Data Mining Disney -- A Magical Experience

[lockedoutlogic]

MB will track your movement while at WDW and no, they did not have much of this info pre-magic bands.

They know a very small amount of this info in a very limited way prior to MBs, and it is useful, but there is much they do not know.

I don't need to continue with the quote because this premise is incorrect.

they have had electronic ticketing with a "signature" and the biometric tracking system for awhile…and all the purchases have a revenue tag/id sequence that can be sorted and collated to track trends.

Is it a pinpoint, real time system that can tell them where you are and exactly when? no.

So those elements are new and important. But this an example of giving the bands too much credit…and again - I LIKE the bands.

just like we have this revolving argument that they are selling new products via the magic band. So far - they have not sold any new offerings on the bands…just consolidated other pre-existing products into them - and at the core - ticket, room key, charger - were already integrated for about 15 years prior to bands on the cards.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

They have not named any rides or any specifics but they did say Star Wars was coming, rides were in development, and it was going to be big and will be announced in the near future, sometime this year.

You're having a rough day here, Tim…

You're statement is 90% false. They said "we've been working on developments"

That's it. You're doing what is becoming a habit of fans that are blindly giving away your money to the Corporation - giving pre-emptive credit and never collecting on the debt when it comes due.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

I don't need to continue with the quote because this premise is incorrect.

they have had electronic ticketing with a "signature" and the biometric tracking system for awhile…and all the purchases have a revenue tag/id sequence that can be sorted and collated to track trends.

Is it a pinpoint, real time system that can tell them where you are and exactly when? no.

So those elements are new and important. But this an example of giving the bands too much credit…and again - I LIKE the bands.

just like we have this revolving argument that they are selling new products via the magic band. So far - they have not sold any new offerings on the bands…just consolidated other pre-existing products into them - and at the core - ticket, room key, charger - were already integrated for about 15 years prior to bands on the cards.

No, the electronic ticket did not have a long range RFID chip it only had the passive chip that only works when you touch it to something. Magic Bands have both kinds, touch and long range, and can be detected and read up to 40 feet away. That is the whole new ballgame that has not existed before.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

No, the electronic ticket did not have a long range RFID chip it only had the passive chip that only works when you touch it to something. Magic Bands have both kinds, touch and long range, and can be detected and read up to 40 feet away. That is the whole new ballgame that has not existed before.

I'm not disputing you there…the real time location tracking is the big advantage to new system. I'm not entirely sure how useful it will be - because the way they've managed the property for 10+ years has actually constricted/limited the options for customers…but the potential is there.
But you basically stated that they were operating "data free" prior…and as someone who used to sit and watch that data pour in…i can attest that was not the case. More rudimentary - no doubt - but they weren't unaware of where people were and what they were buying…it probably was used more usefully somewhere up the food chain. disney has never undervalued whats hidden in their data. They just now undervalue what the return is on quality investments.

 

[Astridia]

They had the same technology with KTTW cards. All Disney has done is move it to a band.

No, the electronic ticket did not have a long range RFID chip it only had the passive chip that only works when you touch it to something. Magic Bands have both kinds, touch and long range, and can be detected and read up to 40 feet away. That is the whole new ballgame that has not existed before.

I really don't see this as some profound technological breakthrough. IMO they just moved the capabilities from a card to a band. Last trip we opted out of the bands and went back to the card. We did not see any appreciable difference. I think the only thing that's really different with the bands is when you purchase their picture package.

 

[I M Fearless]

Rest assured Disney have been watching how guests behave since day 1 at Disneyland.

The business has responded to their guests from the beginning, developing the way crowds are managed, they are very good at what they do.

KTTWC gave them much more data than magnetic tickets alone, card payments gave them more data than cash payments, ADR's gave them more data/control over restaurant space.

MB is the next logical step in a tried and tested method. Linking it with phones and apps is logical.

Think about it?

What business would not want to know...

A customers name, favourite characters, age, address, credit card number, where they are planning to eat and at what time, where they intend to go and at what time, who they are going with, where they are coming from, how much they spent yesterday, how much they have spent in total, when they are going to leave, what they have bought, what they bought last time, what conditions occur when they spend more, what conditions occur when they spend less.

If the relentless observation of customers was not worth it the company (and others) would be making fewer observations over the past 60 years, not spending huge amounts of money to increase the capabilities of a system that had no benefit.

It is the fact that MB's have developed from previous technologies like KTTWC, that make me so confident they are likely to be of benefit to the company.

Most large companies invest heavily in analytics because it pays off, not because it doesn't.

The system is not perfect and never will be, but it is a big investment in a backbone of technology behind the scenes which can now be tweaked over time to get the data other companies can only dream about.

Is it a gamble? Yes.
Was Disneyland a gamble in 1955? Yes.
Was WDW a gamble in 1965? Yes.
Epcot in 1980? You get my point.

The company hasn't had many massive failures, they usually respond to concepts and get them to work, this technology is no different. The potential is massive. I hope we continue to see things like the online food ordering at Fantasmic, and the photopass pictures magically appearing. I think they are going to keep pushing the boundaries like they always have done. The company has always been ahead of their time in so many ways.

 

[I M Fearless]

I'm not disputing you there…the real time location tracking is the big advantage to new system. I'm not entirely sure how useful it will be - because the way they've managed the property for 10+ years has actually constricted/limited the options for customers…but the potential is there.
But you basically stated that they were operating "data free" prior…and as someone who used to sit and watch that data pour in…i can attest that was not the case. More rudimentary - no doubt - but they weren't unaware of where people were and what they were buying…it probably was used more usefully somewhere up the food chain. disney has never undervalued whats hidden in their data. They just now undervalue what the return is on quality investments.

Don't forget the other big advantage with the MM+ is not only the realtime tracking using MB, but also the ability to know 60 days in advance where most guests will be. This was not known before with KTTWC and FP-
Obviously ADR's gave them some idea, but not as much.

It's how well they use this investment that will contribute to how successful it is, I think it will be successful, I just think it is the speed and how far they take it that will be in question.

 

[Deogburnc]

Disney is just catching up to what Walmart has done for years. At Walmart your every move is tracked to what shelves you visit and what pattern you purchased things. They can learn a lot from their customers spending habits.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Walmart doesn't learn much from what shelves their customers visit because half the time when I go to get a really common grocery product that is most popular brand or variety, the shelf is empty. While the shelves on either side are filled with an abundance of the more obscure and unpopular brands and varieties of products. Then I go back several days later and I re-check the shelf ... still empty.

At some point, the larger the corporation the more ignorant and out-of-touch the top decision makers become. Mega databases containing terabytes of data derived from electronic snooping on customers may sound like business intelligence ... but it ain't. If it was intelligence ... it would pay off.

 

[SalutemyShorts]

I don't need to continue with the quote because this premise is incorrect.

they have had electronic ticketing with a "signature" and the biometric tracking system for awhile…and all the purchases have a revenue tag/id sequence that can be sorted and collated to track trends.

Is it a pinpoint, real time system that can tell them where you are and exactly when? no.

So those elements are new and important. But this an example of giving the bands too much credit…and again - I LIKE the bands.

just like we have this revolving argument that they are selling new products via the magic band. So far - they have not sold any new offerings on the bands…just consolidated other pre-existing products into them - and at the core - ticket, room key, charger - were already integrated for about 15 years prior to bands on the cards.

As far as new offerings, I'd be curious as to how many people purchase the new ride videos that Disney offers through the long range RFID chips. I know a lot of people have been amazed by Disney's ability to take these videos, but I'm curious how many sales that this has translated in to.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

As far as new offerings, I'd be curious as to how many people purchase the new ride videos that Disney offers through the long range RFID chips. I know a lot of people have been amazed by Disney's ability to take these videos, but I'm curious how many sales that this has translated in to.

I'm honesty unaware of their existence...

So I'm guessing not much as far as sales goes...

But I too would be interested to know.

 

[SalutemyShorts]

I'm honesty unaware of their existence...

So I'm guessing not much as far as sales goes...

But I too would be interested to know.

Yeah, they have customized videos for 7DMT, and Tower of Terror, not sure which other ones. It's definitely based on the new long range RFID's and they sell them. Not sure of the cost either.

 

[disneydennis]

Yeah, they have customized videos for 7DMT, and Tower of Terror, not sure which other ones. It's definitely based on the new long range RFID's and they sell them. Not sure of the cost either.

Not adding much.. just when I purchased Memory Maker in April, all the videos and ride photos were included in what I downloaded, no additioanl fees.
at this point the videos are just 7DMT and ToT. The ride photos are EE, Dinosaur, Space and Splash Mountain, BTMR, 7DMT, BLSRS, Test Track, ToT, RnRC.
You used to have to tap your band, now there is no need for that, just get on the ride, Smile or whatnot, and exit, You can still stop and look at your picture, but there is no need to do anything else. Thats pretty impressive, and I did enjoy seeing the videos afterwards. Surpisingly all the pictures and videos we had didn't include random people, it was just our parties.

 

[SalutemyShorts]

Not adding much.. just when I purchased Memory Maker in April, all the videos and ride photos were included in what I downloaded, no additioanl fees.
at this point the videos are just 7DMT and ToT. The ride photos are EE, Dinosaur, Space and Splash Mountain, BTMR, 7DMT, BLSRS, Test Track, ToT, RnRC.
You used to have to tap your band, now there is no need for that, just get on the ride, Smile or whatnot, and exit, You can still stop and look at your picture, but there is no need to do anything else. Thats pretty impressive, and I did enjoy seeing the videos afterwards. Surpisingly all the pictures and videos we had didn't include random people, it was just our parties.

Yeah, I know it's included in Memory Maker but a lot of people found out those videos existed without having bought memory maker. I'm curious if they saw a spike in purchases after vacations were over and people saw the videos.

They're definitely trying to use the Magic Band technology to push more memory maker purchases with these new on ride videos and photos that are automatically loaded into your account. I'm assuming during a lot of these extended refurbs that they'll add in the tech to more rides. I'd be much more likely to buy a memory maker if I go in knowing almost every ride is going to give me a photo.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Yeah, I know it's included in Memory Maker but a lot of people found out those videos existed without having bought memory maker. I'm curious if they saw a spike in purchases after vacations were over and people saw the videos.

They're definitely trying to use the Magic Band technology to push more memory maker purchases with these new on ride videos and photos that are automatically loaded into your account. I'm assuming during a lot of these extended refurbs that they'll add in the tech to more rides. I'd be much more likely to buy a memory maker if I go in knowing almost every ride is going to give me a photo.

The problem is that on ride photo is a horribly old gimmick (I believe Eisner came up with the original at splash mountain in Anaheim)...

I wonder how sales of these expensive packages go these days.

 

[SalutemyShorts]

The problem is that on ride photo is a horribly old gimmick (I believe Eisner came up with the original at splash mountain in Anaheim)...

I wonder how sales of these expensive packages go these days.

Yeah, it's definitely a very old gimmick, but they're improving upon it with the RFID. If they eventually incorporate it into all of the rides, it really does make Memory Maker a very good deal, especially for those families that visit very few times in their lives. Not having to worry about the hassle of getting off a ride rushing through the groups of people waiting to tap their band or card in front of the video screens is nice.

I'm really interested the other ways they're using the long range RFID or how they plan to use it.

 

[George4]

The problem is that on ride photo is a horribly old gimmick

It may be an old gimmick, but my kids love seeing themselves on the rides, and they are fairly high quality. I don't know that it is worth the price for one picture, but every time we go for more than a few days, it is well worth the price. $100-150 to not need to get a camera out everywhere we go? Priceless. And to be honest, most of the pictures we have had taken by Disney people have been fantastic. Those memories are some of the best money we spend every visit.

It may have started as a gimmick, but my children still look at the photos and talk about their experiences. It was worth every penny. I'm not sure about the video's being of the same value (don't show up in our photo books), but they will be fun to look at a few times I'm sure.