NextGen / FP+ / Magic Band. The official truth starts to appear

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Here's a question. What if I am going away on the 21st of June, which I am, but you know, and they decide that you can only have FP+ a week before I'm due to go. I can't book anything because everything will be taken. Will the normal FP still be available during this transitional period because if not, that's really going to blow big time.
One of the things I expect to happen is that the initial availability of advanced Fastpass+ reservations will fluctuate from what they initially planned.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
This risk has nothing to do with RFID and is a risk with any house charge account system. It's a risk that has been there for decades.
It's associated with the new system. People don't care which aspect of the new system is as at fault. To the end consumer, they will pick something they think they understand and attach blame. For Disney's purposes, it needs to be fixed. They can't be consumed with the public dissemination of which aspect of the system is at fault.
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
This risk has nothing to do with RFID and is a risk with any house charge account system. It's a risk that has been there for decades.

Didn't the front desks replace their computer systems recently? Sounds like a random bug in that (which would have manifested itself RFID or no RFID) rather than anything directly connected to NextGen.

-Rob
 

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Didn't the front desks replace their computer systems recently? Sounds like a random bug in that (which would have manifested itself RFID or no RFID) rather than anything directly connected to NextGen.
Generally speaking, NextGen is the term used to cover an extensive upgrade of WDW's technology, including RFID equipment, computing equipment, database conversion & consolidation, and extensive land and wireless network updates. RFID is one aspect of NextGen, with MagicBands (along with the associated Mickey globes) currently representing the physical embodiment of NextGen to most consumers. When presenting MM+ to the public, Disney has been publishing photos of the MagicBands and the Mickey globes but these represent only a small fraction of the total cost of NextGen. Many of NextGen's most expensive elements never will be directly visible to the public, although their effects on the overall WDW experience will be.

Based on limited information available to the public, these bugs appear to be related to NextGen's database conversion, not to the RFID technology itself.

Still, it's very bad to be exposing such private information in such public ways.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
Didn't the front desks replace their computer systems recently? Sounds like a random bug in that (which would have manifested itself RFID or no RFID) rather than anything directly connected to NextGen.

-Rob

I'm sure it's associated with the changeover... but it's not some new risk associated with the technology. So when people say 'the scariest thing about magic band' ... its misfounded.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
It's associated with the new system. People don't care which aspect of the new system is as at fault. To the end consumer, they will pick something they think they understand and attach blame

Doesn't make it right - it makes it flailing and being misinformed. This is not some reason to fear the new concepts - it's reason not to trust Disney due to their incompetence in rolling out technology.
 

darthhaider

New Member
Ah, the saga continues.
Now, my wife, oldest daughter, and I all appear on the reservation for the hotel, but my youngest is nowhere to be found.
Reservation states that it is still for 2 adults and 2 children, but youngest does not appear.
I am referring to the Reservation portion of the My Disney Experience.
Strangely enough, youngest does appear in all of our dining reservations.
I can't find any way to add her to the hotel reservation.

Any suggestions?
 

darthhaider

New Member
Also, I can't seem to find the My Disney Experience portion of the website on my computer.
I used to be able to access it without any problems.
I am in Canada, if that somehow makes a difference.
 

Tom

Beta Return
Disclaimer: I have no interest in searching to see if this has been mentioned yet....

In today's paper, the USA Weekend insert had THIS article about Next Gen.

Besides being "journalism" at its worst (and no, it wasn't really written by a 10-year old, obviously), it is so absolutely full of ignorance, it's sadly humorous.

Here's a paragraph that just made me Facepalm:

"We went over to the Toy Story Mania ride at Hollywood Studios, and the line was humongous. Even with a fast pass, the signs said you should come back at 7 that night. We got there at noon. That’s seven hours you’d have to wait!"

An uneducated reader would think that using Fastpass literally means you have to WAIT for 7 hours to ride something....as in, wait in line.

Then there was this depressing insight into the demise of our society:

"We tried the Test Track ride at Epcot. This ride has been at Disney for a while, but it has been made more computerized. You design your car on a computer screen, and then you’re put in a “Sim-Car” that is like the one you designed. You ride really fast, up to 65 mph. After the ride, the computer analyzes how your car did......I liked the computer parts of this ride better than the ride itself. It was like playing a video game that becomes real. But there’s not many rides that have it. It would be awesome if the Mission: Space ride at Epcot or the Spaceship Earth ride had computer control panels."

Sigh. This "kid" has been raised on video games and thinks all Disney rides should just be video games, where he can sit on the couch in isolation to experience them. And Disney is catering to this generation of zombies.

Here's some info Disney probably won't appreciate:

"Disney is also going for more purchases. The wristbands will have your charge card information embedded. “With wristbands instead of cash, you are definitely going to spend a little more,” Testa says."

It's odd that they specifically wrote an articles about spring and summer Disney vacations, with an emphasis on Next Gen, when it doesn't really exist yet....nor do we have any idea when any of the features they mentioned WILL exist (if ever).

It's just an overall mess of an article. It's going to instill a sense of unnecessary fear (akin to that stirred up by this thread) in people, while also making promises of things that are far from reality.

Ok, that's my contribution to this insane thread. Carry on.
 

articos

Well-Known Member
Disclaimer: I have no interest in searching to see if this has been mentioned yet....

In today's paper, the USA Weekend insert had THIS article about Next Gen.

Besides being "journalism" at its worst (and no, it wasn't really written by a 10-year old, obviously), it is so absolutely full of ignorance, it's sadly humorous.
Wow is that a dumb article. Basically an excuse for Dad to take his family to Disney on the paper's expense. Doesn't make USA look good, doesn't make Disney look good either.
 

SirLink

Well-Known Member
Disclaimer: I have no interest in searching to see if this has been mentioned yet....

In today's paper, the USA Weekend insert had THIS article about Next Gen.

Besides being "journalism" at its worst (and no, it wasn't really written by a 10-year old, obviously), it is so absolutely full of ignorance, it's sadly humorous.

.

The problem here is when people think that people who run the entertainment/travel side of newspapers/web portals as journalists they never have been nor never will they are simply "____press"(i.e. Movie Press, Video game press, Travel press, etc.)

The problem I have is when you use Captain Lou as a good quote, same with Len - should be 100% unbiased opinion they put into the articles.

Also about the weird videogame portion of the article - my take is that he enjoys videogames and is more engaged with the narrative elements more of a videogame - than the likes of TLM attraction - it would be interesting if they did another piece on UO I would say you would most likely hear just praise...
 

bigAWL

Member
Also, I can't seem to find the My Disney Experience portion of the website on my computer.
I used to be able to access it without any problems.
I am in Canada, if that somehow makes a difference.

I've heard multiple reports from Canadians saying they can't access the MDE website yet. Same goes for the UK.

When were you able to access it and for how long?
 

Pentacat

Well-Known Member
Disclaimer: I have no interest in searching to see if this has been mentioned yet....

In today's paper, the USA Weekend insert had THIS article about Next Gen.

Besides being "journalism" at its worst (and no, it wasn't really written by a 10-year old, obviously), it is so absolutely full of ignorance, it's sadly humorous.

This has to be the best worst article I've ever read. Somewhere there's an unemployed person with a journalism degree and years of actual reporting experience contemplating suicide after reading this crap.

Here's my conspiratorial LOL of the day. USA Today is owned by Gannett which owns a large group of NBC affiliate TV stations which are dependent on Comcast which owns Universal...This article was poorly written intentionally to distract you from the fact that it's a Comcast backed hack job of NGEMM+. :eek:

I really need to drink less coffee.
 

GrumpyFan

Well-Known Member
"We tried the Test Track ride at Epcot. This ride has been at Disney for a while, but it has been made more computerized. You design your car on a computer screen, and then you’re put in a “Sim-Car” that is like the one you designed. You ride really fast, up to 65 mph. After the ride, the computer analyzes how your car did......I liked the computer parts of this ride better than the ride itself. It was like playing a video game that becomes real. But there’s not many rides that have it. It would be awesome if the Mission: Space ride at Epcot or the Spaceship Earth ride had computer control panels."

Sigh. This "kid" has been raised on video games and thinks all Disney rides should just be video games, where he can sit on the couch in isolation to experience them. And Disney is catering to this generation of zombies.

I'm afraid this "kid" is somewhat representative of a lot of the rest of today's kids. They are inundated with iPhones/Androids, tablets, video games, computers, etc. and they are completely familiar with them and in some cases addicted at early ages. The graphics they have on these are incredible and sometimes more realistic than reality. The level of immersion that these games offer is unparalleled and increasingly difficult to compete with using traditional methods. I believe this generation coming up is going to want, demand even, a more interactive experience, where they don't just ride the attractions, but they are immersed in it and allowed to interact and control it in ways like never before. Like it or not, this "kid" is right, and he's already imagining what he wants to be able to do with these attractions, he wants play a video game that becomes real. Just imagine if Mission:Space's controls actually changed how the ride/mission went. What if you could actually build a real Test car, and not this illusion of something, that's really the same every time. The entertainment threshold for this generation is much higher than the previous, and Disney as well as their competitors are going to have to find new ways to meet it, or somebody else will.
 

SirLink

Well-Known Member
I'm afraid this "kid" is somewhat representative of a lot of the rest of today's kids. They are inundated with iPhones/Androids, tablets, video games, computers, etc. and they are completely familiar with them and in some cases addicted at early ages. The graphics they have on these are incredible and sometimes more realistic than reality. The level of immersion that these games offer is unparalleled and increasingly difficult to compete with using traditional methods. I believe this generation coming up is going to want, demand even, a more interactive experience, where they don't just ride the attractions, but they are immersed in it and allowed to interact and control it in ways like never before. Like it or not, this "kid" is right, and he's already imagining what he wants to be able to do with these attractions, he wants play a video game that becomes real. Just imagine if Mission:Space's controls actually changed how the ride/mission went. What if you could actually build a real Test car, and not this illusion of something, that's really the same every time. The entertainment threshold for this generation is much higher than the previous, and Disney as well as their competitors are going to have to find new ways to meet it, or somebody else will.

The problem isn't that though .... I would say there is huge segment, I work in interactive media, of adults in this position as well - it isn't to do with context but rather content. If you aim your product 'down' at toddler's - then they will really like it and outside of that bracket finds it incredibly lame.

However, if you talk "upto" your guests and position your content in terms of more adult way - see Alien Encounter, then you keep your audience engaged. And I'm not saying build attractions just for adults - but to use TLM ride again and compare it to the HM - both Omnimovers one talks "upto" their guests the other talks "down" to their guests...
 

GrumpyFan

Well-Known Member
The problem isn't that though .... I would say there is huge segment, I work in interactive media, of adults in this position as well - it isn't to do with context but rather content. If you aim your product 'down' at toddler's - then they will really like it and outside of that bracket finds it incredibly lame.

However, if you talk "upto" your guests and position your content in terms of more adult way - see Alien Encounter, then you keep your audience engaged. And I'm not saying build attractions just for adults - but to use TLM ride again and compare it to the HM - both Omnimovers one talks "upto" their guests the other talks "down" to their guests...

Right, but isn't there a balance that can be attained as well where you try to aim for both the younger and older crowds? Like in movies, the better ones aim for and sometimes hit the "four quadrants", making it appeal to all. It's not easy to do, but when it does, you can clearly see it.
 

SirLink

Well-Known Member
Right, but isn't there a balance that can be attained as well where you try to aim for both the younger and older crowds? Like in movies, the better ones aim for and sometimes hit the "four quadrants", making it appeal to all. It's not easy to do, but when it does, you can clearly see it.

Again look at HM and TLM one was designed from "down to" and "upto" methods I described. Both are omnimovers, both aim for the same market, HINT: TLM was using the "down to" model.

But another point is they'll design splash zones for toddlers in theme parks - but won't design "scary" attractions as for an older set.
 

tracyandalex

Well-Known Member
I heard from a CM friend that people at his attraction have been trained for MagicBands and they are just about ready to go

Last night one of my CM friends said they are trying to really go full force with the bands in the next few months. I was asking about APs, but I think she was speaking in general.
 

Tom

Beta Return
Right, but isn't there a balance that can be attained as well where you try to aim for both the younger and older crowds? Like in movies, the better ones aim for and sometimes hit the "four quadrants", making it appeal to all. It's not easy to do, but when it does, you can clearly see it.

Yes, this would be ideal. It would be a terrible practice to aim for merely one or two demographics. Disney will lose all of their faithful, loyal, "older" fans if they turn every ride into an interactive video game.

I guess my primary reason for commenting on that segment of the article wasn't to say that Disney shouldn't evolve some of their technology-based attractions. I was actually more concerned with the fact that the kid didn't want to experience the RIDE at all - just the video game and computer parts. I, personally, find that sad and disgusting. Everything in that kid's mind is virtual. He has no concept of reality, or physical make-believe. THAT is the bigger problem, for me, than pointing out that Disney doesn't have more interactive rides.
 

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