However, I might argue that the issue of high prices wasn't really part of the problem they were trying to address. It just happened to be one of the identified pain points for returning guests, along with long lines and other things, all contributing to a perceived guest satisfaction level being pretty low. It's been discussed before, but those satisfaction levels are tied to many things, one of which this project zeroed in on was the desire to ride or see specific attractions. For many guests, when they are unable to experience those desired attractions, it lowers their satisfaction significantly. I can't tell you how many times I've seen comments here on the boards about someone's trip being ruined because such-and-such attraction was down for their trip. So, in the end, the solution they came up with didn't directly address high prices nor long lines, but it gives the guest the perception or feeling that they got their money's worth because they were able to experience the specific attraction they wanted, even if nothing else really changed, including higher prices.

You're right that it doesn't drive revenue, directly, but it does drive the simple-minded, first time or infrequent guest perception, which in turn drives revenue. Long(er) lines, higher prices? Why do they care, if guests are happy and coming back, then as far as they can tell, the project was a success!

This begs to ask, how does WDW quantify the perception of guest satisfaction. Without options that range from bad to great, the good to great surveys provide skewed results.

 

[sshindel]

This begs to ask, how does WDW quantify the perception of guest satisfaction. Without options that range from bad to great, the good to great surveys provide skewed results.

Where do they not have options ranging from bad to great? The survey's I've been asked to respond to have all had a full scale of options to rate my experience.

 

[wdisney9000]

I'm in.
Though I'm much more likely to complain if we're forced to ride Transformers. That ride sucks with a capital S.
Do you think '74 will buy us express passes with all his faux 1%er money?

Ill take diner at Mythos so we can all get lost in each others eyes over a nice meal

 

[sshindel]

Ill take diner at Mythos so we can all get lost in each others eyes over a nice meal

No way. That'll take a park hopper ticket. No way am I spending the extra money just to ride a silly train ride...

 

[BJones82]

see for me the thought of running around and gathering up FP's just ruined my day. As AP holders our family rarely plans out a trip to WDW more than a week before and we pretty decide on which park the night before, and generally we get most of the fp's we want in a condensed window, leaving to us to do whatever we want for the rest of the day.

We just became AP holders this past weekend when we activated our passes received because we are getting married there and I have to say the trip was amazing. The only thing we planned in advance was a firework dinner at The Californian Grill and a dinner at Sanaa. Every morning we just checked what FPs were available and wandered and enjoyed the parks.

Not being stressed about where we were going or when was freeing. That being said I get it from the perspective of someone who only comes once every few years you are there 10 days and feel you HAVE to do everything then because who knows when you'll be back.. And with that mindset it could be stressful and over whelming. I hope in general though people will be able to start getting used to the new systems and realize you will not do everything in your trip and just enjoy what you can do. That is when your trips are magical I think.

All of this being said my trip may have been through a lens sense we were meeting with our wedding planner and the next time we are there will be two days before our wedding lol...

 

[Nubs70]

Where do they not have options ranging from bad to great? The survey's I've been asked to respond to have all had a full scale of options to rate my experience.

Every survey I was targeted with either in park or by email were except one, all others were good to great format. The one that had a less than good option, which I chose, immediately terminated with the explanation that I was not in the targeted demographic they were seeking.

Another problem I have with WDW in park surveys is the CM is the one putting in your response. Who knows what actual option they are selection. At UNI, you are escorted to a terminal where you are actually making the selections.

 

[GrumpyFan]

This begs to ask, how does WDW quantify the perception of guest satisfaction. Without options that range from bad to great, the good to great surveys provide skewed results.

I'm not real sure of what you're referring to, regardless, they clearly understood that many first-time guests had no intention of returning. You can draw your own conclusion, and I have no idea really of how they quantified it, but in my book, someone not interested in returning, is most likely dis-satisfied with their experience.

 

[BJones82]

At UNI, you are escorted to a terminal where you are actually making the selections.

Every survey I have taken on property I was taken to a computer off to the side to take the surveys, that doesn't mean that's the only way they do it obviously... I would assume UNI also has surveys where they just ask and enter the data for you, it is quicker and more efficient though as you said may not be as reliable. hopefully Execs at both companies know to look at the data with that in mind...

 

[sshindel]

Every survey I was targeted with either in park or by email were except one, all others were good to great format. The one that had a less than good option, which I chose, immediately terminated with the explanation that I was not in the targeted demographic they were seeking.

Interesting. We were having this discussion between a few of us not too long ago and a great number of us had examples of the post-visit surveys which all had plenty of sections to rate them negatively. I know I spent quite some time writing a piece of negative feedback in the section asking if I had anything negative happen in my trip.

Another problem I have with WDW in park surveys is the CM is the one putting in your response. Who knows what actual option they are selection. At UNI, you are escorted to a terminal where you are actually making the selections.

The one in-park survey that I have been a part of in DHS did this.
Edit: Moved me aside to a terminal which I filled out myself

 

[Nubs70]

This is so true with I.T. in general, spending money on I.T. isn't always pretty but is almost always necessary especially today... But to get buy in from Execs you have to fluff it up and add things to projects that maybe aren't necessary. And that is no ones fault either the Execs or I.T. it just is what it is... It actually is something people are starting to be trained in College for Networking or I.T. Management, how to sell I.T. to Executives who often didn't grow up with it or don't use it...

I see this as lack of project management discipline that resulted in massive scope creep.

A question for the author of the article, were there performance guarantees written into the 3rd party contracts?

 

[GrumpyFan]

Every survey I was targeted with either in park or by email were except one, all others were good to great format. The one that had a less than good option, which I chose, immediately terminated with the explanation that I was not in the targeted demographic they were seeking.

Another problem I have with WDW in park surveys is the CM is the one putting in your response. Who knows what actual option they are selection. At UNI, you are escorted to a terminal where you are actually making the selections.

I've answered many a survey, and actually watched the CM enter the response I gave and they had a full range. I've even had followup phone calls from Disney for clarification of my responses.
I've also been escorted to a terminal for a lengthy survey to enter my own responses. My wife still harasses me about "that time I wanted to answer their questions", and won't stop for me or their surveys.

 

[jakeman]

Interesting. We were having this discussion between a few of us not too long ago and a great number of us had examples of the post-visit surveys which all had plenty of sections to rate them negatively. I know I spent quite some time writing a piece of negative feedback in the section asking if I had anything negative happen in my trip.


The one in-park survey that I have been a part of in DHS did this.
Edit: Moved me aside to a terminal which I filled out myself

Same for both. I believe a while ago they even had a section like that for MK. I know because I complained about the new "healthy" hot dog buns at Casey.

 

[Nubs70]

I'm not real sure of what you're referring to, regardless, they clearly understood that many first-time guests had no intention of returning. You can draw your own conclusion, and I have no idea really of how they quantified it, but in my book, someone not interested in returning, is most likely dis-satisfied with their experience.

A survey limited to good to great response options will only yield positive results. This allows execs to claim with a straight face that guest satisfaction has never been better.

 

[sshindel]

Same for both. I believe a while ago they even had a section like that for MK. I know because I complained about the new "healthy" hot dog buns at Casey.

Yeah, the one I did was up front of DHS, next to Sid Cahuenga's. If memory serves, it seems like it was here: