Tom Staggs Confirms Project of "NextGen" Nature

[WDW1974]

Disney know that the majority of their visitors are visiting on a 2 year cycle and plan ahead. It therefore makes a great deal of sense for them to target this group and give them the tools to manage their vacation in new ways. It's not great for locals, or non-planners, but you can't please all people all the time, nobody can.

Perhaps, Steve, but WDW was never run as a caste system where value was placed on some guests at the detriment of others. A system that helps folks who come every 24 months may well be great for them, but it shouldn't be at the expense of the rest of the guest population.

Everything being talked about now, has implications of lowering the quality of vacations for others.

The DDP has done that. FP has done that. Destination Disney (the precursor of this) has.

Like it or not, the world is technologically changing at a rapid pace. The adoption of Facebook into practically every American's life is a huge indicator of how people want to use technology to manage every aspect of their life. It will get to the point where Disney's nextgen stuff will become the expected normal. Companies who fail to deliver will have problems competing. Just like Universal were made to follow Fastpass, they'll be forced to follow onto some of what Disney has planned. Only problem is, they won't have the few spare billions hanging around to do it.

You hit on two points above.

As to FB, it isn't the great tool that some would have us believe. It can be incredibly dangerous as people have found by putting their lives out there and foolishly believing they had privacy. Just saw a great documentary on 'The Facebook Obsession' on CNBC and how the data mining and selling of metrics have led to all sorts of issues. ... And Americans don't even use social media for anything important (at least in Egypt it helped throw a US sponsored dictator out on his ). This is one of my (many) hot button topics. But as Betty White said 'Now, that I know what FB is, what an incredible waste of time it is'.

Now as to UNI, they may not have a few spare billion around. But they don't need it. Because while Disney touts new ways to separate guests from their money as ways to segregate guests into classes, UNI just steps up its game and spends billions on the best cutting edge family themed attractions and entertainment in Orlando.

It's so funny that I'm responding to this now as I've been watching Craig Ferguson's Late, Late Show on CBS (best thing on late night US TV) and for at least the third time since Potter opened (and I was away in Asia for three months, so it could have been more) he has mentioned with a guest WWoHP and wanting to go in normal interviews (none of the planted crap you get when Whoopie Goldberg winds up on the Disney Dream since CBS and UNI and Disney are all competitors).

I don't hear people talking about wanting to go to WDW because they are on the cutting edge of iPhone apps, being able to book meals before everyone else, ways to charge purchases and ship them home and gain information on their children's likes/dislikes, while they put out the same stale product year after year after year.

If WDW was run like they actually cared about the guest experience (just spent 30 minutes tonight talking to a CM pal about many issues at the BLT due to the cost-cutting ways it was built and furnished), then maybe I'd be more excited about the NEXTGEN possibilities. ... But I've seen the real NEXTGEN in themed entertainment ... first in Tokyo and then at IOA ... it's not at WDW.

And it has nothing to do with technology for a smart phone or RFID bracelet ... and everything to do with brick and mortar quality immersive themed experiences.

 

[WDW1974]

While I agree with you on principle, the problem is that the number of people that are "this type of person" is only going to get larger. I am 35 years old. I live in somewhat rural Maine - not really high-tech HQ - and most of my peers would be guilty of doing this. Certainly as ages go younger, this gets more and more prevalent. Unfortunately, not pandering to a group of people that make up a significantly growing portion of your potential customer base is bad business.

That's a fair point ... to a point.

I understand that people today live (and die on the road) while playing with toys/smart phones.

BUT ... my issue is simply if they can't put them in their pockets while in a theme park then either they have an addiction (and many do and it IS a form of OCD, mental illness) and/or the parks aren't stimulating them enough, which speaks to the product.

 

[AEfx]

I don't hear people talking about wanting to go to WDW because they are on the cutting edge of iPhone apps, being able to book meals before everyone else, ways to charge purchases and ship them home and gain information on their children's likes/dislikes, while they put out the same stale product year after year after year.

If WDW was run like they actually cared about the guest experience (just spent 30 minutes tonight talking to a CM pal about many issues at the BLT due to the cost-cutting ways it was built and furnished), then maybe I'd be more excited about the NEXTGEN possibilities. ... But I've seen the real NEXTGEN in themed entertainment ... first in Tokyo and then at IOA ... it's not at WDW.

A-frakin-men!

Exactly how I feel.

This is all gobbledy-gook marketing garbage. Yes, talking characters - COOL! But that's about it. And the audience for the "GET A FP ONLINE!" folks are the same who already go to Disney every year, or more. They are gonna come anyway - not one of them is going to say, "Hey, we can map our FP early, let's spend $3k on a vacation that I wasn't already going to go on!"

People come to Disney for the rides and experiences. And, in the last few years, Disney has had a pretty poor show in that area. The last really exciting thing to open was Everest - and look at what a huge embarrassment that has turned out to be.

I'm extremely glad about the FL expansion. It was direly needed - our FL is a joke compared to DL, TDL, and even DLP (in terms of tech). I'm tickled to death about TLM and ST:2.0. These are definite steps in the right direction.

But it does feel like Disney has just given up on being the best and brightest with attractions. As much as I cannot wait for TLM, it's not going to revolutionize anything - as a lover of dark rides I am over the moon, but overall...most guests are going to think "that was neat". Star Tours will be really fun I have a feeling - but again, it's really a large refurb and not a brand-new attraction.

I'm not a Disney griper, if I didn't enjoy going I wouldn't - and I wouldn't come here. I'm generally happy with my time there. But it just frustrates me to no end to think about all the great things that a billion bucks could do with new attractions and new full experiences instead of this garbage, instead of spending the time trying to re-jig how people experience what is already there.

 

[gibsonc]

I am against having to plan my vacation down to the smallest detail, that is not what I want from a vacation.

That said I am interested to wait for more detail on what services will be available and how and with what technology it will be implemented.

I like the idea of being able to book meet and greets in advance, but not 6 months in advance, maybe on the day or a day or two in advance but clearly the technology would need to be in place to allow this to happen, and certainly Disney would need to provide this tech in the parks and resort hotels. Disney can't expect all guests to have a suitable smart phone (and one that works in the US) to use apps to manage their vacation, equally you can't expect international guests to pay the insanely high international data roaming charges to use an app (roughly $10 per megabyte in the case of the UK operator O2).

 

[marni1971]

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.

And that is a big question. Speaking as someone who knows a lot of normal guests from overseas, they have no idea what they are going to, let alone having to reserve. Dining is bad enough. If walk ups for any experience arn`t catered for this will be a massive fail.

You can`t help but think a lot of this money would have been better spent by building more capacity for all the parks instead.

I love the quote "Fantasyland has seen relatively little expansion since the park opened in 1971. Consequently, it can be extremely congested and difficult to navigate on busier days" - and who's fault is that for closing 20K under false premise, and letting the OVCs invade? Let alone having (to this date) 17 years to fix it??!!

 

[marni1971]

I don't think you can place all the blame on the dining plan. The crowd levels at WDW have continued to increase over the years, people have to eat, and there are just so many options available. Perhaps its time they build more restaurants and attractions to consume some of the masses of people.

Radical idea - build more restaurants! Or at least open those they have. Visiting Disneyland in September was a breath of fresh air; aside from Blue Bayou and 33 we could walk in anywhere at anytime. It was busy, but not crazy and with so many places to choose from made WDWs offerings decidedly poor.

 

[SeasonPass2]

"NextGen" sounds like RFID + Smart Phone

Making ALL of your plans for a Disney vacation on the computer is something only someone needing therapy would do. However, planning the top 20% falls right in line with what most of us on vacation need to do.

By planning on your PC, loading it on your smart Phone so you know what you've planned and allowing Disney to manage and verify it with an RFID bracelet, you're vacation can allow you less time waiting in line and more time enjoying your vacation without the stress.

But it also establishes another level of guests. Will this only be available to those staying at the resort? They already have "Magic Hours" and first choice of reservations. What about the various levels of season passholders? And will the DVC members also have this option?

 

[Thurp]

I'm wondering if this will be a tiered system.

- Stay off site = no scheduling perks
- Stay at a value resort = 1 reservation/day
- Moderate resort = 2 reservations/day
- Deluxe resort = 3 reservations/day

This may even be a value-added service, like $20/person/day Magical Reservations add-on.

This wouldn't mess up the current system TOO badly I suppose although we are still talking about thousands of reservations every single day.

 

[BrerFrog]

Reserving a time at an attraction/character M&G seems a little bit too extreme.

 

[sublimesting]

I am not so sure the intent of this system is to plan every single ride you want to ride and when. I have a feeling it may be more along the lines of: You get perhaps 15 FPs /day and can pre-select which rides you would like thus eliminating people's big complaint about FP: having to get up at 6AM to get their FPs for the day. The FPs will probably have a bigger window margin like pre-noon and afternoon.

Example:

I want to visit Ak i nthe AM of day 3 and HS in the PM. So I will take 3 FPs for EE pre noon, 2 for the Safari and 1 for Kilamanjaro. In the afternoon I would like MS, 2 for TT, 4 for Horizons (it's back in this scenario), etc.

I am not so sure how I feel about this yet. But it may actually make my stay easier. As it is now I run from side to side in the parks collecting FPs and this could eliminate that. Then again it removes all spontaneity but only to an extent if there is a big wondow. I would already have the FPs I was going to grab anyways and can ride whatever small lined rides I want as I meander around all day. The key would be having a large window to use the FPs.

 

[lilclerk]

4 for Horizons (it's back in this scenario), etc.

I like how you got that in there :lol:

 

[DisneyNut2007]

But TDO is still evil and Iger is out of touch with much of his business.

You're still wrong and you know it!

BEAT IT!!!

 

[tizzo]

Problems such as?

This is something guests are asking for, almost demanding. It's that extra something they almost expect because they're paying more.

The problem is that they're paying more for their hotel, not for their park ticket. So you end up charging the same two park tickets that will get you two completely different experiences, in effect making the day guest or the moderate or value guest subsidize the experience of the deluxe guest.

 

[tizzo]

For all you day visitors, half the joy of having an annual is not having to do ANYTHING because you know it will all be there tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day after that.

Great point. As far as I'm concerned that's probably more than half the joy.

I generally trust Disney to nail the implementation, but I'll admit to being just a little paranoid because of my experiences as a passholder at Universal. This was years ago, when their FP equivalent, express-pass, was still distributed by machines in the park. The problem was that they were also selling them in gift shops, making fewer available in the parks, with the net effect being that there were some attractions you just couldn't do, no matter how many tomorrows you have, unless you arrive at the crack of dawn. (And not having to arrive at the crack of dawn is where I find the rest of the joy of being a passholder.)

Of course, that particular problem appears to have fixed itself. I was at IOA last month for the first time in years, and we walked onto the Hulk, and walked away from a 20 minute wait on Spider Man, and most of the park outside of WWoHP was like that. In other words, there's danger here both for the guest experience and for the resort's bottom line.

 

[Mickey_777]

So are less Fastpasses going to be available now? You know people are going to have pre-reserved fastpasses that they won't even to use. They might be in world showcase yet only have 5 minutes to get to Soarin and they just won't feel like running over there yet. The fair thing would be to not allow them to get another fastpass until they used the preordered fastpass. Not feelin' this idea.

 

[NYwdwfan]

People come to Disney for the rides and experiences. And, in the last few years, Disney has had a pretty poor show in that area. The last really exciting thing to open was Everest - and look at what a huge embarrassment that has turned out to be.

A bit harsh, no?

Toy Story (Midway) Mania is pretty popular.

 

[NYwdwfan]

While I am having trouble fully understanding what this will be and how it will impact guests (granted, YEARS from now) - I take comfort in knowing that the folks around here will research and dissect and have a FULL understanding on what it is and how it works and will share with the group. And if anyone is going to benefit from it - or figure out HOW to benefit from it - we'll know.

 

[MaxsDad]

Some have asked, "How will I know where I am going to be in advance?" It seems to me that booking agents would ask if you would like a FP for Soarin' before or after your ressie for Garden Grill, or something like that. There are some times when you will know where you are going to be. And if you miss it, you still haven't lost anything.

Many VACATIONERS do know which park they plan to visit on which day. Pre-arrival FP's simply allow them to get the same thing at a different time. The supply/demnand isn't changing, only the logistics of distribution. These same people would have got a FP anyway, and likely first thing in the am. Pre-arrival FP's will likely be spread out over the course of a day. For the non-resort guests, the biggest issue I can see is already an issue today: FP availability at the highest high-demand/low capacity attractions, such as exist at Toy Story today, and who knows what in the future. These go early now, they will go quicker still.

Remember, anyone can get in the standby line. They keep them open until park closing.

I like the room key thing. Send me my keys in advance in the mail. Have me call from my cell to verify I got them. Text me my room number to that same number. Put the packet in my room. Use the card I reserved the room with for charges. Give me my parking pass at the gate. Lets roll!

 

[imagineer boy]

There doesn't need to be this much planning for any vacation. Its simply way too extreme.

And reserving FPs? That's gonna cause FPs to run out even quicker than before. Its just insane.

 

[GrumpyFan]

There doesn't need to be this much planning for any vacation. Its simply way too extreme.

Perhaps you're right, it doesn't require or mandate this much planning, and I'm not sure that's what they're aiming for. But, with so many attractions, restaurants and things to do, and nearly 50 million visitors a year, a number that will surely go up, failing to do any planning for a WDW vacation, could make for a not so great time while there. Now, that's not to say that a family couldn't go and have a good time without any advanced planning, but I wouldn't really advise it. Even somebody who has been numerous times and knows some of the secrets could still get away with very little planning and still have a good time, but most choose to do some planning before arrival.