Originally Posted By dagobert >>>There's a lot of sensationalized journalism (and creative editing by the author, inserting their own comments out of sequence into the comments below), so it's tough to say what's real and what's not. Hopefully another source will bring this information to light, but these updates are seeming more and more farfetched to me<<< I've never really followed the MyMagic+ topic, because it's not coming to DLP in the next years and if I'm going to WDW in the next years, I will definitely not plan my vacation six months ahead. However I thought that the article was worth posting. I'm curious how this will influence DLP, like it's mentioned in the article. DLP has always operated on its own budget. DLP always had to pay WDI for designing something new. So if DLP wants a new ride, they will pay WDI to design one, despite what's going on at WDW or somewhere else in the Parks & Resort divison.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Hopefully another source will bring this information to light, but these updates are seeming more and more farfetched to me" Yep. I call shenanigans on Micechat's reporting here. This isn't meant to be an attack, but it's been proven that many of the contributors there have made it their mission to sway fan opinion on management decisions that they disapprove of. The mental feats of logic the writer uses to convince the reader that MyMagic+ is destroying WDW are hilarious. >>The end result is that as Disney entered its new 2014 fiscal year a month ago, the results of years of NextGen investment weren’t paying off as they’d been promised to do strongly by Fiscal Year 2014.<< What does this even mean?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>What does this even mean?<< I think they mean that the NextGen project was originally forecasted to be fully operational in FY14. Now that we're in FY14 (though only by 8 weeks), and the system is still not fully rolled out, they are starting to get concerned Between the lack of substantive information, and the faux-folksy writing style, I think that the articles intentionally leave room for vagueness and confusion. I've already seen several specific instances where they're called out for misinformation in the comments, only to have them go back and mysteriously edit the article, with no notation that it's been changed I'm all for rumors and fun discussion, but these updates are getting increasingly difficult to handle
Originally Posted By cheesybaby Iger spends billions to acquire Lucasfilm, but then refuses to build any Star Wars attractions because MM+ has bugs? Yeah, right...
Originally Posted By sjhym333 And a lot of it is squishy accurate. For instance... 1)NexGen is being headed by Jim McPhee who has 30 years of operations experience at WDW. He has worked every park and his last role before NexGen was VP of EPCOT during the 30th. I have known him a long time and he is a great guy, a great Disney manager and understands the park. 2) I am not sure anyone at WDW has the authority to approve a project like NexGen let alone budget that kind of money. I thought this was a Corporate thing all along and WDW was the testing ground 3) Despite the setback, and there have been several, everyone I have talked to has like FP+. Granted the testing may not have been the best indicator with select resorts only using it, but I have several friends who think it is great. 4) I would be surprised if Disney actually put a hold on everything they were planning because of NexGen. I think you will see Star Wars move forward as well as some of the other things that have been on the drawing board.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>I have known him a long time and he is a great guy, a great Disney manager and understands the park.<< I've heard nothing but good things from Jim McPhee during his times at the various parks. That said, if he's handed a job that's much bigger than anybody actually realizes, it's going to be very difficult to execute it well (like a certain healthcare website that's been in the news lately). The 'tests' have rolled out in a controlled manner, and from what I've seen, they're actively working to correct any issues with the program. But when they're working with so many different variables, and on such a high-profile project, the issues are going to get publicized a lot >>I am not sure anyone at WDW has the authority to approve a project like NexGen let alone budget that kind of money.<< I agree. From my understanding, this was always something that was discussed on a corporate level. The first time we really got any details on the project was from a presentation that Staggs gave to the Board of Directors. With the planned roll-out for both coasts, it only makes sense that it was a high level decision (Plus, if it was a WDW local decision, why would it be impacting DL's upcoming projects? Something doesn't add up) >>I would be surprised if Disney actually put a hold on everything they were planning because of NexGen.<< I could concievably see them pushing something back a few months, but not putting anything on indefinite hold or cancelling it. To me, this just sounds like a convenient excuse to cancel the far-fetched rumors that they posted as facts in earlier updates, all while while pounding on their favorite scapegoat. No, NextGen isn't perfect. I'm not sure if I'll ever prefer it to the 'old' way of visiting a theme park. But it does actually seem to be making a lot of improvements in places that we never really considered problem areas. With the overall ease and connectivity of the system, it has the power to really do some great things. Disney just needs to figure out what they want to do with it, and the best way to get it running right
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I would be surprised if Disney actually put a hold on everything they were planning because of NexGen." The cynic in me suspects this was an attempt to distract attention from the fact that these projects were never going to happen in the first place, at least as described by MiceAge. Basically they're back peddling and using MyMagic+ as the culprit. Remember that they've been claiming that an announcement is forthcoming for several months now and not a peep from Disney, so I guess they figured it's time to rewrite the story. "I think you will see Star Wars move forward as well as some of the other things that have been on the drawing board." Agreed. A major Star Wars project at DL is pretty much inevitable, I think.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 So, your wearing your MagicBand at WDW. You go home and check your My Disney Experience account and you are surprised to find pictures of yourself riding an attraction that you didn't know was taken or that you didnt add to your Photopass. Turns out the MagicBand knows where and who you are on the attraction. Interesting article by Kevin Yee today. The link is below. I know many of you aren't bothered by this, but it is a little creepy to think about. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://micechat.com/50252-rfid/">http://micechat.com/50252-rfid/</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I guess it's kind of creepy, but that's still not as bad to me as the face identifier on Facebook that automatically tags your friends (and occasionally gets them horribly wrong, to much comedic effect). For what it's worth, I'd be much more likely to purchase the PhotoPass CD if I knew it included all on-ride photos; perhaps this is the type of upsell that they predicted would make the NextGen project so lucrative
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I wouldn't be surprised if they used them to better track traffic flow in the parks. Right now they know the general direction that the traffic goes, but they don't know where exactly people are coming from or going to. If they see that people who like Space Mountain also like PhilharMagic (as a completely random combination), they'll be able to better accommodate those guests. Or if they see that you like meet & greets, but seldom do thrill rides (or vice versa), they'll be able to encourage you to try other similar attractions, or perhaps introduce you to something completely new. For the first few months of this, I doubt we'll see anything, but once they start to develop common patterns, and link the in-park guests to those established patterns, they could really do some neat stuff I think they could also potentially unlock some really interesting inter-park patterns, like discovering that people who see the Voices of Liberty and ride Kali also tend to spend some time at Downtown Disney. Right now all of the suggestions and ideas on their website are based on what a textbook says ("If you like thrill rides, try these ones"), but I think that the suggestions in the future could do a good job of matching people more specifically, and perhaps driving traffic to less-utilized areas of WDW. That's the sort of stuff that has me really excited for NextGen; it's all a matter of how they decide to actually use the information
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub i hope more discussions are encouraged about the ad/dis/vantages of WDW My Magic. I have actually been to WDW recently and used it without any problems but most of the responses seem overly giddy. AS in Look at me I have a magic band I must be tech cool. Also you must realize that many have already figured out how to hack the system. So the benefit of having 3 FP per day pre-arranged and then being able to use anything with a barcode to get more Fps on a daily basis Makes MY Magic loads of fun! Please remember Iger is not spending billions WE ARE paying for this… In recent years I was able to visit WDW every other month. Constant increases for lodging tickets food, etc has made me decide to not renew my pass. I also do not like the increase in character meetngreets taking over the land… I would also like to mention I truly believe this is more about controlling the customer and tracking profiles than it is about giving us a great FP advantage. Large corporations have grown weary of the demanding customer that wants everything on discount and they also need to reduce the strain their "cast members" endure because many are filing lawsuits and requiring professional medical therapy due to this pressure in the workplace. Not to mention all the increased violence we are experiencing in modern society. Tracking a problem customer is an easy way to make the corporate decision to encourage the customer to go elsewhere. Do not discourage conversations No matter how biased or opinionated they seem. Just look for the words of wisdom that are often hidden in the middle of it all.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "Please remember Iger is not spending billions WE ARE paying for this" No, Disney is paying for this. "Please remember Iger is not spending billions WE ARE paying for this… In recent years I was able to visit WDW every other month. Constant increases for lodging tickets food, etc has made me decide to not renew my pass." I suspect this is more about supply and demand than MyMagic+. "Not to mention all the increased violence we are experiencing in modern society." Violent crime is on a long downward trend. Violence is decreasing, not increasing.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Turns out the MagicBand knows where and who you are on the attraction. Interesting article by Kevin Yee today." I thought this was known to be a feature of the application from the start? Didn't they say at some point characters will know your name at meet & greets and other experiences will be customizable?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros ^^Yes, that's what they had said years ago. I guess it wasn't so explicitly stated back then, but it was pretty clear that they were going to use some sort of mid/long-range readers to figure out where you were, in order to 'personalize' your experience. Even the earliest discussions of crowd flow analysis heavily hinted at this sort of thing, even though it was never stated outright >>No, Disney is paying for this.<< And where does Disney get the money to pay for it? From the consumers
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "And where does Disney get the money to pay for it? From the consumers" And where do the consumers get their money from? All those employers are paying for this. Wait, where do they get their money from. Their customers are paying for this! We pay Disney for their products and services. Disney then pays for new rides/movies/services etc.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt MiceChat has posted an article stating that AK is doing a limited test on ticketless FPs starting tomorrow. According to the site the new system will look something like the outline below and should give an impression of what the new MyMagic+ FP system should be like when its fully implemented at all four WDW parks: - The paper FP machines will be turned off. - Those visitors with MagicBands (ie, staying at a Disney resort) were given the opportunity weeks (months?) ago to book advance reservations for rides (up to three total). Those reservations are unaffected, and can still be adjusted if desired at the in-park kiosks or via smartphone app. - Those visitors without MagicBands can use their park admission media, which is RFID capable, as a MagicBand equivalent for swiping in for a FP+ reservation. But they won’t HAVE reservations in advance, because they didn’t have that opportunity. So instead, they will be allowed to make same-day reservations at the digital kiosks scattered around the park (note: the smartphone app will not allow them to make reservations). - Both MagicBands and non-MB visitors will be limited to three ride reservations per day. - There are no “tiers” at DAK like there are in DHS and Epcot (in those parks, you can only reserve ONE of the high-demand rides like Soarin’ or Test Track–you have to choose which tier-one ride you want).
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Also this week EPCOT picked some random guests to participate in a test similar to what is going on at the AK starting tomorrow.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm actually kind of glad that they're pushing forward with the 'real' testing now to see what it will actually be like. However, isn't it pretty busy this week? I'm sure it's not as bad as next week will be, but if it were me I would have suggested doing it in the last few weeks Then again, maybe they're banking on fewer Christmas guests being the once-in-a-lifetime types, so that they'll be more forgiving with any sort of technical issues. But if the guests know what to expect with the old system, perhaps they'd be less patient...basically I feel really sorry for the Guest Relations CMs who have to deal with this right now, but I'm glad that there are finally full-scale tests
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I'm actually kind of glad that they're pushing forward with the 'real' testing now to see what it will actually be like. However, isn't it pretty busy this week?" Isn't that the point?
