MyMagic+ article from Fast Company magazine

[Nubs70]

For 2 years, Iger and Rasulo have been referring to metrics (most of which they don't want to share with the public) that indicate that MyMagic+ is working. We have to keep in mind that Wall Street views "working" as meaning that profits are up. Everything else is a sideshow.

"Show me the money."

The good news is that Disney's Parks & Resorts (P&R) profits are up. The bad news is that, so far, Iger and Rasulo have not attributed this to MyMagic+. To be clear, they want to declare MyMagic+ a financial success. The fact that they have not yet done so is telling.

Please recall that earlier this year, even CEO Bob Iger said:

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.​

More than 6 months after MyMagic+ was made available to all Guests, Iger still was not claiming MyMagic+ was a financial success, "just the beginnings of it". Do you think Iger had to wait 6 months or longer to declare Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure a financial success?

Please consider that in the most recently reported fiscal quarter:

• P&R's domestic revenue is up 10.6% but Universal Theme Parks' revenue is up 29.9%.
• P&R's operating income is up 20.0% but Universal Theme Parks' operating income is up 65.1%.
• P&R's domestic Per Capita Guest Spending (PCGS) at the theme parks is up 4%, the lowest increase since the 1st quarter of fiscal year 2010.
• P&R domestic hotel occupancy is up 8% while Metro Orlando's occupancy (excluding WDW) is up 6.5%.
• P&R's domestic Per Room Guest Spending (PRGS) is up 3.6% while Metro Orlando's hotel rates (excluding Disney) are up 3.7%.

Based on publically available information, Universal's less expensive investment in Diagon Alley has proven to be considerably more profitable than Disney's investment in MyMagic+.

So far, I see no signs that MyMagic+ is "working", at least not in the way that any CEO worth their salt would define it.

For me, an interesting metric that Disney does not publish would be length of ticket sold at WDW. In 2013, it was Rasulo who said:

So if we can get people to plan their vacation before they leave home, we know that we get more time with them. We get a bigger share of their wallet.​

Is Disney "get[ting] more time with them"? An increase in the average length of ticket sold would be evidence of that.

Attendance is an interesting measure but, even with a 7% jump in the most recent quarter at Disney, it's apparent that with revenue up 29.9%, the jump at Universal is even greater. More people are coming to Orlando but it does not appear that they are spending more time at WDW. My opinion is that Diagon Alley was the big draw in 2014. Diagon Alley and a rebounding economy is why Orlando area business is booming right now, not MyMagic+.

Back when the original Wizzarding World of Harry Potter opened in 2010, I recall a Disney spokesperson saying, "A rising tide lifts all boats". (Sorry, I don't have the link for this but thing it was in an Orlando Sentinel article.) Diagon Alley is great but Universal Orlando remains no more than a 2 day stop for most vacationers, meaning Disney is the primary beneficiary for the remaining vacation days. Therefore, I have to ask myself, "Would Disney's attendance be up 7% if Diagon Alley hadn't opened?"

People need to step away from the endless "I love/hate MyMagic+" bickering. Whether you and I personally like or dislike MyMagic+ is not particularly important at the moment. To Disney, the more important question is: "Are Guests spending more as a result of MyMagic+".

So far, the answer is "no".

For me and my family, the last trip:
Length of stay: 7 days
Resort: Wyndham Bonnet Creek
UNI days: 2 + 1 free
WDW days: 0
Free Range Days: 4

Only money spent on Disney: Lunch for 4 at Earl of Sandwich.

 

[flynnibus]

Honest question time. Those of you familiar with the magic bands and MM+ in general. How much of this do you think is intended for your enjoyment and how much is for disney to maximize your time and money spent on site?

Consider... virtually everything is for Disney to maximize your time and money on site.. they aren't a charity or museum. So you can't seperate those topics.. the question is really 'do you feel you benefit from it' - don't try to make it into something you appreciate LESS because Disney gains from it.

 

[flynnibus]

More than 6 months after MyMagic+ was made available to all Guests, Iger still was not claiming MyMagic+ was a financial success, "just the beginnings of it". Do you think Iger had to wait 6 months or longer to declare Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure a financial success?

Apples and Oranges though.. one is intended to be experienced 'in the now' - the other is to change the way you do things forever going forward. It's like trying to compare a new stadium opening.. vs expanding a highway. The highway's benefits are not going to result in a direct return on itself but instead impact the commerce and way people move going forward.

I know we can simply say 'its all about ROI' - but if we stop trying to act like the filth that is short term wall street thinking.. we instead turn to long term thinking and start looking at how behaviors shift instead of chasing individual dollars in a timebox.

We need to look at things that don't necessarily link 1:1 to revenue, but are factors that push the things we want to track in the right direction. For instance, is the MDE app improving customer sat? Can we look at attach rates and trend that.

How is MDE changing how people do ADRs...
How are we doing at driving traffic to locations based on improved on-demand access to dining info. Lets look at metrics at how often people are using MDE to pick a location and then in turn convert that into a purchase.
How is MB doing at hotels with regards to key replacement?
What is the attach rate for customers using house account purchasing via MB vs KTTW?

The real insight is at the customer level and pushing it.. the dollars at the end of the pipeline are often anonymous and hard to map back into 'what did we do right or wrong to make that shift happen'.

Even if MM+ doesn't change a dollar sign in a quarter today... that doesn't mean it didn't add value for quarters to come because of the greater insight and knowledge of the customer they have to drive their next decisions.

Yes, success is hard to quantify because of the numberous variables that are hard to isolate and pin change just one ONE moving... but if you move the ship as a whole with that.. it's good.. and like the highway, these kinds of changes are not about short term payback... but improving the foundation everything is built upon going forward.

 

[flynnibus]

I think the priority would be this:

Mainly because if you are making decisions to chase others... or making decisions because you've decided on a solution before you've really defined the problem.. bad choices are made.

If you really started out with 'what is the value we are trying to deliver' and quantify it with the audience, what their real problems are... and then measure solutions against that.. people will make better choices.

But all too often the mandate is 'we need a new website' - instead of agreeing on 'what is a new website supposed to help?'

 

[GoofGoof]

Honest question time. Those of you familiar with the magic bands and MM+ in general. How much of this do you think is intended for your enjoyment and how much is for disney to maximize your time and money spent on site?

It's a mix of both. Like others have said the 2 are not mutually exclusive. Anytime they add anything to the parks it is for a mix of both reasons. When they added Carsland to DCA or more Potter at Universal was it to sell more tickets or make guests happy? They accomplished both at the same time. I think with MM+ this article laid out the thought process on why they originally wanted to do the project. It was intended to help with things like vacation planning and not having to wait as long in lines which would be benefits to guests. It also helps to maximize profit since the more you plan ahead the more likely you are to stay longer on property. The magic bands are an attempt to make some of the transactional touch points more automated and eliminate the need for guests to pull out their wallets. That's a benefit for guests. They are also banking on people spending more with the flip of a wrist. Casinos use chips partially because psychologically most people are more likely to spend little colored chips more loosely than actual bills.

Updating the wifi in the parks, website and the app for wait times was pretty much just for guest satisfaction. I believe those aspects to be an attempt to stay current and to keep up with trends. People love their smart phones and wanted this enhancement.

 

[seascape]

For 2 years, Iger and Rasulo have been referring to metrics (most of which they don't want to share with the public) that indicate that MyMagic+ is working. We have to keep in mind that Wall Street views "working" as meaning that profits are up. Everything else is a sideshow.

"Show me the money."

The good news is that Disney's Parks & Resorts (P&R) profits are up. The bad news is that, so far, Iger and Rasulo have not attributed this to MyMagic+. To be clear, they want to declare MyMagic+ a financial success. The fact that they have not yet done so is telling.

Please recall that earlier this year, even CEO Bob Iger said:

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.​

More than 6 months after MyMagic+ was made available to all Guests, Iger still was not claiming MyMagic+ was a financial success, "just the beginnings of it." Did Iger have to wait 6 months or longer to declare Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure a financial success?

Please consider that in the most recently reported fiscal quarter:

• P&R's domestic revenue is up 10.6% but Universal's Theme Parks revenue is up 29.9%.
• P&R's operating income is up 20.0% but Universal's Theme Parks operating income is up 65.1%.
• P&R's domestic Per Capita Guest Spending (PCGS) at the theme parks is up 4%, the lowest increase since the 1st quarter of fiscal year 2010.
• P&R domestic hotel occupancy is up 8% while Metro Orlando's occupancy (excluding WDW) is up 6.5%.
• P&R's domestic Per Room Guest Spending (PRGS) is up 3.6% while Metro Orlando's hotel rates (excluding Disney) are up 3.7%.

Based on publically available information, Universal's less expensive investment in Diagon Alley has proven to be considerably more profitable than Disney's investment in MyMagic+.

So far, I see no signs that MyMagic+ is "working", at least not in a way that any CEO worth their salt would define it.

For me, an interesting metric that Disney does not publish would be length of ticket sold at WDW. In 2013 when discussing MyMagic+, it was CFO Jay Rasulo who said:

So if we can get people to plan their vacation before they leave home, we know that we get more time with them. We get a bigger share of their wallet.​

Is Disney "get[ting] more time with them"? An increase in the average length of ticket sold would be evidence of that.

Attendance is an interesting measure but, even with a 7% jump in the most recent quarter at Disney, it's apparent that with revenue up 29.9%, the jump at Universal is even greater. More people are coming to Orlando but it does not appear that they are spending more time at WDW. My opinion is that Diagon Alley was the big draw in 2014. Diagon Alley and a rebounding economy is why Orlando area business is booming right now, not MyMagic+.

Back when the original Wizzarding World of Harry Potter opened in 2010, I recall a Disney spokesperson saying, "A rising tide lifts all boats." (Sorry, I don't have the link for this but think it was in an Orlando Sentinel article.) Diagon Alley is great but Universal Orlando remains no more than a 2 day stop for most vacationers, meaning Disney is the primary beneficiary for the remaining vacation days. Therefore, I have to ask myself, "Would Disney's attendance be up 7% if Diagon Alley hadn't opened?"

People need to step away from the endless "I love/hate MyMagic+" bickering. Whether you and I personally like or dislike MyMagic+ is not particularly important at the moment. To Disney, the more important question is: "Are Guests spending more as a result of MyMagic+?"

So far, the answer is "No."

I don't think you can compare Disney and Universals recent numbers. Disney has not built new hotels in the last few years while Universal has. Now the real question for universal is do they count any of the expenses for the hotel and total revenue or do they just count their share of the profit? If they only count their share of the profits as revenue then they make a 100% profit and thus the comparison is irrelevant. Cabana Bay has now been open one year and so going forward until a new hotel opens up the comparison of profits is reasonable but keep in mind the margins may not be. Disney owns its hotels and must claim the expenses not just profits.

 

[Shaman]

Honest question time. Those of you familiar with the magic bands and MM+ in general. How much of this do you think is intended for your enjoyment and how much is for disney to maximize your time and money spent on site?

Being honest....Regardless of the intention I'll say that FP+ and bands have made my visits to the parks so efficient that I find myself spending less time at the parks. Crowds and lack of new things contributes to this. I'm an AP holder, and live in Florida, so I probably don't count as the average visitor, since I visit often. I'm not spending more money than usual at the parks. I have posed and purchased more photos than before though. But, my last couple of stays have been at resorts off property due to cost/value. I appreciate the new tech, gives me flexibility that I didn't have before. For example, I'll schedule FPs for the evening and attend a different park in the morning. I like that if I walk up to an attraction and the wait time doesn't justify the use of an FP for it, I can change it on the spot. I like the bands, the band-its, and the quicker entrance experience. For the most part I also like the website and the app. In short, I enjoy my day more, but not because I'm necessarily spending more time on property. Still renewing AP, so....

 

[clsteve]

For 2 years, Iger and Rasulo have been referring to metrics (most of which they don't want to share with the public) that indicate that MyMagic+ is working. We have to keep in mind that Wall Street views "working" as meaning that profits are up. Everything else is a sideshow.

"Show me the money."

The good news is that Disney's Parks & Resorts (P&R) profits are up. The bad news is that, so far, Iger and Rasulo have not attributed this to MyMagic+. To be clear, they want to declare MyMagic+ a financial success. The fact that they have not yet done so is telling.

Please recall that earlier this year, even CEO Bob Iger said:

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.​

More than 6 months after MyMagic+ was made available to all Guests, Iger still was not claiming MyMagic+ was a financial success, "just the beginnings of it." Did Iger have to wait 6 months or longer to declare Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure a financial success?

Please consider that in the most recently reported fiscal quarter:

• P&R's domestic revenue is up 10.6% but Universal's Theme Parks revenue is up 29.9%.
• P&R's operating income is up 20.0% but Universal's Theme Parks operating income is up 65.1%.
• P&R's domestic Per Capita Guest Spending (PCGS) at the theme parks is up 4%, the lowest increase since the 1st quarter of fiscal year 2010.
• P&R's domestic hotel occupancy is up 8% while Metro Orlando's occupancy (excluding WDW) is up 6.5%.
• P&R's domestic Per Room Guest Spending (PRGS) is up 3.6% while Metro Orlando's hotel rates (excluding WDW) are up 3.7%.

Based on publically available information, Universal's less expensive investment in Diagon Alley has proven to be considerably more profitable than Disney's investment in MyMagic+.

So far, I see no signs that MyMagic+ is "working", at least not in a way that any CEO worth their salt would define it.

For me, an interesting metric that Disney does not publish would be length of ticket sold at WDW. In 2013 when discussing MyMagic+, it was CFO Jay Rasulo who said:

So if we can get people to plan their vacation before they leave home, we know that we get more time with them. We get a bigger share of their wallet.​

Is Disney "get[ting] more time with them"? An increase in the average length of ticket sold would be evidence of that.

Attendance is an interesting measure but, even with a 7% jump in the most recent quarter at Disney, it's apparent that with revenue up 29.9%, the jump at Universal is even greater. More people are coming to Orlando but it does not appear that they are spending more time at WDW. My opinion is that Diagon Alley was the big draw in 2014. Diagon Alley and a rebounding economy is why Orlando area business is booming right now, not MyMagic+.

Back when the original Wizzarding World of Harry Potter opened in 2010, I recall a Disney spokesperson saying, "A rising tide lifts all boats." (Sorry, I don't have the link for this but think it was in an Orlando Sentinel article.) Diagon Alley is great but Universal Orlando remains no more than a 2 day stop for most vacationers, meaning Disney is the primary beneficiary for the remaining vacation days. Therefore, I have to ask myself, "Would Disney's attendance be up 7% if Diagon Alley hadn't opened?"

People need to step away from the endless "I love/hate MyMagic+" bickering. Whether you and I personally like or dislike MyMagic+ is not particularly important at the moment. To Disney, the more important question is: "Are Guests spending more as a result of MyMagic+?"

So far, the answer is "No."

It's unfortunate that we will never see the 2 metrics that would answer most of the questions on why, plus success or failure: Avg. Length of Ticket Sold and Avg. Length of Stay. They're the ones that really tell the full story.....

 

[Flalex72]

Assuming they have the infrastructure to support the systems, NFC is the payment of the future and is already usable at almost every grocery store or restaurant with a credit card swiping machine, there will need to be incremental jumps to get users to get on board but that is the way it is going and what we will see. To use NFC you need high speed internet to your terminals, something WDW did not have so they had to upgrade their infrastructure... something everyone will have to do be it through WiFi(dangerous from security to transfer payment info over WiFi).

If it was so cheep to do infrastructure upgrades we would see everyone doing it not only in companies but with internet around the world... WDW decided it was time to make the jump, other companies haven't yet but they will have to eventually...

Contactless Payments don't require high speed internet access, it will work over a phone line but is much slower. There's also nothing particularly insecure about using Wi-Fi for payments with encryption, that's what most restaurants in places with table service card machines use for chip cards.

 

[clsteve]

@AustinC, great thread and a long one. It might be why you missed my tag and post back on page 21. But, those 2 questions are still kind of nagging at me:

"So, how can this size of a Project that goes on for 2 1/2 years longer than anticipated ,with a now much larger and expensive group of Partners, come in under-budget - the budget approved 2 1/2 years prior?"

"Why no questions about the Patent Application"?​

As the first in-depth technology article on NextGen, I'm assuming that would be one of the first things to research - the first place to gather your questions for the decision makers and the project team members. You don't go through the effort of Patent Application unless that's what you're trying to accomplish.

I do hope you write that follow-up article - maybe add in an objective sociologist that specializes in Crowd Theory and Management. Then, maybe a retired Big 5 Partner, along with an Industry Analyst for comment on the true project scope and cost.

But, I'd still like your thoughts on those 2 questions....

 

[GrumpyFan]

As the first in-depth technology article on NextGen, I'm assuming that would be one of the first things to research - the first place to gather your questions for the decision makers and the project team members. You don't go through the effort of Patent Application unless that's what you're trying to accomplish.

I enjoyed the article as well, but I wouldn't call it a "technology article", it was more of an in depth backstory of how the project came to be and progressed to what we have today.

As for the patents, he did mention that some of the ideas they had, they were still wrestling with how to implement them, or even if they should. Also, with Disney, when it comes to patents, they have MANY they file that don't always make it to reality. Some of the ideas and concepts they dreamed up could happen some day, but I wouldn't hold my breath for them, as it might be a while before we see any major enhancements on this. Something from Iger's final comments lead me to believe they want to see some return on it before they sink any more money into extending it.

 

[Siren]

I enjoyed the article as well, but I wouldn't call it a "technology article", it was more of an in depth backstory of how the project came to be and progressed to what we have today.

As for the patents, he did mention that some of the ideas they had, they were still wrestling with how to implement them, or even if they should. Also, with Disney, when it comes to patents, they have MANY they file that don't always make it to reality. Some of the ideas and concepts they dreamed up could happen some day, but I wouldn't hold my breath for them, as it might be a while before we see any major enhancements on this. Something from Iger's final comments lead me to believe they want to see some return on it before they sink any more money into extending it.

Thanks so much for attempting to address that -- I believe you saved @AustinC some grief. If I were @AustinC, I would have intentionally skipped over his post, too. And, then I would intentionally skip over it again. And, to think that he posted this *twice*, after it was ignored the first time is kind of embarrassing. LOL.

 

[WDW1974]

Thanks so much for attempting to address that -- I believe you saved @AustinC some grief. If I were @AustinC, I would have intentionally skipped over his post, too. And, then I would intentionally skip over it again. And, to think that he posted this *twice*, after it was ignored the first time is kind of embarrassing. LOL.

God, this is such a 'classic' MAGIC post. Yes, tough questions that are fair and pertinent to a story written (with unprecedented cooperation from Disney --- does anyone ever ask why that was? Nothing against Austin or his pub as I am not familiar with either, but why him?) should be ignored. No one should ever ask a journalist tough questions or demand that they do likewise. UGH!!!

Ignorance is so blissful in the world of Pixie Dust, which explains everything from crappy show quality (bordering on embarrassing) to paying more for everything at WDW while getting a lesser quality product to buildings that are hot as he ll because Disney has such contempt for its visitors and workers that it won't AC them properly because the company is about to go belly up etc. In this brief last-minute long weekend I have seen all that is glaringly wrong continue to swirl around the bowl.

But the addiction is strong in many.

 

[Stefan8]

As a brand new member to this board and relatively new to Disney World, I found this article a great way to discover the ways Disney tries (and fails) to stay ahead of the curve. The following discussion was fun to read/skim through as well.

Even though I feel like some things MyMagic+ has brought us are "nice", it does seem like a waste of money. Money that could have been used to actually fix some of the issues that many have mentioned throughout this thread. It indeed does not seem to do anything to alleviate the most important problems like long waits, high prices, and lack of new rides.

Anyway, I mostly wanted to sign on and post to thank @AustinC for sharing the article. It was a good read!

 

[ParentsOf4]

As a brand new member to this board and relatively new to Disney World, I found this article a great way to discover the ways Disney tries (and fails) to stay ahead of the curve. The following discussion was fun to read/skim through as well.

Even though I feel like some things MyMagic+ has brought us are "nice", it does seem like a waste of money. Money that could have been used to actually fix some of the issues that many have mentioned throughout this thread. It indeed does not seem to do anything to alleviate the most important problems like long waits, high prices, and lack of new rides.

Anyway, I mostly wanted to sign on and post to thank @AustinC for sharing the article. It was a good read!

Welcome to wdwmagic.com with your first post!

 

[clsteve]

I enjoyed the article as well, but I wouldn't call it a "technology article", it was more of an in depth backstory of how the project came to be and progressed to what we have today.

As for the patents, he did mention that some of the ideas they had, they were still wrestling with how to implement them, or even if they should. Also, with Disney, when it comes to patents, they have MANY they file that don't always make it to reality. Some of the ideas and concepts they dreamed up could happen some day, but I wouldn't hold my breath for them, as it might be a while before we see any major enhancements on this. Something from Iger's final comments lead me to believe they want to see some return on it before they sink any more money into extending it.

Do not at all disagree on your points about patent apps. But, in this instance, all of the data we do have point to that's exactly what the focus of the system is and what they're currently trying to do: the costs, the delays, the Partners involved, the complexity, how FP's are managed and distributed, etc.

And this isn't a comment on NextGen as a bad investment. It's a comment on Disney investing in a strategy that's never been done before in the industry -developing a system that manages Parks capacity , plus the yield management of existing Parks assets that LakeTravis brought up, by managing human behavior to get them to stay in the Parks longer or onsite longer to spend more money, rather than building more Lands and Rides: getting guests in the Parks when Disney wants then there, in the part of the Park Disney wants, and for how long Disney wants.

We know the traditional method of increasing Parks rev and profit still works very well. It's worked for Disney before and ParentsOf4 pointed out earlier how well it's currently working for Universal.

With no facetiousness at all, if he's serious about a follow-up article, that seems to be a story that should be told. It's the greatest risk, maybe, with the highest reward

Plus, companies don't invest 8 figures in a Project without expecting hard and measurable return on that investment. Things like customer sat and customer interaction are, of course, expected side benefits, but Disney is expecting specific increases in metrics like per guest spend, per room guest spend, avg length of stay, avg length of ticket, etc., as justification for that large investment. No harm in asking what they expect against what they spent in a follow-up.....

 

[jakeman]

God, this is such a 'classic' MAGIC post. Yes, tough questions that are fair and pertinent to a story written (with unprecedented cooperation from Disney --- does anyone ever ask why that was? Nothing against Austin or his pub as I am not familiar with either, but why him?) should be ignored. No one should ever ask a journalist tough questions or demand that they do likewise. UGH!!!

Ignorance is so blissful in the world of Pixie Dust, which explains everything from crappy show quality (bordering on embarrassing) to paying more for everything at WDW while getting a lesser quality product to buildings that are hot as he ll because Disney has such contempt for its visitors and workers that it won't AC them properly because the company is about to go belly up etc. In this brief last-minute long weekend I have seen all that is glaringly wrong continue to swirl around the bowl.

But the addiction is strong in many.

Since you've decided to be passive aggressive about it. I'll do it.

Good morning @AustinC,

I hope that you are still reading this thread and responding to post.

@WDW1974 has apparently forgotten how to tag people in his post (don't worry it's a lapse of his from time to time). He would like to know (and since he said nothing against you that means you can't take offense) why you were allowed unprecedented cooperation from Disney? The implication is obvious that the correct interpretation of the question is: what did you leave out that persuaded Disney to allow you to publish the article?

Apologies in advance for the persistent questions regarding your ethical and journalistic capabilities.

Thanks.

 

[ford91exploder]

For me and my family, the last trip:
Length of stay: 7 days
Resort: Wyndham Bonnet Creek
UNI days: 2 + 1 free
WDW days: 0
Free Range Days: 4

Only money spent on Disney: Lunch for 4 at Earl of Sandwich.

Coming up on 10 day stay in May, DVC yet only 2 days planned for WDW 5 Years ago that would have been 9 (1 day at KSC) and in our case it's all about the staleness and crowding.

 

[lobelia]

Do users still have to enter a pin when paying for food or merchandise? That was to mitigate security concerns but I haven't heard much about that lately?

Since we are repeating questions....do you need a PIN number to make purchases? What if I lose my band during the day at the park?

 

[ford91exploder]

Those are just unrealistic expectations. IT systems have never been thought of as anything more than just a tool to do one specific job. In companies that have been around as long as Disney there is no way the system would ever be thought of as doing more than one purpose prior to a handful of years ago.

It's that way in every company that I've ever had experience working with. Business people do not see technology as more than something like a stapler. It is a tool to do a job. At the time most of the systems were designed by Disney, thinking about them as a whole system together is just like saying that Disney should've anticipated smart phones the day that cellular technology was invented.
I've never worked for a company that is newer then say 50 years old so I can't speak to newer corporations, but I can tell you that I have never once seen an organization develop an integrated system from out the outset. Even in today's world it's nearly impossible to convince a large organization that the investment it would take to integrate their systems together in a correct way is worth the money. Even if a system looks integrated there is probably a 98% chance that it is a disparate system held together by a system of Band-Aids.

Maybe others who work in the IT industry have worked for companies that have come up in the last 5 to 10 years and have seen a company forward thinking enough to do integration at the same time as they're doing new system development. I've just never seen it personally. I've fought the fight on many occasions to try to convince people to work towards an integrated system, but I've lost those battles. It is typically too costly to throw away existing systems and design new ones and it's a lot cheaper to try to slap something together to make it work.
I don't know when Disney was really building their first IT systems but I can guarantee that almost nobody in the world was thinking about developing an overall integrated system for a company as large and diverse as Disney. The expectation that they would somehow be thinking about this back in the 70s or 80s is way beyond anything horizons tried to guess at for the future.

If I'm over speaking myself here some of you IT folks please feel free to correct me I'd love to hear about it. @flynnibus or @ford91exploder @senor_jorge @Bob

Most companies never develop fully integrated systems, What forward thinking companies DO do however is create standards for data exchange between systems and standard data models so even though the systems may be disparate you don't have data called apple and orange on one system and orange and apple on another,

The really forward thinking companies use something called a ESB or enterprise service bus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_service_bus

All of this costs money of course however you need to balance implementation costs with operational costs, Management hates to spend money on architecture even though good architecture saves huge amounts of money down the road during the systems lifecycle. As an architect this is a battle I routinely fight. But it's also a pay me now or pay more later issue - you will pay in the end.