MyMagic+ article from Fast Company magazine

[Lee]

Insane planning? We spent all of 30 minutes one day gathering up all of our FP+ reservations for a 9 day trip. We spent about 45 minutes doing all the reservations for our ADRs. What the heck kind of planning do you do?

That's too much planning for me.
I want to plan a couple of hours (at most) in advance, not days or weeks, what I want to ride or where I want to eat. The need for planning is what's keeping me away from WDW right now.

That's my main issue with the entire program, aside from the money being better spent elsewhere. I abhor every aspect of FP+.

 

[WDF]

Annnnd "IGNORE."

Interesting article, thanks for sharing.

 

[Lee]

You are at a disadvantage at almost any vacation destination if you show up with no planning.

I never felt at a disadvantage any time I showed up at a park pre FP+. The day was a clean slate and a level playing field for every guest.

 

[WDF]

That's too much planning for me.
I want to plan a couple of hours (at most) in advance, not days or weeks, what I want to ride or where I want to eat. The need for planning is what's keeping me away from WDW right now.

That's my main issue with the entire program, aside from the money being better spent elsewhere. I abhor every aspect of FP+.

Guess what...you don't have to plan. Just go and ride what you want. The only concession I will make is that setting up an account for FP+ even at the park is more than paper fastpasses required. But the time spent at a kiosk making three FP+ at the time of your choosing is surely no more burden than walking (or running/pushing/shoving) all over the place pulling paper fastpasses.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

That's too much planning for me.
I want to plan a couple of hours (at most) in advance, not days or weeks, what I want to ride or where I want to eat. The need for planning is what's keeping me away from WDW right now.

That's my main issue with the entire program, aside from the money being better spent elsewhere. I abhor every aspect of FP+.

Lee, I respect you, but very few people would consider that excessive planning. Heck, my wife and I do almost as much planning when we are taking a trip to see relatives. We have to decide how far to travel each day, where to eat, where to stay, etc. Doesn't matter where you go nowadays, a certain amount of planning is necessary. We're different that you in that, we enjoy the planning part as well.

 

[ParentsOf4]

A criticism that you will get here is, like so many in the media, your story doesn't seem to press as hard on some of the details. Reading through your article it looks like Disney spent (by most accounts) well over $1 billion for 5,000 more guests and what the company reports is a 20% increase in per guest spending. The ROI on that investment seems lacking. Would like to see that follow-up.

To clarify, Disney did not report a "20% increase in per guest spending". In the most recently completed fiscal quarter, Disney reported a 4% increase in domestic Per Capita Guest Spending, the lowest increase since 2010.

Disney did report a 20% increase in operating income which was largely due to a 7% gain in domestic theme park attendance. Disney's Parks & Resorts revenue increased a less spectacular 8.7%. Operating margins improved since, for example. whether there are 50,000 or 55,000 people in the theme parks, the incremental costs of the extra 5,000 are lower.

During every quarterly financial review in recent years, investors ask Iger and Rasulo for metrics showing that MyMagic+ is financially successful. Iger's most recent response is typical:

We did see in the quarter a positive impact to the bottom line from MyMagic+, just the beginnings of it. We will continue to see more of that. But we do not have data that we can share with you right now about specific guest spending.​

It's premature to declare MyMagic+ a financial success or failure, since even Disney's CEO is stating that they are seeing "just the beginnings of it".

Some might argue that attendance is up as a result of MyMagic+ but it's difficult to justify that. Certainly if the 7% gain reported at Disney's domestic theme parks during the most recently completed fiscal quarter were attributable to MyMagic+, Iger would have said that in his remarks.

The reality is that attendance is up at most places right now as the economy is viewed as being on an upswing. Universal's attendance and operating income are up more than Disney's as a result of their investment in the considerably less expensive Diagon Alley. Which company made the smarter investment at its Orlando theme parks?

Again, it's too early to declare MyMagic+ a financial success or failure.

 

[WDF]

I never felt at a disadvantage any time I showed up at a park pre FP+. The day was a clean slate and a level playing field for every guest.

This has been discussed ad infinitum around here. It is not true. It was a playing field you preferred, it was not level. People who did not want to get up early were not on the same field. Now you are not on the same field as people who want to plan.

 

[kap91]

I never felt at a disadvantage any time I showed up at a park pre FP+. The day was a clean slate and a level playing field for every guest.

Except those that didn't show up at opening or made adrs or chose to use fp or were resort guests or had more money or had more time? It's never been a level playing field. If anything MM+ makes it slightly more level.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Disney (like most places) was never a level playing field. When DL first opened they have tickets for rides. Each ride was a different price point. More money, better rides. People who get their early or stay until 2 am have an advantage with shorter lines. People who knew how to work the FP system had an advantage.

 

[Todd H]

I hate the it's too much planning to go to WDW argument. You don't have to plan a single thing. You can show up and go with the flow if that is your style. You had to plan before MM+ if you wanted to eat at the most popular places or snag a FP for the most popular rides.

Sure you can "go with the flow" if by that you mean wait in incredibly long lines that have been made even longer thanks to FP+. Planners are rewarded, non-planners are punished.

Insane planning? We spent all of 30 minutes one day gathering up all of our FP+ reservations for a 9 day trip. We spent about 45 minutes doing all the reservations for our ADRs. What the heck kind of planning do you do?

Yep, planning every single day of your vacation is insane. Oh, I forgot...now you can plan the exact food you are going to eat at BOG in advance as well. I'm sorry you don't see this but it's ridiculous.

You are at a disadvantage at almost any vacation destination if you show up with no planning.

Speaking as someone that vacations multiple times a year, Disney is the only place I have to plan everything in advance. Never have to at the beach. Never have to in the mountains. And never have to at Universal. Hooray for spontaneity.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Sure you can "go with the flow" if by that you mean wait in incredibly long lines that have been made even longer thanks to FP+. Planners are rewarded, non-planners are punished.



Yep, planning every single day of your vacation is insane. Oh, I forgot...now you can plan the exact food you are going to eat at BOG in advance as well. I'm sorry you don't see this but it's ridiculous.



Speaking as someone that vacations multiple times a year, Disney is the only place I have to plan everything in advance. Never have to at the beach. Never have to in the mountains. And never have to at Universal. Hooray for spontaneity.

No one is making you plan the food you want in advance at BOG it is a choice if you want to. Some people know what they want months in advance. I'm not one of those people so I don't preorder.

Go to Uni on a busy day and you will be punished for not planning and showing up at rope drop as well.

 

[VJ]

Begun, the Fan War has...

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Speaking as someone that vacations multiple times a year, Disney is the only place I have to plan everything in advance. Never have to at the beach. Never have to in the mountains. And never have to at Universal. Hooray for spontaneity.

What would you even have to plan at a beach? Which direction to lay down on the sand? Mountains? Really?!?!? What is there to do at a mountain that would even require any planning at all? What kind of examples are those?

 

[xstech25]

I never understood why people make such a big deal out of mymagic+, ever since it was announced it always seemed like a common sense thing for Disney to do. It's just like having a wristband at your resort at the Wisconsin Dells, just on a bigger scale because its Disney World.

That being said this is a very comprehensive article. How did you get access to all this info? Normally people aren't willing to talk about things like that until they are retired.

 

[Texas84]

Great article. I'm going to have to go back and read it again after work.

I love the MM+ or whatever it's called but we're over-planners. It's fun for us, even with the glitches. The resort key has always worked although some keypads are physically difficult to get to. Caribbean is an example of how the door keypad should be placed. Automatic PhotoPass is a big deal for us.

 

[RSoxNo1]

In other news, there was an update to the My Disney Experience App today.

 

[RandomPrincess]

I took my first trip to WDW in 2000. DH had only been as a child and I was a DL person so while we knew it was bigger with 4 parks etc. we had no idea what we were getting into. No ADRs, no planning at all. We just picket a resort and tickets and went. It was our worst trip to Disney! We were had a huge disadvantage! We still had a good time but we learned that you can't just show up when you hitting a major tourist destination. I make sure to do some basic research when we go any where now. Some places take more planning then others.

Last year we went to the Smokey Mountains. We didn't have to do to much major planning in advance but I had researched what there was to do, which trails we should tackle with kids, which zipline place was best etc. We had a basic idea of what we were interested in doing that week.

 

[Lee]

To clarify...

Guess what...you don't have to plan. Just go and ride what you want. The only concession I will make is that setting up an account for FP+ even at the park is more than paper fastpasses required. But the time spent at a kiosk making three FP+ at the time of your choosing is surely no more burden than walking (or running/pushing/shoving) all over the place pulling paper fastpasses.

If I show up at Epcot at 10 am and I want a FP for Soarin'...I'm less likely to get a decent time because the planners booked up all or most of the times two months prior. My option is then to either take the leftovers or go wait in the long Standby line. Can I get a FP? Probably, but not as good as before.

This has been discussed ad infinitum around here. It is not true. It was a playing field you preferred, it was not level. People who did not want to get up early were not on the same field. Now you are not on the same field as people who want to plan.

Except those that didn't show up at opening or made adrs or chose to use fp or were resort guests or had more money or had more time? It's never been a level playing field. If anything MM+ makes it slightly more level.

It was "level" in as much as that when guests awoke on the day of their visit they went to the parks empty handed. What you did, where you went was entirely up to you and how you chose to deal with the day's crowds. Want to get up early to guarantee a certain FP at rope drop, that's up to you. But at least you didn't have to deal with them being booked-up 60 days ago. Yes, that is what I preferred.

ADRs...I hate them. The reservation window should be no more than 48hrs in advance, with a minimum of 30-40% of tables kept open for day-of or walk ups.

That's all the banter about FP+ I'm going to do. I hate it, and have moved on.

Back to the article...
I liked it. It was interesting and seemed fair.

Predictably, I found myself siding with the creatives who don't like the tech intruding on the experience. Disney parks should be a place so immersive and wonderful that you don't want to use a phone, much less be required to be checking apps and changing FPs.

The budget...yeah...I don't see the real total ever coming out. Yes, Staggs can say it was "under budget" with a straight face, but it's semantics and word play. Like his suggestion that the rollout wasn't delayed, just certain parts were taking longer than expected.

The 5000 more guests part. I laughed.
He says it allows "north of 5,000 more people into the park for the same experience."
That's a problem, as I see it, not a benefit. It's adding more guests without adding capacity. And the solution isn't some sort of random parade popping up on demand to relieve congestion. (Has that even happened?)

 

[TeriofTerror]

Thanks for your question! You know, the privacy issue is certainly a top concern for a lot of folks when they first hear about MM+. But I find that most are assuaged when they actually get into the park and see how Disney is using the program. Whereas Apple or Google might have to deal with constant complaints for how they handle our data, inside the safe, family-friendly realm of Disney World, the company has so much leeway when it comes to privacy, which is a substantial opportunity considering how much personalization and convenience they can provide down the road through MyMagic+.

Regardless, during my reporting, and the time I spent with Disney executives in Orlando and Burbank, I found them to take this issue extremely seriously -- which is a good thing, of course. They're completely wary of not being overly intrusive. The general sentiment I heard from my other sources that much of this was overblown, starting back with Congressman Markey's public criticism of the program, which most people I spoke with found laughable....part of the reason perhaps that Iger responded so forcefully:

http://deadline.com/2013/01/disney-...ngressman-ed-markey-magicband-privacy-415038/

I'm sorry; I wasn't very clear. The part I'm interested in is FastPass+. So many guests are quite annoyed by changes this "enhancement" has made in their park touring. Was that discussed at all?
Thanks!

 

[lebeau]

To clarify, Disney did not report a "20% increase in per guest spending". In the most recently completed fiscal quarter, Disney reported a 4% increase in domestic Per Capita Guest Spending, the lowest increase since 2010.

Disney did report a 20% increase in operating income which was largely due to a 7% gain in domestic theme park attendance. Disney's Parks & Resorts revenue increased a less spectacular 8.7%. Operating margins improved since, for example. whether there are 50,000 or 55,000 people in the theme parks, the incremental costs of the extra 5,000 are lower.

During every quarterly financial review in recent years, investors ask Iger and Rasulo for metrics showing that MyMagic+ is financially successful. Iger's most recent response is typical:

We did see in the quarter a positive impact to the bottom line from MyMagic+, just the beginnings of it. We will continue to see more of that. But we do not have data that we can share with you right now about specific guest spending.​

It's premature to declare MyMagic+ a financial success or failure, since even Disney's CEO is stating that they are seeing "just the beginnings of it".

Some might argue that attendance is up as a result of MyMagic+ but it's difficult to justify that. Certainly if the 7% gain reported at Disney's domestic theme parks during the most recently completed fiscal quarter were attributable to MyMagic+, Iger would have said that in his remarks.

The reality is that attendance is up at most places right now as the economy is viewed as being on an upswing. Universal's attendance and operating income are up more than Disney's as a result of their investment in the considerably less expensive Diagon Alley. Which company made the smarter investment at its Orlando theme parks?

Again, it's too early to declare MyMagic+ a financial success or failure.

Well-stated as always. I enjoyed the article for what it was. There were some things I would have liked to have seen addressed in more detail. But overall, I enjoyed what was there. My biggest gripe is the repeated insistence that NGE is a success. Way too early for that kind of determination in my book. I guess it was necessary to give the article a sense of closure.