Hey! Disney.

[saraheliz]

This visit I totally forgot it was there for the first couple of days, until I realized my daughter had been using it for additional white noise (those fireworks are LOUD at BLT!).
I get why people don't like them, I also don't really think they bring a whole lot of added benefit even if you do like them....

 

[loves to dive]

I unplug it as soon as I set my luggage down. Not that I worry anyone is listening to me since I travel solo and about the only thing you are going to hear in my room are the UTube videos I watch. I don't really care who knows I watch Disney content and my favorite acapella group web chats. I just don't need it and if the thing started talking to me because it thought I asked something I might have a heart attack.

We don't have Alexa or Echo or a ring doorbell at home. Heck we don't even have "smart" TVs. We both have our laptops right by us (he works from home) so if we need to know something we just look it up.

 

[Best Aunt]

Unplugged it immediately upon arrival.

When I wanted an extra blanket, I picked up the phone and pressed the housekeeping button.

 

[Miffy]

We unplug it immediately and have no use for it.

ETA: As long as they were going to put something else in the room, I'd love a clock. Sure, we have our phones, but it's nice to be able to see the time at a glance.

 

[reddog21]

I love it, the wakeup alarm is fun. Very useful for quick park hours, weather....etc. The need to unplug it and throw it in a draw seems excessive.

We unplug it immediately and have no use for it.

ETA: As long as they were going to put something else in the room, I'd love a clock. Sure, we have our phones, but it's nice to be able to see the time at a glance.

The device you just unplugged is a clock so you want 2 clocks?

 

[Miffy]

I love it, the wakeup alarm is fun. Very useful for quick park hours, weather....etc. I have not need to unplug it and throw it in a draw seems excessive.




The device you just unplugged is a clock so you want 2 clocks?

It shows the time? Where?
I don't want to be told the time. I can read.

 

[Anthony1971]

First time I saw it was this year maybe they were in the draws in the past. I unplugged it I needed the outlet.

 

[reddog21]

It shows the time? Where?
I don't want to be told the time. I can read.

It's in the top left corner of the screen along with the current temp. It's not the whole screen but big enough to see if your passing by about the size of a microwave clock.
A normal Alexa you can make as just a clock without anything else not sure you can do that with the Disney device.

 

[bookbabe626]

We have Echo Dots all over the house, so I don’t see the need to unplug the Disney one. Amazon and Disney (and Apple) have all of my info and are tracking me through all my purchases, apps and i-devices/MBs anyway, so if they want to also spy on me while I’m in the hotel, they’re welcome to do so. They’re unlikely to learn anything new, other than maybe my disgust at the overinflated prices of Uncrustables at the hotel QS. ;-)

I wish it had a bit more functionality, but it’s okay for weather and basic requests. Sadly, it doesn’t do as much as our at-home devices, so I don’t tend to use it as much as I would otherwise.

 

[Simba's Mom]

As I predicted, biggest waste of money by Disney resorts. I'm sure they could have spent that money on something else to give a little plus to the resorts the would have been more useful. And as far as using it as an alarm-don't people usually use their iPhones? On mine, Dory's "Just Keep Swimming" wakes me up every day.

 

[reddog21]

As I predicted, biggest waste of money by Disney resorts. I'm sure they could have spent that money on something else to give a little plus to the resorts the would have been more useful. And as far as using it as an alarm-don't people usually use their iPhones? On mine, Dory's "Just Keep Swimming" wakes me up every day.

We used it to get more towels(my teenage son uses more towels in one day then any human should), check showtimes(this was a good feature), park hours, weather, my alarm was moana, my wife liked the morning/good night greetings which was various Disney characters, we ment to play trivia but forgot. Nothing earth shattering but a little Disney fun and not a waste of money IMO. I'm sure more features will be coming.

If I would take a guess in room phones are going away, I don't really see the point of them anymore.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I do both. LOL I unplug it until I want to actually use it and then when done I unplug it again.
Added: A few years back I went to a Cyber Security conference and they had a session on Echo and Alexa. Very eye opening and ever since then I do not use them in our house and at WDW I will keep it unplugged until I want to use it for weather, towels etc. and then unplug it again.

 

[redrosesix]

What do people think of those 'smart room' Mickey Mouse eared things that they've put in every room?

I was watching a Grand Floridian review and the guy said he promptly unplugged it and shoved it in a drawer. Bit overkill no?

My daughter used it when she was there a couple of weeks ago...mostly for the weather and for alarms. They didn't take tablets or laptops on this trip so it was easier than using their phones for everything.

 

[CarolynFH]

I do both. LOL I unplug it until I want to actually use it and then when done I unplug it again.
Added: A few years back I went to a Cyber Security conference and they had a session on Echo and Alexa. Very eye opening and ever since then I do not use them in our house and at WDW I will keep it unplugged until I want to use it for weather, towels etc. and then unplug it again.

We haven't been since they were installed, so I have a question - when you plug them back in, does it take very long for them to boot back up? Or is it pretty much instant-on?

 

[elvispursley]

DH works in cybersecurity as a software engineer and Hey Disney automatically gets unplugged. Our realtor gave us a bunch of echos for our housewarming gift. They’re currently functioning as doorstops (never removed from the box). We don’t trust anything that “listens”.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We haven't been since they were installed, so I have a question - when you plug them back in, does it take very long for them to boot back up? Or is it pretty much instant-on?

It was not very long probably a minute or two.

 

[CarolynFH]

It was not very long probably a minute or two.

Thanks - was just wondering how convenient or not unplugging and plugging back in when needing services might be. I think I'd try Chat in MDE first!

 

[MinnieMSue]

Ours was off and we left it alone except one trip where we needed the plug. Idc if it was listening because we don’t say much of anything anyway. Siri probably hears a lot more and she even interrupts conversations.

 

[megs1313]

My family loves it! We had so much fun hearing the different characters' voices as alarms in the morning. It's not make or break for me, but it's just an added on site bonus for us.

 

[japanese maple]

Looking forward to trying it out this trip. Wondering what the soundscapes are.

We have "hey google" at home so they hear me now anyways.
I can't count how many notices I've gotten about my information getting hacked. Last one was Change Healthcare I think?
Pretty sure I'm all over the dark web. At this point I have all my credit on freeze and keep it that way unless I'm applying for something.