News Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge - Historical Construction/Impressions

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Before or after Paint The Night moves to Magic Kingdom Park?

PTN is moving to WDW my friend's stepdaughter's roommate Lakynn is in CP there and she said she heard it was coming

 

[TP2000]

PTN is moving to WDW my friend's stepdaughter's roommate Lakynn is in CP there and she said she heard it was coming

CONFIRMED.

 

[flynnibus]

Ok, while I agree with some of your points, however there are things that you are not taking into account:

1. While throw away, MB still costs Disney to produce. While the App is just minor development cost to upgrade, and can be quickly updated to include new features. The customer doesn't have to do anything but make sure they are on the latest version.
2. This same "register" experience can be accomplished with the app using the same basic system.
3/4. While Play Disney doesn't currently use NFC, it can. And I believe they will for any app based system for SW:GE, which will provide that "beacon" you mention.
5. Its 2018, almost the entire populous has a smart phone, and use it anytime they are in the parks. Disney would be foolish to not leverage that. And with Play Disney and other apps they are beginning to leverage the power of the technology. Also the MBs do die and become outdated at some point. Which requires the end user to get a completely new MB.
6/7. Disney has full control over the lifecycle of the app. And provided it works with the latest OS on the device interop shouldn't be much of an issue.
8. The app provides a value add to both Disney and the guest. It uses a device the guest already has, and provides a mechanism for Disney to provide revenue beyond MB, like the ability to show Disney ads as needed.

I would be surprised if Disney will use a combination of real world and AR experiences for the interactive aspects of SW:GE.

MB is older technology at this point. If they were really committed to it they would have put it into the new park they just built two years ago in Shanghai. They would have put it into DLP, HKDL, TDL, and even DLR, but they didn't. And its my belief that at some point WDW will also get rid of MB once they've gotten most of their investment back.

Device interop is a big issue... especially on android. 'control over the app' is not what we are talking about when it comes to lifecycle. The problem is your app lives in a eco-system you do not control... with hardware that changes every 12-18months. That becomes even harder when you are dealing with the hardware in the device, like AR, NFC, microphone performance, NFC, etc. Imagine designing everything based on a piece of hardware.. that the next cycle the vendors just drop completely. Or, the worse reality for a wide audience like Disney.. being expected to maintain consistency of design and features over MANY generations of devices simultaneously. This is no fun at all, and why companies still design their own systems even when a smartphone has a lot of overlap.

'just make sure they are on the latest version' isn't that easy for the developer when the users are on a multitude of devices of all kinds of ages... and the latest and greatest will always be demanding to use their features too.

NFC in most devices is contact/near-contact only. Doesn't work at range. MBs have 3 different ranges their systems can work at.. including broadcast beacons that can be used over wide open spaces.

'almost the entire populous has a smart phone'? Really, have you considered how many of those are people under the age of 8? And how many of said people under the age of 8 are at a disney park?

While the MB costs money... Disney has proven it can easily convince people to pay for it. Integrate it into some trinket with perceived value and problem is solved. Disney made a killing on selling customized MBs purely because they were non-default... imagine a token that is actually integrated with the setting of the land... Harry Potter wands anyone?

My concern is Disney will just cheap out and punt on the concept and just do stuff like the Play Disney app does now... alot of 'use your imagination' to connect these two disconnected systems.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Before or after Paint The Night moves to Magic Kingdom Park?

Yes!!!

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

PTN is moving to WDW my friend's stepdaughter's roommate Lakynn is in CP there and she said she heard it was coming

Wow that’s awesome news!! Thank you so much!!

 

[Disney Irish]

Device interop is a big issue... especially on android. 'control over the app' is not what we are talking about when it comes to lifecycle. The problem is your app lives in a eco-system you do not control... with hardware that changes every 12-18months. That becomes even harder when you are dealing with the hardware in the device, like AR, NFC, microphone performance, NFC, etc. Imagine designing everything based on a piece of hardware.. that the next cycle the vendors just drop completely. Or, the worse reality for a wide audience like Disney.. being expected to maintain consistency of design and features over MANY generations of devices simultaneously. This is no fun at all, and why companies still design their own systems even when a smartphone has a lot of overlap.

'just make sure they are on the latest version' isn't that easy for the developer when the users are on a multitude of devices of all kinds of ages... and the latest and greatest will always be demanding to use their features too.

NFC in most devices is contact/near-contact only. Doesn't work at range. MBs have 3 different ranges their systems can work at.. including broadcast beacons that can be used over wide open spaces.

'almost the entire populous has a smart phone'? Really, have you considered how many of those are people under the age of 8? And how many of said people under the age of 8 are at a disney park?

While the MB costs money... Disney has proven it can easily convince people to pay for it. Integrate it into some trinket with perceived value and problem is solved. Disney made a killing on selling customized MBs purely because they were non-default... imagine a token that is actually integrated with the setting of the land... Harry Potter wands anyone?

My concern is Disney will just cheap out and punt on the concept and just do stuff like the Play Disney app does now... alot of 'use your imagination' to connect these two disconnected systems.

While devices do change every 12-18, they don't change that much to negate anything Disney would do for SW:GE interactivity.

Many companies are indeed moving to apps over other systems, especially for Enterprise systems.

NFC has a range of about 3 feet. Which for most of what Disney is going to do for interactivity will be fine.

How many people under 8 would be walking around by themselves without a parent with a smart phone.

Anyways we can go back and forth all day. You can believe that MB is best way to execute "your" vision of what the SW:GE interactive experience should be. But at the end of the day Disney already has a plan for its vision of SW:GE interactivity. And they have also already stated the MB system is not going beyond WDW as recent as last year. Again if they were expanding MBs to other parks they would have done by now, like for Shanghai when it was built in 2016, especially since MB2.0 was introduced at the same time. Or added it to DLP, HKDL, TDL, or DLR anytime over the last 5 years (which BTW would have been smart to spread the costs). But they didn't. Which indicates they don't have any plan to use the system beyond WDW.

So my belief again is that short of a pin or some other trinket they hand to you when you start the interactive element, you will be using an app. Maybe not the Play Disney app, it may be specific to SW:GE, but an app.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Smartphones have a disadvantage compared to MBs:

1. Run out of battery power.
2. Younger children won't have a smartphone, but they can wear a MB.
3. Couples often use just one of their smartphones in the park to travel lighter, which precludes a unique identifier and customized experience for each person
4. Not entirely water resistant.

 

[Disney Irish]

Smartphones have a disadvantage compared to MBs:

1. Run out of battery power.
2. Younger children won't have a smartphone, but they can wear a MB.
3. Couples often use just one of their smartphones in the park to travel lighter, which precludes a unique identifier and customized experience for each person
3. Not entirely water resistant.

I don't know my iPhone has fallen in water many times and still works.

 

[flynnibus]

While devices do change every 12-18, they don't change that much to negate anything Disney would do for SW:GE interactivity.

Really? You're been talking NFC.. which still isn't uniform. bluetooth, which rev do you want to look at? AR tech? Lets talk camera deltas, etc.

NFC has a range of about 3 feet. Which for most of what Disney is going to do for interactivity will be fine.

Next time pay attention to just how close you actually get to things... you'll find you are further away from many things than you think. This is done intentionally to keep grubby dirty hands from grabbing things, trying to manipulate them, etc.

How many people under 8 would be walking around by themselves without a parent with a smart phone.

That's not the point - the point with the phone is you may have one phone... but for how many different guests? Where as something like the MB is a 1:1 model. Why does this matter?

Imagine a character walks up to a family... and via the integrated system gets identifying information about the guests like their name. With a 1:1 system, each person has their own history and information... and that can be leveraged. If people are sharing a device... are all those same people always together? How does the character quickly tell which kid is billy and which is joey?

What if billy was with dad and his phone... and he disarmed the thermo detonator earlier in the day... but now it's joey and dad walking around while billy is with his mom... and the character praises the kid for what his brother did.. not him.

Shared devices assume similar proximity, similar group makeup, and sharing experiences. Where as a 1:1 system allows each member to have their own histories without having to 'assign' actions manually and error prone.

Anyways we can go back and forth all day. You can believe that MB is best way to execute "your" vision of what the SW:GE interactive experience should be. But at the end of the day Disney already has a plan for its vision of SW:GE interactivity. And they have also already stated the MB system is not going beyond WDW as recent as last year. Again if they were expanding MBs to other parks they would have done by now, like for Shanghai when it was built in 2016, especially since MB2.0 was introduced at the same time. Or added it to DLP, HKDL, TDL, or DLR anytime over the last 5 years (which BTW would have been smart to spread the costs). But they didn't. Which indicates they don't have any plan to use the system beyond WDW.

Because you are talking about the full system WDW rolled out. That doesn't stop them from using the tech without all the FP/Payments/etc. That's why I didn't say they would use MBs... but simply suggested there are other analogs that would enable similar tech.

For instance at WDW where they have the hotel, part of the pitch was that your experience would continue and follow you into the parks. Suggesting things like your adventures or tasks done in the immersive resort would have history and possibly alter what you would experience in SW:GE.

They could extend such concepts to DL as well, without the immersive environment by having something similar to the in-park quests they do now. The tech doesn't have to be deployed EVERYWHERE for it to have a use. See the in-park quests, the radio controlled hats, light-up toys, etc.

You may find something like the app is the 'freebie' level, where as you get other features/values if you buy your galactic ID, or whatever.

 

[Disney Irish]

Really? You're been talking NFC.. which still isn't uniform. bluetooth, which rev do you want to look at? AR tech? Lets talk camera deltas, etc.



Next time pay attention to just how close you actually get to things... you'll find you are further away from many things than you think. This is done intentionally to keep grubby dirty hands from grabbing things, trying to manipulate them, etc.



That's not the point - the point with the phone is you may have one phone... but for how many different guests? Where as something like the MB is a 1:1 model. Why does this matter?

Imagine a character walks up to a family... and via the integrated system gets identifying information about the guests like their name. With a 1:1 system, each person has their own history and information... and that can be leveraged. If people are sharing a device... are all those same people always together? How does the character quickly tell which kid is billy and which is joey?

What if billy was with dad and his phone... and he disarmed the thermo detonator earlier in the day... but now it's joey and dad walking around while billy is with his mom... and the character praises the kid for what his brother did.. not him.

Shared devices assume similar proximity, similar group makeup, and sharing experiences. Where as a 1:1 system allows each member to have their own histories without having to 'assign' actions manually and error prone.



Because you are talking about the full system WDW rolled out. That doesn't stop them from using the tech without all the FP/Payments/etc. That's why I didn't say they would use MBs... but simply suggested there are other analogs that would enable similar tech.

For instance at WDW where they have the hotel, part of the pitch was that your experience would continue and follow you into the parks. Suggesting things like your adventures or tasks done in the immersive resort would have history and possibly alter what you would experience in SW:GE.

They could extend such concepts to DL as well, without the immersive environment by having something similar to the in-park quests they do now. The tech doesn't have to be deployed EVERYWHERE for it to have a use. See the in-park quests, the radio controlled hats, light-up toys, etc.

You may find something like the app is the 'freebie' level, where as you get other features/values if you buy your galactic ID, or whatever.

I'm just going to respond by saying, we'll see. I said in a previous post about using a pin or something. But I personally don't believe there is going to be this great big RFID push at DLR just so SW:GE can have some RFID device. But again we'll see, if it happens using some RFID device cool. But don't be surprised if things are not using RFID as you have built up in your mind.

 

[flynnibus]

I was just explaining why the app isn't the full replacement

 

[nevol]

A galaxy's edge-specific magic band, dressed as and called something completely different, as a small upcharge. DLR doesn't get magic bands fully, galaxy's edge doesn't get hit with story limitations.

 

[Disney Irish]

I was just explaining why the app isn't the full replacement

And all that was said by many sites when the rumors started about FP+ coming to DLR. That no app could do what MB does, so DLR must be getting MB even if its a modify version. And yet the app is working just fine for MaxPass and still no MB.

So the point, just because you believe an app can't be a full replacement for MB. Disney doesn't need it to be a full replacement. They took the system they built in WDW and modified it for the needs of DLR without the need for MB. This is so the same app based system can be replicated across the other parks.

 

[Disney Irish]

A galaxy's edge-specific magic band, dressed as and called something completely different, as a small upcharge. DLR doesn't get magic bands fully, galaxy's edge doesn't get hit with story limitations.

I can see that, like I posted previously maybe a pin or something. But I'm not sold yet that Disney will actually do that.

However lets think this out since several posters here want to think they will do something with RFID like MagicBands. Maybe Disney has you get an "ID badge" to be a "visitor" of this new world. And that is what is used for the interactive elements.

Anyways we'll see how it goes in just 8-9 months.

 

[Disneyland/DCA]

Close-ups of characters' rings seems to be a thing in the last couple movies. My guess is that itll be the similar to potter wands and sorcerers of the magic kingdom,but with the twist that the action booths will play different stories based on what faction you've decided to join by way of a purchase at the gift shop and apparently how well you fly the falcon... Maybe it'll be a long game that resets every so often, like the ghost town at knotts, but recorded on these rings and/or magic bands.

They didn't do that frontierland larp test a few years back for nothing. Food and beverage purchases will probably be recorded on the ring to add "rep" and variation, etc.

 

[flynnibus]

And all that was said by many sites when the rumors started about FP+ coming to DLR. That no app could do what MB does, so DLR must be getting MB even if its a modify version. And yet the app is working just fine for MaxPass and still no MB.

But that's not what was being said here... so whatever.

 

[Disney Irish]

But that's not what was being said here... so whatever.

Look I just don't think RFID will be used at all in SW:GE. There are plenty of ways to do interactive elements without the use of RFID. You just seem to disagree with that.

But again, we'll see in 8-9 months.

 

[flynnibus]

Look I just don't think RFID will be used at all in SW:GE. There are plenty of ways to do interactive elements without the use of RFID. You just seem to disagree with that.

That's not what I said at all.

You said: "An app works just as well for any interactive play, and can do the tracking even better than Magic Bands..."

To which I replied: "

MBs have several things your app doesn't... and shifts all the infrastructure to a piece disney controls vs your device you change every 12months.

There are things Disney can do to track wifi devices.. so they could go that route. Or they could simply sell some tacky SW token and spin a story of why you should have it/wear it.

After which I clarified my points. I never said I think they will do MB or disagree with the use of the app. I specifically responded to your claims that the App was 'just as well' or even better. Truth is it can't do all the same things equally. But being an interactive device with screen and video it does offer options of its own too... with limits. Will Disney just accept the subset of capabilities and just use the app? Who knows... I have opinions, but that wasn't the subject of the discussion.

 

[Disney Irish]

That's not what I said at all.

You said: "An app works just as well for any interactive play, and can do the tracking even better than Magic Bands..."

To which I replied: "


After which I clarified my points. I never said I think they will do MB or disagree with the use of the app. I specifically responded to your claims that the App was 'just as well' or even better. Truth is it can't do all the same things equally. But being an interactive device with screen and video it does offer options of its own too... with limits. Will Disney just accept the subset of capabilities and just use the app? Who knows... I have opinions, but that wasn't the subject of the discussion.

Ok, whatever. Your posts provided an insight into your opinion. But if you don't want to acknowledge that, that is fine with me.

I still believe based on personal knowledge of app infrastructure, devices, and the coding that goes into apps that it can be used in place of any RFID technology, MB or not, for use in SW:GE. And can do it better. You have your opinion, and that is fine. We aren't going to see eye-to-eye on this.

Thank you for the exchange.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Can't we all just agree to disagree about how we disagree with each other?