Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[Tim_4]

The English language is fluid and words can creep into vernacular and eventually be added to the dictionary regardless of their etymological disparities.

Like Ginormous,meatspace,prebuttal,frankenfood, riffage,lookism,threequel,grrrl etc.

Does it make it correct? In my opinion...no

Since criticising grammar is cool...

You shouldn't use "it" to refer to two different things in the same sentence, as in: "Does it make it correct?"

To paraphrase Microsoft Word; Pronoun use, consider revising.

What's meatspace?

 

[WDWDad13]

The English language is fluid and words can creep into vernacular and eventually be added to the dictionary regardless of their etymological disparities.

Like Ginormous,meatspace,prebuttal,frankenfood, riffage,lookism,threequel,grrrl etc.

Does it make it correct? In my opinion...no

So now we're having arguments about who legally says a word is real or not


Nextgen's fault I bet lol

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

irregardless of what you say....it actually is a word lol

Erm, no. No, it's not.
It's literally only in the dictionary to point out the fact that it's not a word.


From dictionary.com:

ir·re·gard·less
[ir-i-gahrd-lis] adverb Nonstandard.
Usage note
Irregardless is considered nonstandard because of the two negative elements ir- and -less. It was probably formed on the analogy of such words as irrespective, irrelevant, and irreparable. Those who use it, including on occasion educated speakers, may do so from a desire to add emphasis.


....but I digress... moving on.

 

[Tim_4]

Free Wifi - should be available anyway
Tap To Pay - don't use
Tap to Enter Room - because swiping was so difficult...
Fastpass on KttW - the current system works fine
Personalised attractions - Test Track has now been open 9-10 months, is it working 100% yet?

Two pages since I post the real explanation of what NextGen is and we're back to arguing about Wifi, RFID, and MagicBands. For your reference, so you don't need to backtrack:

I hope people will take the time to read this because (at least in my opinion), it answers the question of why the heck Disney would be shelling out over a billion dollars on the NextGen project. The logic is all here, in a Harvard Business School case called "Hilton Hotels: Brand Differentiation through Customer Relationship Management." Some highlights follow.

http://faculty.mu.edu.sa/public/uploads/1361962401.026customer relationship95.pdf

Tim Harvey, EVP of Shared Services and CIO captured the role of information technology at Hilton: “At Hilton we have a belief that information technology is so intertwined with our brands and their culture that you need a consistent infrastructure to enable the brand promise."

The nervous system of the Hilton Hotels Corporation was a comprehensive, integrated infrastructure known as OnQ.

OnQ embodied both the one-stop shopping nature of an integrated solution and a readiness to serve customers “on cue.” Built on the premise that technology was an enabler for employees to deliver great customer service, OnQ was an ambitious custom-built enterprise system designed to support the property-level operations of each hotel in the Hilton family, regardless of size and segment, and to enable the firm’s Customers Really Matter initiative at each customer touch point.

Hilton estimated the cost of OnQ to be about $93 million, with approximately $40 million for application development and $53 million for hardware and infrastructure implementation. By 2007, the investment in OnQ had grown by another $102 million,

Over double its original budget. Hmm.

“CRM is a way to use technology to give you the power to solidify relationships with our best customers.” The technology enabler was OnQ CRM, an application built on the OnQ infrastructure that consolidated far-flung customer data and produced comprehensive arrival reports.

At every one of our customer touch points there were barriers to good service because information was not integrated and easily available. If there is no holistic view, talk times [time taken per call] are longer at the call centers, we can’t provide continuity to guests that stay with multiple brands, we can’t recognize them properly, if they had a bad experience in their last stay we don’t know. With CRM we set out to fix all that.

Fostering a closer relationship with best guests throughout their lifecycle of interaction with the Hilton family of brands was indeed a critical objective of the CRM initiative. As Subramanian put it: “We want to ensure that our best guests don’t sleep around with the competition.”

Our success is going to come down to execution. That’s the reality. We know what the opportunity is, we have the infrastructure and the data, what it comes down to is how effectively to harness the promise of CRM, the potential of OnQ, and execute it consistently and flawlessly across the network.

And there's the rub. Can they execute?

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

I'm sorry, but a lot of this thread (and nearly every thread ever created regarding the Next Gen project) just comes across as a lot of people upset about new technology that they've never used and don't understand.

Yes, Fastpass+ seems a little... wonky, but it's a tiny part of otherwise much needed upgrades to WDW's technological systems.

 

[Clever Name]

So when you say it's a lease not a purchase that is accurate. But it's still technically deeded property.

A traditional timeshare is a fee simple timeshare. A DVC membership is never fee simple.

 

[bcalltimandanna]

 

[WDWDad13]

I'm sorry, but a lot of this thread (and nearly every thread ever created regarding the Next Gen project) just comes across as a lot of people upset about new technology that they've never used and don't understand.

Yes, Fastpass+ seems a little... wonky, but it's a tiny part of otherwise much needed upgrades to WDW's technological systems.

Sidebar: I still fail to see the point of these Spirited Observation threads. 300 pages of nonsense that's impossible to wade through with hardly-substantial nuggets of information scattered about here and there. Good luck finding any of it within the thousands of posts about big bad Disney data mining (such a new and foreign concept that is!) and how much better Universal does EVERYTHING.

On that note... can anybody on this website HONESTLY tell me that if Disney had built that cheap Springfield area instead of Uni, that you all would be praising it like you have been? It features plastic McDonald's-style character figures and a spinner for God's sake! Two of the biggest sins ever when committed on Disney property, yet somehow Uni does it and it's golden. This lot would have torn Disney to shreds if they had built that area.

*standing ovation!*

 

[Goofyernmost]

The problem is there has to be a balance between business and ethics, The truth is great artists don't try to meet the expectations of people and what they like , They go above and beyond that. They aim to exceed the expectations of the public not customize it to be "good enough" and if you make an honest artistic statement it usually always finds an audience, Films like Pinnochio and Fantasia were initially disappointing financially but as time went on they became classics. Disneyland was supposed to close within a month according to the "Experts".
The fact of the matter is simply giving the public what they want gets old quick. You have to do what feels right to you and an audience will come to you. When you try to force the audience in as Disney is doing with NGE feels contrived, invasive and insincere. The product should speak for itself not try to force you to like it with gimmicky BS and that is what the MBA-type worldview does not understand.

That is all true, but, I was referring to NGE specifically, and not the creativity of Disney and the draw incentive for the parks. Of course, there has to be something there to bring people in, that's a given. But the two are not related in any form. The question of whether or not Disney is keeping up to standards entertainment wise is a completely different discussion. NGE is a business action not an entertainment action. Sure there will be a novelty measurement in the beginning, but, that will not last and it by itself will not bring more people into the park or even maintain the degree of business that they need.

We may not like the idea that we are being watched, but really it isn't really that important when talking about operating a theme park specifically. It is neither immoral or moral, it is amoral. It is a device used by business to make decisions dealing with people, inventories and trends. Nothing more. If in that process the guys pushing this are better salesmen then those that are selling pixie dust, then the money will go to a mining system and what this really is primarily, will be a much needed upgrading of technology before they get so far behind that they are never able to recover. This is only one part of the business, it is not the one and only, interconnected thing that deprives one thing from happening over the other. Will it cause other projects to slow up in the short range? That might just happen, accountants are accountants. If the trend shows that the crowds are not coming like they used too, there will be no one to "mine" so the other part of the business has to be dealt with. That will be here sooner then later. Just look at the list of attractions that are closing for refurb. right now! Haven't seen that many in years. It might currently be a band-aid approach, but at least something is being done. That means that someone is paying attention and it isn't a NGE pusher.

 

[Goofyernmost]

irregardless of what you say....it actually is a word lol

So is ain't, but, it ain't like I want to use it in polite conversations unless my point is to come across as an uneducated lump. Let's see if I can word this properly... Regardless of what you say I ain't buyin it.

 

[lspicknall]

Something occurred to me about NGE and the cost associated, early on in the discussions there was talk of Disney maybe selling the tech in order to re-coup costs and everyone kept asking why would they sell it to UNI if it truly is ground breaking. But how about if they should to someone else, say the Mills corporation that runs several shopping malls (with this little device you can buy anything you want, have it sent to a central location near the exit to the garage and have all your purchases waiting so you don't have to lug around the packages all day). Or how about a sports team, now there's a new way to show for fan alliance, store your tickets and buy your official sponsor beer. And now everyone has this, the Mills corp can track you through the mall, notice that you window shopped at store xyz, compare that to the other places you window shopped versus actually went into the store versus actually buying something. Before long they will be able to put together a marketing profile tailored to you, taking into account your likes, tastes and price points. This leads down a road i don't want to be on.

 

[yeti]

On that note... can anybody on this website HONESTLY tell me that if Disney had built that cheap Springfield area instead of Uni, that you all would be praising it like you have been? It features plastic McDonald's-style character figures and a spinner for God's sake! Two of the biggest sins ever when committed on Disney property, yet somehow Uni does it and it's golden. This lot would have torn Disney to shreds if they had built that area.

I realize you're an expert but I believe it doesn't take one to see that's not the point. First of all, it's not cheap. It's a themed area they threw together and built in what--less than a year? For what it took to build it, I don't think it's cheap at all. Forgiving the comic book store, I'd be hard pressed to find a Simpsons fan disappointed with it, plus all the specialty merch and food and booze.

Second of all, when Universal builds a spinner, it's "let's throw in a spinner". When Disney builds a spinner, it's "let's see how many people we can get hyped up about this spinner!".

But most importantly, Springfield is praised because it's a sign of effort; of more on top of more. Transformers would have sufficed for the fan community to consider Uni's 2013 a productive year. But because they're smart they know from HP that themed areas with specialty merch food and booze = $$$$ (a bargain for us consumers (there's that word again)). WE get more. Springfield is something. Disney obviously knows this recipe for success--look at CarsLand and World Showcase--so we start asking questions: why can't they conceptualize and build something, anything, like UC can in such a brief span of time?

Being optimistic of Universal for what they're doing doesn't make someone a fanboy. It makes them OBSERVANT. If you're still unconvinced, I'll see you in a year when we can compare and contrast Seven Dwarfs Train with Diagon Alley.

 

[Lee]

Springfield > Storybook Circus.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Wow. I seem to of missed a lot in the past week.

Okay, seeing as though I am still on I-95, I'm not flipping back through this thread. Or at least not past where Steve just smacked everybody down and rightfully so.

In regards to the next GEN project, there are many, many components.

The two biggest components are the on stage things and the behind-the-scenes things. The onstage functionality refers to your fast pass plus, tap To pay, TurnStyle entry, interactivity with lights and characters, and so on.

The behind-the-scenes components and functionality are what I'm more interested in. That is where the privacy concerns come to play.

The issue is not whether they use an RF ID bracelet to track you through the park, it's what they use with the data they collect from that bracelet. Therein lies the problem And my largest concerns.

From other perspectives, I do not like that People have the ability and therefore will most likely hog all the fast passes hundred and 80 days out.

On one hand, this company is insisting that you whenever you think out to the end grade. Get on the other hand if you were supposed to be flexible enough to be able to handle the dynamic problems the pop-up in dated day theme parks, such as transportation and whether.

And again I apologize if none of that makes any sense whatsoever, it's all voice to text from the middle of God knows where South Carolina.

 

[BryceM]

On that note... can anybody on this website HONESTLY tell me that if Disney had built that cheap Springfield area instead of Uni, that you all would be praising it like you have been? It features plastic McDonald's-style character figures and a spinner for God's sake! Two of the biggest sins ever when committed on Disney property, yet somehow Uni does it and it's golden. This lot would have torn Disney to shreds if they had built that area.

It's praised because Universal went out of it's way to turn a completely DEAD area of the park into something worthwhile.

And honestly, it does look good. The Moe's Tavern is a very faithful recreation, and the whole Duff Gardens area is beautiful. I am disappointed in the side of the Comic Book Store and some of the interior of the restaurant(s). HOWEVER, I think the rest looks great and SO, SO much better than that bland waterfront area there before and the lame International Food & Film Festival. And the spinner was not supposed to be a big huge addition. I think it's neat that they even added it... It's just a nice family attraction that looks cool and has an interactive element.

 

[BryceM]

Springfield > Storybook Circus.

View attachment 30601

Hehehehe.

 

[marni1971]

Yes, Fastpass+ seems a little... wonky, but it's a tiny part of otherwise much needed upgrades to WDW's technological systems.

On that note... can anybody on this website HONESTLY tell me that if Disney had built that cheap Springfield area instead of Uni, that you all would be praising it like you have been?

Fastpass+ is the MAJOR part of the upgrades. The entire resort is planned to revolve around it, and forcing guests into less choices and standby lines if they don't (or don't know) they have to micromanage their trip in advance. Fair enough, upgrade dated infrastructure, but do it at corporate level and leave the guest experience out of it. Too late was the cry.

Springfield wasn't needed. Like the Spider-Man enhancements it was done to enhance something without being needed. It would stink if it was flogged to death as the new must see by park publicity and social media but it wasn't. It would stink if it were opened piecemeal over several years and each time a new part was hailed as a major expansion. But it wasn't.

Mostly though, It would stink the most if it were the only addition in a resort that wasn't seeing D level refurbs and new E tickets being added year after year. But they are.

Perhaps that's why it's not getting too much of a hard time.

 

[Reddog]

The English language is fluid and words can creep into vernacular and eventually be added to the dictionary regardless of their etymological disparities.

Like Ginormous,meatspace,prebuttal,frankenfood, riffage,lookism,threequel,grrrl etc.

Does it make it correct? In my opinion...no

But if it wasn't for the fluidity of language, this thread would read like a Chaucer novel.

 

[doc_holiday3500]

Springfield > Storybook Circus.

View attachment 30601

It's tough to make a blanket statement like this as it is really dependent on the audience. Myself, as a father of two young children, really enjoyed Story Book Circus as it was geared for my children's age which made it enjoyable for our family. I suspect however that most older people (adolescents and up) would clearly favour the the new Simpson's area as they are more likely to know the simpsons than my six and three year olds do. To me it's not really comparing apples to apples as you need to look at the parks as a whole. Regardless (or irregardless) I think looking at it from this meta perspective makes the debate more meaningful.

 

[ford91exploder]

NextGen's massive budget overrun shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's managed large projects. Budget estimates are based on previous experience; "this new project is similar to this other project we did in the past and that project cost X."

At its heart, NextGen is a massive infrastructure upgrade of the entire WDW network. Disney is trying to integrate together all of its disjointed systems that were added piecemeal into one all-encompassing "Skynet", controlling all aspects of WDW. It's a massive undertaking and unlike anything they've tried in the past. Of course, they are going to come up with a budget that's more guess than anything else.

The problem with big budgets is that starting with a really big number tends to kill the project before it's ever launched. Even if the team manages to come up with an estimate that has some basis in reality, inevitably those higher up the food chain randomly lop off numbers.

The team come up with a budget of $2B. The team's head says, "that's too much, let's cut 20%." The budget gets sent upwards for review and the senior VP says, "$1.6B is too much, we can do better, let's cut 20% and make it $1.3B." Now the segment head has a look and says, "can't you do better? Try for $1.1B." Finally the CEO gets involved and says, "great, sounds like a wonderful idea, however, I have confidence in you and your team; I know you can do better, let's bring it in under $1.0B." Everyone in the room nervously plays with something in front them because to actually stand up and declare "the emperor has no clothes" is effectively to write your own resignation letter.

Disney will continue to throw money at NextGen no matter how bad it gets because CEO Bob Iger owns it. In Wall Street's eyes, NextGen has become Iger's project. Wall Street repeatedly has asked Iger about it and Iger repeatedly has defended it. The following exchange from the Q2 FY13 earnings call is typical:

Q: "Bob, if you could talk about the timing of the rollout of My Magic Plus. Is there any way to give us a sense of the potential impact from that initiative? It's not the easiest thing for us to model."

This is polite Wall Street code for "we don't see how this thing will ever make money."

A: "In terms of what we can expect from it return-wise, you're right; it's somewhat -- although we've modeled it -- it's somewhat difficult to be specific about. You can expect that it will create a better experience, and with that we believe people will spend more time at our parks and ultimately deliver more business per guest."

This is Iger's polite way of providing a BS smoke-and-mirrors answer. What are you saying Bob, that up till now, every other project you've done was to create a worse experience? (I guess with all the quality cuts we've seen at WDW, the answer to that is "yes".)

Forget about what's actually going on with NextGen testing. From a cost-benefit perspective, the wheels already have fallen off the NextGen cart.

And thats when the competent project manager starts the 'Pearl Harbor File' with all the estimates

I'm sorry, but a lot of this thread (and nearly every thread ever created regarding the Next Gen project) just comes across as a lot of people upset about new technology that they've never used and don't understand.

Yes, Fastpass+ seems a little... wonky, but it's a tiny part of otherwise much needed upgrades to WDW's technological systems.

Sidebar: I still fail to see the point of these Spirited Observation threads. 300 pages of nonsense that's impossible to wade through with hardly-substantial nuggets of information scattered about here and there. Good luck finding any of it within the thousands of posts about big bad Disney data mining (such a new and foreign concept that is!) and how much better Universal does EVERYTHING.

On that note... can anybody on this website HONESTLY tell me that if Disney had built that cheap Springfield area instead of Uni, that you all would be praising it like you have been? It features plastic McDonald's-style character figures and a spinner for God's sake! Two of the biggest sins ever when committed on Disney property, yet somehow Uni does it and it's golden. This lot would have torn Disney to shreds if they had built that area.

Many of us who do not like this manifestation of NGE know EXACTLY what this technology is, how it works, and helped develop it as undergraduates working for a senior faculty member in college, and it's potential for abuse.

Just imagine being forced to wear one of these as a condition of employment now your employer knows where you are at all times with an uncertainty of a few feet, whether you associate with 'troublemakers' if you take 61 minute lunchbreaks instead of 60 minutes or less, (emphasis on LESS) whether you eat at desk or cafeteria (desk preferred) how many hours you spend after official closing time.

In effect they have a complete behavioral profile of you, All because you had a nasty little band on your wrist, Yes Disney will attempt to sell this technology and the first place it will be used is in the workplace. Then it will migrate to 'secure apartment buildings' and gated communities. Do you really want to give that much power over you to unaccountable watchers???