Tom Staggs Confirms Project of "NextGen" Nature

[epcotWSC]

I can only imagine that a service like this will cost a decent amount extra. Otherwise, how do you account for people who take a day trip that's just planned a few days in advance if not at all? They'd be at a huge disadvantage to everyone else.

 

[_Scar]

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.

So true! My family would be lost without my planning lol and now I'll have a reason in the future to get even more involved :sohappy:

However, planning isn't for everyone so I hope they won't alienate a good portion of people with this. =/

PS- Still, the best idea I've heard for the parks tech-wise in a while are the wands you can use during Spectro Magic to change Aurora's dress.... :lookaroun is this dead or not?

 

[mightynine]

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:

Could be that v2.0 of the FP machines in parks have a touchscreen where if you want another FP, the system knows you have one already, and you can decide to give up your original FP right then and there, freeing up room down the line for the non-planner/spur of the moment person.

That's going to be the biggest test of this system - the ability to change things on the fly as needed, especially if they're thinking about bringing attractions into this.

 

[wishiwere@wdw]

Being that I'm addicted to new technology and how it all works, I'm totally stoked for this. The possibilities are nearly limitless.

Thinking back, I remember how amazed I was taking a keys to the kingdom tour in the mid 90's and geeking out over the pucks hidden in the street for the parades. Or how about the trackless Pooh ride in Tokyo?

These are all high-tech investments that can really change the experience in ways we could never imagine. So I'm anxious to see what Disney truly ends up pulling off with this. Personally, I see it going way beyond a glorified ticketing or fast pass system.

With that said, the insane development costs involved really makes me wish they had instead invested in fixing the transportation mess first

 

[Skipper03]

Following a detailed hour by hour schedule around the park doesn't sound very appealing... but I would guess when booking your vacation, they ask you what are the top 3 or 5 attractions you are most excited to ride? Who are your top 3 favorite characters?

Upon answering they'll give you dates/times of your experience with no wait... and I think that is really cool! But just wondering the park with FP is also cool.... not sure about all of this!

 

[MrMorrowTom]

It sounds cool and exciting and but I still hope there is that opportunity that you can just stroll around attraction to attraction.
As for most Disney fans we just love the atmosphere and being there so we don't need a process like this. But for the family who has to save up money to make a once in a life time trip, they would love this trying to fit everything into their vacation.
Can't wait to see what they do.

 

[MichWolv]

Pre-planning everything sounds daunting and logistically a nightmare. But they'll probably break it in with a few fastpasses, etc. and test it for a while. And of course, other institutions do a version of it already. When I go to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, I pre-book my OmniMax, U-505 Submarine, and Coal Mine times in advance. I grab my already reserved tickets on the way in and go the equivalent of the fastpass entrance when its time. It'd be even better if those times were just loaded onto my membership card, allowing me to not even need to get the tickets in the first place. If CSI can do it, Disney can as well. Start slow and don't get too ambitious with it, and it can work. Preplanning the whole trip???? Wow!

Prebooking character experiences would be great for kids, especially if done in locations where other kids can't see what's happening (less crying that way). So Mickey and Friends appears at the Town Square Theater from 10-5, but those who pre-book can enter the theater at 9 and be "guaranteed" a short wait. OTOH, if they make it so some people can, let's say, bypass the line at the DAK character greeting trails, walking past those waiting patiently, that could get ugly.

Getting my room key in advance and not having to go to the stupid check-in desk: WINNER!

NextGen queues: If Pooh is an indication of the direction, I love it. They Pooh stuff, even with the problems with bouncy place, has made that line far more interesting than it was before, and it sets the mood well. The SM games are not as big an improvement, but still better than nothing. And the "play carnival games" while waiting for Dumbo sounds good, too. Anything that can be done to make the queue time feel like "part of the experience" instead of "standing in a line" is great. And I'll bet that there will be far more successful implementations of the strategy than unsuccessful ones.

Princesses greeting kids by name: Home run if it works. I can envision how it might if guests play along. Little girl or parent carries RFID that is read by character helper using a device that shows name on a display that Princess can see. Of course, not everybody would have one or set it up in advance. And whoe be the Princess who gets a name wrong. Still, very interesting in theory.

 

[MickeyPeace]

Want to ride that attraction again? Sorry, no slot available.

Is next gen a Disney corporate term or something made up here on the boards?

 

[Bolna]

As so many others have said: planning every step of the day ahead sounds excessive to me, even though I am very much a planner (yes, if I can I make my dining reservations 180 days before my trip! ).

I think it might be more an additional perk for single attractions: Instead of running with everyone else at rope drop to TSM, you have your appointment for your 11:30 am ride at TSM already set up before hand. If it is one or two attractions per day, I think many people would love it. Especially those who don't want to be at the park for rope drop. But I really hope it will not make touring for those who don't have access to it really bad.

 

[Mammymouse]

I would much rather Disney take all the money and efforts going into this "system" and put it into the expansion of attractions and quality of them. The more things to do and places to see - the thinner the crowds, so why do we have to schedule every aspect of our "vacation" there? Sounds like an oxymoron to me. I'd be kicking and screaming about having to use more personal technology stuff on vacation time. Put me in the group that is probably from another planet, but I would be so stressed out using something like this it would ruin my trip rather than enhance it. I'd rather have them unleash the Imagineers to do some spectacular new attractions and re-inspire the old ones that are needing updating and use the technology for that.

 

[menamechris]

One thing is for sure - before they do all of this, they need to consider adding some things to a couple of the parks (and I think we know which ones). If things are going to me so efficient that I am not spending a lot of time in line, I don't know what I will so with all that time... Soooo I can wait in line - or I can wait on a bench.... I mean - it only takes me 3-4 hours to make my way through those parks WITH lines.

 

[Wes Janson]

I'd really love this system to extend to some kind of official mobile app to all the major smartphone OS's. I do plan ahead, but I can't imagine planning my entire itinerary before I even get to the parks.

Having some kind of official mobile connection would be convenient for a tech guy like me, reserving fast passes, setting dinner arrangements, and viewing queuing information as my day goes along. That would be far more convenient and infinitely cooler in my humble opinion.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

Want to ride that attraction again? Sorry, no slot available.

Is next gen a Disney corporate term or something made up here on the boards?

It's a Disney term. For example, the official Disney bio page for Nick Franklin lists him as "Executive Vice President of Next Generation Experience at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide."

 

[stitch2008]

Pre-planning everything sounds daunting and logistically a nightmare. But they'll probably break it in with a few fastpasses, etc. and test it for a while. And of course, other institutions do a version of it already. When I got the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, I pre-book my OmniMax, U-505 Submarine, and Coal Mine times in advance. I grab my already reserved tickets on the way in and go the equivalent of the fastpass entrance when its time. It'd be even better if those times were just loaded onto my membership card, allowing me to not even need to get the tickets in the first place. If CSI can do it, Disney can as well. Start slow and don't get too ambitious with it, and it can work. Preplanning the whole trip???? Wow!

Prebooking character experiences would be great for kids, especially if done in locations where other kids can't see what's happening (less crying that way). So Mickey and Friends appears at the Town Square Theater from 10-5, but those who pre-book can enter the theater at 9 and be "guaranteed" a short wait. OTOH, if they make it so some people can, let's say, bypass the line at the DAK character greeting trails, walking past those waiting patiently, that could get ugly.

Getting my room key in advance and not having to go to the stupid check-in desk: WINNER!

NextGen queues: If Pooh is an indication of the direction, I love it. They Pooh stuff, even with the problems with bouncy place, has made that line far more interesting than it was before, and it sets the mood well. The SM games are not as big an improvement, but still better than nothing. And the "play carnival games" while waiting for Dumbo sounds good, too. Anything that can be done to make the queue time feel like "part of the experience" instead of "standing in a line" is great. And I'll bet that there will be far more successful implementations of the strategy than unsuccessful ones.

Princesses greeting kids by name: Home run if it works. I can envision how it might if guests play along. Little girl or parent carries RFID that is read by character helper using a device that shows name on a display that Princess can see. Of course, not everybody would have one or set it up in advance. And whoe be the Princess who gets a name wrong. Still, very interesting in theory.

I agree with everything you said. This can be awesome if they do it right.

 

[Vernonpush]

OK, what happens when a family has made a "reservation" for a ride months in advance, and then when they arrive the attraction is 101 (broken or has had a fire and closed :lookaroun or there's a power/compressor outage )? I hope they have backup plans for the unexpected.

 

[stitch2008]

I forgot to put in my previous post. But I wonder if guests will be able to make these reservations on the day they visit the parks rather then months in advance. Can't you make a dinner reservation when you enter the parks already?

 

[jDoor]

"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?

so, what exactly is wrong with the pooh queue?

 

[UnrealFire]

When they were doing consumer research on this sytem a few months ago, they were testing some very high prices for the package. There is a thread with the details.

 

[erasure fan1]

I would much rather Disney take all the money and efforts going into this "system" and put it into the expansion of attractions and quality of them.

I will 2nd this.

Not to beat a dead horse but this just has bad vacation written all over it. We love to plan our trips but this would be overkill. And what will happen to just going to the park and getting on rides? Sorry little jimmy we dont have reservations for that so we are out of luck. Of curse they could have some grand master plan with all of these answers but I doubt it.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Im sure the tossers who spend all day in the parks ignoring those they are with while telling pretendy friends on tinterweb what they are doing will be frothing at the gash at this exciting news.