PHOTO - NextGen RFID entry system installed at the Haunted Mansion

[Engenie]

I’m looking forward to it! I know there are no immediate and obvious advantages to the average guest, but it sure looks like the people behind the scenes have been working real hard to lay a foundation that can continually advance and encompass a massive property and numerous systems. I’m sure it’s not easy to do, but I think if they really nail this beginning set-up you can expect to see some pretty cool things. They won’t be tomorrow, or even next year, but if it’s a rock solid foundation, I think they could really push it to new heights that we haven’t thought of yet. I mean who knows really, if they can really push it well into the future, it just maybe worth the hold off on one, two, (or three or whatever) E-tickets for this past (relatively) brief period.

 

[tdpolo26]

Actually, the news about the Next Gen project has been extensively discussed since it was first announced. And for many it's neither the fact TDO is doing it first (because it inevitably e d up in the other parks) or any other concerns over RFID (which apparently you knew so little about before yesterday). It's that so much money and resources are being our into a project when the WDW parks have so many needs to address.

It does seem like alot of the money has gone into infrastructure though.... new wifi.... prolly ground based gps units ... these things cost alot to implement and maintain and the great part is they do more then just nextgen. you can now buy cheap ipod touchs on craigslist and give them to the kids to use around the parks or other things like that. i would have been more mad if it was all on reasearch and development of a system with little homebased infrastructure

 

[cba]

I am super excited for this and I think it's a great addition to the Haunted Mansion but I have a question, have they taken down the fastpass kiosks for all the fastpass rides?

 

[googilycub]

The malcontents have a definite agenda: everything Disney does it wrong and terrible just because TDO is doing it.

Welcome to today's WDWMAGIC.

 

[menamechris]

They are spending how much on all this? Yet peter pans flight continues to fall apart, among other things.

We are getting new Tangled-themed toilets, though! YES!

 

[Buried20KLeague]

The malcontents have a definite agenda: everything Disney does it wrong and terrible just because TDO is doing it. It reminds me of an old SNL sketch I remember where a grump at the office party hated everything and thought everything was terrible and not as good as it was at some other company's party he went to. And so he spent the whole time complaining and whining and trying to rain on everyone else's fun time. And then the last shot was him hiding in the coffee break area eating as many of the cookies as he could. You know, the cookies he thought were cheap and terrible.

Disney malcontents are the same way. They trash this RFID and NextGen stuff now, but in a few years when it's all up and running they will no doubt eagerly take part in their benefits.

I blame corn.

And malcontent daughters.

 

[Brewmaster]

And malcontent daughters.

/golf clap sir...

 

[rioriz]

Ugh this has to be the worst news ever...this must be TDO's Legoland Swatter...

 

[Jim Handy]

Ugh this has to be the worst news ever...this must be TDO's Legoland Swatter...

This is actually TDO looking ahead at the future.

Apparently, in the future, there are no new attractions. We are all neurotic hyper planners.

 

[wdwmagic]

I am super excited for this and I think it's a great addition to the Haunted Mansion but I have a question, have they taken down the fastpass kiosks for all the fastpass rides?

No, the FP machines are still in use with the current system.

 

[lebeau]

MK can't afford to close anymore attractions until FLE is open. Which is why the refub list has been so short these past couple years. These kinds of updates don't require downtime.

There is so much wrong with this. Not necessarily your statement. But with this situation. You are saying that Disney has managed their parks in such a way that they can't perform proper maintenance in their busiest park for several years due to capacity concerns. If I performed my job that badly, I would be contributing to the nation's unemployment figures.

It boggles the mind! And yet, people defend them.

 

[lebeau]

The malcontents have a definite agenda: everything Disney does it wrong and terrible just because TDO is doing it.

Disney malcontents are the same way. They trash this RFID and NextGen stuff now, but in a few years when it's all up and running they will no doubt eagerly take part in their benefits.

Ah, the old "malcontents" label. Keep hammering away at that and maybe it will stick.

Most of the people who are vocal about the direction Disney has taken with WDW do so because they love it. And most will praise Disney when the praise is deserved. I have yet to see anyone who flat out disliked everything.

There are very legit reasons to be concerned about Next Gen which have been outlined in thread after thread as more details have become available. But as disconcerting as the entire project may be, it's even more so because it seems to be taking the place of adding/maintaining actual attractions. You know, the reason people go to Disney World to begin with.

Will people who complaing about Next Gen make use of it? Of course they will. If they don't, they will be penalized with longer waits in the standby line. Just because everyone will be forced to participate doesn't make it a good idea.

 

[lebeau]

It does seem like alot of the money has gone into infrastructure though.... new wifi.... prolly ground based gps units ... these things cost alot to implement and maintain and the great part is they do more then just nextgen. you can now buy cheap ipod touchs on craigslist and give them to the kids to use around the parks or other things like that. i would have been more mad if it was all on reasearch and development of a system with little homebased infrastructure

Terrific. Now I can pay top dollar for my daughter to play with her iPod at a Disney park instead of playing with it on our couch. Maybe they can shut down all the attractions and just put in a bunch of XBoxes next.

 

[lebeau]

This is actually TDO looking ahead at the future.

Apparently, in the future, there are no new attractions. We are all neurotic hyper planners.

Who can't go 10 seconds without checking e-mail and playing Angry Birds.

I'm starting to think Wall-E was a documentary sent from the not-too-distant future.

 

[JWG]

Man, I'm sure glad the internet wasn't around when Disney moved from using room keys to using keycards. I mean, seriously, think about how many more e-ticket attractions we'd have if only we still had those old keys! Come to think of it, we'd probably be better off if everything was still the old original technology of when it was first introduced. If that were the case, we'd probaly have 6 theme parks with 4 water parks by now.

I, for one, am confused as to why people are so worked up over a new system we haven't even seen yet. I'm happy to not have to carry around paper fastpass tickets as I'm sure so are the cast members who won't have to check them. In the long-run, this is a much more sustainable program and makes sense. You get a return time, it's recorded on your RFID device (whether it be a wrist band, keycard, phone app, whatever...) and you scan that device upon return.

Now, how they use it is a debate to have once we know how they'll use it. But moving to a paperless system was inevitable and the timing is later than I even expected. As to WiFi to make this all work - I'm down with that, too. So, I can now check the wait time for Soarin' while standing in Germany without having to trek all the way over there to find out the standby line exceeds the time I have before my ADR in France. Super!

 

[lebeau]

Man, I'm sure glad the internet was around when Disney moved from using room keys to using keycards. I mean, seriously, think about how many more e-ticket attractions we'd have if only we still had those old keys! Come to think of it, we'd probably be better off if everything was still the old original technology of when it was first introduced. If that were the case, we'd probaly have 6 theme parks with 4 water parks by now.

I, for one, am confused as to why people are so worked up over a new system we haven't even seen yet. I'm happy to not have to carry around paper fastpass tickets as I'm sure so are the cast members who won't have to check them. In the long-run, this is a much more sustainable program and makes sense. You get a return time, it's recorded on your RFID device (whether it be a wrist band, keycard, phone app, whatever...) and you scan that device upon return.

Now, how they use it is a debate to have once we know how they'll use it. But moving to a paperless system was inevitable and the timing is later than I even expected. As to WiFi to make this all work - I'm down with that, too. So, I can now check the wait time for Soarin' while standing in Germany without having to trek all the way over there to find out the standby line exceeds the time I have before my ADR in France. Super!

I don't think anyone here is anti-innovation. We want improvements to the infrastucture. But Disney has put the cart before the horse by prioritizing the infrastructure over the parks they are meant to support.

You really perfer paperless FP over new e-tickets?

 

[IWant2GoNow]

The malcontents have a definite agenda: everything Disney does it wrong and terrible just because TDO is doing it. It reminds me of an old SNL sketch I remember where a grump at the office party hated everything and thought everything was terrible and not as good as it was at some other company's party he went to. And so he spent the whole time complaining and whining and trying to rain on everyone else's fun time. And then the last shot was him hiding in the coffee break area eating as many of the cookies as he could. You know, the cookies he thought were cheap and terrible.

Disney malcontents are the same way. They trash this RFID and NextGen stuff now, but in a few years when it's all up and running they will no doubt eagerly take part in their benefits.

I know you're relatively new here, but I can assure you that no matter the demeanor of the poster on this site we are all here because we love Disney. (Unless you're an absolute troll which are weeded out quickly thanks to the awesome mods.) Your analogy to SNL is not quite accurate though. I'm sure there are things that people point out in the parks when they are there, but I feel confident in saying that when we are at WDW we all still have a good time. As far as comparing it to "some other company"? Yes, occasionally you'll here "UNI is doing this better" but I think a majority of people around here only compare Disney to... Disney. They miss the quality concern that just doesn't appear to be as strong anymore. Being only 30, I've not seen as much of the changes happen as some others on here, but they have seen consistent drops in the quality of their favorite product. Why should they be happy all the time? If they were, then Disney would just rest on the name alone & continue to let the quality degrade even further. No one here is a closet Disney fan. They don't bash, bash, bash, & then pray no one sees them enjoying Dumbo. You wouldn't sit back & watch a beloved relative spiral further downward into a drug binge without offering constructive criticism, as is the same with WDW & their quality of product.

For the NextGen concerns, I'm all for it. Can't wait... BUT most people feel that Disney COULD have waited. If I began to list the quality issues around all 4 parks without the concern for new attractions & such, just what is already in place, I would be typing for quite a while. Then other posters would mention things I missed for the next 20 posts or so. I will only name a few though so that you can see what could be fixed with a smidgeon of the 1 BILLION dollars (the figure I've heard anyway) that they are spending on NextGen.

Falling rock scene on BTMRR
Continuous AA issues on Splash
Quality of PPF
Dinosaur effects that have been turned off or altered
Our big fury friend in my avatar as well as other effects on E:E
Tree of Life
SSE decent
Imagination pavilion
Wonders of Life pavilion
Backlot Tour

Just a small sampling of things. Not even saying ALL of these need to be fixed all at once, but they do need work. For Disney to shrug these off goes against the theme park precedent that THEY set. That is why we nitpick at times. There are plenty of things that Disney does right but lately they seem to be creating more things than they can maintain. The "Don't look over there. Look over here!" technique will only work for so long.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Will people who complaing about Next Gen make use of it? Of course they will. If they don't, they will be penalized with longer waits in the standby line. Just because everyone will be forced to participate doesn't make it a good idea.

Quoted for ABSOLUTE, COMPLETE and TOTAL TRUTH.

 

[tracyandalex]

I for one am excited to see what NextGen will bring. I get that there are other things for Disney to spend money on in the parks, but there will never be a perfect time to roll this out. There will always be something else that needs to be updated and there will always be new rides that can be built. Because I do not know what went on in deciding to do this now I really can't comment on whether this is the right time for this or not. For the casual WDW visitor the "condition" of the parks is not judged as harshly as it is by those of us that visit at least once per year. As JWG said this has so much potential and it will put Disney ahead in theme park technology. All that being said I will definitely be annoyed if this is not used to its fullest potential. Before we bash NextGen, let's see what Disney does with it.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

I have got to imagine that Steve probably thinks twice and then twice again before posting any news about the new RFID related stuff simply because it seems to turn into a hefty discussion after. To me, the RFID FP things are just an upgraded FP that doesn't require a piece of paper to be reviewed by a CM for accuracy of date/time etc. I think it'll speed things up a bit. Will it be used in the future for the Next Gen/xPass stuff? Probably but no one has ALL the details on that yet so I'm focused on one thing at a time.

I remember when FP's were first introduced and the online world just went nuts over what a bad idea it was. Me... I'm all for change... keep moving forward as Walt himself said. I won't sit here and bash what no one completely understands yet. I want to see what Disney is coming up with next to make their guest experiences better and frankly to give me something new to experience after having gone so many times. So keep changing things up Disney and keep surprising me!