Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance "Will we see live music, or bump into a character? What did we fancy doing and could we take turns as a family in choosing the attractions? " I think this will all still be available in the park. Live music, characters roaming around, they will still have that, but you have the added option of scheduling a visit with a character in case you don't want to stand in the line forever to do it. If you can get stuff worked in with little to no wait, you'll actually have more time to experience other things in the park and to appreciate more of the atmosphere like the live music. If nothing else changes, why would you even care if there is an option to pre-schedule?
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance And the level of crowds at the parks these days pretty much all but kills the "serendipity" and atmosphere. You'll most likely not see live music or bump into a character because 5000 other people are trying to get to see the same thing you are, and it becomes a congested nightmare, so you keep moving, not wanting to get involved in the gridlock.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 It's typical of the direction Iger (a techo-geek) wants to take things. He still doesn't get that quality and story and immersion are what have brought people to Disney parks since 1955. Disney wants to data-mine (the real purpose of NEXTGEN) as much as it possibly can. They've already ruined WDW dining with this. They've caused a lot of problems in the parks with FastPass, certainly as many as they've 'solved' ... yet, they forget the most basic part of a vacation -- relaxing and having fun. I know folks who have those ridiculous online countdowns and call 407-WDW-DINE at 7:00 a.m. Eastern time 180 days out to make massive amount of dining ressies and have spreadsheets plotting out their days may think that's all fun and part of vacationing ... and they're entitled to feel that way, just like I'm entitled to feel they likely have some mental illness going down there. But spontaneity isn't supposed to be part of a vacation? I should know I want to visit EPCOT on a Tuesday the first week in May and have Italian food for lunch at 1:15 and Chinese for dinner at 8:00 p.m.? It really sounds to me like Disney is actively working to suck out every last drop of real magic in their giant money-making machine. Just not magical at all ... and let's not think Disney cares about the rest of us who are not OCD planners who can't have fun without planning every minute of said fun ... Disney doesn't have the folks who want to just go and enjoy and relax (again, many would argue that's enjoying the parks in the way they were intended) covered at all ... Look at their track record: Dining: You aren't a resort guest? You don't know where you want to dine months, weeks or even days in advance? You're a local who wants to show up and doesn't mind waiting for a table? Guess what? You're screwed because Disney has either booked up your top 5 dining choices and/or understaffed so they can't/won't accept walkins. Oh, and in order to make the DDP more a value to those resort guests, they've raised their price points ridiculously high to again hurt the locals. Fastpass: You don't want to get up at 6 a.m. while on 'vacation'? You want to get to a park (GASP!) in the afternoon? Well, that means you get to wait in a line that's longer than would be sans FP. And Disney can also cut ride capacity and labor because guests have those FP 'ressies' for their rides to begin with. Park hours and entertainment: Disney wants to make resort guests happy, especially when they are staying at least a week. So, everything is tailored around what parks will have EMH and you have less entertainment scheduled ... why show Fantasmic nightly when you can save huge amounts of money by showing it four times a week on two nights (think they're Wednesdays and Sundays now)? So what if you can't get to the park on one of those nights? So what if it's a 'once in a lifetime' visit and the Studios are closed at 7 p.m. on a weekend night? Disney shouldn't be something you have to plan like doing your taxes ... and that's literally what it's coming to while they're trying to spin it that it's to improve the guest experience. Worse, it IS based on one basic FACT: the biggest complaint guests have at WDW (and have had for as far back as this Spirit can recall) is 'waiting/not having enough time to see and do it all' ... people have always had this issue, but now Disney feels like it needs to stimulate guests all the time. Some of it is certainly true. I was in perhaps a 15-minute (if that) wait for PoC last week and there in the queue are people playing with their iPhones ... nothing quite takes you out of preparing to sack the town and find Captain Jack as seeing some moron updating their FB status in the queue. I don't think Disney should be pandering to this type of person, but that's exactly what they are doing with these 'interactive' queues. I also think it's much worse at WDW (naturally) because there's so much to see and do (albeit spread out over 43 square miles) and the cost, which makes people all the more grumpy and pushy. People seem much more relaxed and just happy to be there at the other Disney resorts (even Anaheim) than WDW. If your vacation is becoming work, then maybe there's something wrong to begin with! ;-)
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "With that said, I see a rather huge opportunity for this whole concept to completely backfire on them. They chose very dangerous territory to be inventive and forward thinking." I wouldn't be so sure. The fact is that there is demand for this kind of service and Disney has to do something to sustain attendance growth. The parks are bursting at the seams. This is simply a measure to keep guests happy while efficiently managing millions of people. "I've never found spontaneity to be an option for dining, parades, fireworks,rides or most anything. If you don't plan ahead and think about what's next at all times, you miss out on most things." I tend to be an old fuddy duddy when it comes to my theme park experience. I hate running around trying to cram as much in as possible in a day's visit. However, I do love Fastpass, and an organized strategy that allows streamline my visit and book certain aspects of my trip before I arrive is starting to sound kind of appealing. For example, I love the idea that your room key could also your admission ticket to the park. "Funny, for me, the fun and magic of Disney as a kid was the serendipity of it all. Will we see live music, or bump into a character? What did we fancy doing and could we take turns as a family in choosing the attractions?" Dave, face it, those days are long gone.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "If your vacation is becoming work, then maybe there's something wrong to begin with!" Strategies for tackling the parks have been in existence almost since DL opened. I think there is a bit of oversimplifying going on here. Some people are saying that it shouldn't be "work" to visit a Disney park but I've never in my life felt like a day at Disneyland was anything less than strenuous. I'm always exhausted after a day at Disneyland.
Originally Posted By HMButler79 So 1 Billion is spent on data mining at WDW but 1 Billion is spent to ressurect and retheme DCA. If they're gonna ruin one Disney resort it might as well be the East coast and not the other 4.
Originally Posted By HMButler79 It was also telling that he blamed DCAs failure on, CORRECTLY, lack of immersive stories and themes, BUT that also failed because there were no character connections. They still dont get it. Mickeys face on a ferris wheel and scenes from a 1932 Silly Symphony on a swing is NOT what we wanted.
Originally Posted By MousDad >>I also think it's much worse at WDW (naturally) because there's so much to see and do (albeit spread out over 43 square miles) and the cost, which makes people all the more grumpy and pushy. People seem much more relaxed and just happy to be there at the other Disney resorts (even Anaheim) than WDW.<< These are good points. And a lot of the blame for this trend is with the guests. It becomes more about the process and less about the product. This leads to parks full of crowded guests who want nothing more than to one-up each other. Of course, Disney would have no problem feeding this trend. Anything to get people's minds off the content and onto the chaos. I made this analogy on another forum: Remember the ship passengers in Wall-E? Eerily prophetic of the not-so-distant-future WDW guest population.
Originally Posted By Dis-Philip Be quiet, pessimists! It's attitude problems like that that prevent some people like yours truly from coming back here again on a regular basis, especially with such concieted, elitist individuals as Spirit of 74, Dave Was Baloo and TDLFAN constantly strutting their stuff like they own this place.
Originally Posted By Dis-Philip So, to Spirit, TDLFAN, Dave, etc... Stop making people uncomfortable with your endless negativity and attitude problems!
Originally Posted By Indigo I am more impressed with the capability of the technology to enhance a guest's in-park experience (personalization, on the spot recommendations (I want to be notified when the queue for Space Mountain drops below 20 minutes), gamification, etc) than the ability to make reservations for rides or shows months in advance. Technically you can do that now with QR codes and a scanner at the attraction. I wonder why Staggs chose not to emphasize that part of NextGen Tech.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I wonder why Staggs chose not to emphasize that part of NextGen Tech." In the transcript of the presentation I read he declined to discuss the new system in detail, but insisted that there was more to it than is being revealed. Apparently there are patents pending, so obviously they are going to be very protective of the full capabilities of the system.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance A little pre-vacation planning sounds like it'll actually make for a more relaxing vacation. As it is, if you just up and go to the parks with little planning, you'll most likely ride few rides, and see few shows, and eat hamburgers every day of your trip for every meal. Yes you do need to pre book meals way in advance, and that is because it is way too crowded. DL doesn't have the dining package really, and you still have to make reservations or miss out. So, WDW can't blame it's lack of spontaneous dining options all on the dining plan. I can't for the life of me get how you all seem to think that waiting two hours for a ride or dinner is preferable to making a couple phone calls ahead of time.
Originally Posted By Indigo This new reservation ability, I believe they're calling it the 'xPass' internally (at least according to a blueprint I've seen for the new Beauty and the Beast restaurant), will likely be available as either an add-on to Disney vacation packages or as a plus for those shelling out big bucks for Moderate and Deluxe hotels. It's just another way for Disney to 'strongly' encourage travelers to stay at a Disney resort and keep resort occupancy up. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to if Disney will phase out Fastpass?
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "Born in Illinois, Staggs received a BS in business from University of Minnesota and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. He worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley & Co. before joining Disney." "He worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley & Co. before joining Disney." "Morgan Stanley" Yeah, seems like a good fit.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>But how much of the average Disney visitor's time in a park is actually spontaneous? Given the set times for parades, fireworks, stage show, Fastpass, in addition to waits in ride queues and time out for meals, there really isn't much room for spontaneity. I assume that whatever this system is you'll be given the option to use it, so visitor who want to bypass it can.<<< Yeah, but this is upping the ante to new, insane heights, for a "schedule". Sure, some things, like parades, and shows need to run on a clock, but when you want to control EVERYTHING you do in a place meant for fun, it gets to be a little much. I mean, what happens if you want to ride something again? What happens if you don't want to go to a park one day? Furthermore... Just another example of how Disney is catering ONLY to people that stay and play only with Disney. How are APs and locals going to fit in? How are semi locals, like myself going to be able to reserve things when I take the drive up on a whim? It's very one sided.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>It's attitude problems like that that prevent some people like yours truly from coming back here again on a regular basis, especially with such concieted, elitist individuals as Spirit of 74, Dave Was Baloo and TDLFAN constantly strutting their stuff like they own this place.<<< Funny, you like to pop back in, too.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>I can't for the life of me get how you all seem to think that waiting two hours for a ride or dinner is preferable to making a couple phone calls ahead of time.<<< Who waits for two hours? And, who wants to make phone calls? All I want to do is book my hotel, my car, and go. Sure, I have the notion of doing that for sometime in June, but honestly, I won't know and won't book until sometime in May. This is conforming to only one demo, and one type of vacationer. The spontaneous day trip is being nudged out.
