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Spirited News and Observations and Opinions ...
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
ratherbeinwdw
Well-Known Member
You can control some of what they can keep up with by using cash and an RFID protection cover. We use cash for all but the room, and we have the card covers for all our cards --room key cards, debit and charge cards included. They would of course know when you enter the park or get a fastpass, but your spending habits would be kept private and no one could scan and steal your info from simply tapping your cards in a crowd.
The little card covers are very thin so they don't produce bulk in your wallet or lanyard, but they totally protect you from any portable scanners. We even have them for passports, as they are also RFID now.
I think those of us who have had the horror of someone stealing their card numbers and having to get it corrected are more concerned than those of you who think people who are cautious are being silly.
The little card covers are very thin so they don't produce bulk in your wallet or lanyard, but they totally protect you from any portable scanners. We even have them for passports, as they are also RFID now.
I think those of us who have had the horror of someone stealing their card numbers and having to get it corrected are more concerned than those of you who think people who are cautious are being silly.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
So I can buy into the sleeping and eating thing...but they know that already. How exactly do they get me to buy more merchandise then I want? Cute cartoon, BTW!
tracyandalex
Well-Known Member
The mansion is quite beautiful and certainly adds a certain happiness to the city as a whole
*rolls eyes*
and yes they do quite enjoy the redneck wild west lifestyle here, but since I am originally from NJ some days it's quite the struggle for me.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
Sure, but is it 2 Billion (that number gets bigger every time someone types it in, btw) that was ever going to get budgeted to theme parks anyway? I'm not saying it wasn't, but that is a pretty huge amount of money to come out of an operating budget. I'd bet it's a separate isolated part of the Disney Company and will, in smaller increments be extracted from the budgets over time. Not right now! Just a guess here!
Nice of Al Lutz to confirm George will be moving on up today, but not mention that other Spirits had the info first or mention George being in O-Town in early December touring Gov. Rick 'Scott around. I get that Disney wants to have control over exec announcements, but c'mon Al. If George is being promoted, exactly what job is a promo for him? And Mary Niven getting his job? ... I can see that happening, but it is just sooo scary for someone who knew her when she first came to Disney.
And nice to see him start talking about NEXT GEN and even taking a few shots at Tom Staggs finally.
And cruise line modeling for theme parks. Holy crap, I just don't know where I first heard that. ... Oh yeah, out of my own mouth.
I love the Disney online world. ... Anyone got a lifestyle blogger for me to kick?
And nice to see him start talking about NEXT GEN and even taking a few shots at Tom Staggs finally.
And cruise line modeling for theme parks. Holy crap, I just don't know where I first heard that. ... Oh yeah, out of my own mouth.
I love the Disney online world. ... Anyone got a lifestyle blogger for me to kick?
Expo_Seeker40
Well-Known Member
By sending you discounts and offers via their sponsors based on what you do while at WDW.
Driving by a GM/Chevy Dealership after your trip to WDW? Your smartphone and/or email will get offers sent from those friendly sponsors of Test Track (and other sponsors). Rode test track quite a few times on your trip? Instagrammed it? Tweeted to Disney about it? You'll love the special offer they give you by offering you a free test drive of one their Chevy cars for a few hours at your local dealership and then they'll deposit more Fastpass+ credits into your account so that you can remain brand-loyal when you visit WDW again.
Expo_Seeker40
Well-Known Member
My parents controlled my spending when I went to WDW with them as a kid. THEY DIDN'T GIVE ME THEIR CREDIT CARDS OR CASH!
IWant2GoNow
Well-Known Member
I've noticed the number keeps growing as well but according to insiders & their sources that's because it keeps climbing as once they started this project, there was no backing out of it.
As for where the money is coming from, I'm not too concerned really. $1... $1.5... $2 billion dollars... whatever it is & where ever it comes from, it's still a TON of money with very little to show. Do every day, away-from-this-site public know how much they are spending? No, of course not. However, since we've been given such decent information on the project, some are concerned about how this is going to benefit or hamper the experience of visiting their beloved theme parks. No, I'm not sure the $2 billion dollars would have gone to rides/attractions. You know why? Because I've not seen that type of money spent at WDW on something of substance in quite a long time, why would it have started now if they hadn't chose to go through with NextGen? For all I know it would have gone to a new DVC resort connected to Blizzard Beach.
It's been stated numerous times on here but I'll "vote with my wallet" & will choose not to visit WDW as much until I see a huge improvement for what I'm paying steadily increasing ticket prices for. To a theme/amusement park junkie like myself, I pay for new quality rides & attractions. I can get all of those at other places other than WDW.
HMF
Well-Known Member
Glad to see this is getting actual media coverage outside Disney-themed blogs and discussion boards. As much as I hate this thing. It might actually be preferable to going through those god-awful Interactive Queues.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
And the Supreme Court has never overturned a lower court’s ruling.
Given the current makeup of the Supreme Court, which tends to give the benefit of the doubt to law enforcement, IMHO it’s very possible the Court could find that tracking devices are not a violation of the 4th Amendment. If they find they are legal, then the court battle ends. Of course, change one member and that ruling could go the other way. Meanwhile, the battle over tracking devices continues in many statehouses, with corporations usually defending them and civil rights advocates opposing them.
The 11th Circuit is going to step in if they think there is an issue that needs to be addressed at the federal level. The probability of this happening with Disney is low. However, to suggest with near absolute certainty that it’s never going to happen is to simply ignore history. On numerous occasions, appeals courts have gotten involved in (at the time) surprising ways.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court often has shown little patience with “legal games” played at the lower court level. Jeepers, we just had Congress and the President agree that the Affordable Health Care Act was not a tax and the Supreme Court said, boloney, it is a tax. Do you really think they are going to let a ruling from the Florida courts stop them if they believe there’s a possible violation of the 4th Amendment?
Disney has gotten pretty good at buying its way with the Florida legislature and courts, often with a wink and a nudge. Good luck trying that tactic with the Federal Courts.
To repeat myself, I’m not suggesting that this will happen; only that people shouldn’t so quickly dismiss that it won’t happen in 2014 and beyond. A lot can change in a few years. If issues were as clean-cut as some suggest, appeals courts would never hear cases. As I understand it, appeals courts are busier than ever.
And for goodness sake, stop telling the courts what cases they should and should not hear. I guarantee they are not listening.
Pentacat
Well-Known Member
Do you consider the $200 million that Universal spent on WWOHP part of this race to the bottom? I doubt you'd find anyone within Universal's management that would think that money was anything other than the best ROI they have ever seen. The attendance increase netted from that has probably paid for itself three fold by this point and been a publicity windfall.
You seem to be really enamoured with the technical possibilities of NextGen which I find admirable. I must admit that those aspects of it, the technical specifications and inner workings of such a complex system, are fascinating to me as well. However, I do not trust the management of Disney to derive anything beneficial to the guest from this system. This was designed from the outset to be a BUSINESS PROCESS TOOL. A way to streamline operations and resource allocation with the enormous side benefit of mining nearly invaluable consumer spending data from a highly coveted demographic. The fact that it MAY provide SOME cool benefits to the guest SOME DAY are coincidental to the true purpose of the entire project.
Will that $2B investment pay off? Probably, because the general public is either ignorant to or indifferent about the implications of this system. It's not that I think the system is evil I just don't like the blatant misdirection that this was created to meet guest demands and create an environment of whole new non existent park experiences.
Your logic is that somehow spending $2b dollars on tangible additions would not have been as valuable as the money spent on NextGen. I agree, but the fact is that the benefactor will be TWDC and not the guest.
Atomicmickey
Well-Known Member
I'd love a link to that circus.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Nobody is dictating what which courts will hear, but there are a lot of leaps to be made to get to the Supreme Court considering of The Walt Disney Company is the Reedy Creek Improvement District and that they are responsible for NextGen and breaking the law.And the Supreme Court has never overturned a lower court’s ruling.
Given the current makeup of the Supreme Court, which tends to give the benefit of the doubt to law enforcement, IMHO it’s very possible the Court could find that tracking devices are not a violation of the 4th Amendment. If they find they are legal, then the court battle ends. Of course, change one member and that ruling could go the other way. Meanwhile, the battle over tracking devices continues in many statehouses, with corporations usually defending them and civil rights advocates opposing them.
The 11th Circuit is going to step in if they think there is an issue that needs to be addressed at the federal level. The probability of this happening with Disney is low. However, to suggest with near absolute certainty that it’s never going to happen is to simply ignore history. On numerous occasions, appeals courts have gotten involved in (at the time) surprising ways.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court often has shown little patience with “legal games” played at the lower court level. Jeepers, we just had Congress and the President agree that the Affordable Health Care Act was not a tax and the Supreme Court said, boloney, it is a tax. Do you really think they are going to let a ruling from the Florida courts stop them if they believe there’s a possible violation of the 4th Amendment?
Disney has gotten pretty good at buying its way with the Florida legislature and courts, often with a wink and a nudge. Good luck trying that tactic with the Federal Courts.
To repeat myself, I’m not suggesting that this will happen; only that people shouldn’t so quickly dismiss that it won’t happen in 2014 and beyond. A lot can change in a few years. If issues were as clean-cut as some suggest, appeals courts would never hear cases. As I understand it, appeals courts are busier than ever.
And for goodness sake, stop telling the courts what cases they should and should not hear. I guarantee they are not listening.
BlueSkyDriveBy
Well-Known Member
And you'd still be comparing apples to oranges.
I was specifically posting about taking the existing FP system and turning it into FP+. It's the equivalent of taking the only restaurant inside a large hotel with a 13-year long policy of "first come, first served" and switching to 75% reserved seating only. FP currently is a "first come, first served" distribution process. It won't be after FP+ is available.
That's how the current level playing field of FP acquisition will cease to be level. None of your examples feature level playing fields. They've all had or been reservation systems from the get-go. But FP was not set up that way when it first began.
FP is now being distributed to all park guests in an equal manner. You want it? Get to the park early and pick up the tickets at the attraction locations the same day. But FP+ will eliminate that. And since the park attractions are the common denominator for over 90% of the guests who visit, the reason why they've chosen WDW for their vacations, that is not fair. It's the same scenario as that lone restaurant in the large hotel switching to mostly reserved seating. When it's the only game in town, it's going to discriminate against those diners who could only book their hotel stays at the last minute. And they've got to eat somewhere.
Creating a reservation system for restaurants and resorts is different. Everyone has different tastes and price acceptance regarding eating and housing. Plus, there are far greater resort and dining options at WDW than there are attractions. But... standing in line to ride the rides is the main reason the vast majority of visitors travel there. If Disney were to permanently shutter all of the rides overnight and never open them again, over 75% of their attendance, if not more, would be eliminated. It's the one common denominator that most everyone shares at WDW.
There are different price points and experiences at the various resorts and dining locations throughout property. There are even different experiences within each resort at different price points. But the price point to enter the parks is the same for MK and EPCOT and DAK and DHS. It only varies with regard to park hopper, length of stay, package inclusion, AP or DVC discount, etc. MK doesn't charge a higher gate admission than EPCOT does. But eating at Cosmic Ray's costs much less than Be Our Guest, for obvious reasons.
That's the difference between ADR and room reservations versus FP+. FastPass is a virtual reservation system for the one unifying element of the parks: the attractions. It should be on a level playing field when offered to guests. The resorts and restaurants do not have to be, and quite frankly, should not be. My dining experiences do not and should not have to be like everyone else's. But my ride experiences should be on par with those of the other guests. And those other guests should have the same equal opportunity to acquire FP tickets as I do, just as we have the same equal opportunity to enter the park on any given day with regular operating hours. Show up early with ticket media at hand, and you'll get in. Same with acquiring FP tickets.
This is why I believe FP+ is wrong. NextGEN will now treat the park attractions as if they were on par with the resort rooms and restaurants. They're not. But Disney believes that they are.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
I liked your entire post but quoted this part only because the techie in me would love to get my hands on the inner workings to see how they are integrating it all together. Forgetting all the other issues for a moment, I really want to know what's installed where, what type of database are they using, what are the software algorithms, etc. No doubt, it's pretty cool stuff.
Of course, a lot of the technology imagined in 1984 was pretty cool for its time as well.
rioriz
Well-Known Member
Why are you yelling? My parents controlled my spending as a kid by giving me alloted cash, Disney Bucks, or spending limit debit cards...
rioriz
Well-Known Member
And you'd still be comparing apples to oranges.
I was specifically posting about taking the existing FP system and turning it into FP+. It's the equivalent of taking the only restaurant inside a large hotel with a 13-year long policy of "first come, first served" and switching to 75% reserved seating only. FP currently is a "first come, first served" distribution process. It won't be after FP+ is available.
From looking at interviews and such this is what I have gathered the future of FP to be.
FP+ offered for future ride reservation for hotel guest before coming on property/FP still available to regular guest through the old ticket way
Then FP+ available to hotel guest for future reservation while FP+ will be available to day guest the morning of and throughout the day. FP regular still practiced in some locations.
Eventually FP+ to everyone, hotel still get future pick, tickets released the morning of and throughout the day. You can drop ticktes throughout the day and pick up ones that are available from others who dropped them. Kiosk will be available to all who do not have the use of a smart phone. No more regular FP
So essentially I can wake up at 6, log on to get my 10:30 FP+ for TSMM and go back to sleep knowing my FP is secure and i dont have to go to the park super early to get it.
TalkingHead
Well-Known Member
EMH is different since it's outside the regular operating hours of the parks. Morning EMH do impact lines at the beginning of the day, but it's also not a daily occurrence, which mitigates some of the effect.
FP+, however, is all day, everyday.
So the uneven playing field just got more uneven, and you're championing that?
Jane Doe
Well-Known Member
Or you could buy Toy Story Mania on the Nintendo Wii and get someone to push you round your living room on an office chair, spinning you occasionally. You don't even have to wake at 6.00am then.