Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[PhotoDave219]

My criticisms have been reduced about this project.

I still think it's a needless convenience. It's not something I would consider to be essential to themepark operations. The analytic's and behind-the-scenes things that we've heard nothing about seemed actually be a greater component to it than anything else. And it still troubles me that I will be tracked everywhere through the park To gather those analytics.

This is something that will save money on the backend, behind the scenes is where the cost savings will be. This is not something that will generate turnstile clicks.

I still have my concerns about privacy. From the shareholder perspective, I have serious concerns about the cost overruns. From the outsiders perspective? It's a textbook example of how outsourcing ends up costing people more. Also, if the theme parks are truly a "mature business" than why on earth drop 1-2 billion on this project?

Then you look at what the competition is doing and they're actually building things that will open soon- not in 4 years, not spread out over several fiscal years to appease the budgetary concerns. They're opening next year.

Last and frankly minor criticism.... It's Florida. I don't wear a watch because it gets sweaty as hell. The magic band? Same way. It ends up in my pocket as its not comfortable.

 

[PeterAlt]

My criticisms have been reduced about this project.

I still think it's a needless convenience. It's not something I would consider to be essential to themepark operations. The analytic's and behind-the-scenes things that we've heard nothing about seemed actually be a greater component to it than anything else. And it still troubles me that I will be tracked everywhere through the park To gather those analytics.

This is something that will save money on the backend, behind the scenes is where the cost savings will be. This is not something that will generate turnstile clicks.

I still have my concerns about privacy. From the shareholder perspective, I have serious concerns about the cost overruns. From the outsiders perspective? It's a textbook example of how outsourcing ends up costing people more. Also, if the theme parks are truly a "mature business" than why on earth drop 1-2 billion on this project?

Then you look at what the competition is doing and they're actually building things that will open soon- not in 4 years, not spread out over several fiscal years to appease the budgetary concerns. They're opening next year.

Last and frankly minor criticism.... It's Florida. I don't wear a watch because it gets sweaty as hell. The magic band? Same way. It ends up in my pocket as its not comfortable.

Remember that link I posted a few days ago? They originally planned on loaning guests custom designed tablet PC's. Thank Apple for putting smart phones in everyone's pockets or the NextGen project's cost would have really gotten out of hand!

 

[PhotoDave219]

Remember that link I posted a few days ago? They originally planned on loaning guests custom designed tablet PC's. Thank Apple for putting smart phones in everyone's pockets or the NextGen project's cost would have really gotten out of hand!

No, I missed that.

I just like to see this company get back to focusing more on guest service rather then Wall Street servicing.

 

[PeterAlt]

No, I missed that.

I just like to see this company get back to focusing more on guest service rather then Wall Street servicing.

And why even have the wrist bands? Having a smart phone with an NFC chip or an iPhone with equivalent technology would do the trick...

 

[PhotoDave219]

Unrelated tangent: why are we serving alcohol to people driving motorized vehicles?

 

[71jason]

No, I missed that.

I just like to see this company get back to focusing more on guest service rather then Wall Street servicing.

Servicing those of us who spend time online and know how to use it. The guest rolling up at 9:40 to find all FPs gone might have a different view. Also, I'm in the "They Will Find a Way to Monetize This By 2015" camp.

 

[PeterAlt]

Servicing those of us who spend time online and know how to use it. The guest rolling up at 9:40 to find all FPs gone might have a different view. Also, I'm in the "They Will Find a Way to Monetize This By 2015 2025" camp.

Fixed that for you!

 

[GoofGoof]

Unrelated tangent: why are we serving alcohol to people driving motorized vehicles?

I think they could probably sue you for discrimination if you didn't. Already facing a GAC lawsuit, better to let the weasel drivers have their boos. Is it possible to get a ticket or a DUI for driving one of those things loaded? They can give you a DUI for riding a bicycle drunk so why not.

 

[danv3]

No, people like myself I would think. Walked into Epcot 10 days ago, shortly after opening. Went for a Soarin FP, fully expecting a late day time.

Nope. All gone.
Booked up in advance by FP+ users.
I was disadvantaged by the system, and going forward it will have an impact on my choice of Disney destinations.

The worst part is, it's not even fixing a problem that needed fixing. $1B+ to make the experience worse for many, marginally better for some, with minimal real prospects for greater revenue? Who makes these decisions?

 

[lazyboy97o]

The worst part is, it's not even fixing a problem that needed fixing. $1B+ to make the experience worse for many, marginally better for some, with minimal real prospects for greater revenue? Who makes these decisions?

People who wouldn't be caught dead in a theme park or near anything Disney on their own time.

 

[ford91exploder]

Disney turns responsibility for MyMagic+ over to George Kalogridis (happened some time last week):
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-disney-mymagic-oversight-20131030,0,6491648.story

(edit: On a side note, George is also scheduled to speak at IAAPA Attractions Expo 2013 Lunch and Learn event on Monday, November 18th discussing the following: leadership strategies, keys to his success, and explain how the Walt Disney World Resort pushes the boundaries of creativity and innovation to deliver the best possible experience for guests. A brief question and answer session will follow his presentation.)

Hope poor George has a good golden parachute, He has now been officially tagged as the fall guy for the NGE disaster.

 

[FrankLapidus]

The worst part is, it's not even fixing a problem that needed fixing. $1B+ to make the experience worse for many, marginally better for some, with minimal real prospects for greater revenue? Who makes these decisions?

I do agree with this. But now I'm a bit conflicted having used the magic bands during our fortnight at WDW earlier this month because, barring some issues getting into Animal Kingdom, they were pretty seamless and being able to plan ahead a little bit and book fast-passes from our hotel the night before we went to a park was nice. I still think the investment was unneeded in the grand scheme of things at WDW and completely understand the issues that a lot of people here have with the new system and the way that it impacts on their experience in the parks but, having used it now, I would have to grudgingly admit that I liked elements of it. And I really don't want to because I believe that that money could have been invested so much better elsewhere at the resort and there are elements of it I really don't like.

 

[tissandtully]

Unclear as to whom you're calling a "hater" and why you'd do that. Would it be all those people lined up? Is it me, for noticing them?

Maybe it is all of us that have caused you so much upset that you've taken to slinging Internet insults?

I don't get it.

Wow, you folks take this stuff way too personally. Not sure when haters became an insult. Just a difference of opinion. Let it ride.

 

[ford91exploder]

I do agree with this. But now I'm a bit conflicted having used the magic bands during our fortnight at WDW earlier this month because, barring some issues getting into Animal Kingdom, they were pretty seamless and being able to plan ahead a little bit and book fast-passes from our hotel the night before we went to a park was nice. I still think the investment was unneeded in the grand scheme of things at WDW and completely understand the issues that a lot of people here have with the new system and the way that it impacts on their experience in the parks but, having used it now, I would have to grudgingly admit that I liked elements of it. And I really don't want to because I believe that that money could have been invested so much better elsewhere at the resort and there are elements of it I really don't like.

Its like I said IF the MagicBand took existing distribution of FP's and made them eFastPass, I think we all would have loved the system and perhaps gave Hotel guests a 12 hour advanced window to book selected attractions. It would have been a GREAT system.

Instead we have the love child of an extreme OCD sufferer and a Pasty IT Guy which was poorly implemented as well which delivered system which seems to choke on any type of reservation which is not a Disney package booking.

DVC and Premium ticket holders the people who in the not distant past spent LOTS of money with TWDC are now frozen out of the benefits. Unsurprisingly many of us are P----ed at Disney for devaluing our vacation experience.

 

[PeterAlt]

Last night's South Park was about NextGen! Did anyone see it?

 

[Bairstow]

Last night's South Park was about NextGen! Did anyone see it?

You don't watch the news a lot, do you?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Wow, you folks take this stuff way too personally. Not sure when haters became an insult. Just a difference of opinion. Let it ride.

The phrase "haters gonna hate" has always been used as an insult to others and was invented as an internet meme to be antagonistic in nature since it first started being used. It is a phrase often used to accuse someone else of being jealous, in a show-offish and trolling kind of way.-
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/haters-gonna-hate

And the way you used it absolutely came off that way. People had serious issues with the new fastpass system and expressed concern with it, and you rebutted by saying you had no issues and used "haters gonna hate" as a way to seemingly shove their faces in it. There are better ways to express your opposing viewpoint, preferably with some objective and well reasoned experience.

 

[flynnibus]

The phrase "haters gonna hate" has always been used as an insult to others and was invented as an internet meme to be antagonistic in nature since it first started being used. It is a phrase often used to accuse someone else of being jealous, in a show-offish and trolling kind of way.-
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/haters-gonna-hate

I'm not sure why you cite something and then totally disregard your own cite.

It's not an insult... It's basically blowing off critics

 

[PeterAlt]

You don't watch the news a lot, do you?

Okay, it could be interpreted both ways. If you only read the messages on this thread and watched that episode, you would think it was directly addressing NextGen and George K.'s new responsibility!

There's a lot of coincidences and parallels in that episode to what we are talking about here. I doubt it was intentional, but you'd never know. Matt Stone and Trey Parker have made the obvious addressing of issues we were simultaneously discussing here on South Park episodes before, and some were directly about Disney parks and film division policies.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I'm not sure why you cite something and then totally disregard your own cite.

It's not an insult... It's basically blowing off critics

I disregarded nothing, you apparently didn't even read the source yourself if you think there's nothing insulting about the way it was used here (and is often used around the net). Here's a popular definition of the word hater as taken from that source-

"A person that simply cannot be happy for another person’s success. Instead of giving acknowledgment in courtesy, a hater often pursues his/her point by exposing a flaw in the target subject. Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesn’t really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock someone else down a notch."

If the people that are being accused of "hating" actually were just trying to be confrontational trolls, then sure the phrase would make some sense. Unfortunately it's rarely used that way anymore, often used by people who themselves are being confrontational and don't want to bother coming up with any decent rebuttal for something. Here it was used simply as a disregarding and disrespectful way to accuse people of being "haters" who were expressing legit concern from personal experience with the fastpass+ system. The people tissandtully accused of being haters weren't being disrespectful or disagreeable for no decent reason (nor confrontational or antagonistic), nor do I think they have it in their character to do so (they back their statements up with objectivity and reason and aren't disrespectful of others when they do it). If anything, it's ironically the opposite where tissandtully came across as the "hater" by trying to knock them down a notch.

If by disregarding my own cite you meant how I used the word jealousy, then that was from my own experience with seeing how people tended to use the phrase online, not from the source itself. The source itself still makes it perfectly clear that the phrase is used to disregard people who are trying to knock people down. Something no one here was trying to do, and THAT is when it becomes insulting (and the user of the phrase themselves become a hater).

Point i'm trying to make (and I could be wrong but I get the feeling this is how it came across to other people here)- The response calling people haters felt less like an "i'm disagreeing but have no argument", and more of a "lol, u mad bro?" type of response..