Disney CM Text

[rachdd]

We just returned on 12/5/15 from a wonderful 8 days and I wanted to share something that happened that I had not heard about previously. On our last park day we were at MK and hitting up some of our favorites when we decided to get in line for Pirates which had a standby wait time of 15 minutes. Not sure what happened, the ride might have broken down but we ended up waiting around 40 minutes. It was not the best situation but it happens and we went on about our day. An hour or so later, I received a text from someone who identified themselves as being with Walt Disney World and stated that they posted an incorrect wait time for Pirates and asked if we were impacted and told me I could reply to the text or call her at a listed number. I replied that we indeed were impacted and that the wait time said 15 and we waited 40. She replied back apologizing and asked if she could make our party an additional FP+ selection of our choice! My son chose SM as we had ridden 7DMT approximately 7 times that week already. She then text me the one hour window that our FP+ was good for. The next day when our plane landed back home, I turned on my phone to a text from her again saying she hoped we enjoyed our stay and to have a safe trip home and she hopes we can visit again soon!

Just a little pixie dust but I thought it was so personal and awesome!

 

[BrianL]

Wow, that's pretty great! It's weird how they track us so much now, and know so much about us, but if it leads to free Fast Passes I'll just have to accept our benevolent but Orwellian overlords.

 

[rachdd]

Wow, that's pretty great! It's weird how they track us so much now, and know so much about us, but if it leads to free Fast Passes I'll just have to accept our benevolent but Orwellian overlords.

Agreed! I was a little freaked at first.

 

[colarey]

Wow, that's pretty great! It's weird how they track us so much now, and know so much about us, but if it leads to free Fast Passes I'll just have to accept our benevolent but Orwellian overlords.

agreed!

 

[Hudson Hornet]

Now that's the way to handle it. Kudos to WDW!

 

[Otter49]

Pixie dust, yes, but a touch unsettling. You said she texted you. How did she get your phone number?

 

[metzgardesign]

Creepy.

 

[Travis B]

Pixie dust, yes, but a touch unsettling. You said she texted you. How did she get your phone number?

Most likely the phone number was linked to the Magic Band as a way to alert that the hotel room was ready. I wonder if perhaps the CM sent the message through some sort of computer program, as opposed to directly from another cell phone, but I honestly have no idea about that sort of thing.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

If someone's got a phone number in their MDE profile, it's not unimaginable for that information to be accessible.

 

[dISNEYlOveer]

There are programs which would let the CM on the other end "see" the person and that they have a phone # attached to the MagicBand and they can send a text using a program without actually seeing the phone number. I'm not sure Disney uses this program, but I'm guessing they have that program, they have all kinds of stuff. Yeah, it is a little creepy they can track how long you've been at a spot, but it's better they are most likely using a program where nobody actually gets a phone number.

 

[Malibustyle23]

It's amazing to know that their technology is so advanced. Think they could bring their websites up to speed?!

 

[RachaelA]

The joys of RFID bands. Big Brother is always watching

 

[bushdianee]

When I was at WDW in June during Star Wars weekends I got a phone call on my phone asking if my 9 yo DNiece would like to be in the Star Wars Motorcade parade. The man on the phone knew that we were going to be at HS the next day which was a Saturday. He later texted to see how she enjoyed the experience. The only connection I could think of was that I had gone to the desk to get tickets for the Pirates Cruise and the CM there was great and asked if he could look at my fast passes and changed several around to better times and for a better flow around the parks. I think he may have been behind the Star Wars experience as the CMs at HS had no idea how her name got on the list just that it was.

 

[agavegirl1]

Haven't gotten a phone call, but on our checkout day, our Mousekeeper just sort of came into the room where we were packing up and apologized profusely. Her supervisor had informed her that we would be gone by then since we had a 10 AM FP+ for Space Mountain. We did, but by day nine, my neck was not in the mood for Space Mountain so we delayed our exit.

 

[baler31]

If you stayed cl at some of the resorts they offer a texting assist service that manages all kinds of situations. I know it is at GF and CR, if you stayed at one of these that may be why.

 

[metzgardesign]

When I was at WDW in June during Star Wars weekends I got a phone call on my phone asking if my 9 yo DNiece would like to be in the Star Wars Motorcade parade. The man on the phone knew that we were going to be at HS the next day which was a Saturday. He later texted to see how she enjoyed the experience. The only connection I could think of was that I had gone to the desk to get tickets for the Pirates Cruise and the CM there was great and asked if he could look at my fast passes and changed several around to better times and for a better flow around the parks. I think he may have been behind the Star Wars experience as the CMs at HS had no idea how her name got on the list just that it was.

Creepy #2...

Haven't gotten a phone call, but on our checkout day, our Mousekeeper just sort of came into the room where we were packing up and apologized profusely. Her supervisor had informed her that we would be gone by then since we had a 10 AM FP+ for Space Mountain. We did, but by day nine, my neck was not in the mood for Space Mountain so we delayed our exit.

...and there's #3

 

[flvy]

We do this with our customers after they make a purchase at our store we send out personalized text messages as thank yous. As in we type it into an app on our phones and then it's sent out by our company. We have all kinds of personal info that we throw in there to help customer experience. Of course maybe it's less creepy because we sell cell phones. It's starting to be pretty common place though.

So if Disney is using this for good stuff like fast passes and special events I'm all for it, but if they're using it for Housekeeping well that's just a bit ridiculous.

 

[csmith041177]

The ability to track those things, while creepy, is exactly the type of thing that caused Disney to pour 1-2 Billion into the system. And, again while creepy, that is some good customer service!

 

[Dan Murphy]

That and the other few stories are great. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Dismama2boys]

Soooo....when FP+ and magic bands and all of that first came about, there were pages and pages on here about this exact thing. People were going on and on about big brother and how it would be weird (and a violation!) to be tracked around the park. Others acted like these people were idiots and told them the technology didn't (couldn't?) work that way. Anyone else remember that? Because it seems like that's exactly what they are doing. Of COURSE they are. They didn't spend that much money on this system to not be able to use it in a variety of ways to make more money. I have no opinion about it, I just find it...interesting...that some were ridiculed so vehemently about this very thing.