Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[WDWDad13]

If NGE had been designed with the guest experience as its primary goal, It probably would have made these peoples vacations better, Instead it was designed and implemented with the goal of reducing attraction loads and concomitant staffing requirements, Hence adding FP to rides which have NEVER needed them, CoP and PoTC being notable examples, 'experiences' being clustered in 4 hour windows being unable to park hop and use FP. 60 Day scheduling Goal of MM- was quite clearly to facilitate cost-cutting and the continuing degradation of the WDW experience. PLUS it was done on the cheap which in the IT world is the quickest way to spend 2-5 times what the system SHOULD have cost if it was done by a competent design and build team in the first place.

A 'Guest Centric' system still would have included a FP pre-visit schedule but it would have been on the order of 2-4 days prior,Onsite day-of FP and incorporated the ability to GIFT one of your FPs to a person of your choice ie Grandparent to Grandchild, Park hopping would have been a GIVEN. Instead of REQUIRING a smart phone the MM+ tags could have simply been tapped at the attraction and a display would suggest available times - A smartphone application could still be used but it is an alternate path to service delivery not the primary path, The tracking features could have been disabled by the customer for those who feel uncomfortable having themselves and their family tracked, With the understanding of course that some personalization would not work but once again up to the GUEST.

These could have eliminated the lost child problem, Right now a lot of parents are going to drop these in an altoids box between uses because they cannot disable tracking.

There are a large number of us who work in the IT field and we UNDERSTAND systems like these and many of us have a visceral dislike of NGE based entirely upon our professional experiences.


IF I visit the parks again my 'Magic Band' will be in one of these

http://www.ramayes.com/RF_Shielded_Pouch.htm

With the changes to the experience DW and I are giving serious thought to letting our PAP's expire this year

patience grasshopper ....it will continue to evolve over time

 

[Figments Friend]

That meshes with the updates and clarifications that I'm hearing.
The actual spend at this point is over a billion, and soon (aleady has?) to exceed the original budget. The higher numbers ($2billion+) that I'm hearing are estimates (internal) of where the thing is going to end up. The original budget of $1.2-ish is toast, and they know it. Looking ahead at what they know is left to do...they are seeing $2billion minimum.

Question now is...where are they going to get that extra billion? BoD willing to write another check? Pull money from other projects? Be interesting to see....

Raising soda prices, of course....

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

No offense, but @WDW1974 is good at one thing: promoting himself. He's extremely negative and, from what I have seen, has as much real inside information as the rest of us

Its true hes an egotistical stroker, but what thats got to do with stating his opinion I dont know. One thing I do enjoy about his posts is how annoying they are to corporate apologists.

 

[Lee]

Just don't make out like you are a deep WDW insider. You're just a passionate guy with an opinion, like the rest of us.

If you mean '74....you would be incorrect. I can vouch for how far inside his reach goes. Way inside, and in multiple areas of the company.

 

[IWant2GoNow]

If you mean '74....you would be incorrect. I can vouch for how far inside his reach goes. Way inside, and in multiple areas of the company.

Cue @George antecdote about reaching inside something...

 

[Goofyernmost]

I kinda question that...
From what I hear, much (most) of the work being done is by outside contractors and not Disney's internal IT force. So it isn't just a matter of having their own people work on NGE instead of something else, it's teams of outside workers being brought in and paid.

Not a critique or statement of fact, but, just a question/observation. Unless I'm misreading your meaning, if I ran a company and I contracted with outside sources to achieve a goal, the first thing I would do would be to write up specs., detail the end result needed and send it out for bid. The company that bids on that project is then insured (bonded). They are also saying to the customer that they can and will produce the desired product at the bid price. Usually, when a problem happens that causes delay's, in this case, the inability to get the programs to work in the desired fashion, it is up to the company that bids to deliver, without additional cost, what the customer originally asked. The only time that additional expense is incurred is if the customer adds features not originally specified to the contract. I'm sure that "electronic" outsourcing is different then say, building a building, but the company that says that they can deliver will have a massive responsibility, financially, to deliver what they said they could.

My whole point is wouldn't Disney have an avenue to recapture or just not pay a large part of the unanticipated expense from the people they contracted with? Again, unless Disney made massive changes that threw the monkey wrench into the works, the people doing the work would have to eat the additional costs to deliver what Disney requested. If Disney did it all in-house, then Disney has to eat the expense completely.

 

[devoy1701]

Not a critique or statement of fact, but, just a question/observation. Unless I'm misreading your meaning, if I ran a company and I contracted with outside sources to achieve a goal, the first thing I would do would be to write up specs., detail the end result needed and send it out for bid. The company that bids on that project is then insured (bonded). They are also saying to the customer that they can and will produce the desired product at the bid price. Usually, when a problem happens that causes delay's, in this case, the inability to get the programs to work in the desired fashion, it is up to the company that bids to deliver, without additional cost, what the customer originally asked. The only time that additional expense is incurred is if the customer adds features not originally specified to the contract. I'm sure that "electronic" outsourcing is different then say, building a building, but the company that says that they can deliver will have a massive responsibility, financially, to deliver what they said they could.

My whole point is wouldn't Disney have an avenue to recapture or just not pay a large part of the unanticipated expense from the people they contracted with? Again, unless Disney made massive changes that threw the monkey wrench into the works, the people doing the work would have to eat the additional costs to deliver what Disney requested. If Disney did it all in-house, then Disney has to eat the expense completely.

I've been involved with enough IT/Software rollouts to have first hand knowledge of where a lot of the cost overruns occur...and yes, they've always resulted in going above and beyond the scope of the budget. If the contract delivered what was requested and it did not work, yes the contractor would be obligated to fix the issues. But more often or not, the contractor have delivered what was asked. I'm honing in on your last paragraph to where the issues usually occur. I've seen instances where during the requirements gathering, key elements are left out simply to meet budget and timelines, even though the business stakeholders need those elements to make the project work. Or where the stakeholders want something so customized that they aren't looking at the big picture of making the software dynamic for the long run...not managing to current processes but to generalized processes. I've seen other instances where the right stakeholders aren't at the table, or are included too late into scoping, or a system is built to cater to one department more than another...or egos will have a project rolled out on time and everything else be damned. I'm currently dealing with an internal project where the VP of Development and Development Team are refusing to gather business requirements during the initial construction of a homegrown system because "they aren't going to get anywhere if they have 6 departments bickering at a table about how things should look and what color should be used" (obviously the project lacks a PM).

I would imagine that these are the sorts of issues that MM+ is running into right now. I've seen it too many times.

 

[MattM]

I can vouch for how far inside his reach goes. Way inside, and in multiple areas

When it's there, take it.

 

[IWant2GoNow]

So I've been trying my darndest to keep up with this thread. I get tired of the bickering but I know it still fuels debate & discussion which is what any thread is about. So let me see if I can sum this up while adding my opinions in (as if anyone cared about those) & someone tell me if I'm off course.

-From the bits & pieces Spirit has given us, he presumes NextGen has gone far over its budget of $1 billion.
-TDO hasn't even flinched or backed down at going over a budget this large & will most likely spend more which is highly unlike anything they've ever done before.
-Some sort of government agency has been linked to this NextGen project.
-Assumption is made that there is outside funding from said agency for this product.
-So as for the big picture, the worry if this was all to be found true is that the US government wants to be able to track people & has a grand plan for doing so but they need a test subject... a "lab rat" if you will. So under the guise of the all-trusting, Pixiedust-laced, wonderland of Disney World, they are planning to roll out NGE & see exactly how much information they can gather & access from innocent individuals while posing as a simple all-in-one theme park ticket & "experience".

You can remove or put on your tinfoil hats... or add it to your foil ball, as I probably will.

My opinion of the whole thing is that I am in fact skeptical of the situation. The mere fact that the budget-slashing, corner-cutting, logo on napkins taker-awayers of TDO are allowing this much money to be spent & are seemingly willing to exceed the budget by almost double to get it accomplished is troubling to me. Do I think the government is involved as far as I mapped out above... I don't know. But that is the picture I painted with what information I've tried to pull from this thread.

I'm NOT however a fan of FP+. Being dwindled down to 3 or 4 FPs a day... for the same park... that you have to reserve 60 days out is not my idea of a fun vacation. I enjoy planning my trips, & even what park we will start out at on each day, but having to plan for rides or subject myself to a redongulous standby time is absurd & micromanaged too much, IMO. Not to mention, that I fear the possibility of not being able to park hop anymore in the not too distant future. If they are giving you FPs for only one park per day, what happens if those FP times are spread out throughout the day? That's right, you're going to have to stay in one park all day to be able to use them. So if they skew the numbers with this system to show that people aren't park-hopping as much, they can easily justify ousting the park-hopping perk. Some may not take advantage of it but I do. Who doesn't want the freedom to venture to other parks after DAK closes at 6pm? I know I enjoy being able to wait in line early morning for SWW autograph FPs & then going to MK for a few hours before my M&G time. Some of the adventuring, & spontaneity is lost if park-hopping becomes an extinct option.

So am I on the right path? Did I wade through enough material to get the gist of Spirit's tellings? I've addressed my current concerns about NGE. I'm not saying any of my opinions or assumptions WILL happen, I'm merely stating what COULD happen & my concerns for this project continue to grow each time I read someone's personal, albeit early, experiences with things like FP+, & RFID Coke machines (seriously?). I'm still in the "wait & see" crowd but I am not looking forward to dealing with all of this in October 2014.

 

[muteki]

...first thing I would do would be to write up specs...

Just to reiterate what devoy said, as I deal with this a lot on a daily basis, this is usually where problems turn up. The company contracting out often cannot spec with sufficient clarity, completeness, or accuracy...or often what was originally spec'd might not, once implemented, produce the desired results. Often in the start of a project, everything that needs to be known to reach the outcome is in reality not known, and that doesn't make it into the original project paperwork.

This is a downside of outsourcing, where when doing what is essentially R&D work when you don't really know what you will need, if you contract out you are bound by that original contract and it is much more difficult to be flexible. If you were doing this all in-house, as things changed and evolved (as they usually do) you can be flexible and flow with it and do what you want more often.

 

[Funmeister]

I'm sorry but that's just not true. You had the same doom and gloom scenario about July park attendance that you do about August occupancy and month after month, the numbers don't actualize that way. I know you wish they did and think they should but that doesn't make it any more true.

Sorry Tim but it IS true. Instead of making accusations please list the facts and proof of your argument if you are going to try to discredit his claim. It is yours to prove due to YOUR disagreement...not his.

So...lets see the facts.

 

[Funmeister]

Maybe I misspoke. The pieces of NGE that they've done so far are over budget. The project overall WILL be over budget. All I'm saying is that they haven't yet written $1.whatever billion in checks. They're driving over the cliff and they know they can't brake in time, but they haven't gone over the edge yet.

But in a way they have already gone over the cliff. You are not taking in consideration the additional amount of Cast Members hired and trained specifically to deal with fallout. You are not taking in consideration residual fallout from the affects of the confusing system operating the way it is supposed to work.

It is over budget. I wish I could take you on a field trip sometime and introduce you to a few folks. Your faith, trust and pixie dust would change dramatically.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Just to reiterate what devoy said, as I deal with this a lot on a daily basis, this is usually where problems turn up. The company contracting out often cannot spec with sufficient clarity, completeness, or accuracy...or often what was originally spec'd might not, once implemented, produce the desired results. Often in the start of a project, everything that needs to be known to reach the outcome is in reality not known, and that doesn't make it into the original project paperwork.

This is a downside of outsourcing, where when doing what is essentially R&D work when you don't really know what you will need, if you contract out you are bound by that original contract and it is much more difficult to be flexible. If you were doing this all in-house, as things changed and evolved (as they usually do) you can be flexible and flow with it and do what you want more often.

Not to smart then are they?

 

[Funmeister]

No offense, but @WDW1974 is good at one thing: promoting himself. He's extremely negative and, from what I have seen, has as much real inside information as the rest of us

Then leave. Why do you lurk and read if you do not like him? Promoting himself for what? Has he asked the population for money to get a new computer like other blogs? Is he selling insurance? Is he selling DVC? Promoting for what? He is not getting paid to post stuff here (even though from reading his posts he probably would for a Perkins milkshake!).

Please explain how and why you feel he is promoting himself.

 

[Funmeister]

It's over budget for what they've done, it's not over the TOTAL approved amount (yet). They HAVE NOT spent over $1.2B. The WILL spend over the project's total to complete it, but they have not yet.

What is your point? You are getting into a ing match that they are technically not over budget today but will be tomorrow. The fact is that they ARE and WILL BE over budget. What point are you trying to make saying that they are not quite there but will be? You make no sense sometimes most of the time.

 

[muteki]

Not to smart then are they?

I'm sure for management and non-technical people doing work like this it looks great on paper at the onset of a project. There is all kinds of optimism and hope that everything will be easy and work the first time. It is in the contractors best interest to build this up too.

But in my line of work I deal with working through all the unknown issues and mitigating them until things work out. It is rarely ever known at the beginning of an R&D project everything that will need to be in place to reach the desired goal, unless you are really lucky.

 

[Funmeister]

most of it is monopoly money... more juggling resource allocation (time) v/s writing checks out the door

big difference


I don't work for disney and I didn't stay at a holiday inn express last night... but I have managed several 1mil+ IT related projects...

Monopoly money....that sounds like you. Always playing games.

 

[stevehousse]

So I've been trying my darndest to keep up with this thread. I get tired of the bickering but I know it still fuels debate & discussion which is what any thread is about. So let me see if I can sum this up while adding my opinions in (as if anyone cared about those) & someone tell me if I'm off course.

-From the bits & pieces Spirit has given us, he presumes NextGen has gone far over its budget of $1 billion.
-TDO hasn't even flinched or backed down at going over a budget this large & will most likely spend more which is highly unlike anything they've ever done before.
-Some sort of government agency has been linked to this NextGen project.
-Assumption is made that there is outside funding from said agency for this product.
-So as for the big picture, the worry if this was all to be found true is that the US government wants to be able to track people & has a grand plan for doing so but they need a test subject... a "lab rat" if you will. So under the guise of the all-trusting, Pixiedust-laced, wonderland of Disney World, they are planning to roll out NGE & see exactly how much information they can gather & access from innocent individuals while posing as a simple all-in-one theme park ticket & "experience".

You can remove or put on your tinfoil hats... or add it to your foil ball, as I probably will.

My opinion of the whole thing is that I am in fact skeptical of the situation. The mere fact that the budget-slashing, corner-cutting, logo on napkins taker-awayers of TDO are allowing this much money to be spent & are seemingly willing to exceed the budget by almost double to get it accomplished is troubling to me. Do I think the government is involved as far as I mapped out above... I don't know. But that is the picture I painted with what information I've tried to pull from this thread.

I'm NOT however a fan of FP+. Being dwindled down to 3 or 4 FPs a day... for the same park... that you have to reserve 60 days out is not my idea of a fun vacation. I enjoy planning my trips, & even what park we will start out at on each day, but having to plan for rides or subject myself to a redongulous standby time is absurd & micromanaged too much, IMO. Not to mention, that I fear the possibility of not being able to park hop anymore in the not too distant future. If they are giving you FPs for only one park per day, what happens if those FP times are spread out throughout the day? That's right, you're going to have to stay in one park all day to be able to use them. So if they skew the numbers with this system to show that people aren't park-hopping as much, they can easily justify ousting the park-hopping perk. Some may not take advantage of it but I do. Who doesn't want the freedom to venture to other parks after DAK closes at 6pm? I know I enjoy being able to wait in line early morning for SWW autograph FPs & then going to MK for a few hours before my M&G time. Some of the adventuring, & spontaneity is lost if park-hopping becomes an extinct option.

So am I on the right path? Did I wade through enough material to get the gist of Spirit's tellings? I've addressed my current concerns about NGE. I'm not saying any of my opinions or assumptions WILL happen, I'm merely stating what COULD happen & my concerns for this project continue to grow each time I read someone's personal, albeit early, experiences with things like FP+, & RFID Coke machines (seriously?). I'm still in the "wait & see" crowd but I am not looking forward to dealing with all of this in October 2014.

The gov already has a mass tracking program in place, its called Facebook! Ever look at the copyrights for Facebook? They are copy written to the CIA!?!

 

[IWant2GoNow]

The gov already has a mass tracking program in place, its called Facebook! Ever look at the copyrights for Facebook? They are copy written to the CIA!?!

Yes but Facebook only gets you so far with information.

 

[asianway]

What is your point? You are getting into a ing match that they are technically not over budget today but will be tomorrow. The fact is that they ARE and WILL BE over budget. What point are you trying to make saying that they are not quite there but will be? You make no sense sometimes most of the time.

If the costs are committed by way of POs or contracts, the money is effectively spent.