The Spirited Sixth Sense ...

[NowInc]

Wristbands are the least of your worries if you are concerned. You have a smart phone? Do you use a web browser? Those gather far more personal data more frequently, and typically used for more devious things you wish to acknowledge because hey...why complain about those!? Disney is the only thing tracking us!

 

[danlb_2000]

I suppose, but, no matter how hard I try, I cannot come up with anything that I do in a Theme Park that is going to come back to bite me. Other places, no problem, I will be as paranoid as anyone, but, WDW... sorry, it just isn't registering.

I don't care if they track me and I would think that whomever was tracking me would either quickly fall asleep or perish from boredom. If Disney decides to use a company that specializes in that type of thing as it relates to how they do business, then, silly me, I think it is a wise thing to do. Why not go with the experts. Seems like it would cut down considerably on the trial and error aspect.

Face it, one way or the other they are going to track us in an effort to see what they can do to help encourage us to spend more money, or ease crowding in certain areas, but, for the life of me, nothing comes to mind that even remotely alarms me.

If you don't go to Hall of Presidents every visit, you will end up on the terrorist watch list.

 

[ford91exploder]

I suppose, but, no matter how hard I try, I cannot come up with anything that I do in a Theme Park that is going to come back to bite me. Other places, no problem, I will be as paranoid as anyone, but, WDW... sorry, it just isn't registering.

I don't care if they track me and I would think that whomever was tracking me would either quickly fall asleep or perish from boredom. If Disney decides to use a company that specializes in that type of thing as it relates to how they do business, then, silly me, I think it is a wise thing to do. Why not go with the experts. Seems like it would cut down considerably on the trial and error aspect.

Face it, one way or the other they are going to track us in an effort to see what they can do to help encourage us to spend more money, or ease crowding in certain areas, but, for the life of me, nothing comes to mind that even remotely alarms me.

There are so many ways of tracking it's not funny and I'm not a fan of tinfoil haberdashery, I've even got a patent application under way for yet another wireless tracking methodology,

However when someone sets up a uber-tracking system - It's simply fun to mess with the trackers heads, The suggestion of attaching MB's to wildlife appeals to me.

Long ago in the Govt sector someone had the brilliant idea of doing time and motion studies using the RFID passcards we used to access the building, We used to give someone in our ALL of our ID's and have them walk around, Needless to say some heads exploded and that proposal went into the ash bin of history.

That being said there are lots of applications where tracking is beneficial, Alzheimers patients would benefit from a realtime tracking application, Every winter up here some walk away from nursing homes and freeze of if they are very lucky someone finds them.

The cats have RFID chips in case they get lost.

 

[ford91exploder]

Wristbands are the least of your worries if you are concerned. You have a smart phone? Do you use a web browser? Those gather far more personal data more frequently, and typically used for more devious things you wish to acknowledge because hey...why complain about those!? Disney is the only thing tracking us!

But sometimes its fun to mess with the trackers heads...

 

[NowInc]

But sometimes its fun to mess with the trackers heads...

I'll agree with that. I do have more than one Magicband (I wasnt TRYING, but hey..whatever). I have everyone in my group carry one when we split up

 

[NowInc]

That being said there are lots of applications where tracking is beneficial, Alzheimers patients would benefit from a realtime tracking application, Every winter up here some walk away from nursing homes and freeze of if they are very lucky someone finds them.

The cats have RFID chips in case they get lost.

The one thing disney SHOULD be using as a marketing ploy is using the bands as a lost child locator.

 

[marni1971]

Hey, hey....stand aside you two.
You can't bump me down the list until Kippel actually calls you out by name. Multiple times...

I don't twit. You'll have to keep me in the loop. I hope dear Phil remembers me.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

I'll agree with that. I do have more than one Magicband (I wasnt TRYING, but hey..whatever). I have everyone in my group carry one when we split up

Your group sounds like fun. Can I join?

 

[ford91exploder]

The one thing disney SHOULD be using as a marketing ploy is using the bands as a lost child locator.

Yes they should - But since they have Palantir there and according to Spirit they were using the 'bad guys at wdw' pitch they are probably afraid of disclosing 'Sources and Methods' for tracking.

PATHETIC - the ONE really useful feature of the MB is probably not being used because execs are playing 'spy games'.

 

[SirLink]

Almost?

Almost.

He is a joke character nothing more nothing less regarding WDW/Disney overall he is harmless. We should all just learn to, if you ignore him, then he vanishes. However ... some of his twitter actions with females eh ... almost a deviant.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I don't know guys. Everyone has a beef with where they live. But right now, Orlando sounds fantastic compared to this crapshoot. It's 31 degrees and I haven't seen sunshine in so long that I fear I've forgotten what it looks like.

This winter will never end.

It's a bright glowing object in the sky. My first year in NC, I actually started to miss overcast skies. The sun was out every day. I think I went 3 months or more without seeing a drop of rain. When it did rain it was at night and I missed it, by morning everything dried up quickly and off we went to a sunny, hot day again. But, this year, although nothing compared to what is going on up north has seemed so out of line with the south. At least once a week another arctic blast comes motoring down I-95 and hits us with cold weather again.

I'm not whining about it, like I said I not only know it can be a lot worse, but, I lived it for 63 years, but, I didn't move down here to shiver. So if you guys up north wouldn't mind turning up those thermostats and warming up that air before it gets down here, I sure'nuff would appreciate it, y'all!

 

[Goofyernmost]

Yes they should - But since they have Palantir there and according to Spirit they were using the 'bad guys at wdw' pitch they are probably afraid of disclosing 'Sources and Methods' for tracking.

PATHETIC - the ONE really useful feature of the MB is probably not being used because execs are playing 'spy games'.

No, I think that they can and probably do use it, but with the pedophile fear raging, no matter how much foolishness that is, they just probably don't promote it. Anyone that knows that the new system can track you, however, probably already is aware of that. It's easier to just remain quiet then to try and explain why that isn't a realistic fear.

 

[ford91exploder]

No, I think that they can and probably do use it, but with the pedophile fear raging, no matter how much foolishness that is, they just probably don't promote it. Anyone that knows that the new system can track you, however, probably already is aware of that. It's easier to just remain quiet then to try and explain why that isn't a realistic fear.

I think it's probably 'sources and methods' IF they had a child locator function they would have to disclose the approximate accuracy of the positioning system, Which of course would tell the 'Bad Guys' how accurately they could be tracked. - Of course placing the MB in an altoids tin completely shuts down the tracking system.

Or they could become low level CM's in Janitorial which would give them the run of the place and the ability to haul huge amounts of stuff around without anyone asking questions...

It always amazes me when the security industry comes up with these Hollywood scenarios they never assume the 'Bad Guys' will take the most obvious precautions against being tracked. Only on one of Stephen Segal's TV series did it show the russian mobsters using old school phones with removable batteries - and they took batteries out when not using. The rest show the 'good guys' turning on the mic/cameras in iPhones etc.

Madness!

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

It's a bright glowing object in the sky. My first year in NC, I actually started to miss overcast skies. The sun was out every day. I think I went 3 months or more without seeing a drop of rain. When it did rain it was at night and I missed it, by morning everything dried up quickly and off we went to a sunny, hot day again. But, this year, although nothing compared to what is going on up north has seemed so out of line with the south. At least once a week another arctic blast comes motoring down I-95 and hits us with cold weather again.

I'm not whining about it, like I said I not only know it can be a lot worse, but, I lived it for 63 years, but, I didn't move down here to shiver. So if you guys up north wouldn't mind turning up those thermostats and warming up that air before it gets down here, I sure'nuff would appreciate it, y'all!

I'll turn up the thermostat if you'll pay my $350 gas bill next month.

It's almost to the point of needing a second job just to pay the utilities!





Has anyone read the latest Disneyland update on Miceage/Micechat? I wish the only 'negative' thing to report is a little wood rot and too many refurbs.



As for the MK... sorry, I literally laughed out loud at the ODV cart blocking the pretty view of Rapunzel's tower.


http://micechat.com/61471-magic-kingdom-hub-pieces/

edit to add- the drained moat DOES look horrible.

But are those tracks/rails in the moat (tomorrowland side, about half way through the post) ??

 

[Nubs70]

I suppose, but, no matter how hard I try, I cannot come up with anything that I do in a Theme Park that is going to come back to bite me. Other places, no problem, I will be as paranoid as anyone, but, WDW... sorry, it just isn't registering.

I don't care if they track me and I would think that whomever was tracking me would either quickly fall asleep or perish from boredom. If Disney decides to use a company that specializes in that type of thing as it relates to how they do business, then, silly me, I think it is a wise thing to do. Why not go with the experts. Seems like it would cut down considerably on the trial and error aspect.

Face it, one way or the other they are going to track us in an effort to see what they can do to help encourage us to spend more money, or ease crowding in certain areas, but, for the life of me, nothing comes to mind that even remotely alarms me.

The primary interest is not what you do autonomously, it is how you and the group respond to external stimuli. The Pertri Dish™ is being used to study group dynamics in realtime.

 

[TP2000]

Or they could become low level CM's in Janitorial which would give them the run of the place and the ability to haul huge amounts of stuff around without anyone asking questions...

Not to be morbid, but I've wondered about that myself. If some organization really did want to do great harm to a large number of people at a Disney theme park, they don't need to bother with buying a ticket and getting something past the bag check tents (which is easy enough, really).

Instead, they could hire in to a job as an entry-level CM (and Disney is not as picky as they should be), preferably the Janitorial team in white uniforms, and then have open access to the property and the ability to move around practically anywhere unchecked or unquestioned. All sorts of scenarios then play out quite easily. Scary, but true.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

Not to be morbid, but I've wondered about that myself. If some organization really did want to do great harm to a large number of people at a Disney theme park, they don't need to bother with buying a ticket and getting something past the bag check tents (which is easy enough, really).

Instead, they could hire in to a job as an entry-level CM (and Disney is not as picky as they should be), preferably the Janitorial team in white uniforms, and then have open access to the property and the ability to move around practically anywhere unchecked or unquestioned. All sorts of scenarios then play out quite easily. Scary, but true.

Very true, and something I've considered as well.

Are there any security checkpoints in place for cast members backstage? Or a scanning in system?

Magic bands?

 

[TP2000]

Are there any security checkpoints in place for cast members backstage? Or a scanning in system?

I'm sure there's a scan-in process, but once you have your ID card what's the big deal with that? And they can't be checking every lunchbox and backpack of the thousands of kids who stream in and out of the employee gate every day at a Disney theme park.

A 5 second Google search led me to this image, taken of the CM entry gate for Disneyland, as taken from the Disneyland Monorail that passes overhead every 3 minutes. http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4068/4681990500_09e3bf79b2_b.jpg

It looks pretty casual and lightly regulated. I imagine there's a security checkpoint or ID scan-in thing in the houses below, like found at many corporate campuses. But really, once you have an active company ID, we all know the security process for gaining access to your workplace is very casual.

 

[ParentsOf4]

@WDW1974 asked for charts, so here's another chart.

In case anyone doubts WDW has a growing hotel room occupancy problem that’s tied to theme park ticket prices, the following chart represents the number of empty domestic room nights. (Each year, one hotel room has 365 “available room nights”. Nights that room is unoccupied represents an empty room night.)

Ten years ago, Disney’s domestic resorts languished in a post-9/11 economy, causing the number of empty rooms to hover around 2 million annually, an all-time high.

To jumpstart WDW, Disney created the a la carte Magic Your Way (MYW) ticket in 2005 to allow guests to select only those options they wanted (or could afford), rather than have to purchase the previous all-inclusive ticket. The new format made multiday vacations more affordable and, bolstered by Disney’s Magic Express (DME), resulted in a vastly improved hotel occupancy rate.

As the economy once again worsened in the late 2000s, Disney offered deep onsite discounts, helping WDW briefly preserve occupancies.

However, these deep discounts impacted Parks & Resorts (P&R) gross margins and, as a result, Disney leadership decided to offer less generous discounts, causing a steep rise in the number of empty rooms.

Coupled with continued aggressive ticket price increases, the number of empty rooms has climbed further, with 2013 setting the dubious company record for most unoccupied hotel nights in a year.

When guests cannot afford both tickets and onsite stays, they either don’t vacation at WDW or don’t stay onsite. WDW attendance is strong and suggests that, for now, they are opting to stay offsite.

Continued price increases will only worsen WDW’s growing problem.

“Perpetual price increase” is not a viable long-term business strategy.

Disney leadership is walking a tightrope and needs to step carefully.

Will they?

Or have they become so entrenched in their thinking that they have failed to correctly diagnose the warning signs.

MyMagic+ was supposed to be the cure. Right now, the cure might very well turn out to be worse than the disease.

 

[jlsHouston]

I don't know guys. Everyone has a beef with where they live. But right now, Orlando sounds fantastic compared to this crapshoot. It's 31 degrees and I haven't seen sunshine in so long that I fear I've forgotten what it looks like.

This winter will never end.