Spirited News and Observations and Opinions ...

[WDW1974]

well maybe they'll announce Staggs going to washington for a few days.. for next month's installment of limited time magic

I dunno.

I do know that Disney isn't going to be able to press release their way out of this one.

I could easily see Tom spending some unplanned time on the Hill ... when is the cherry blossom season (not til March or April, right?)

 

[WDW1974]

So MacPhee is the sacrificial lamb? Rather despicable business tactic in my opinion.

It is his job to handle MyMagic+ integration on every level of WDW business along with the Accenture & Cisco Business Group.

If things fail miserably (not talking datamining or bad PR or even fans whining about not getting FPs for Space Mtn once in a week-long trip), yes, he is taking the fall. That's just from an Ops standpoint.

But if it blows up in any of the other ways as well, his will be sacrificed. That might have explained his less than cheerful demeanor back at EPCOT's 30th sham.

 

[drew81]

For people saying they are not worried about Disney mishandling info let me share this info with you. I am a Disney shareholder. Several years ago information was lost or stolen etc. Disney contacted the affected shareholders offering free identity theft protection. Granted, info could be stolen by anyone and they did provide the service but it made me wonder how exactly do you lose all my personal shareholder info. Supposedly it was stored on discs and those went missing.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Nick Franklin should be right next to Jim.

 

[Hakunamatata]

For people saying they are not worried about Disney mishandling info let me share this info with you. I am a Disney shareholder. Several years ago information was lost or stolen etc. Disney contacted the affected shareholders offering free identity theft protection. Granted, info could be stolen by anyone and they did provide the service but it made me wonder how exactly do you lose all my personal shareholder info. Supposedly it was stored on discs and those went missing.

Most major businesses do the same. Company laptop goes missing, IT can tell exactly which customer info was on it and letters go out offering identity protection for a year. It's not a fun process.....

 

[WDW1974]

This is a really bad possibility. The success of Carsland and DCA 2.0 should/could lead to more stuff for DLR, but it works both ways. If Carsland flopped they wouldn't be considering building anything else anytime soon.

Even success means little when it comes to leading to more reinvestment. How many times in the last 2-3 years have you ever heard DCA's Phase II makeover mentioned? I'd guess zero unless you read all my posts because Disney is sorta hoping that everyone is so thrilled with the first phase that they all forget that there's supposed to be another one (smaller budget, likely under $1 billion) to FINISH the park. You don't even hear my good pal Al Lutz mention it because everyone just enjoys the shiny new stuff and doesn't realize the puzzle isn't completed.

DL getting new things, which it will, is more a balancing act as well as a response to The Boy Who Lived deciding to buy a west coast home up in the Hills!

Jump over to WDW and Nextgen. If this thing flops and they don't see returns from it I would expect a virtual freeze in additional capital spending and the possibility of both price increases and cost cutting. As fans we see new rides as completely different than Nextgen. From the corporate side and the view of shareholders (represented by the BOD) they are both just billion dollar capital expenditures. If Nextgen succeeds and shows a strong return it would leave the door open for further investment in the parks. I'm not dusted up enough to think they would dump all of the profits gained back into the WDW parks, but I do think a positive return on this project would make getting the next project green lit a lot easier. Maybe a back door reason to hope Nextgen isn't a complete flop.

Absolutely. They are expecting a significant growth in guest spending due to MyMagic+ plus increases in costs of everything. They are counting on a new revenue stream from this model. If it doesn't happen, I don't see how anyone in their right mind sees even small scale stuff (like $10 million on a new night parade) being approved. WDW will stagnate more than it has over the last decade. ... well, except for DVCs. There could be a nuclear attack tomorrow and Disney would still be building timeshares.

 

[WDW1974]

Troll said: Tin foil hats! Sycophants! Pretentious restaurants!
Folks said: Troll! ADRs are evil! Moderator!

That's pretty much it. I actually just woke up hoping I dreamed it...

So ... you sorta saw yourself in the Pamela Ewing role?

Not surprising.

BTW, if I have sycophants now, then what will happen to all my fanboi minions that I keep shackled (to be fair, they like that) in my basement?

 

[GoofGoof]

For people saying they are not worried about Disney mishandling info let me share this info with you. I am a Disney shareholder. Several years ago information was lost or stolen etc. Disney contacted the affected shareholders offering free identity theft protection. Granted, info could be stolen by anyone and they did provide the service but it made me wonder how exactly do you lose all my personal shareholder info. Supposedly it was stored on discs and those went missing.

This is unfortunately all too common. My wife had her info stolen from DSW shoe warehouse store a few years ago. Same thing. They contacts us and said someone hacked in and got the credit card numbers. Nothing came of it, but it gave me a good reason to limit her shoe shopping

Although this is common I would think that credit card numbers and personal info used for identity theft are more valuable to hackers than which rides I rode twice and how many t-shirts I bought and churros I ate and where. The financial info is/was always available when you checked in to a hotel.

I posted this about the predator aspect of this last ought, but then the troll came and it got burried.

I agree. Here's my understanding of how the technology works. If I'm wrong i'm sure someone more knowledgeable can correct this. The wristbands are not GPS enabled. Even if a CM or hacker accessed the system illegally the system cannot tell them where a person is "real time". It can tell them where the nearest censor was that the person passed by and what time it could also tell them when little Billy opened the door to his room (assuming Billy used his band and not mom's, dad's or big bros). If little Billy then left the room there is no way for the system to know this. You scan your wristband to get in to your room not to get out. Forget about the question of why little Billy was left in the room alone, I'm not sure how a predator could know Billy was still in the room and alone. I have young kids and their safety is obviously very important to me, but I'm not too worried about this system being used for that reason.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

I don't either. Sometimes, I just sorta attract nuts (as well as women and fanbois!)
But I don't trust Disney spending money. Whether its WDI spending $425 million on the small-scale (relatively-speaking, that's what it is) Fantasyland project or them spending billions on NEXT GEN or them spending untold millions on social media consultants and wining and dining Mommy bloggers. They spend money like it means nothing. And, worse, most of it tends to be a waste. And most of them (and all of the top dogs) get rewarded for it.

Well, you shouldn't trust somebody to spend your money for you, but the $ is Disney's to spend. Unless your secretly Disney's biggest shareholder, all us plebeians can say is that we don't agree with how Disney spends their dough.

FLE may not have been what diehards wanted, but I think overall it is a plus that helps the park connect with the average guest.

1. Shaded queue for Dumbo, double capacity, big win for parents with little kids.
2. Be Our Guest restaurant, nice, could be better, but is so much better than a Pinocchio burger and fries, and much nicer surroundings.
3. Seven Dwarf Mine Train could be a nice addition, though I think they lost some story when they closed Snow White.
4. Princess FairyTale Hall will probably be a big win.
5. Mermaid, nice outside queue, maybe on day they can fix-up the inside.

It's fair to complain about that, though. People visit WDW for attractions and shows and what was flat out the top in immersive family entertainment. They don't visit it to be datamined. They don't visit it to be tracked all day.

Some people may very well visit WDW because of MagicBand, if they have a great experience with CMs greeting them by name and arranging special perks. Data-mining is a pretty vague term, IMHO, given how often companies do this and for a plethora of reasons.

If you're a charter APer at WDW, then maybe you'd like it if CMs recognize this distinction, yes?

I know plenty about what goes on. But as to he pathology at play that allows those types of things whether we're talking things the Sub Voyage or Cars Land in Anaheim, Fantasyland in FL or this ridiculous MyMagic+ boondoggle, I have no idea.

Obviously, MagicBand will allow guests to spend money quickly, i.e. impulsively/hassle free, and thus more stuff will be bought, more money for Disney. Also, no need to fumble for a ticket, fastpass, hotel key . . . sounds like a lot more fun to me than the old way of doing things. A vacation with fewer hassles means more repeat business for Disney, plus they'll get guests who come just for the novelty of the system in the first couple years, IMHO.

 

[BigThunderMatt]

But if it blows up in any of the other ways as well, his will be sacrificed. That might have explained his less than cheerful demeanor back at EPCOT's 30th sham.

Was NextGen ever Jim's pet project to begin with? Or was he basically just suckered into being the fall guy for it and is only now realizing it? I can't imagine anyone willingly going into something like this knowing if it failed spectacularly all eyes would be on them and them alone.

 

[WDW1974]

That seems like a scary scenario at first glance.

But as I understand it, the MagicBands don't have GPS in them, and your "position" is only reported to a central computer somewhere when you interact with a ride queue, or buy something. If there is, theoretically, a kid alone in a room, how does somebody know that he is there?

I guess you'd have to assume that the child molester can hack the system, track the MagicBands of the rest of the family, and the child, and then deduce that the kid is alone? They'd have to surveil the whole family to see if they all have MagicBands, or if some of the adults don't.

That is a lot of work, requiring a lot of skill, plus there is no guarantee that the child will ever be alone. I can only see a deranged whacko who has it out for a specific family/child doing something like this, which would require a lot of premeditation and planning. Such a person could just as easily follow the family around and try to abduct the kid in the parking lot or just hang out in the hotel lobby out of the small chance that the family leaves the kid alone.

I guess we're also assuming that the guy can hack into the system and figure out what room you're in?

I'm sure most of the hotels have cameras at the entrance/exit points as a bare minimum, and they would probably get the guy who does something like this.

I'm figuring that the MagicBands/readers have some pretty good encryption on them, meaning you can't just intercept the signal and easily spoof somebody's MagicBand.

Rather than go back and forth with you when time is short and I got places to go and people to see ... I thought I'd just bold some of your words above because they speak to what many in the fan community think about MyMagic+.

Now ... most of it is guesswork and assumption (mixed with some trust for Disney and some tech extrapolation by people who do not know exactly what NEXT GEN is capable of).

I want to make it clear that I am not saying that my scenario is a likely one, just that it's a guess and an assumption based on what Disney has and hasn't said. ... Oh, and the fact that Disney is concerned about this 'perception' tells me that this is something on the radar. And something that if truly not possible should be VERY easy to simply say 'that isn't possible and this is why' ... and then none of us are assuming, guessing or figuring anything.

There's important questions to ask with each new technological advance, but I can see these MagicBands really making vacations that much more special for guests who choose to participate.

Yes, there are. And that's what an intelligent Spirit does. You don't mindlessly trust a corporation that has billions of dollars riding on the success of something. And when it comes to kids and technology, you really have to be careful. Because despite living in an era where 'stranger danger' barely existed and kids weren't on milk cartons, it is so much easier to be sexual predator today due to TECHNOLOGY.

But I must ask, why do you see these bands making vacations more special? How are they going to fundamentally improve a visit to WDW? (I won't correct the choosing part because people seem to still think they'll be able to not 'opt in' when I see no way of that happening but ...)

 

[Californian Elitist]

Well, you shouldn't trust somebody to spend your money for you, but the $ is Disney's to spend. Unless your secretly Disney's biggest shareholder, all us plebeians can say is that we don't agree with how Disney spends their dough.

FLE may not have been what diehards wanted, but I think overall it is a plus that helps the park connect with the average guest.

1. Shaded queue for Dumbo, double capacity, big win for parents with little kids.
2. Be Our Guest restaurant, nice, could be better, but is so much better than a Pinocchio burger and fries, and much nicer surroundings.
3. Seven Dwarf Mine Train could be a nice addition, though I think they lost some story when they closed Snow White.
4. Princess FairyTale Hall will probably be a big win.
5. Mermaid, nice outside queue, maybe on day they can fix-up the inside.

I'm betting this will be a hit as well, but looking at Princess Fantasy Faire at DL, Fairytale Hall could have been a whole lot better. There's all this space in Florida, yet they don't use it to the fullest. There's pretty much no space in California, yet they were able to take a small corner of the park and turn it into something really useful, and it looks to be a whole lot better, too. I just think Fairytale Hall could have been better.

 

[GoofGoof]

I'm betting this will be a hit as well, but looking at Princess Fantasy Faire at DL, Fairytale Hall could have been a whole lot better. There's all this space in Florida, yet they don't use it to the fullest. There's pretty much no space in California, yet they were able to take a small corner of the park and turn it into something really useful, and it looks to be a whole lot better, too. I just think Fairytale Hall could have been better.

Have there been any plans, artwork or leaked info on what the Fairytale Hall will look like on the inside? I've seen the artwork on the outside of the building. I don't remember seeing anything on the inside. Can someone point me in the right direction?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Have there been any plans, artwork or leaked info on what the Fairytale Hall will look like on the inside? I've seen the artwork on the outside of the building. I don't remember seeing anything on the inside. Can someone point me in the right direction?

I believe so. Hang on just a second...

 

[Californian Elitist]

Have there been any plans, artwork or leaked info on what the Fairytale Hall will look like on the inside? I've seen the artwork on the outside of the building. I don't remember seeing anything on the inside. Can someone point me in the right direction?

http://.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/princessfairytalehall.jpg

It's definitely beautiful on the inside, but Princess Fantasy Faire is adding a whole bunch of details and other fun elements to it, something Florida doesn't seem to be doing.

 

[GoofGoof]

http://.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/princessfairytalehall.jpg

It's definitely beautiful on the inside, but Princess Fantasy Faire is adding a whole bunch of details and other fun elements to it, something Florida doesn't seem to be doing.

Thanks. I hadn't see this. Just the outside with the goofy purple tent. The show building for the old Snow White is pretty large so I thought they would have plenty of space to do something cool with it.

 

[WDW1974]

Well, you shouldn't trust somebody to spend your money for you, but the $ is Disney's to spend. Unless your secretly Disney's biggest shareholder, all us plebeians can say is that we don't agree with how Disney spends their dough.

I'm a shareholder (not a 1-2 share cause it's kewl type) of a publically traded company. I therefore have an interest in the way said corp decides to spend billions of dollars. ... Oh, and I would trust some family and friends to spend my money because they are responsible.

FLE may not have been what diehards wanted, but I think overall it is a plus that helps the park connect with the average guest.

1. Shaded queue for Dumbo, double capacity, big win for parents with little kids.
2. Be Our Guest restaurant, nice, could be better, but is so much better than a Pinocchio burger and fries, and much nicer surroundings.
3. Seven Dwarf Mine Train could be a nice addition, though I think they lost some story when they closed Snow White.
4. Princess FairyTale Hall will probably be a big win.
5. Mermaid, nice outside queue, maybe on day they can fix-up the inside.

Nah, I disagree (naturally). I think many diehard fanbois (many who have never been to Anaheim and certainly not to the international resorts) are enamored by it and think it is so detailed and beautiful and MAGICal. I think for the average guest it is just a prettier version of 'more of the same'. ... They spent almost half a billion dollars and didn't create one worthwhile, must see attraction.

Some people may very well visit WDW because of MagicBand, if they have a great experience with CMs greeting them by name and arranging special perks. Data-mining is a pretty vague term, IMHO, given how often companies do this and for a plethora of reasons.

If you're a charter APer at WDW, then maybe you'd like it if CMs recognize this distinction, yes?

You really think people would visit WDW just because of a plastic armband/tracking device/charging gimmick? That's what people spend $6,000 on vacations for? The only CMs I want to greet me by name would be my friends (like George Kalogridis) or someone at the front desk of resort. I don't want some ride operator or food and beverage counter worker greeting me.

As to the perks, what kind of perks do you think you'll get. MagicBands aren't a loyalty program, they aren't Klout. You only get what you pay for. Nothing added, lots taken away.

As far as my charter AP status, I don't want a Mansion butler saying 'Mr. Spirit, you have been coming so often, you must just be dying to live here'. I've waited 31 years for WDW to offer anytype of loyalty benefit (something as simple as an annual Christmas card or pin ... or better discounts ... or truly unique offerings) and, guess what?, I'm still waiting.

Also, as someone just reminded me in all my years of posting on Disney forums, I have yet to come across another poster who actually is a WDW Charter APer. So there aren't many of us and we're largely treated wih disdain at best because management knows that we know the product is utter crap when compared to what it was say from 1971-1996.

Obviously, MagicBand will allow guests to spend money quickly, i.e. impulsively/hassle free, and thus more stuff will be bought, more money for Disney. Also, no need to fumble for a ticket, fastpass, hotel key . . . sounds like a lot more fun to me than the old way of doing things. A vacation with fewer hassles means more repeat business for Disney, plus they'll get guests who come just for the novelty of the system in the first couple years, IMHO.

So ... the benefit for Disney is making a (blank)load more money due to impulse purchases and people not realizing that $823 day of spending at EPCOT will wind up on the Visa card ... but the only benefit you see is not having to (heaven forbid!) fumble for a room key or a ticket or a CC. Amazing.

Oh, just wondering for my social media experiment ... but how many folks here actually wear a watch daily? And your children? Serious question.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Thanks. I hadn't see this. Just the outside with the goofy purple tent. The show building for the old Snow White is pretty large so I thought they would have plenty of space to do something cool with it.

I'm sure it'll still be really nice. All the little girls and their mommies will love it.

 

[WDW1974]

Was NextGen ever Jim's pet project to begin with? Or was he basically just suckered into being the fall guy for it and is only now realizing it? I can't imagine anyone willingly going into something like this knowing if it failed spectacularly all eyes would be on them and them alone.

No. What I've been told is after he was removed as EPCOT VP, he was placed in a nebulous position of overseeing the Guest Experience. This was about the time Franklin and Rasulo were concocting NEXT GEN. It was just a natural slide for him to take. I also think Jim didn't truly realize what he was getting into or that so much of the important stuff was a 'learning on the fly' deal ...

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

I think many diehard fanbois (many who have never been to Anaheim and certainly not to the international resorts) are enamored by it and think it is so detailed and beautiful and MAGICal. I think for the average guest it is just a prettier version of 'more of the same'. ... They spent almost half a billion dollars and didn't create one worthwhile, must see attraction.

WDW needs more rides, but they also need to do stuff like FLE, and even prettied up bathrooms as theme parks are more than just rides.

You really think people would visit WDW just because of a plastic armband/tracking device/charging gimmick? That's what people spend $6,000 on vacations for?

People who value their time like it when they don't have to hassle with routing around for the credit card just buy some drinks and popcorn, and when they don't have to mess around with paper admission tickets and fast pass tickets. Sure, some folks will plan a vacation just to use the MagicBand tech, maybe only in the hundreds or thousands, but almost any marketing move would be expected to draw in some customers. And more importantly, guests who participate in the program will probably be more likely to return.

It's like the graphite card in that George Clooney movie, regular visitors of the parks want more % of their time spent having fun/with family, and less hassle.

As far as my charter AP status, I don't want a Mansion butler saying 'Mr. Spirit, you have been coming so often, you must just be dying to live here'. I've waited 31 years for WDW to offer anytype of loyalty benefit (something as simple as an annual Christmas card or pin ... or better discounts ... or truly unique offerings) and, guess what?, I'm still waiting.

Funny.

Well . . . all I can say is that DLR treats various types of special guests very well and they do know how to send special little items in the mail.