Numbers, Cars and Quality ...

[WDW1974]

The other option is building high quality attractions and more desirable merchandise... you know, like the company that's kicking their a$$ right now.

This is what you do.

Sorry, didn't make it through your last post ... I can't do long FP posts ... I just can't. They remind of what a chore a WDW vacation is becoming just in talking about how FP works or doesn't or will (or more likely won't) in the future.

Keep them shorter and I might get through them.

 

[WDW1974]

Based on what we've read so far, Next Gen appears to require more preplanning. As it exists today, WDW already requires a lot of preplanning. ADRs need to be booked six months out. Websites for Über planners thrive. Next Gen takes it to the next step, a direction I wish they were not going since I already think WDW requires too much planning.

However, for the family that hates having to wake up early to get to the parks for opening, who hates having to stand in line for 50 minutes for a lot of attractions because they couldn't get a "good" FP time, or who couldn't get the ADRs they wanted, I theorize (I have no inside information) that Next Gen will solve their problems, if they are willing to pay for it.

Basically, I think Next Gen will start giving preferential treatment at the theme parks to those who are willing to pay for it. Given the current corporate environment at TWDC and TDO, I don't believe they'd be willing to invest $1.5B on Next Gen unless they expected to make money from it.

This is the ONLY purpose behind it. This is how Nick Franklin talked Jay Rasulo into it. This is how Jim MacPhee pushed it through when it looked like it was dead.

I don't know why so many people want to believe this is something that will fundamentally alter their WDW MAGICal vacations because unless you're one of the few for which money is truly no object, this is going to negatively affect your visit if they ever get it up and running as they wish.

This is akin to taking a Spirit Airlines flight (I have no stake in the airline and have my lawyers working on making them change their name since they are harming my BRAND!) and paying for your carry on and your seat ... and your luggage ... and when you board etc.

This is an elaborate datamining system that as being cloaked as trip planning since y'all apparently do nothing but about lines and this is Disney saying 'we hear ya and we're going to make all those lines go away ... if you pay and pay and pay and pay and pay and, oh yeah, pay some more' ... this will NEVER make it beyond WDW. Print this post and place it in your WDW/Spirit Hating altars.

 

[WDW1974]

What are the differences?

Look at the pictures online. One is elaborately themed and looks amazing. The other one is WDW's.

 

[djlaosc]

What are the differences?

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/tokyo-disney-sea-toy-story-mania-first.html
http://disneyandmore.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/tokyo-disney-sea-toy-story-mania-part.html

 

[The Empress Lilly]

a new revenue stream for a mature business by stratifying guests and charging for many things that once were free

I think this is the most concise description ever of (one of the core aspects of) NextGen.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

This is an elaborate datamining system that as being cloaked as trip planning since y'all apparently do nothing but about lines and this is Disney saying 'we hear ya and we're going to make all those lines go away ... if you pay and pay and pay and pay and pay and, oh yeah, pay some more'

The scary thing is, WDW will have a financial incentive to maintain lines. The longer the lines, the more valuable the fastpass.
(Only if the additional money customers spend on merch and food&bev from time not standing in line exceeds fastpass revenue, plus cost of diminished customer satisfaction, does the incentive disappear).

Fastpass increases in value at the sight of us grunts who have to work for their money being kept occupied in line with infantile interactive games no sane person would ever play were he not a coralled animal without an alternative.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Triple reply whammy!

Who are these folks who look like they live in trailers that are paying $300-400-500-600 a night to stay at WDW?

This, my dear, is the biggest mystery of all of Disney. Indeed, of all of America. It has puzzled me forever.

Solve it and I promise I will worship at the altar of Spirit and forcefeed $6,49 Starbucks caffeine fantasy drinks to fanbois in penitence for my sins!

 

[GoofGoof]

Triple reply whammy!
This, my dear, is the biggest mystery of all of Disney. Indeed, of all of America. It has puzzled me forever.

Solve it and I promise I will worship at the altar of Spirit and forcefeed $6,49 Starbucks caffeine fantasy drinks to fanbois in penitence for my sins!

Two answers.... Visa and MasterCard

 

[yeti]

Two answers.... Visa and MasterCard

and McDonalds

 

[John]

Triple reply whammy!
This, my dear, is the biggest mystery of all of Disney. Indeed, of all of America. It has puzzled me forever.

Solve it and I promise I will worship at the altar of Spirit and forcefeed $6,49 Starbucks caffeine fantasy drinks to fanbois in penitence for my sins!

You ever hear of something called.......earned income credit? Yea.....you and I are paying thier way..and I am not kidding.

 

[John]

Mystery solved......I dont think the Spirted alter is in Fl. though. Seems it might be not even in the US. I think you might beable to find a mess of fanboi's lined up at the Whats nex......ummmmm errrr Around the world announcement in a couple days. Sadly Starbucks will not be open, but I think turkey legs will do.

 

[wedenterprises]

I can't wait to plan my space mountain trip for 2:39pm months in advance only to show up and it's closed or broken. Classic.

 

[flynnibus]

From what I've seen so far, Next Gen is not creating new technology. Instead, it's evolving existing COTS technology and integrating these into a unified system. IMHO, that's repackaging. Next Gen might offer a "new" theme park experience but most (all?) of its individual components are already well-established (or at least available) in other industries.

Don't discount it. There is a reason Disney is willing to invest this much to DIFFERENTIATE themselves in the market. If it were a simple repackaging, there would be no competitive advantage to doing this. I still hold the belief the foundation for this is differentiating from the pack - not simply trying to find new revenue streams. The latter comes with it -- not the original motivation.

 

[asianway]

I can't wait to plan my space mountain trip for 2:39pm months in advance only to show up and it's closed or broken. Classic.

I guess they won't ever be able to pull a Test Track black op closure again

 

[SirOinksALot]

Just as a point of curiosity, what data mining is everyone thinking is going on here? You're already giving Disney your name, address, contact info, credit card, making ADR's, booking rooms, etc. Mining implies that there's more to excavate.

 

[flynnibus]

Just as a point of curiosity, what data mining is everyone thinking is going on here? You're already giving Disney your name, address, contact info, credit card, making ADR's, booking rooms, etc. Mining implies that there's more to excavate.

Data mining is not just collecting data points - but the analysis of collected data points into new views and understanding. Collecting data is just one thing - but without analytics to digest that data into useful views and conclusions.. it's just a pile of dirt. And there are far more data points they can collect now with RFID they couldn't collect before. Before they could see how many people were entering an attraction, now they know 'who' is.. they can collect data without you actually manually interacting, etc.

 

[danlb_2000]

Data mining is not just collecting data points - but the analysis of collected data points into new views and understanding. Collecting data is just one thing - but without analytics to digest that data into useful views and conclusions.. it's just a pile of dirt. And there are far more data points they can collect now with RFID they couldn't collect before. Before they could see how many people were entering an attraction, now they know 'who' is.. they can collect data without you actually manually interacting, etc.

Yeah, knowing who you are is only half the puzzle. Knowing your habits, like, dislikes, etc while in the park can be very valuable information that could be put to a lot of interesting uses.

 

[Clever Name]

Yeah, knowing who you are is only half the puzzle. Knowing your habits, like, dislikes, etc while in the park can be very valuable information that could be put to a lot of interesting uses.

It doesn't stop with just the parks or resorts. The data is cross referenced with your social network and net ID's including your email and shopiing habits on Amazon, Ebay, etc. Your credit lines (credit cards, car loans, mortgage, etc.) and earnings (salary, investments, banking, etc.) are also gathered. It's a complete profile including criminal and civil litigations in which you might have been involved. They also get your birth date, social security number, driver's license number and employment information. It's pretty easy to track down the information because so many people are very lax about protecting their private information. People make the mistake of thinking that they can be anonymous on the Internet.

 

[Hakunamatata]

It doesn't stop with just the parks or resorts. The data is cross referenced with your social network and net ID's including your email and shopiing habits on Amazon, Ebay, etc. Your credit lines (credit cards, car loans, mortgage, etc.) and earnings (salary, investments, banking, etc.) are also gathered. It's a complete profile including criminal and civil litigations in which you might have been involved. They also get your birth date, social security number, driver's license number and employment information. It's pretty easy to track down the information because so many people are very lax about protecting their private information. People make the mistake of thinking that they can be anonymous on the Internet.

Are you saying with next gen Disney is going to gather the aforementioned information?

 

[Skibum1970]

Are you saying with next gen Disney is going to gather the aforementioned information?

I would think so. What if we were expected to swipe the RFID card every time that we went into a ride or restaurant? They would learn all about your preferences regarding rides, parades, and how you spend your day. Then, one thing to market would be a plan that was created especially for you. They would also learn about your dining preferences and what you like to buy and voila, it's amazing available for you. This might be taking it too far but I can see them doing this. I do data mining for a living as an auditor and it is easy to identify trends and even anomalies. With a GPS chip in the RFID card/wristband, they'll know where you are the whole time. I know this sounds like "Big Brother is watching you" but it could easily be taken that far without doing anything more than handing us the RFID wristband or card.

This gets back to crowd control and finding a way to try and enhance your experience. For a cost. For the record, I am not terribly concerned about them knowing where I am. If they really need to know when I eat, ride, and go to the restroom, more power to them. I just don't want to have to pay for an enhancement that I don't care about and I don't want WDW to not develop rides because of $1.5 billion+ being spent on NextGen.