Spirited News and Observations and Opinions ...

[scpergj]

They "track" your purchases now, without a device, they just attach that tracking to your credit card. All you have to do is not to attach a credit card to the device, then either pay with your credit card or use cash.
You should probably avoid going out in public then, or using the Internet or a cell phone.

You are making the assumption that everyone purchases with a card. As for myself and my family? We usually spend only cash in the parks. Easier to keep from overspending that way - which is part of the reason for the coming wave of no cash in the parks...easier to get the rubes - I mean guests - to overspend.

 

[WDW1974]

Ricky Brigante is completely supporting Iger....

And we should care?

Or more to the point, I'm sure 98% of the social media whores/Disney Lifestylers are supporting him.

Let me just state that I do NOT support Iger.

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

Oh, this should be fun. We were at 202 pages at 2:30 a.m. when I finally had enough ... and now we have 204, which means ...

I am at the point where I feel it may be best to simply post news when I get it and then let everyone fight about it because I already live a soap opera in real life, I don't need the drama here. And, make no mistake, I have a giant Mickey targeted on my back.

On second thought, what fun would that be? ... and I don't even have any Klout riding on it either (unlike others).

Also, not that it will happen, but I'm at the point where I almost feel the boards should be shut down from 10 p.m. Eastern time to 8 a.m. because it is obvious to every troll in the world that no one is moderating and they can come in and raise hell.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand (or what most of us were trying to talk about), but Bob Iger is indeed on the ground at the lovely WDW Resort in Florida. I am trying to find out what his daily agenda consists of and where he is being spotted (YES, I am stalking BOB IGER ... from a keyboard a few hundred miles away!!!)

Didn't you say Mr.Spirit, sir, that Staggs was going to accompany him to WDW? I'm guessing/assuming George will be the one showing them around and what not.

 

[WDW1974]

This is pretty much exactly what I thought when reading the letter. It reads very much like an appellate brief or a response to a motion for summary judgment.

It reminds me of an adage: If the facts are on your side, pound the facts. If the law is on your side, pound the law. If neither the facts nor the law are on your side, pound the table.

Great post, @WDWFigment.

I think many people are simply missing what's right in front of them.

Bob was pounding the table ... you could almost feel the spittle coming from his mouth yelling 'DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!?!? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM??!??! I AM BOB EFFING IGER AND I RUN THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY!!!! YOU DON'T COME INTO MY TOWN AND TREAT ME LIKE THAT!!!'

(with apologies to The Godfather, although Jay Rasulo reminds me of Moe Green!)

 

[SirLink]

And we should care?

Or more to the point, I'm sure 98% of the social media whores/Disney Lifestylers are supporting him.

Let me just state that I do NOT support Iger.

Oh there are plenty of others - I guess its me being English - that think Corporations have too much power to yield...

 

[WDW1974]

All Markey needs to do is read the internal doc that Lee posted for you to understand that it wasnt ludicrous or utterly ill-informed.

And what makes you think that document wasn't read by him and or his staff?

 

[stlphil]

You may want to consider the opinions of the lawyers in the thread on the tone used

I have read them and considered it, and those comments were very interesting. Some of those lawyers have expressed that this approach was understandable but not necessarily wise.

I would hope that Disney's lawyers have the discernment to not interact with a grandstanding congressman with the same tactics as with an appellate judge. The whole point of grandstanding is to get into the general public's consciousness, and the merits of the issue are secondary. And in that arena, the Disney believers will back them no matter how Disney responds. How they respond may affect everyone else who hears about it though, especially the vastly largest group who never would have heard anything unless this blows up into the general media, which I think is more likely now.

The whole grandstanding aspect of this is somewhat akin to the recent trolling in this thread. Disney shouldn't feed the trolls.

 

[SirLink]

Great post, Tom.

I think many people are simply missing what's right in front of them.

Bob was pounding the table ... you could almost feel the spittle coming from his mouth yelling 'DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!?!? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM??!??! I AM BOB EFFING IGER AND I RUN THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY!!!! YOU DON'T COME INTO MY TOWN AND TREAT ME LIKE THAT!!!'

(with apologies to The Godfather, although Jay Rasulo reminds me of Moe Green!)

JR as The Godfather well he certainly is pimping out the Parks

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

I have read them and considered it, and those comments were very interesting. Some of those lawyers have expressed that this approach was understandable but not necessarily wise.

I would hope that Disney's lawyers have the discernment to not interact with a grandstanding congressman with the same tactics as with an appellate judge. The whole point of grandstanding is to get into the general public's consciousness, and the merits of the issue are secondary. And in that arena, the Disney believers will back them no matter how Disney responds. How they respond may affect everyone else who hears about it though, especially the vastly largest group who never would have heard anything unless this blows up into the general media, which I think is more likely now.

The whole grandstanding aspect of this is somewhat akin to the recent trolling in this thread. Disney shouldn't feed the trolls.

Feed the trolls, tuppence a . Tuppence, Tuppence, Tuppence a . Lol, you set me up for this reposne post.

 

[WDW1974]

First, you might have created your account in 2010, but you only posted twice before starting to post a lot last summer. So, yes, by all means you are still a new voice in this community. Given how new you are you have been met with a lot of trust. Anyone claiming to have as much inside knowledge as you claim to have has in the past been met with a lot of scepticism.

Secondly, why are you a poster who again and again claims to have no ego and no interest in being important on the message boards without anyone prompting you to do so? You also tried to discredit @WDW1974 in the past in a thread - and at the same time asked him more or less to validate your insider status:







Hey, you were even eagerly waiting for a phone call from @Lee or @WDW1974 in that same thread:



Sorry, but I don't believe you when you say that your own self importance does not matter to you.

Combining this with threatening to make private discussions public - and yes, even private name calling, if it had truly happened, would still be private - I really start to wonder what your deal is. One gets the feeling that you are indeed ed off that you don't get @WDW1974 's attention as you would have wanted to. And when his PM's don't have the content you want you are angry with him.

I don't intend to discuss said poster again. It isn't worth it, but I would like to thank you for just using his own words and the facts to paint an honest and rational picture of the situation.

I don't live to be labeled 'a Disney insider' and I often get bothered by said label. Others, though, seem to yearn for that like a fanboi yearns for attention from an Imagineer.

Thanks again, @Bolna. I really appreciate what you did above. Sometimes, it's just all out there and needs someone not directly involved to point things out clearly.

 

[xdan0920]

It's fine. And I really do apologize. Thanks for being so understanding and allowing me to apologize! Oh my goodness, if only the government could dissolve their disputes so easily. We may have found the answer to world peace....just apologize, help others, and be understanding! Hmmmmmm......I see a Nobel in our future!

Maybe you could also not call people douches? Or is that asking too much?

 

[PotteryGal]

I think your questions may have gotten lost in the midst of the OT posts. Regular FP will go away - when is the question, no one seems to know. GAC may change as a result of MyMagic+ - theres a good deal of discussion here -forum member @RSoxNo1 is in a similar situation as well.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/possible-changes-coming-to-the-guest-assistance-cards-gac.850729/

My hope is if they are staggering out how they are integrating this system, old fastpass won't be phased out until FP+ is open to all (whether we WANT it or not is a moot point). As far as the GAC goes, I'm actually hoping we won't need to get one, as my son is older now and doing better with his sensory issues that made getting one necessary. Actually the only ride that may be a problem for us is TSMM - he loves that ride so we will hoof it and try to get it out of the way first thing.
We're going to WDW for the kids, no so much for ourselves; all this new tech and trying to figure it out is a serious pain in the booty.

 

[Atomicmickey]

I'm starting to think that maybe WDW doesn't need to build any
more thrill rides. All we have to do is show up here and read.
"It's the wildest ride in the wilderness!"

 

[WDW1974]

Trolls, language and plants.

Guys, this thread is becoming harder and harder to keep open.

Trolls will always exist, and will come into forums to deliberately try to wind you up and cause havoc. This happens on every forum, and is very difficult to eliminate. Whenever identified I take action to try to minimize the impact of trolls. However, you can help by NOT engaging with obvious trolls - arguing with them just amplifies their behavior. The best course of action is to simply ignore.

Secondly, please be mindful of your language. Not only am I dealing with cleaning up troll activity, I'm also going through dealing with reported posts about members who have been here for years who are using inappropriate language. These members obviously know better - they have been here long enough to know what is OK on a family site.

Third, can we please stop the accusations that that anyone who does not agree with an opinion is some kind of paid plant. These constant accusations make the site very unattractive to any new members who may wish to join in the conversation, and is not helpful to our community.

@wdwmagic, I greatly appreciate the work you (and @The Mom) have done.

But the answer is never to close provocative, thoughtful and interesting discourse because online lunatics sneak out of the asylum and into the threads. The very goal of these individuals is precisely that. I don't believe you ever reward bad behavior and extortion (I.e. either you close this thread or we're going to keep bombarding it while you're sleeping!).

The answer is as you said to not feed the trolls (too many folks simply can't help themselves and think it's all in fun when it isn't and too many also are naive and don't understand there is an agenda at play when someone joins a site and carpet bombs a thread with numerous inflamatory posts when they know no mods are watching).

People just need to be vigilant and smart.

 

[scpergj]

Anyway, back to the subject at hand (or what most of us were trying to talk about), but Bob Iger is indeed on the ground at the lovely WDW Resort in Florida. I am trying to find out what his daily agenda consists of and where he is being spotted (YES, I am stalking BOB IGER ... from a keyboard a few hundred miles away!!!)

Ok...so, they're here...

Any idea what's next? (yup...I'm curious like that) Wonder if any announcements will come of this...

 

[WDW1974]

Well, after reading through all the hilarity on this thread (which just now lost three pages...) I finally got around to look at the answers Disney gave. The true insult is not in the wording of the letter, but in claiming that that attachement answers the questions posed.

If you were having this discusson with a Disney lawyer of PR talking head, then you'd wind up arguing the definition of an 'answer' ... You are quite right, though. The document just spins more and 'answers' what it chooses to.

It starts with the one question so many of us are truly interest in: Where does it answer question 1.b - what happens to a consumer who opts out? The answer kind of implies that MyMagic+ only ensures that everything is stored in one place. But stating the enhancements gained for those who opt in is not an answer to the question for the disadvantages that might fall on those who opt out.

Also, it does not really address the question whether MyMagic+ is an "opt-in-system" or an "opt-out-system", i.e. what is the default setting? The answer that the system is optional does not answer this.

It also does not answer the question whether consumers are given the ability to review the information stored about them.

If one had the time to go through the questions one at a time, it is very obvious that many questions have not been answered.

There are only two answers here:
1.) Disney doesn't know;
2.) Disney doesn't want YOU to know;

But I wish folks would stop taking PR spin and turning it into answers, when it clearly is not.

I am hoping more media attention puts the pressure on for FULL DISCLOSURE and 100% transparency. Not legal CYA statements.

 

[RSoxNo1]

That's because there hasn't been any change.

Look at the recent round of P&R changes ... not one exec was fired ... not one outsider was brought in ... they just did the proverbial rearranging of deck chairs. George gets a happy (we'll see!) homecoming in O-Town and Michael gets closer to his eventual position in Burbank finances.

I think the Catholic Church did something similar.

 

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Conversely, if Disney wasn't so focused on its datamining scheme they might actually have the time and resources to build something new and worthy in the parks. Or perhaps they're focused on datamining because they're no longer capable of building new and exciting things.

This is the crux of the problem.

The Disney theme park of my youth while growing up in the sixties SoCal surf culture was a major force in shaping my life. I was so floored by my experiences at Disneyland, the immersion, the attention to detail, the overall feeling of being someplace other than Anaheim... I was glad to part with all of my hard earned babysitting money that I saved up for a year! I was virtually begging Disney to take it, on themed merchandise I could only get at Disneyland.

I connected so strongly to the rides and parades and shows, I wanted to capture a small portion of that magic and take it home with me. And it was tough to make a decision on what to buy, because so much of the merchandise was specific and unique, it was difficult to choose just a few items. At the end of a very long, exhausting, but wonderous day at Disneyland was the agonizing Sophie's Choice of souvenir decisions before exiting to the parking lot.

Now fast forward to the 21st century.

Disney doesn't want to Wow! me anymore with leading edge attractions and heavily detailed atmospheres that are also embodied in park and ride specific merchandise. They want to play mind games and prey upon any impulse control issues I might be struggling with, by making it incredibly easy -- too easy -- to whip out my TragicBand and acquire cheap, flimsy, and poorly themed junk that I may not actually want for more than a few seconds.

They don't want to earn my respect and admiration by knocking my socks off with experiences I can't get anywhere else. They simply want to play me by diminishing the time it takes to make a purchase so that I cannot dwell over it long enough to change my mind.

The technology and science that was once employed by WED Imagineering -- the way cool marriage of imagination and engineering -- to create talking parrots and fighting pirates and singing ghosts is now being employed to remove my earnings from my credit card account as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. It's not about filling me up with so much fantasy and wonder that I'll gladly reward them with merchandise purchases I truly desire. It's more about treating me to psychological smoke and mirrors by pretending to be my friend with interactive queues and name recognition in an effort to con me into liking them and trusting them and giving them my money.

It's not sincere, it's not genuine, and it's not ethical.

No wonder Iger was rude to Congress. He's peddling disingenuous marketing practices and got busted for it.

There's nothing magical about Mickey Mouse running a shell game on Main Street USA.

 

[Bcakd]

Maybe you could also not call people douches? Or is that asking too much?

Let it go dear, it's over! My beef was with someone else. And we have straightend it out. You tried to make this your argument. It's not, and never was. I am not going to argue or trade snide remarks with you. Now, go on and continue you discussions of how Disney is tracking our every move. By the way, so does Target, Walmart, McDonalds, Amazon, .....ect!
It's unfortunately the world we live in. When the banks started issuing debit cards, we lost our privacy. It sucks, but I have nothing to hide. If they (the man) want to track my purchases, then go for it. They will be bored to tears to see I perfer Angel Soft to Charmin, and I buy Colgate instead of Crest, regardless of what 4 out of 5 dentist say. I also spend way too much at Baby Gap and God knows I spend WAY TOO MUCH going to Disney World every year or so. These are things that anyone who knows me, already know. When we as a people start to believe the "sky is falling", then I promise you it will. I'm not saying we should be ignorant of the things our government or anyone elses does...I just think the media gets off on making us scared of our own shadow!! And if we are scared, then they win! Was that on topic enough? ...and NO I didn't mean that snarky.

 

[scout68]

...Anyway, back to the subject at hand (or what most of us were trying to talk about), but Bob Iger is indeed on the ground at the lovely WDW Resort in Florida. I am trying to find out what his daily agenda consists of and where he is being spotted (YES, I am stalking BOB IGER ... from a keyboard a few hundred miles away!!!)

Easy enough...
Just slap a Magicband on him, plug into NextGen, sit back and watch!