New planning tool from the Mouse?

[sweetpee_1993]

In light of all the NextGen talk recently I found the email I just received from Disney pretty interesting. Wasn't sure if I should post this in 'News'. Kinda doubt it plus the numerous grumpies over there would likely flame me for thinking it was newsworthy enough for their space...

Anywhoo, looks like there's a new planning guide/tool for travelers to use to build their trips. For those who didn't get the email, the link is HERE. It's pretty different from what the website has been. I think especially for non-Disney-freaks this will be particularly helpful. I just went to the disneyworld.com homepage and there's a link to this tool along the bottom of the page. I wasn't looking for it yesterday when I was moving around the website so I'm not sure how long it's been there.

For the NextGen debate, I can really see how this new approach to planning with the guest can facilitate a lot of the functions & options that have been rumored to be in the future. This could easily be the starting point for Disney to "farm" info and walk guests thru scheduling everything from dining to itineraries to fastpasses and on to all sorts of experiences. The possibilities would be endless.

Very interesting. I had noticed a few little glitches in the resort reservation system yesterday when trying to book. When I called in and talked to a CM she said there were updates to the system that have been messing with the system. I just assumed it was ongoing glitches with the last bunch of upgrades to the booking system.

Thoughts?

 

[ggauthier82]

Hi! I didn't get an email, but I've noticed the new tool a few days back. I found it a little frustrating because it wouldn't allow you to plan/book for more than 10 days! We are going for 12 days in August, so I couldn't try it out realistically. What's with the 10-day limit???

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I dunno but I thought the exact same thing. Our trips tend to be longer, too, and we were looking for our next one to be in the 12 night range. I played with the features with just 9 nights to see what it did.

 

[stratman50th]

Just looked at it. Could this possibly be a BETA system they're working on?
The slide bars seem to only want to go to the 3 fixed settings instead of incremental. It makes a difference if you want to mix your trip up I think. I would like to see more options in the room v party size. One of our options was instead of sharing a room with my daughter and her friend in a deluxe resort, I was thinking of adjoining rooms at the Port Orleans. In order to do that you have to break up your party and set up everything a second time.
We'll see how it plays out. Give them a chance to work on it a bit.