Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[ParentsOf4]

Thank God I no longer have to march halfway across the Florida swamp and back to my party six times a day anymore to get another fastpass. It's 2013, hurray for letting me make reservations through todays version of the Worldkey. And not just restaurants, but rides too!

Ah, the bliss of just strolling about a Disney park, instead of running back and forth all day long. Now there's some old skool magic. And no more herds of rushed people running all over the place to content with either. The roads will be much less clogged, people will be less hasty, the crowds will be more relaxed again.

Ah, the bliss of standing in line 30 minutes for PotC or Haunted Mansion because they now have FastPass+.

Ah, the bliss of being limited to only 3 FP+ per day when I used to score a dozen or more.

 

[Tim_4]

Ah, the bliss of standing in line 30 minutes for PotC or Haunted Mansion because they now have FastPass+.

You may be right but I'll reserve judgment on that particular issue until full rollout. I'm no civil engineer but my guess is that the same number of guests riding the same number of rides will result in the same wait times.

Ah, the bliss of being limited to only 3 FP+ per day when I used to score a dozen or more.

If folks like you used to get a dozen Fastpasses and will now only get three, shouldn't that actually SHORTEN standby times per your point above?

 

[ford91exploder]

Speaking of sad disney lifestylers these sophisticated individuals decided to whine to CNN because disney is shutting down their silly "toon town" online game that these people played with to escape reality

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1024578?hpt=hp_bn1

Between this and the whole "virtual magic kingdom" closure it would make an interesting chapter if Spirit ever decides to write that book.

Removing lifestyle from the equation, This is more about how Disney MIS-manages popular digital properties, They take popular games like Toontown, Virtual PoTC, Fairies, Virtual MK and dump them at short notice so as to force the players to play their just purchased NEW game (Club Penguin??? - Where's the disney tie in???) which has lots of METRICS and monetization features, But has ZERO play value and Disney has just tossed the emotional buy-in which is a critical factor in the sucess of any online gaming platform.

Guess they did not learn much from Zynga which trashed all their popular games like Farmville, Forestville etc, Say what you will these games had millions of players and a large number of those were paying for PREMIUM features. Zynga wanted these customers to go to their NEW games. EPIC FAIL and 80% revenue decline.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Government involvement would explain why a company that can't afford to pay for running water in the bathroom sinks is able to spend a billion dollars on new wristbands, door locks and credit card machines that nobody wanted or needed.

Did anybody need for the hotels to switch from keys to cards?

I have a question for anyone, whats with this "needed infrastructure update" that people throw around apologetically? Seems like the pretty basic, physical infrastructure of WDW can rot and collapse without so much as a nod from Disney, so surely the "much needed" IT upgrade trumps that? What is this general tech WDW needs and is so desperately lacking?

WiFi at the hotels for one.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Disney management had a decades long policy of not offering discounts but, prior to Eisner, they also were obsessed with offering value.

Disney went from a brand that you trusted like a household friend who stayed with you troughout your life, to a name synonymous with cheap, miserable, distasteful, tacky and untrustworthy.

I suppose they really did manage to squeeze out a few more pennies from their brand this way, but let's hope it hasn't been a slash and burn tactic. Personally, my naive loyalty for the company changed to mistrust ever since my dear mother inadvertedly bought me Aladdin...2, thinking it was a quality Disney movie. Disney sold my mother crap, and I have never forgiven them for it.

 

[ford91exploder]

If visually it looked the same, but the meet and greet was a D/E ticket character themed dark ride would you be in favor of it?

Most of us would be in favor, Right now the ONLY thing NFL does is a way for Disney to con the fire marshal
into increasing the 'official' capacity of the park by a few thousand, As it stands right now its a hugely expensive stroller parking lot, Theming is beautiful but it only goes so far, You do need rides to attract the customers.

 

[MattM]

I'll point out that it was reported today that MAJOR tech companies such as google, facebook and microsoft have been getting paid by the NSA. Something is very fishy about this NGE and billions of dollars that disney in the past would have never committed to a project let alone allow overruns like is happening. Spirit is right. This whole thing smacks of a government program. It sounds to me like an R and D project for Uncle Sam

Obviously theres huge difference in the data the govt can obtain from Microsoft, google, FB, etc and what they can obtain from your Disney vacation. What's the goal? Turkey leg consumption? Firework comparison study? How far the avg person walks in a day at a theme park?

Honest question to all: how many people considered it a possibility the govt was involved before the original poster planted that seed? I ask because its popularity is a recent phenomenon.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Removing lifestyle from the equation, This is more about how Disney MIS-manages popular digital properties, They take popular games like Toontown, Virtual PoTC, Fairies, Virtual MK and dump them at short notice so as to force the players to play their just purchased NEW game (Club Penguin??? - Where's the disney tie in???) which has lots of METRICS and monetization features, But has ZERO play value and Disney has just tossed the emotional buy-in which is a critical factor in the sucess of any online gaming platform.

Guess they did not learn much from Zynga which trashed all their popular games like Farmville, Forestville etc, Say what you will these games had millions of players and a large number of those were paying for PREMIUM features. Zynga wanted these customers to go to their NEW games. EPIC FAIL and 80% revenue decline.

Apparently Club Penguin's been a disappointment to Disney ever since they bought it but they are too stubborn to give up on it because they want something out of that investment. Shutting down the other online games and doing those "NOW THE PENGUINS ARE DRESSED AS THESE CHARACTERS" thing is all part of trying to make buying Club Penguin worth the trouble.

And for other mismanagement of digital material, there was the gutting Disney Interactive down to the Disney Infinity guys and people making mobile and social games. They dropped the ball on handling Wreck-It Ralph so hard with that lousy Wii game, the most consistent thing I hear from people online is wanting a fully-functional console version of Hero's Duty and Sugar Rush, instead of the weak Unity-based games on the website or that junk for iOS devices.

 

[MattM]

Disney went from a brand that you trusted like a household friend who stayed with you troughout your life, to a name synonymous with cheap, miserable, distasteful, tacky and untrustworthy.

I get what you're saying, but truth is, the average guest (the type who spends exactly 0% of their time on a board such as this) doesn't see it that way. You have to understand that no matter how many people post here, it is such an insignificantly small percentage of Disneys customer base.

Not that I fully disagree with you.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I get what you're saying, but truth is, the average guest (the type who spends exactly 0% of their time on a board such as this) doesn't see it that way. You have to understand that no matter how many people post here, it is such an insignificantly small percentage of Disneys customer base.

Not that I fully disagree with you.

That's very much true. But I do think it goes hand-in-hand with the Disney parks being positioned ever lower on the cultural ladder.

It is true that we are a minority here. It is the minority of college educated people who despite that enjoy Disney. The last time I went to Disney I really did feel surrounded by the mentally ill of the lower classes. A harsh, perhaps unsympathetic conclusion, but one I couldn't escape.

 

[scout68]

Disney went from a brand that you trusted like a household friend who stayed with you troughout your life, to a name synonymous with cheap, miserable, distasteful, tacky and untrustworthy.

I suppose they really did manage to squeeze out a few more pennies from their brand this way, but let's hope it hasn't been a slash and burn tactic. Personally, my naive loyalty for the company changed to mistrust ever since my dear mother inadvertedly bought me Aladdin...2, thinking it was a quality Disney movie. Disney sold my mother crap, and I have never forgiven them for it.

a name that perhaps rhymes with....falmart.

 

[ford91exploder]

Obviously theres huge difference in the data the govt can obtain from Microsoft, google, FB, etc and what they can obtain from your Disney vacation. What's the goal? Turkey leg consumption? Firework comparison study? How far the avg person walks in a day at a theme park?

Honest question to all: how many people considered it a possibility the govt was involved before the original poster planted that seed? I ask because its popularity is a recent phenomenon.

Design for a ubiquitous national ID system, With cheap RFID sensors located at all government points of presence - think traffic lights and lightpoles government offices etc,

Its already a Misdemeanor crime in most states to not carry and produce on demand government issued ID, So just imagine a NextGen Drivers License which tweets to any nearby government employee.

If this is truly the case I hope the executive golden parachutes are good because if this IS true Disney is DONE as a company in light of the expanding spy scandals in DC because in one swell foop Disney will have squandered 100+ years of trust.

Remember the ONLY organization who give Cost Plus contracts are governments. Note I DID not say US government, Disney could be doing this for China as a condition of being able to build more parks there.

 

[ford91exploder]

Reservation systems, hotel management systems, reporting systems, POS systems, training systems, guest facing systems, etc.

If you call Disney to make a reservation, there's a fair chance that the person on the other side is looking at a black screen with green text, MS-DOS style. No, I'm not exaggerating.

And those antiquated screens just happen to be the most efficient for data entry, A GUI based system may make it easier for a new user to use a system but after initial training GUI screens slow down the most experienced operators to the pace of a new operator.

Ever wonder why developers prefer those 'old fashioned' screens over shiny new 'Graphical' environments, It's because they are more efficient

 

[ParentsOf4]

If folks like you used to get a dozen Fastpasses and will now only get three, shouldn't that actually SHORTEN standby times per your point above?

FP+ does nothing to lengthen or shorten lines; it simply alters how wait times are distributed. For every attraction that we ride faster because of FP+, there are 3 or 4 attractions that we ride slower because of FP+. Think of it this way; if we get to use 3 FP+ lines at MK, how many Standby lines are we going to end up in?

IMHO, the best solution would be to completely eliminate FP/FP+. Let everyone stand in line the old-fashioned way. With any express line system, customers inevitably end up waiting for frustratingly long amounts of time, watching hundreds "cut" ahead of them. It's not conducive to customer satisfaction. Just ask a CM working the merge point: Are guests in the Standby line happy? If Disney truly wanted to improve customer satisfaction, they would eliminate FP/FP+.

However, you can't sell "no fast pass lines". FP+ is all about advertising a false benefit. FP+ is nothing more than a billion dollar sales pitch with little actual substance for the average guest.

 

[doctornick]

If visually it looked the same, but the meet and greet was a D/E ticket character themed dark ride would you be in favor of it?

Absolutely. If they had made it into a ride themed to Pete's Silly Sideshow -- where your ride vehicle went past AAs of Snake Charmer Donald and Fortune Teller Daisy, etc. -- I think it would have been a huge hit. Especially if the ride vehicle was active like the Roger Rabbit ride. And there's room for a show building for such a ride if they had put it in behind the current tent (which would be the queue under this new scenario) and between the yellow tent used for FP and the backstage building there. There's not a lot of room for a big E-ticket, but it could fit a smaller ride that I think would have made the area a lot more popular and a draw.

If they still wanted to have the circus themed characters be meetable, they could have done a smaller M&G (say, one character at a time) somewhere else in the Circus area, like perhaps in the yellow tent.

Best part, of course, for TDO is that said ride could still dump you into the large merch tent.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Add in the fact that every Disney fan I know, and that's more than a lot, has an annual pass. They also love Knott's Berry Farm, Universal, and Six Flags. Limit the FP for AP holders...it won't be pretty, and to be sure will be reported loudly, and often on Facebook, and Twitter....not to mention at DLR guest relations. Light Magic anyone?

EXACTLY. More like Light Tragic.

If they were just showing up after work, they weren't getting any paper Fastpasses under the old system anyways.

This is not true.

 

[Computer Magic]

FP+ does nothing to lengthen or shorten lines; it simply alters how wait times are distributed. For every attraction that we ride faster because of FP+, there are 3 or 4 attractions that we ride slower because of FP+. Think of it this way; if we get to use 3 FP+ lines at MK, how many Standby lines are we going to end up in?

IMHO, the best solution would be to completely eliminate FP/FP+. Let everyone stand in line the old-fashioned way. With any express line system, customers inevitably end up waiting for frustratingly long amounts of time, watching hundreds "cut" ahead of them. It's not conducive to customer satisfaction. Just ask a CM working the merge point: Are guests in the Standby line happy? If Disney truly wanted to improve customer satisfaction, they would eliminate FP/FP+.

However, you can't sell "no fast pass lines". FP+ is all about advertising a false benefit. FP+ is nothing more than a billion dollar sales pitch with little actual substance for the average guest.

The real question is when does Disney start charging for FP+ or charge to add more FP+ for your trip (for $49.99 you can add 1 FP to each day of your trip or for $99.99 you can FP+ Hop allowing you to use your FP+ at different parks during the same day). We all know that's next, Sea World does it, I just purchased one for my SD trip.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Design for a ubiquitous national ID system, With cheap RFID sensors located at all government points of presence - think traffic lights and lightpoles government offices etc,

Its already a Misdemeanor crime in most states to not carry and produce on demand government issued ID, So just imagine a NextGen Drivers License which tweets to any nearby government employee.

If this is truly the case I hope the executive golden parachutes are good because if this IS true Disney is DONE as a company in light of the expanding spy scandals in DC because in one swell foop Disney will have squandered 100+ years of trust.

Remember the ONLY organization who give Cost Plus contracts are governments. Note I DID not say US government, Disney could be doing this for China as a condition of being able to build more parks there.

The component of NextGen that would work for something like this, the MagicBand, would not work as an ID unless said ID became larger and included a battery that kept its charge for a longer period of time.

 

[ParentsOf4]

The real question is when does Disney start charging for FP+ or charge to add more FP+ for your trip (for $49.99 you can add 1 FP to each day of your trip or for $99.99 you can FP+ Hop allowing you to use your FP+ at different parks during the same day). We all know that's next, Sea World does it, I just purchased one for my SD trip.

But Disney does charge for FP/FP+; it's just built into the price like (for example) DME or EMH. Disney would rather have everyone indirectly pay for FP+ than offer it as an upsale.

Eventually, FP+ will be sold to the public as the replacement to DME. "Our guests tell us that FastPass+ offers them the opportunity to experience their favorite attractions during normal park hours rather than arriving unusually early or staying unusually late. Our guests tell us FastPass+ is a more relaxing way to experience our theme parks." So, expect DME to go bye-bye within a couple of years.

The reality is FP+ is just a repackaged FP and WDW wants to eliminate the (for them) expensive EMH perk.

 

[Tim_4]

And those antiquated screens just happen to be the most efficient for data entry, A GUI based system may make it easier for a new user to use a system but after initial training GUI screens slow down the most experienced operators to the pace of a new operator.

Ever wonder why developers prefer those 'old fashioned' screens over shiny new 'Graphical' environments, It's because they are more efficient

They don't have the current systems because they're choosing the most efficient option. They have the current systems because it's all they've got. The systems they have in place at the moment pain don't work.