MyMagic+ article from Fast Company magazine

[AustinC]

Took me a bit longer than others to get through the article. Nicely done. And thank you for engaging on this site, as well.

A few questions in my head, in part driven by my experiences as a writer (accounting and financial reporting, so a completely different area):

1. What caused you to decide to tackle this topic?
2. Were Disney execs initially resistant to talking with you?
3. How did you decide you had done enough work and research and were ready to print the article?

And one question not about the writing experience:

4. Did you come away believing that the in-fighting and other problems that arose during this project were worse than similar problems that other companies face in working on similarly large/ambitious/costly projects?

Hey! My apologies for the delay -- it's been a super busy day, and I have to run off to another meeting soon. It's also kinda hard sifting through everything here to find a question, but let me see if I have time to get thru these:

1. I love stories about innovation and change, especially at the intersection of technology and design. This was a big, super complicated project, and when anything of this magnitude gets proposed, there's nearly always resistance and differing views on how or whether it should be accomplished. That's what drew me to the story, or continued to draw me in as I was reporting it. But I should also say in the design community, there's a sense that this is one of the biggest UX experiments ever -- a project that touches on everything from hardware design to data to payments to hospitality services and so on. Rarely do we to see a company work on so much at once.

2. I had been reporting the story when Disney heard what I was working on. I can't speak to their motivations, but FWIW, I would say anytime we've published a story, the company/subject it's about is always happier if their voice is represented in the story. This was a particularly difficult story to report, because Disney, of course, is very careful about what image it presents to the public, so what you hear from company executives is usually along those lines, which account for the # of other sources we interviewed for this story.

3. This is a difficult question to answer -- if a reporter got his/her way, he/she'd never have a deadline. But I'd been working on this story for some time -- and thinking about it far longer -- and my editors were very helpful when I asked for more time to get it all done. At a certain point, we slated the story for our May issue, and we just had to get everything done by then. If I didn't have the story, though, we wouldn't have published it.

4. I've reported on a lot of companies, including Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Nike, etc. While I can't say what I found at Disney in terms of politics was similar to anywhere else I've reported on, I can say that the specific issues involved were ones you see elsewhere. For example, if you get into the politics between Tony Fadell and Scott Forstall during the creation of the first iPhone, you'll notice it's not so dissimilar to Disney when it came to the P1/P2 groups. With that said, you also have to take into account that Disney is a much older company, with an unrivaled amount of traditions, that is creating not just software/hardware, but trying to create an in-person, emotional experience for guests. There's a lot of legacy that goes into that, and a lot of strong strong opinions on how best to preserve Walt's own legacy, so that complicates the situation likely far more than your typical company.

Hope that helps!

 

[MichWolv]

Hey! My apologies for the delay

No apology necessary. You're kind to be willing to engage here at all.

It's also kinda hard sifting through everything here to find a question

Sometimes around here, we don't do a great job of sticking to the subject.

Hope that helps!

Helps quite a bit! Thank you!

 

[hokielutz]

Except you CAN get on more than once. Get there at rope drop, hit the biggies, but have your FP+ scheduled for later in the morning or afternoon, or even evening. You get to ride again. Of course, before, you could get a FP over and over and ride Space Mountain 5 times in one day, but my question is, why would you want to ride ANY ride that many times in one day???

We did do that.... sorry its not the way I intended to word it.

Why would you ride several times a day?? TSMM... gotta rack up a high score and it comes with practice!

 

[MichWolv]

It appears that I'm in the minority today and not of any concern to the TWC as it pertains to the Florida property.

All other things being equal, most would prefer to have no structured time table, and be able to do what we want when we feel like it. But doing that comes at a cost, that cost being the need to fight through the other guests who got in line before us, dangit. If only they weren't around, we wouldn't need fastpasses to see something without a wait. All the advanced scheduling makes it possible to do things without waiting (or with much less wait), but only if we plan them in advance. It's a trade-off.

And I don't think it's fair to say that you are "not of any concern" to the company just because they made the choices that aren't the ones you'd have liked them to make. Does the fact that I voted candidate A meant that I have no regard for anything candidate B believed or said? No. But I had to make a choice, and I went with the candidate I liked best. Disney decided go with what they thought would be appealing to the most people. That doesn't mean Disney has no regard for what would appeal to others -- it just means that they couldn't appeal to everybody and made a choice.

 

[JohnD]

So where do I really start here.....??

I guess its the mindsets of the executives. Thats what gets me... the mindset. I really feel that Austin reveals how out of touch the Parks leadership is with their guests.



So we've got people getting irked that there are long lines, they're losing return business & people are feeling squeezed. What is the response from management? To build new attractions? No. To build necessary infrastructure.... and thats what this project is. We're looking at this wrong, its simply a utility project. Its shiney. Its trendy. Its what executives think will capture the next guest audience.



All Disney did was to do things that people expect at resorts anymore: Wi-Fi & SmartPhone Apps. You go anywhere, you expect to be able to book a reservation for dinner or whatever on your phone. (Its called open-table). You expect to have WiFi, its everywhere. Its a "must-have" in society these days. Its basic infrastructure. You go to a theme park, you expect to be able to be able to check the wait-times with your phone. So what did Disney do that was really revolutionary?



Well..... You can use this band as your room key, your park admission & a way to pay for your wares. Disney did this in the 90s, it was called the KTTW (Keys to the World).

You can now use that same band to do Fastpass. As everyone knows, Fastpass is also a creation of Disney from the 90s. Now you can schedule a FP just like you schedule dinner reservations. None of this is new by any stretch of the imagination beyond you've now incorporated your phone into the process.

So what else is revolutionary? What else do the guests get that isn't simple infrastructure?



Bags delivered to our room? Thats so 2004 with Disney's Magical Express. Also, nothing new and also something Disney pioneered before NGE.



All of this is infrastructure. None of that will actually go to attracting new guests. None of it will grow MK 32% over ten years. (It did, 2003-2013) All of it is behind the scenes and modernization of things we already had. $1B (plus bangers and mash!) to reinvent what Disney already invented and to do what they already do.

We've been teased with upgrades to the Bus System so you can tell exactly when your bus is coming and to which park..... taunted since the mid 2000s. Teased recently with hints that it will be incorporated with MDE at some point, ETA unknown.

And we actually know what the guests do now.



Thats the most damming of all. They had no idea exactly WHAT a daily guest at WDW really does.

So what would have been revolutionary? Imagine.... imagine if the show interacted with you?



Remember those screens at the end of IASW? (@AustinC, not sure if the PR folks mentioned it to you but at the end of Its a Small World, these are installed on your right. They were supposed to interact with the individual guests as they went by to unload.) There were all sorts of plans for the show to interact with you.... which was the point of this project from its very inception.



Why? Here's your answer:



So what bothers me entirely is that the managers & directors of this company think that something shiney is what you need to drive new business and retain existing business. Not new attractions, parades, shows, or basic entertainment but that somehow the gods of technology will swoop in with their shiney and that will somehow drive business. "A Magical Tracking Band" (to quote Bill and Ted's from HHN) that will somehow save the day? Guess what. "This is Orlando, the Gods Will Not Save You" (to paraphrase 'The Wire').

While Iger may have said repeatedly "IBFW", all they did at the end of the day was to install necessary infrastructure upgrades. Nothing interesting beyond risking to alienate their core guest base.

I have serious trouble believing that Disney will replicate its 30% growth from 2003-2013 without having addressed any of the root problems: long lines and high prices. Fastpass was there beforehand, fastpass is still there; that did absolutely nothing to actually address the issue beyond I can now make a FP reservation at home to listen to Luke Friggin Skywalker talk while in bed.

We haven't added attractions beyond a net gain of one with the Fantasyland Expansion. One attraction.... while stuff at DHS closes left and right. While DAK sits idly by, in year four since Avatar was announced. Epcot also sits idle, with a plussing/overlay of one ride. Stagnation is setting in. Laws of Motion are starting to set in. ("Objects at rest tend to stay at rest"). Leadership is beating its chest over doing..... what, exactly? Infrastructure.

Disney managed a 30% growth in ten years by expansion and adding attractions. They managed it without the gods of technology. They managed it through show and through story. They managed it through guest service. They gave guests a quality experience, made them feel like Kings of the world all at a reasonable price.

Only time will tell if NGE/MM+ will manage to beat the 30% growth in attendance the years leading up to it. IBFW? I sure doubt it.

--------------------

Edit: I did enjoy the article, @AustinC. I dig your narrative style and frankly, you did a great job at explaining the poisoned behind the mouse culture that exists.

Excellent points. You're right. MM+ isn't revolutionary. What it does, though, is illustrate that they were already behind the curve and needed to get on with it and improve their infrastructure around the parks. Just asking here: Is it a case of damned if they do, damned if they don't? I agree that more attractions need to be built. If they had done that first, would WDW not have the infastructure in place to handle the capacity? Would conversation instead shift to how WDW should have been more forward thinking that they didn't plan ahead and utilitze 212st century technology? Again, just asking.

 

[Jeffxz]

Well, unfortunately, you missed a key point. Just having an NFC terminal does NOT make it compatible with Apple Pay. The software they are using has to accept the token that is generated, instead of the actual CC information. As another example, OfficeMax had the terminals last year, and I tried in February to use it. It looked like it worked, but didn't go through. I talked with their corporate office, and they stated they had to upgrade their software as well, and it would work in March. I went back, and it worked flawlessly. It is very possible that Disney had to go through this same exercise, and got it done in 3 months.

The EMV tokenization standard is not limited to Apple Pay and was released in early 2014.

But that was my point, having all this hardware in place didn't make it any easier for them to implement this. All changes to this system will be hard/expensive and I think that is why we see a lot of the promised features and additional park rollouts scrapped.

 

[kap91]

Are we? Outside of Avatar & Disney Springs.... I dont see much of anything new happening or announced.

Are you living under a rock?

Avatar = 2 rides
Disney springs
Frozen ride (may or not be new track but it's way more than an overlay)
Soarin expansion
Toy story expansion
Africa minor expansion
New restaurant at MK adventureland

And it's all but announced that a major redo of all of DHS including Star Wars and more is going to happen.

I'm pretty sure that's the most new construction at one time that's gone on ever outside of building a new park. Certainly the most in a very, very long time.

 

[wdisney9000]

I agree that more attractions need to be built. If they had done that first, would WDW not have the infastructure in place to handle the capacity?

If they had built 7 new attractions, all it would have taken was a few FP machines in front of the attractions to "handle the capacity". Thats about it. There are more than enough hotel rooms. What else would they need? People act as if the Disney computers would crash and catch fire had NGE not been implemented. I dont understand that.

 

[wdisney9000]

Are you living under a rock?

Avatar = 2 rides
Disney springs
Frozen ride (may or not be new track but it's way more than an overlay)
Soarin expansion
Toy story expansion
Africa minor expansion
New restaurant at MK adventureland

And it's all but announced that a major redo of all of DHS including Star Wars and more is going to happen.

I'm pretty sure that's the most new construction at one time that's gone on ever outside of building a new park. Certainly the most in a very, very long time.

Besides Avatar, its nothing new in terms of attractions. Frozen is not adding anything to Epcot, just replacing an attraction. The theme is new, but its not an addition. FP+ selection tiers will remain the same as they were prior.

Disney Springs will be nice, but its shopping, not anything at all related to the park experience. Would Soarin or TSMM truly need an expansion if there were more attractions at Epcot and DHS? I dont see DLR adding a 3rd track or theater for either of them. Whys that?

 

[DC0703]

Fascinating article. Thank you AustinC for posting it to the site and stopping by to answer questions. It is very interesting to get a behind-the-scenes look at the turbulent road of how MyMagic+ came into being.

One thing that I found interesting was the bit about re-wiring the infrastructure in the park.

My question: Was the realization that the park was not fitted for wi-fi (or in some cases, computers at all) part of what drove the decision to embark on the project in the first place? In other words, did they know they were going to have to do an infrastructure upgrade one way or another, and so wanted to find a way to pair it with something that would tie in directly to the guest experience?

 

[TalkingHead]

Thanks for the comment, and glad you enjoyed it overall, even though you may have a different perspective on the matter. I think having different perspectives on MM+ is very healthy , and part of what we were getting at in the story. I think reading this you can understand where the Imagineers are coming from, just as much as you can understand where Frog was coming from. I also believe you can likely read and interpret the story in a number of ways, especially certain quotes, which is what we're basically seeing play out in this thread. You might read Staggs' quotes one way; I can assure you a lot of folks read them a different way.

Anywho, thanks for reading.

Best,
Austin

Individual quotes may be open to interpretation. But I'm curious how the end of the article is ambiguous. It seems like you're presenting MM+ as a case study of messy, successful collaboration in modern corporate America.

 

[RSoxNo1]

It has also been met with a significant amount of praise.

There are components of it that people like, but on the whole the system has been more advantageous to Disney than it has been the guest.

 

[sshindel]

There are components of it that people like, but on the whole the system has been more advantageous to Disney than it has been the guest.

I disagree. That is a blanket statement that I have not found based on conversations around MM+ since it's inception.
I've of course spoken to people who have had issues with the system, and who dislike it. I have however had far more conversations with people who love it overall.
Of course this is anecdotal evidence and not proof, but that's kind of my point. We have no numbers on this, and we disagree with the general feeling about it. That right there is enough to discount blanket statements.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I disagree. That is a blanket statement that I have not found based on conversations around MM+ since it's inception.
I've of course spoken to people who have had issues with the system, and who dislike it. I have however had far more conversations with people who love it overall.
Of course this is anecdotal evidence and not proof, but that's kind of my point. We have no numbers on this, and we disagree with the general feeling about it. That right there is enough to discount blanket statements.

There are components of it that people like, but on the whole the system has been more advantageous to Disney than it has been the guest.

But i think we all can agree that its going to take forever for the ROI to happen. Even if its just $1B? Thats still $100M over 10 years.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

But i think we all can agree that its going to take forever for the ROI to happen. Even if its just $1B? Thats still $100M over 10 years.

I don't believe they will ever recover the full cost. Most large IT projects do not.

 

[hopemax]

In the interest of FULL CRAZY DISCLOSURE, when Jim MacPhee showed me around WDW, we went to Be Our Guest, where he had pre-ordered food for our group. So, technically, Disney paid for my $12.49 sandwich (roast beef, yum).

So while, not the way the discussion was going, but it jogged my memory. When you get an opportunity to experience something "as intended" the experience can be quite different than the reality. Walking into BOG, finding a seat and then food magically appearing, would indeed be a seamless and wonderful experience. If more restaurants were like that, it could be revolutionary. But that is not anywhere approaching reality.

But I doubt Mr. McPhee, and therefore you, went through the typical guest process to arrange. I don't know when your meeting occurred, if it was a year ago you would have had to wait in a 15-30 min line before entering the restaurant, where there would be an additional wait. Or if you were a resort guest, you would have to sometime around 27 days before, get online, make a reservation for yourself, and then either pre-order (which may or may not have saved) or wait in the inside line. If you wanted to dine with other guests not sharing your hotel room, they would have to make their own reservation, and hopefully get the same time window, assuming they were also on-property, but if they were staying off-site, those guests would be out of luck, and too bad if you wanted to eat with them. Several months ago, the option to wait in the line was eliminated, and you had to have had that resort only reservation or willing to eat at 10:30 AM. And a couple months ago, that was eliminated and the restaurant was added to the existing system, which means 180 days in advance you need to know that you want to eat there. Quite different, huh.

I really wish, that any Disney exec wanting to entertain clients or guests, has to go through that system, because I don't think they'd find the experience nearly as satisfying. There is no way they would accept that type of system for themselves, and they don't get any appreciation for how many people they disenfranchise (ie = lost sales opportunities) with a setup like that. Some would say, "But the restaurant is booked solid, so everything is okay!" But again, I would see that as a measure of demand, and if demand is so overwhelming that even under hostile conditions it is maxed out, untapped demand must run high and well-run businesses would seek to meet that demand in other ways.

So I guess I also wonder, how many people involved in the process use it, and do they continue to use it, or did they only do it when they were doing tests with 1000 people at a time. And not in a "I had my secretary set stuff up for me, and they have a backdoor so even if something is booked, I can still select it" kind of way. Because the "I didn't know I was going on vacation until 3 weeks out, and now I'm finding it difficult to match restaurant availability in a specific theme park, and attraction availability in that same theme park a little difficult," colors the process. Or for things like changing the operation schedule 2 weeks before, causes so much frustration for everyone that has carefully planned their schedule or oopsies like "someone trying to change attraction hours to midnight accidentally entering noon, canceling everyone's FP+ for Anna & Elsa M&G after noon for the rest of the day, and no way to restore them (when the error was fixed, those slots were immediately taken by others, not the original holders)."

 

[sshindel]

But i think we all can agree that its going to take forever for the ROI to happen. Even if its just $1B? Thats still $100M over 10 years.

This is true. It may not. Since I work in an analytics division for a fairly large corporation, I'll see if I can poke around and see if they've made any attempt at trying to determine how much "value" they've added to the company in a few years, either via savings or via new business/current business retention. I'm sure that there are folks that have crunched those numbers for us, and while it wont prove anything about what Disney may be able to do, it might give a decent idea on if there is ever even a chance of it happening.

 

[flynnibus]

Because what have they really accomplished with this project that Disney didnt already have?

A key concept you overlooked in your criticism... INTEGRATION- single experience, single identity, and probably countless levels deleted behind the scenes

 

[alphac2005]

All other things being equal, most would prefer to have no structured time table, and be able to do what we want when we feel like it. But doing that comes at a cost, that cost being the need to fight through the other guests who got in line before us, dangit. If only they weren't around, we wouldn't need fastpasses to see something without a wait. All the advanced scheduling makes it possible to do things without waiting (or with much less wait), but only if we plan them in advance. It's a trade-off.

And I don't think it's fair to say that you are "not of any concern" to the company just because they made the choices that aren't the ones you'd have liked them to make. Does the fact that I voted candidate A meant that I have no regard for anything candidate B believed or said? No. But I had to make a choice, and I went with the candidate I liked best. Disney decided go with what they thought would be appealing to the most people. That doesn't mean Disney has no regard for what would appeal to others -- it just means that they couldn't appeal to everybody and made a choice.

I was simply being snarky, not needing a lecture. I'm not their target demo anylonger because I won't pay exorbitant prices for a way lesser product that they now provide in Florida than the past and MM+ isn't going to get me to spend more money with them. In the excellent article, I think that @WDW1974 and others would agree that the one part missing is that in the end, MM+ has truly evolved into being primary focused on increasing revenue. They are reshuffling people around and "enhancing" the experience of not having to deal with as many of the stampeding for FastPass tickets that in many cases was caused by the fact that in several of parks they haven't invested in attractions. (I'm looking at you Hollywood-MGM-TBD Theme Park.) We've had insane lines because a place like the Studios barely has attractions. They've increased capacity at the MK (Staggs even notes this) and this exactly follows what @WDW1974 has stated in the past that they were determined to push people from the other parks and into the MK. So, in this grand experiment of making the guest experience better, they've inflated the crowds by thousands at the MK on a daily basis to then make you happy the MM+ is there to make your experience a tad bit better.

The backtracking on what was originally supposed to be rolled out everywhere looks to be a Florida exclusive from a company that wants to clone things everywhere. Very interesting article.

 

[BrerJon]

Different touring styles
::shrug::

Since the addition of kids to the family, even going to visit the grandparents for a weekend can feel like planning the invasion of Normandy. Helping ease the stress while in the parks as MM+ has done for me has been a bigger positive change than they've added in years and years.

You've hit the nail on the head there - MyMagic works for groups with kids, but for single travellers or childless couples, who never had to plan a thing before, it adds complications instead of simplifying them, but it's been well established that if you don't have kids Disney considers you very much a second class citizen, so that's not really anything new.