In practice this is done all over the place right now. Someone mentioned it elsewhere in the thread that targetted coupons appear at super markets and drug stores based on spending practices. If this means an increase in sponsorship in the parks, I certainly see the value for Disney. As has been suggested above I wouldn't be surprised if after a trip on Test Track I start seeing an increase in chevy ads hit my e-mail box. They may come from Chevy directly or perhaps as a partnership with Disney. Buy a 2013 Chevy Malibu and get a 3 night stay at a value resort with park tickets.
Surprisingly this aspect of Next Gen doesn't bother me as much as the uber scheduling component, and to me that seems to be the easiest part to change.
If you're a modern consumer, you've essentially opted in data mining any and everywhere. I don't mind using my store loyalty card, for example at the grocery store, as we get targeted booklets of coupons that either discount or offer free packages of the products that we buy. I choose to sign up and I know the ramifications. I understand that in the alternate conspiracy universe, the prevailing thinking is that there can be a complete profile of you as a person, if somehow, someway, every single data point from each and every store, and every company was linked together from countless separate databases. Now, I can see legally that if that was done in a criminal justice matter, it can be disconcerting, but lets get real about things. In reality in the United States, these giant data mining operations actually exist in the name of "safety and terrorism" where all of our email, data, and phone communications are being stored. So, Disney knowing that I like their chicken fingers and Figment merchandise, that doesn't bother me too much.
Data mining is about companies maximizing profit, they could care less about "you" as you are just another cog in the money making machine.
Just as you've posted, it's not so much the data mining because Disney has been doing that for sometime in many other ways, rather the endless scheduling and turning a vacation into, well, a chore. It's already become a mess with the dining reservations. Sorry, I don't want to schedule meals, rides, and everything else months in advance. When everything becomes calculated and/or scheduled, you lose so much enjoyment.
A dining reservation or two, that's OK, but everything planned out, UGH. Not to mention that it's so darn hard to get a reservation where you want it as it stands. Essentially pre-booking your rides. Really? People are overscheduled and absurd enough as it is, now we'll have the masses running around to make their ride times. (In much greater numbers than the current FastPass.)
The bracelet? Not for me personally, but at least you can just use a plastic card instead. I don't want to wear a bracelet and I don't care to collect yet some other junk from Disney. It's novel, but I just might want to walk in, go on an attraction, see the audio animatronics actually work, and just maybe, while it's cool that a character can so called talk to a kid by name, well, isn't that part of the problem in our culture today? Catering everything to children, creating these little narcissistic monsters, making them think they're the best and greatest, it goes on and on. Check out a BBC magazine piece this past weekend about this subject, it's quite interesting. In a nutshell, our kids (Note: American kids) are scoring worse on testing than in the 60's, but they think they're better than ever and can do anything. Ugh, I see these kids and their parents, and as a sane parent, it's nauseating.
Legal challenges to this? Sometimes I wish I finished the track to law school
, but just as previously noted, nearly every consumer or privacy act in this country can be loopholed around. Legal would not have proceeded if it wasn't abundantly clear that this would not violate any current standing statute.
