danlb_2000
Premium Member
That's not entirely true, since Universal did implement thier own virutal queue system (http://www.orlandoinformer.com/universal/q-bot-ride-reservation-system/), although no where near the scope of "Next-Gen".
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- Thread starter WDW1974
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That's not entirely true, since Universal did implement thier own virutal queue system (http://www.orlandoinformer.com/universal/q-bot-ride-reservation-system/), although no where near the scope of "Next-Gen".
danlb_2000
Premium Member
This really depends on exactly what we are getting for that money. Since we don't know exactly how that money was spent, and exactly what will come out of it in the future, it's hard to say. That money may have been used to put infrastructure in place that will lead to dozens of other enhancements in the future. At this point in time it does seem like a lot of money, but we really can't judge that until we see the full scope of what it's buying.
tomman710
Well-Known Member
I think he was speaking more to the RFID, NEXTGen, Mock-Personalization aspect of it ...
orky8
Well-Known Member
Actually, I was just at DLR, and clearly CMs are being instructed to do this, as every single time I paid for anything -- either in a store or dining -- they addressed me by my name because they had my credit card.
lspicknall
Active Member
I can not say i have read every post in this thread, but setting aside the privacy issues (RFID blocking bags are $5, and our bands will be in them until needed) i have a question that may or may not have been answered. I have DVC and since passes are no longer included we have been buying our tickets (for disney and uni) through AAA with the discount. Since i am staying onsite i should be able to book a FP+ months before arrival (not that i necessarily would), but i don't have park tickets on my reservation, does this mean i have to wait until i arrive onsite, have the ticket added to my room bracelet, then hope the FP+ for my desired attractions are not all gone ?
awoogala
Well-Known Member
Honestly? No one knows. The language is vague, and distinguishes between "Magic your way tickets" and "other passes and tickets"
MYW and Photopass people automatically get a bracelet, and "others" can use their paper tickets to access fp in the park, but if they want the app or the My disney experience, it says they can, and they can purchase a bracelet.
Does this mean that MYW tickets through a discount reseller will still be honored as MYW? Does this mean they are reclassifying ap's and reseller tickets? Or will all tickets remain MYW tickets? No real answer.
It gives me the idea that any tickets purchased outside of a package will be treated differently, but it's open for interpretation.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Well it's likely gonna be one of two ways
- You have to wait until you purchase tickets (if you wait until you are onsite.. that is your choice) and they give you some sort of code you can use to link a ticket purchase to MyMagic+.. or if you buy online with Disney, they will probably carry your purchase over automatically.
- They allow people with room reservations to book without having tickets in hand
My guess is it will be more like the first scenario, and they will use advance booking as a means to encourage you to buy tickets ahead of time (rather than wait till onsite).
Remember what is central is your profile within Disney.. all they need to do is link various authorizations to it. Be that linking hotel reservations, tickets, etc.
If tickets have unique identifiers on them.. Disney simply has to allow you to read and enter those unique identifiers to know if you have legit tickets.
Where manual intervention is unavoidable is where you have old tickets that predate whatever system Disney choses to implement (like my tickets from the 80s and 90s I still turn into MYW tickets when I get onsite).
John
Well-Known Member
The whole "CM's and AA's saying my childs name, my name is perplexing to me. First I am more impressed and have a deeper respect for someone when they call me "sir". Albeit formal there was time when it was protocol. I still insist that my son who is 25 address people whom he dosnt know by "Sir" or "Mam"
Will children get a kick out of it? I suppose, but in my last five or six trips I visited without children. I dont see a AA doing it while children are lined up in queue...How in the world can it be done in such rapid succesion? Hello Bobby....Hello Suzie....Hello Johnny. What happens if and when there is some type of misread or glitch and the AA calls little Johnny....Suzie. Seems logical it could happen if you have three or four kids. For a 9 yr old that is something worse then death. Not to mention not very magical when others around him are laughing.
I think this feature of the program will be short lived other then maybe CM's addressing a parent at the dinner table or at the register. I also not sure how I feel about everyone in ear shot now knowing my grandaughters name.
Also how in the world will families with large groups can plan a vacation where some members of the group are not tall enough to ride some rides, others dont want to ride, and still get FP for yourself? Besides reserveing them six months out it will take you longer to preplan the plan. Then once you log on the site and find out that you cant get the FP's you want, you just waisted all that time preplanning. Please dont tell me that it is what we do now......I hear that over and over....its the same as what you do now. So if it is the same why must we have the program? When at the parks we have the fredom to hit rides when the queue might be at its shortest wait time. Now we have 3 or 4 FP's with fixed times that we will have to somehow fit rides that will acommodate others in our party. What happens when you have a FP time at HM for Johnny at 3:00....a FP time for Bobby at SM at 3:20 and a FP time for a princess M&G for Suzie at 3:40? Will it be that everyone in your party will have to have the same Fp's?......Bobby is going to just love the princess M&G. Bobby is scared to death of HM. Am I overthinking this? I dont think so....I am just spitballing here running screnarios thru my head. I just see this as a disaster waiting to happen.
You say just dont reserve them for those times....move them. Well it maybe the only time available. Sorry Bobby....you cant go to SM, Suzie has first dibs. There might be a tad of hyperbol going on here but its not unrealistic to see scenarios similar playing out this way. There is talk of layoffs comming....there is one area where there will be plenty of job security.......Guest Relations.
Will children get a kick out of it? I suppose, but in my last five or six trips I visited without children. I dont see a AA doing it while children are lined up in queue...How in the world can it be done in such rapid succesion? Hello Bobby....Hello Suzie....Hello Johnny. What happens if and when there is some type of misread or glitch and the AA calls little Johnny....Suzie. Seems logical it could happen if you have three or four kids. For a 9 yr old that is something worse then death. Not to mention not very magical when others around him are laughing.
I think this feature of the program will be short lived other then maybe CM's addressing a parent at the dinner table or at the register. I also not sure how I feel about everyone in ear shot now knowing my grandaughters name.
Also how in the world will families with large groups can plan a vacation where some members of the group are not tall enough to ride some rides, others dont want to ride, and still get FP for yourself? Besides reserveing them six months out it will take you longer to preplan the plan. Then once you log on the site and find out that you cant get the FP's you want, you just waisted all that time preplanning. Please dont tell me that it is what we do now......I hear that over and over....its the same as what you do now. So if it is the same why must we have the program? When at the parks we have the fredom to hit rides when the queue might be at its shortest wait time. Now we have 3 or 4 FP's with fixed times that we will have to somehow fit rides that will acommodate others in our party. What happens when you have a FP time at HM for Johnny at 3:00....a FP time for Bobby at SM at 3:20 and a FP time for a princess M&G for Suzie at 3:40? Will it be that everyone in your party will have to have the same Fp's?......Bobby is going to just love the princess M&G. Bobby is scared to death of HM. Am I overthinking this? I dont think so....I am just spitballing here running screnarios thru my head. I just see this as a disaster waiting to happen.
You say just dont reserve them for those times....move them. Well it maybe the only time available. Sorry Bobby....you cant go to SM, Suzie has first dibs. There might be a tad of hyperbol going on here but its not unrealistic to see scenarios similar playing out this way. There is talk of layoffs comming....there is one area where there will be plenty of job security.......Guest Relations.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Like much of NextGen, this seems to follow the successful cruise ship model. Cruise lines prize themselves on hiring staff who seemingly know passengers' names before they even arrive, which most people like. That said, I think this works a lot better in a hotel (where "Good morning, Mr. Smith." on arrival would be most welcome) than a theme park.
maxairmike
Well-Known Member
The new Lo-Q system has absolutely nothing to do with what Disney has been doing, it is just a much cleaner type of Express, and can be tiered much easier than Express can, as well.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
I agree it's probably not a reaction to Disney, but it is an example of Universal using technology to enhance the theme park experience.
maxairmike
Well-Known Member
Yes, but it was very likely to happen regardless of Disney doing NextGen or not. Lo-Q has been a booming business within the industry, and it only makes sense to use them if you don't want to roll your own version. It wasn't meant as a competing product/service, the timing is just coincidental. They're investing in technology not because they are choosing to compete, rather because the investments they are making are pretty much a requirement as viewed by most park-going guests.
Completely different from Disney who is doing NextGen both because infrastructure and some services were absolutely necessary, but also because they see the data goldmine and want to try and build a service base that the rest of the industry will use, similar to Lo-Q.
Completely different from Disney who is doing NextGen both because infrastructure and some services were absolutely necessary, but also because they see the data goldmine and want to try and build a service base that the rest of the industry will use, similar to Lo-Q.
CTXRover
Well-Known Member
Even if it turns out to be terrible, I suspect Universal has to care some. It seems that one of the reasons behind all this is, like Magic your Way Tickets and moreso Magical Express, is to try and to keep (or effectively force) folks who come to Orlando to book at Disney hotels and then stay on Disney property throughout their stay. Magical Express put a big dent in folks renting cars and thus having the ability to drive up to Universal and their attendance suffered up until the opening of WWOHP. Universal is no doubt winning the attraction arms race in recent years, but certainly execs there have to realize if NextGen is implemented right, it could make it "seem" to guests as they are planning their vacations that it would make more sense just to stay on Disney property.
nytimez
Well-Known Member
Yes, but Disney has been playing some variation on that theme for years now - and it worked. Until The Boy Who Lived showed up.
No amount of Disney magic is going to keep the kids from wanting to visit Potter Land. None.
If this is the game they intend to play, they will lose - plain and simple.
ChrisFL
Premium Member
That isn't new, they taught that during training for CM's several years ago.
Disneyhead'71
Well-Known Member
They are also installing free in park wifi to be used with their parks app. It will give real time wait times and such
flynnibus
Premium Member
Obviously it's not something you do everywhere all the time. It's something that is implemented with these kinds of constraints in mind.
Example: For a M&G.. maybe the group is held out of view before approaching the character (we have these elaborate M&G locations now..) and that gives the character prep time and isolates groups. Not every character or M&G location need provide this feature.
Ride Example: Maybe the ride doesn't address EVERYONE and that's part of the fun of it. 'Will I get picked this time??' - This is exactly what happens in rides like Star Tours, Monsters Inc, and MiLF. In Monsters, the ride concludes with Roz interacting with the vehicle.. and only one person gets addressed each car. It's fine, and 'if I get picked' is part of the fun.
It's the same because the same type of decisions you make 'Will we split up or stay together?' are exactly the same types of decisions. 'Will I take this FP and lose that.. or just skip the FP'.. You deal with the same types of conflicts today.
Darth Sidious
Authentically Disney Distinctly Chinese
The whole thing might be overblown but of course they are spinning the reason why they added the MagicBands. It would be really dumb to say yes wear this because we wanna make more money! Trust me I'm not being a fanboy but the Mobile Magic app already has the tracking you thing down pat... So need not worry. That aspect is old news... As is the credit card thing... Considering a lot of people store them on their room key/park tickets. Yes this is taking it to a new level but I think we all may be overreacting slightly... Myself included. I just hope they become more open to park investments in the future.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
But aren't the current signs the exact opposite, that they plan to reduce WDW investment?
- Warnings about capital expenditure reductions at financial conference calls
- Concerns about Q1 earnings
- FLE and Avatarland budget reductions
- Reduced EMH
- Layoffs
I'm hopeful we'll hear something soon about Carsland at DHS but fearful it will be a cheapened version of the original product in California.
Disney just spent $1.1B to fix the much smaller DCA. To do the same at the much larger WDW will require many billions more.
The CEO and his minions are under tremendous pressure to reduce capex. They've already spent billions. Unfortunately for WDW fans, nearly all of it has been on cruise ships, at other theme parks, or in the $1.5B sinkhole called NextGen.
Exactly what are the signs I should be watching for to suggest Disney intends to increase investments in WDW?
Darth Sidious
Authentically Disney Distinctly Chinese
Oh I agree with you. I read the proverbial writing on the wall with this one. I was just throwing out my wish... I like all of us here wish they'd focus on investing in quality and rides. Everything you said though is spot on. With NextGen... TDO and Disney are essentially saying they believe the product is fine but their efficiency isn't. They think if they make more off of each guest it is all fixed. They are probably right in their inefficiency problem but they also need quality control big time. As well as CAPEX in things that actually tick the attendance up, as well as fight the competitor.