NextGen Deep Impact

[Funmeister]

I know NextGen has been discussed and discussed from almost every angle. There is a movement going on right now, in front of your very eyes, that many of you may not even realize. The troops (Cast Members) are being rallied for what will be the biggest push of in-park (general areas) Cast Members in the history of the resort. This number includes the "prize patrols" that used to give away prizes to unsuspecting guests years ago and "Super Greeters" in the Magic Kingdom as they were called in the mid-90's.

One thing the company does realize about NextGen, is that it is going to take some (many) guests a while to adapt to the new culture of how things are done in the parks. With this you will see an influx of Cast Members at all turnstiles (think more of problem solvers vs. opening more turnstiles to get people in faster).

The problem with this is there will NOT be an increase of service but a flurry of soldiers trying to do damage control and educating guests at the same time on a system that is not just new to Disney but to new to a lot of people in general. The labor hours I have heard that will be used for this initiative are mind boggling and there is no definite end time (if any). The company may have dug ourselves into a technological/logistics/operations hell that will never end and just may be the new norm.

Well the Epcot fireworks fired long ago so off to bed I go....this is going to be a mess.

 

[menamechris]

The good news is that when Disney screws up - they do it royally. This will be a sink or swim scenario. Either NextGen costs Disney more than its worth, it doesn't bring in the cash they are projecting, or it is such an insfrustructure/technological nightmare that it backfires on them anyways. Or it could work wonderfully and everyone wins (which I am not betting on). Years from now, there will be lingering effects and elements of NextGen still in use, but I personally doubt it will all work out in the long-term. If Disney is good at anything, it is turning off things that don't work (as opposed to fixing them). I guess we will have to wait and see.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The good news is that when Disney screws up - they do it royally. This will be a sink or swim scenario. Either NextGen costs Disney more than its worth, it doesn't bring in the cash they are projecting, or it is such an insfrustructure/technological nightmare that it backfires on them anyways. Or it could work wonderfully and everyone wins (which I am not betting on). Years from now, there will be lingering effects and elements of NextGen still in use, but I personally doubt it will all work out in the long-term. If Disney is good at anything, it is turning off things that don't work (as opposed to fixing them). I guess we will have to wait and see.

I fear that the egos and costs involved may be too big to allow the project to fail. It will be forced to work somehow, someway in order to save and justify the expense.

 

[nytimez]

Couple of thoughts: My understanding is staffing levels in the park are not what they were even a few years ago and most departments are spread pretty thin already. So... where will this influx of CMs come from? What are they being taken away from to deal with this? In a time when about a zillion things little and big and going undone and undealt-with because of low staffing levels and lower budgets, what else will go un-done and un-dealt with so CMs can stare at people staring at screens that neither of them fully understand?

 

[menamechris]

I fear that the egos and costs involved may be too big to allow the project to fail. It will be forced to work somehow, someway in order to save and justify the expense.

True, if those egos are even around to watch what ends up happening....

 

[Ignohippo]

I know NextGen has been discussed and discussed from almost every angle. There is a movement going on right now, in front of your very eyes, that many of you may not even realize. The troops (Cast Members) are being rallied for what will be the biggest push of in-park (general areas) Cast Members in the history of the resort. This number includes the "prize patrols" that used to give away prizes to unsuspecting guests years ago and "Super Greeters" in the Magic Kingdom as they were called in the mid-90's.

One thing the company does realize about NextGen, is that it is going to take some (many) guests a while to adapt to the new culture of how things are done in the parks. With this you will see an influx of Cast Members at all turnstiles (think more of problem solvers vs. opening more turnstiles to get people in faster).

The problem with this is there will NOT be an increase of service but a flurry of soldiers trying to do damage control and educating guests at the same time on a system that is not just new to Disney but to new to a lot of people in general. The labor hours I have heard that will be used for this initiative are mind boggling and there is no definite end time (if any). The company may have dug ourselves into a technological/logistics/operations hell that will never end and just may be the new norm.

Well the Epcot fireworks fired long ago so off to bed I go....this is going to be a mess.

Hilarious. They'll cut a Flynn Rider M&G (and don't get me started about other classic characters), but will hire hundreds of CMs for a NextGen initiative that no one wants.

Another perfect example of TDO stepping over dollars to pick up dimes.

 

[cheezbat]

You know what really ticks me off about the next gen garbage? It's price tag. They've spent close to 1.5 BILLION dollars on this. Just imagine what they could have done...spreading that money evenly between Epcot, DHS, and DAK...$500 million each would have done wonders for updating old attractions and adding new ones.

Ugh I could cry.

 

[articos]

Next Gen is not a TDO run initiative. It's a Burbank project at top level, with project teams at each of the properties. TDO may end up scrambling to figure it all out, but it's not entirely their deal.

 

[wdwmagic]

Couple of thoughts: My understanding is staffing levels in the park are not what they were even a few years ago and most departments are spread pretty thin already. So... where will this influx of CMs come from? What are they being taken away from to deal with this? In a time when about a zillion things little and big and going undone and undealt-with because of low staffing levels and lower budgets, what else will go un-done and un-dealt with so CMs can stare at people staring at screens that neither of them fully understand?

Staffing levels are certainly up at the Magic Kingdom. They have just had to open a new parking lot to handle the additional cast for FL, and they are about to start expanding the original cast lot.

 

[awilliams4]

I fear that the egos and costs involved may be too big to allow the project to fail. It will be forced to work somehow, someway in order to save and justify the expense.

I 'believe' that NextGen will be considered a huge success within just a couple of years.

I also believe that there are way too many people prone to calling everything in regards FP+/NextGen a failure or a mess so early on in the game.

 

[td1129]

I 'believe' that NextGen will be considered a huge success within just a couple of years.

I also believe that there are way too many people prone to calling everything in regards FP+/NextGen failure or a mess so early on in the game.

This. Reason falls on deaf ears around here though.

 

[Mammymouse]

I'm dreading this whole new age thing. Us 60+ folks aren't even texting yet for heaven's sake and now this!!

 

[John]

This. Reason falls on deaf ears around here though.

No deaf ears here..... The whole thing just dosnt make sense. Did you read Kevin Yee's article? What dosnt make sense is that with all the problems WDW has that this is thier answer. As far as most of us can see, none of NEXGEN adresses those problems....maybe it isnt a hearing problem we have....maybe its a vision problem. What do you think will impact your visit more? updated and new attractions, proper maintence so attractions are not falling to pieces, a more variable menu at resturants? the things that Kevin mentioned or the ability to reserve a FP? Yes NexGen is more then FP+ but most of the NexGen initiative wont be seen by the guest.

Its a data mining program to help seperate you from your money. To call it anything else is factually wrong. I am not disputeing some of the benefits that will come from the program, but with so many other problems it seems like a huge boondoogle. I dont think that the CM hours were calculated in the reported 1.5 Billion that was initally budgeted? SO now tack that on the top of what is being spent and it increases expodentially. A entire park could have been built with that kind of money. Let me ask you this are you willing to pay a considerable amount more for this program? Because that is exactly what is going to happen.

What it is going to boil down to is that it is going to cost me more to micro manage my visit. Most of the direct results of NexGen are already in place....just now it will be more in the control of Disney. All the reservation enhancements are already exsist. Just not to the amount of control NexGen will bring. You may think you have more control of your visit but infact you have less. Oh....and you will pay more....did I already mention that?

And to think that we get most of this now.....for free.

 

[awilliams4]

The whole thing just dosnt make sense. What dosnt make sense is that with all the problems WDW has that this is thier answer. As far as most of us can see, none of NEXGEN adresses those problems....

Its a data mining program to help seperate you from your money. To call it anything else is factually wrong.

What it is going to boil down to is that it is going to cost me more to micro manage my visit. Most of the direct results of NexGen are already in place....just now it will be more in the control of Disney. All the reservation enhancements are already exsist. Just not to the amount of control NexGen will bring. You may think you have more control of your visit but infact you have less. Oh....and you will pay more....did I already mention that?

And to think that we get most of this now.....for free.

The whole thing doesn't make sense? Consolidating multiple features onto your room key/RFID to improve productivity doesn't make sense?

What doesn't make sense is that with all the problems WDW has that this is their answer? How do you know that NextGEN was meant to be their answers to the problems you are referencing?

Its a data mining program to help seperate you from your money. To call it anything else is factually wrong?

So to suggest that NextGEN is a productivity enhancement to many transactions that take place on property and not completely a data mining tool is factually wrong?

How does it cost you more to micro manage your visit?

In my case, this puts more control into my own vacation. I get to get a preferred location in front of the Castle without fighting anyone or waiting 60-90 minutes before hand. I get to go on Toy Story mania AND sleep in on my 'vacation'. How does that put more control of my vacation into Disney's hands. Just the opposite in my case.

And finally, how will I pay more?

 

[MichWolv]

Its a data mining program to help seperate you from your money. To call it anything else is factually wrong. I am not disputeing some of the benefits that will come from the program, but with so many other problems it seems like a huge boondoogle. I dont think that the CM hours were calculated in the reported 1.5 Billion that was initally budgeted? SO now tack that on the top of what is being spent and it increases expodentially. A entire park could have been built with that kind of money. Let me ask you this are you willing to pay a considerable amount more for this program? Because that is exactly what is going to happen.

To deny that there is a data mining program as part of NextGen is factually wrong. But to suggest that is all that NextGen is is also factually wrong. To report as a certainty that charges will be applied that have not been announced is not factual, but opinion.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of potential bad stuff that could be done with NextGen, but there's a lot of stuff that could be done that guests will like and enjoy, if the roll-out is successful. Success will, as always in an initiative this huge, depend on many factors coming together as Disney hopes/believes they will.

 

[ScoutN]

To deny that there is a data mining program as part of NextGen is factually wrong. But to suggest that is all that NextGen is is also factually wrong. To report as a certainty that charges will be applied that have not been announced is not factual, but opinion.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of potential bad stuff that could be done with NextGen, but there's a lot of stuff that could be done that guests will like and enjoy, if the roll-out is successful. Success will, as always in an initiative this huge, depend on many factors coming together as Disney hopes/believes they will.

RIP the days of waking up, deciding what park I want to visit, and reasonable wait times.

 

[MichWolv]

I know NextGen has been discussed and discussed from almost every angle. There is a movement going on right now, in front of your very eyes, that many of you may not even realize. The troops (Cast Members) are being rallied for what will be the biggest push of in-park (general areas) Cast Members in the history of the resort. This number includes the "prize patrols" that used to give away prizes to unsuspecting guests years ago and "Super Greeters" in the Magic Kingdom as they were called in the mid-90's.

One thing the company does realize about NextGen, is that it is going to take some (many) guests a while to adapt to the new culture of how things are done in the parks. With this you will see an influx of Cast Members at all turnstiles (think more of problem solvers vs. opening more turnstiles to get people in faster).

The problem with this is there will NOT be an increase of service but a flurry of soldiers trying to do damage control and educating guests at the same time on a system that is not just new to Disney but to new to a lot of people in general. The labor hours I have heard that will be used for this initiative are mind boggling and there is no definite end time (if any). The company may have dug ourselves into a technological/logistics/operations hell that will never end and just may be the new norm.

Well the Epcot fireworks fired long ago so off to bed I go....this is going to be a mess.

This actually makes me feel a little better...at least Disney realizes that there's a steep learning curve here. I recall the early days of FP, a much smaller change, when people still couldn't figure out what to do ("This thing says I should come back to Space Mountain between 1 and 2 pm. Why can't I just get in line now?"), and there were few CMs around to help (I was actually offerred a tip by a confused family that I explained it to). Similarly, Photopass wrought confusion amongst casual families, and there's usually no one to explain. A phalanx of CMs available to guide people through NextGen shows that Disney is at least going to put forth SOME of the effort necessary to potentially make this work.

 

[MichWolv]

RIP the days of waking up, deciding what park I want to visit, and reasonable wait times.

That all depends on the way this things rolls out. I am speculating, but I don't believe that all the FPs will be taken up by advance bookers, because I don't think that's how the plan works. So as you're on the way to the park you chose, you fire up your smartphone, and reserve a couple of FPs. Now you have a couple of attractions with no wait without having had to scurry around grabbing the FPs. Standby lines at FP attractions won't get any longer than they already are, because I don't believe that Disney is allocating more FPs than currently exist (they'll just allow some of them to be booked in advance). Standby waits at attractions that didn't have FP in the past will most certainly grow by a few minutes (or more), but you'll be able to grab FP+ for some of those attractions as well.

As you know, I'm a numbers guy. Numbers don't run things, nor should they. But following the math most certainly shows that this stuff has the potential to shorten average wait times, improve utilization of park capacity, reduce the amount of criss-crossing the park the average guest will need to do, and increase the number of attractions/experiences/whatever, on average, that guests have time for in a day.

Whether that potential will be realized is the big question. The second big question is whether the benefits, if realized, will be highly concentrated in only the relative few who maximize use of the system, or will accrue even to those who use it only a little. Question three is whether the system will be complicated enough that a good number of people refuse to participate -- because people who don't take advantage of FP+ (and other elements) at all will most certainly get the short end of the stick.

 

[Master Yoda]

I have irrefutable proof that NextGen will cause sinus congestion, watery eyes, male pattern baldness and uneven tire wear.

 

[jakeman]

I have irrefutable proof that NextGen will cause sinus congestion, watery eyes, male pattern baldness and uneven tire wear.

It's does seem to promote compulsive thread creation at the very least.