I just dont see the need in spending all that money on this. I mean from the company's perspective it will be perfect, you can track your guests, and see what they've done or what they're doing. But from a guest's perspective, I'm not going to spend another $1500 on a trip just because mickey will say my name or something like that.
Give me some new rides and I will be back to spend that $1500.. Take me to an immersive world only disney can take me to and I will spend that amount of money on a return trip.
I think the key is that, while some guest benefits - like Mickey talking to you, etc. - are part of this, the larger part is to put in the infrastructure for Disney to take advantage of these features in a business sense. I agree that I'd much rather they spend 2B on new rides and attractions, not gimmicks, but again, that's not the point of "next gen".
It's sort of like how catalog titles are getting to Blu-ray right now. The real reason the studios are, for the most part, doing HD scans of catalog titles is for syndication, as cable broadcasters are starving for HD content and will pay much more. As a by-product, the studio has a film ready to author to Blu-ray, and throws it out on the market. That is why so many catalog Blu-ray titles are using transfers from the late-90's, early 00's, and the quality shows that.
It's similar here. This impetus for this is not really about guest experience, that's just an add-on, incidental. It's really about tracking and marketing and data mining.
That said, I don't mind it - Disney can track me all they want while I'm there. It's like when people freak out that their TiVo/DVR records their viewing habits - it's inconsequential, and just like this, the only people who get uppity about privacy simply don't understand the system. For example, the wrist band will not hold any data, simply a reference number.
Just like if someone finds your KTTW card, and scans it - your credit card data is not on that card, nor even your room number. It's a proprietary number in Disney's system which they reference internally to your info. Now, if you are worried about Disney having that info in the first place...then you just better arrive at WDW with no prior notice, pay cash for your admission, and use nothing but cash the entire trip, because Disney already has VERY extensive records on each and every one of us who has ever visited in the past decade or two who has interacted with them in any way electronically, by mail, phone, or simply by using your credit cards there.