Spirited News and Observations and Opinions ...

[woody98]

And what oinks says is always fact. You know this is true because you read it on the internet.

Love that commercial

 

[Next Big Thing]

First sign of any advertising for MyMagic+ at Contemporary (from TouringPlans) @WDW1974

 

[flynnibus]

That's a fair point - the land doesn't fit into that park at all.

Being adjacent and almost an extension of bountiful farms I never felt that way. Bugs+farming+greenery

Sure the movie was not tied to Cali - but it wasn't location specific at all

 

[MattM]

of course I'm curious though if he said he never wants to go to Disney World again because of it...

Well, I'd have to ask him. Though the only place I can think of that he's said that he never wants to go back to again at the age of 5 is the outlets in Orlando because the few bucks we save isn't worth the extra time we lost.

I'll report back to you though if you are REALLY curious...

 

[RSoxNo1]

Being adjacent and almost an extension of bountiful farms I never felt that way. Bugs+farming+greenery

Sure the movie was not tied to Cali - but it wasn't location specific at all

It's an odd fit though - I'd say Avatar in DAK is a better fit.

 

[Goofyernmost]

This whole datamining/privacy issue has got to be driving Iger crazy. He seems have to expressed initial concerns with NextGen but his team sold him hard on it, and he went along with it largely because his team convinced him he should. Now, with his response to Rep. Markey, Iger’s been forced to embrace it as his own.

His Legal Dept. is right. NextGen should be able to survive court challenges. Iger’s bigger problem is the court of public opinion. So far, reaction to MyMagic+ is decidedly mixed, with lots of concern expressed over privacy, child safety, and comfort/fashion. Don’t underestimate this last point. It looks like a lot of people simply don’t want to wear a wristband while on vacation. It would be embarrassing for Iger & co. to have MagicBands flop after placing them front and center.

Iger needs to change the headline. Now would be a good time to announce a theme park expansion.

There still are plenty of opportunities for NextGen to be financially successful but the headaches his team has caused Iger are almost enough to make you feel sorry for him.

Almost.

If I could, I'd like to wade in on the highlighted, underlined part of this:

Privacy: I do understand the concern about this because it will be tracking you and they have said so. What I am having trouble with is why this is any different then what has already been happening, just a tad more sophisticated. At least this one has transparency. The rest of the "tracking" process that you unknowingly deal with day in and day out, is covered up as a way to get discount coupons.

Child Safety: Again I understand why some might be concerned about what this will do, but with just two minutes of clear thought it becomes obvious that to successfully make this system a partner in child abduction or worse, would be more complex then breaking into Fort Knox. Disney has a massive vested interest in making sure nothing like that happens. They could be sued out of existence if it ever came to light that the system lacked the security to make sure it didn't happen. Besides, according to a couple of other posts, it is easily happening without this help. Using it would only increase the risk for the perpetrator. However, the idea that it can be used to find a lost child, perhaps before anything sinister happens is being totally discounted as not important. Sorry, that isn't logical at all.

Fashion: Really? As a species we have become so shallow as to use that excuse for unhappiness. Tan lines? Plastic wrist bands? I don't know about on the West Coast but here on the east coast it is quite fashionable to were those overgrown rubber bands supporting every cause imaginable. I have even seen them worn by Red Carpet folks with a cause that they support. That is so far away from a reasonable argument that it becomes almost baby gibberish.

Nothing in all these pages has given me any reason to "hate" the system. Do I think that this was the point in Disney history that they should be spending that type of money on it. Probably not, but technology is advancing at the speed of light and you can pay 1.5 billion now or 3 billion later to catch up with the rest of the world. My ability to see clearly into the future has been somewhat fogged over by my aging and experience in knowing that we know nothing of the future until it gets here.

 

[WDW1974]

A link that I somehow missed from a techie and a mommie ... Disney's perfect combo:
http://www.informationweek.com/glob...ems-id-like-disneys-new-tech-to-sol/240145875

 

[SirLink]

A link that I somehow missed from a techie and a mommie ... Disney's perfect combo:
http://www.informationweek.com/glob...ems-id-like-disneys-new-tech-to-sol/240145875

Love it! Love this article to bits ... oh well I heard today they spotted this green-raging-middle age man wouldn't happen to be Iger would it?

 

[awoogala]

Funny you mention it, and thanks for reminding me. This summer we ran into 2 of our old DLR crowd. He mentioned the same thing, but said there was no interest from any in the FLA area. So it's back on again I guess. I don't think any location was mentioned.

Are they selling any of the multi-million dollar houses yet? I'm sure some of them would like a private club, since having full access to a concierge and included passes just aren't exclusive enough...

 

[stlphil]

Being adjacent and almost an extension of bountiful farms I never felt that way. Bugs+farming+greenery

Sure the movie was not tied to Cali - but it wasn't location specific at all

Agree, but curious about your thoughts now that the farm is gone. I haven't seen it since the makeover, but it seems like the fit will be much more forced now.

 

[awoogala]

Another question: I know many off-site guests use the buses as transport. I wonder if that, too will change with the bands. Will you need to tap to ride? Or maybe off-site people can purchase that as an upgrade? add-on bus pass? Could be one positive to this, if so, because those downtown disney buses get crowded with people using the free parking.
Another quick thought: This could cut down on people faking their way into the xmas party, and enjoying the hard ticketed events they have not been enforcing.
(trust me, I am scared of the data mining and the effects of this band, but every once in a while, I can see a possibility of some good)

 

[flynnibus]

Agree, but curious about your thoughts now that the farm is gone. I haven't seen it since the makeover, but it seems like the fit will be much more forced now.

Its virtually abandoned in the sense of place setting. The corridor from CCT to Carsland is the poster child for 'incomplete'. You still have the winery (now Blue Sky Celler), along with the restaurant.. opposite the stripped out remains of the farm in front of ITTBAB.. which is difficult to know is even there if you didn't know it.

It doesn't really detract from the other areas of the park - it just doesn't help itself or others. Theme was never a problem once in bugsland given how enclosed the guest is because of the heavy top cover in the area.

 

[flynnibus]

Another question: I know many off-site guests use the buses as transport. I wonder if that, too will change with the bands. Will you need to tap to ride?

Transportation is included in your park ticket cost. In theory they could get and say only 'park to park' routes.. but that would be an example of just ing way more people off then you'd benefit.

Now maybe they would use something like that to check at problem places (like DTD) but that's questionable.

 

[drew81]

The new system encourages even more advance planning, such as asking you to pre-select Fast Passes for rides prior to your trip. As the New York Times article notes: "More advance planning will also help lock visitors into Disney once they arrive in Orlando, discouraging people, for instance, from making impromptu visits to Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter." For Disney, lock-in is good. For me, not so much.

boy, this really sums it all up nicely...

I don't think anything Disney does(unless it's a full scale replica of the Millenium Falcon that can actually fly into space) will stop people from going to see the boy wizard. Disney can say whatever they want to but with Sea World opening Antartica and Universal and their new additions they will continue to lose market share.

 

[Darth Sidious]

Another question: I know many off-site guests use the buses as transport. I wonder if that, too will change with the bands. Will you need to tap to ride? Or maybe off-site people can purchase that as an upgrade? add-on bus pass? Could be one positive to this, if so, because those downtown disney buses get crowded with people using the free parking.
Another quick thought: This could cut down on people faking their way into the xmas party, and enjoying the hard ticketed events they have not been enforcing.
(trust me, I am scared of the data mining and the effects of this band, but every once in a while, I can see a possibility of some good)

I could see them doing that but at the same time it may have negative consequences that outweigh the financial benefits.

I wouldn't say I am against the idea but they should be careful to take away things that were once free. I know that essentially they are doing that with NextGen but it is such a tricky subject to address. I am sure it is a debated point at TWDC.

 

[HMF]

But-but-bu...he brought back hand-drawn animation!!! (with one real feature, a 50-minute Pooh piece that could have been made by the Australian studio and no new features in sight)

BINGO!!!!!!!

 

[orky8]

Transportation is included in your park ticket cost. In theory they could get and say only 'park to park' routes.. but that would be an example of just ing way more people off then you'd benefit.

Now maybe they would use something like that to check at problem places (like DTD) but that's questionable.

Trasnportation is included because Disney says it is. And transportation will no longer be included when Disney says it's not. These rules aren't etched in stone.

That said, in previous thread many years ago, I noted that a monorail expansion could be partly funded by charging for passes to use it for those staying offsite, which would also alleviate the issue of people parking at DTD for free. Frankly, I don't see anything wrong with that. And these magic bands/rfid tickets would make that easier to implement.

 

[Clever Name]

I can think of another place to wear it.

I think you'd have to poke some extra holes in the band to get it to fit something that small.

 

[toasty]

Another question: I know many off-site guests use the buses as transport. I wonder if that, too will change with the bands. Will you need to tap to ride? Or maybe off-site people can purchase that as an upgrade? add-on bus pass?

If an off-site guest is using Disney's transport, they are presumably using it to remain on Disney property (and spend more money) rather than leaving and spending their money elsewhere. I would assume that Disney is OK with that, which is why there has never really been any effort to restrict its use to resort guests (even though I feel like that is the stated policy, that it is free for resort guests to use).

I do realize that there is the whole "park at DTD and work your way to the parks from there" thing that some people do, and maybe there is a carve out for those buses, but for just the garden variety bus, I'd think Disney would want those people to stay in their ecosystem.

 

[HMF]

Leave the bracelet in a locker. (Or the RFID card if that's what you've got instead.)

Won't be able to use Fastpass. But you also won't be tracked!

I'm predicting the lockers are going to be updated to work on the RFID platform. Meaning. You won't be able to lock your bracelet away since you'll need your bracelet to open the locker back up.

The only way I can picture myself wearing the Tragic Band is to get a Fastpass + for Mansion and only so I can avoid going through that awful Theme-ruining Interactive queue.