Tom Staggs Confirms Project of "NextGen" Nature

[WDWFigment]

"In today's Investor Conference Tom Staggs talked about the Company's vision for the future of visiting Disney parks. Much of what he discussed is a part of the NextGen project Disney has been working on for some time (Note: Staggs did not use the term NextGen at all). Below is a summary of what Stagg's said: In the coming years there will be a broad, integrated set of systems for a more seamless personalized experience and welcome more and more people while making their vists more satisfying. This will go beyond FastPass in effect developing a version of FastPass for their entire Disney vacation (which starts when they make their reservation).

Guests will be able to reserve times for attractions and character interactions, seats for shows, dining reservations, etc booking many of these experiences before leaving their house. A simplified check-in will allow guests to arrive at their resort with room key in hand and go directly to their room or a park. There will also be new ways to pull guests into stories. For example, a tool will allow princesses to greet and interact with guests in an immersive and personalized way. Queues will continue to innovate to become a part of the show (Winnie the Pooh at Disney World being one example). They also will be creating means to better manage flow of guests in the parks as well as get better information into the hands of Cast. Disney is well into development on all of these with a number of patents."

Source: http://www.laughingplace.com/Latest-ID-76587.asp

My take - while it all sounds good (seamless) in theory, as we've already seen with Pooh's queue, there is a lot of room for failure. I don't think a lot of this will ever come to fruition, and if it does, I wonder if Disney can execute it in a manner that doesn't cause unnecessary headaches. I don't want to sound resistant to change, because I'm not, but I just wonder if this will be as "seamless" as Staggs makes it sound.

Your thoughts?

 

[sublimesting]

Great news for us!!! Sounds awesome.....but bad news for the average guest who walks into the park unawares and unprepared. I didn't know I had to reserve a sitting with jiminy Cricket for little Bobby...now his wish will never come true!!!

 

[DisneyJoe]

Sorry, but you sound like you don't want Disney to try new things.

 

[AndyMagic]

And the dullification of vacationing continues! People don't want to plan every single itty bitty detail of their trips down to the second. It ruins the spontaneity of it all and doesn't account for the million things that can happen during a vacation which could result in people changing their minds about what they want to do. Fastpass is one thing. Ride reservations booked months and months in advance is another.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Guests will be able to reserve times for attractions and character interactions, seats for shows, dining reservations, etc booking many of these experiences before leaving their house.

I can't really wrap my head around how this would work. You would reserve a time to be at a ride - how in the world would I know that before leave my house?! Could rides sell out months in advance? Seems really complicated...does anyone have thoughts on specifics?

 

[Sassagoula]

And the dullification of vacationing continues! People don't want to plan every single itty bitty detail of their trips down to the second. It ruins the spontaneity of it all and doesn't account for the million things that can happen during a vacation which could result in people changing their minds about what they want to do. Fastpass is one thing. Ride reservations booked months and months in advance is another.

Exactly my thoughts. I'm not against Disney trying new things, but these particular things sound like a bad idea. Having to book dining 6 months ahead is bad enough as it is, why apply that to the rest of the vacation?

 

[Tori]

Exactly my thoughts. I'm not against Disney trying new things, but these particular things sound like a bad idea. Having to book dining 6 months ahead is bad enough as it is, why apply that to the rest of the vacation?

Agree!

What about locals who come for day trips? I don't want to plan every single detail in my day. I like to be spontaneous.

 

[Alektronic]

I can't really wrap my head around how this would work. You would reserve a time to be at a ride - how in the world would I know that before leave my house?! Could rides sell out months in advance? Seems really complicated...does anyone have thoughts on specifics?

It sounds like to me that it will be just like a Fast Pass, but it will be reserved ahead of time for a certain window. So I don't think rides would sell out just the Fast Passes.

 

[menamechris]

Wow, it actually sounds like it is taking away from the point of a vacation. Anyone who spends any significant time around people in the parks knows that most people like to turn the brains off while on vacation. What Staggs is describing sounds like something that only a Type A personality or Disney Fantatic will be happy about. People want to book their room and dining reservations and just cruise through the rest of their vacation time. This sounds like a LOT of additional effort will have to be made for people traveling and staying at the resort.

 

[NYwdwfan]

It sounds like to me that it will be just like a Fast Pass, but it will be reserved ahead of time for a certain window. So I don't think rides would sell out just the Fast Passes.

That seems...weird. Could you imagine, "I'm going next September and I already have all of my fastpasses"?!

 

[Victoria]

I can't really wrap my head around how this would work. You would reserve a time to be at a ride - how in the world would I know that before leave my house?! Could rides sell out months in advance? Seems really complicated...does anyone have thoughts on specifics?

This is what has me scratching my head too. How the heck am I supposed to know when/where I want to be at any given point?! :lol: I usually have a vague idea of what park I will be in each day, but beyond that I couldn't tell you. I'm also prone to switching my "plan" at a moments notice for no apparent reason. The thought of a vacation where I feel like I'm running from one appointment to the next is nauseating. It is no different from what I do every day of my life. I live and die by my Google calendar on my phone. It's bad enough that I already have to put all my ADRs in there when I go to WDW just to make sure I show up on time. :shrug:

 

[NYwdwfan]

This is what has me scratching my head too. How the heck am I supposed to know when/where I want to be at any given point?! :lol: I usually have a vague idea of what park I will be in each day, but beyond that I couldn't tell you. I'm also prone to switching my "plan" at a moments notice for no apparent reason. The thought of a vacation where I feel like I'm running from one appointment to the next is nauseating. It is no different from what I do every day of my life. I live and die by my Google calendar on my phone. It's bad enough that I already have to put all my ADRs in there when I go to WDW just to make sure I show up on time. :shrug:

This.

 

[MKCP 1985]

The part of my nature that leans toward obsessive/compulsive is not liking the whole "make reservations for attractions before leaving your home." It is already impossible to get dining reservations at certain establishments (Canada). Imagine deciding to take a spur of the moment trip only to learn all the reservations for your favorite rides have been taken for the entire weekend.

That couldn't happen could it?

But if I told my family that not only did I have it planned out as to which parks on which days and what restaurants at what times, but also what attractions at what times, they would probably revolt! :lol:

 

[wdwmagic]

There are plenty of people who plan to the nth degree. There is a real market for this, and a lot of people are going to love it - just look at how many people have alarms set for their dining windows opening to the second. The big question will be how well the system allows guests who don't plan to still effectively visit the parks. I'm assuming at this point that they have this covered.

 

[NYwdwfan]

There are plenty of people who plan to the nth degree. There is a real market for this, and a lot of people are going to love it - just look at how many people have alarms set for their dining windows opening to the second. The big question will be how well the system allows guests who don't plan to still effectively visit the parks. I'm assuming at this point that they have this covered.

I like to plan and can plan with the best of 'em. And while I obsessively plan for my WDW vacations, I do it because I enjoy immersing myself in all things Disney. Once I get to the parks I like to go with the flow a bit - I mean - I AM on vacation. I fear this system will have me planning for rides, M&Gs, etc. because I CAN and for fear of missing out if I DON'T, but then being annoyed at having to stick to an itinerary while I am actually there. It's like the Jeff Goldblum line in Juraissic Park (and I am paraphrasing) - You spent so much time on whether you COULD do it you lost sight of if you SHOULD.

 

[Victoria]

There are plenty of people who plan to the nth degree. There is a real market for this, and a lot of people are going to love it - just look at how many people have alarms set for their dining windows opening to the second. The big question will be how well the system allows guests who don't plan to still effectively visit the parks. I'm assuming at this point that they have this covered.

They will have no choice but to address this issue since they would otherwise run the risk of alienating pretty much every local and many out of state APs who plan spur of the moment trips. My other question is what they will do to deal with the issue of people blowing off all these reservations. In September it seemed like a good idea to do ToT at 2:15pm on April 8th but once you actually get to the parks something better might have come along. How does that situation get factored into this plan? :shrug:

 

[lebeau]

I'm a planner, so I love the possibilities!

Taking a wait and see attitude until I see how it is executed of course.

 

[tizzo]

What Staggs is describing sounds like something that only a Type A personality or Disney Fantatic will be happy about.

Perhaps they're counting on this, because it seems to me that it can't possibly work well unless participation is limited.

Dining seems to me like an excellent example, actually. Those who don't plan well in advance still get to eat, but are relegated to counter service or off times. Even in the worst case you're not going to ruin anyone's vacation that way. If you apply the same model to the whole experience, however, you are going to ruin the experience for some. And the majority of those will be the first-timers, IE people Disney has yet to "hook" as guests-for-life.

 

[mightynine]

There will be people who would jump at this. Get a glorified Fastpass in advance for your favorite ride? Guarantee you have a chance for Junior to get a picture with his or her favorite character?

It's less about planning every nano-second of your vacation (though to think there aren't people who do this is wrong), but making sure your high notes are hit, and letting the rest fall where they may.

The biggest effects I could see from this:

- Longer Fastpass lines as more people get them in advance. However, you could balance that out by having less passes in the machines in the park.

- Less staff at the front desks of hotels. If I can have my room key in my hand when I get to the hotel, I won't need to stop there. Sucks for those employees, but families with cranky kids, or those who just took a long flight would probably love going right to their room to freshen up/crash/make sweet love/hit the parks/whatever.

 

[corey154]

I'm thinking those that already stress over planning their dinner ressies will really be in for it, LOL!

Of course I do have a little concern for us that take spontaneous day trips and what wait times would be, or the poor people who even after all this time have no idea how fast passes work. So many people that I know have no idea about half the stuff that I've learned from these forums.

Definitely news worth following.