How big of a failure is My Magic "Plus" ??? An Interesting Read Here!!!

[Jake]

The main problem I found is, having to wear it on my right arm, watch is on left, and I was banging my watch into everything. Trying to open the room door. Can't unlock the door at 3 or 9 o'clock, door jam is in the way. 6 o'clock door Handel is in the way and trying at 12 is a hard move.

 

[DPCummerbund]

6 o'clock door Handel is in the way and trying at 12 is a hard move.

Handel can't possibly be in your way. He's dead.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Handel can't possibly be in your way. He's dead.

Actually, it is not impossible. Just very, very, unlikely.

This is the one fault I had with magic bands; when you stick your arm out the band is facing left or right, not straight ahead. To position the band properly against the pad requires bending your arm/wrist to an unnatural position. This is because most scanners on doors, at entrance gates, and at some retail locations were designed for cards, not wrists. Scanners generally need to be redesigned or given a little more range. Quite a few times I took the band off to put it against the scanner.

 

[twinboyz98]

So folks are having trouble with Annual Passes, What about Non-Expiring tix? We bought them a few years back and we have 2 days left on them and when we were there in October, we couldn't link them. Just wondering if anyone knows if they have that part up and working yet?

 

[Angel Ariel]

But WDW was never part of that...its not the place for "ride enthusiasts"

Might i suggest busch gardens, tampa?

My (then) 6 y/o nephew is hardly a ride enthusiast. He hated test track after riding it. He did, however, love thunder mountain and rode it 6x in a row because he loved it so much.

My other nephew was 3 during that trip and too short for the big kid rides. He, however, loved buzz lightyear and rode it many times.

You don't have to be a "ride enthusiast" to want to enjoy an attraction/attractions more than once.

 

[Castle2Castle]

Disney want to go cashless. They don't want money being used in the parks, or anywhere else. Like the cruise ship. Then they don't need people counting it moving it ect. Major labor saver

Maybe they looked at it from this angle, but I wouldn't expect that counting cash and change accounts for much work. My understanding of the push to go cashless is that people have less accounting of how much they are spending when they aren't physically parting with it; it's seeking to leverage the behavioral psychology of buying to encourage higher spending in the parks.

 

[tjkraz]

Disney want to go cashless. They don't want money being used in the parks, or anywhere else. Like the cruise ship. Then they don't need people counting it moving it ect. Major labor saver

Between the old KTTW cards, gift cards, credit cards and other forms of virtual payment, the parks are about as cashless as they are going to get.

Disney isn't mandating cashless payments with MagicBands any more than they did with KTTW. And if people weren't willing to go cashless using any of those older options, this isn't going to sway them to convert.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

This micechat article is FALSE and a bunch of lies.

I'm not so sure it's all "lies"...

Maybe more just huge exaggerations on things that were wishful thinking fanboy stuff in the first place.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

My (then) 6 y/o nephew is hardly a ride enthusiast. He hated test track after riding it. He did, however, love thunder mountain and rode it 6x in a row because he loved it so much.

My other nephew was 3 during that trip and too short for the big kid rides. He, however, loved buzz lightyear and rode it many times.

You don't have to be a "ride enthusiast" to want to enjoy an attraction/attractions more than once.

Good point and that's a great point about wdw...

However...those complaining about fastpasses - I submit - are NOT those worrying about 3 and 6 year olds...it's the ride junkie segment.

My comment was directed to that subset

 

[xie]

A few thoughts about it all...

The Magic Band concept is fine. Yes, via the RFID and short range sensors, WDW can likely pinpoint your location in the parks anytime they really want to; but they could do that via security cameras before, with a little more effort, so meh. Is it a bit creepy to have your photo taken on a ride and an email sent to you after your visit? Sure, but nothing we should not have expected. If I somehow lost track of my kid in a park, would I be grateful that they could find that RFID? You bet.

That said, systems like this ALWAYS end up costing more than originally estimated. Always. And there's always internal angst and often heads rolling inside the company involved due to the cost/time overruns. Somebody at the top asks for something, somebody who works for them says "sure" and agrees to a timeline that's too short with a shabbily designed scope, and soon enough you have the Magic Band sytem (or the heathcare.gov website v1). And everyone involved is pointing fingers at everyone else, while the customers/users of the system are suffering trying to deal with it.

They WILL work out all the remaining issues with the bands, all the constant reprogramming for door locks and park tickets and PINs that some guests are reporting. All those bugs will eventually get fixed, no doubt. Will it cost more than the executives involved originally promised? Of course it will. Will there be Disney people who internally get blamed and either lose their career paths and don't get promoted or get pink slipped? Most likely. I mean the way it works with c-level execs is this: "You promised me you could build a pony on a dime in a week, and it's now two weeks late, and it's missing a leg. Who failed here?" (Nevermind that the c level was unclear in what they were asking for, nobody in the middle management layer usually understands the scope of what the upper management layer agreed to deliver to the c-level, and in the end you get the Tire Swing. Google it.)

Could the money have been better spent on park expansions? Many of us think so, but we're not on Disney's payroll, so our opinion on that matter is moot.

As a customer, I'm fine with one card/device, in this case a bracelet, that does everything for me, and contains all my park admission, keys, fast passes, and room charge. KTTW was doing that fine for me, other than carrying paper fast passes. Personally I think they spent an absolutely ridiculous amount of money on the bracelet system, but that's just my opinion. I'll use the bracelet anyway.

The only thing here that truly, in some cases drastically, changes the guest experience is Fast Pass +. And you have to look at that program separately from the bands themselves. The bands are just identity/payment/ticket/key devices. Scanning my MagicBand to pay for something in the park is no different from pulling out my KTTW card.

Fast Pass + is the part of the "My Magic" program that is truly changing the EXPERIENCE for most guests, as some who previously pulled tons of FP will not get as many, and some who never used the FP system will now get 3.

Change is hard. Disney moved the cheese. Some of us will love it and keep coming back, and others of us will dislike it and stop coming at all. It is what it is.

I will say this. They may be mailing out "leading" surveys with sugar coated answers, but last week I cancelled a resort reservation we had for next year. I have never been questioned before when I called to cancel a reservation. The Disney agent just did it, confirmed my deposit amount that would be returned, and wished me a nice day. This time, I got a bunch of questions from the person about why I was cancelling. I'm sure they're tracking cancellation reason right now. So people are making enough noise that they realize they've upset some guests with the amount of changes they're making all at once. (To be clear, I wasn't cancelling over MyMagic - we just can't go at the time we wanted to go.)

 

[Donut23]

Ok, I have kept my opinion to myself long enough.

Come on people. You think for a moment these wrist bands are for our enjoyment? I hate to piddle on the pixie dust but that's exceptional Disney.....spin for the most part.

". Efficient movement through the parks means Uncle Bob and Company can delay park upgrades. Compare US and SeaWorld upgrades to WDW.

They hit the ball out of the park with the $1 billion upgrades to DL. That has completely transformed DCA. My gosh World of Color and Radiator Springs are "slap your mama" Disney magic of the past.

But they HAD to because prior to the changes DCA was failing because they got it so wrong.


". Data mining on all of us. Important but not the primary focus.


". Parks cost centers sales have an additional 11% added to their total for 2014. Guests who do not use any form of currency or credit cards spend an average of 11% more on purchases. Data easily tracked over the years from cruiseline sales.


Disney historically will make major computer upgrades as cheaply as possible then spend more trying to fix/patch the problems. Disney is KNOWN for terrible software! Example: television Network computer software changes rolled into a system with overloaded servers and software too cumbersome to be efficient. Example: simple expense report has gone from 30 minutes to 3 hours. Simple example of company wide, unnecessary problems. You know the type......."sorry. This is as good as it will get now".


So here we go again-same mistakes. Perhaps if they had kept it more simple----left out fast passes-dining, just kept room keys and credit card charging they could have gotten our additional 11% and fewer would have noticed.


They WILL fix it. It will NEVER be as efficient as it could be but the Beancounters will squeeze more $$$$$ out of us and the Spin will keep Uncle Bobby and other Grownups thinking they can continue to pour park $$$$$ overseas and ignore our special WDW because we are too stupid to notice.

For now DH and I will continue the trips to California and DL/DCA. They are busy-busy-busy but twinkling parks in comparison. There is also a special magic out there.......walking where Walt played with daughters.


Ok, ramble done. Thanks for listening.

Merry Christmas!

 

[tjkraz]

But they HAD to because prior to the changes DCA was failing because they got it so wrong.

Same is true of Universal...and that's exactly why they are spending so much money right now.

It's easy to look at WDW and Universal over the last 5 years and give US the thumbs-up. But their spending was necessary. Look at US/IOA attendance prior to WWoHP.

WDW has always been much stronger. Frequent WDW guests sense some of the stagnation but apparently that impact hasn't hit Disney in the wallet yet.

Universal's spending will end, too. Capital investments are costly and they'll soon reach the point where they opt to start profiting from the expansion rather than writing more checks.

 

[Robbi]

Same is true of Universal...and that's exactly why they are spending so much money right now.

It's easy to look at WDW and Universal over the last 5 years and give US the thumbs-up. But their spending was necessary. Look at US/IOA attendance prior to WWoHP.

WDW has always been much stronger. Frequent WDW guests sense some of the stagnation but apparently that impact hasn't hit Disney in the wallet yet.

Universal's spending will end, too. Capital investments are costly and they'll soon reach the point where they opt to start profiting from the expansion rather than writing more checks.

I can't remember the exact amount of time but Uni recouped their WWoHP investment very quickly.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

I can't remember the exact amount of time but Uni recouped their WWoHP investment very quickly.

Part of the reason is that Universal had far more room to grow. Disney has more guests than ever and still has all the biggest attended theme parks in the world. It amazed me how things have changed since 2000.

More guests are better but they bring problems when attendance is so high. That's why MM+ is so important. It will help manage crowds and provide a good experience to customers.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Duplicate.

 

[Robbi]

Part of the reason is that Universal had far more room to grow. Disney has more guests than ever and still has all the biggest attended theme parks in the world. It amazed me how things have changed since 2000.

More guests are better but they bring problems when attendance is so high. That's why MM+ is so important. It will help manage crowds and provide a good experience to customers.

Crowds can't be managed if their technology doesn't work. Most of us here have experienced at least one WDW tech glitch. We suck it up and continue to love our Disney trips. There are many though who will get annoyed and go once or not at all. If I was not familiar with their poor IT, I would have cancelled my trip. Over ten times and counting to get our APs and MYW tickets to both show up concurrently.

Uni did have room to grow and they stepped up. That doesn't mean Disney needs to stop innovating. The parks are getting tired. The new Fantasyland addition is a joke. The last thrill ride was EE in 2006 and family ride, TSM, in 2008. Bracelets and making ride reservations 60 days in advance will not attract customers like new attractions would.

 

[Donut23]

So imagine for a moment you have never made a pilgrimage to Disneyworld. You are hanging out one evening and a Disney commercial comes on the Telly.

Be honest. What's is it going to take to make you pick up the phone.......


Wrist bands! Oh honey, lets go! We have waited soooooo long and now they have WRIST BANDS!!!

Or.........


It's BIG-BAD and the newest, most innovative ride in North America. Come ride the Brand NEW Mickey's Ride Till The Next Ice Age!


Wristbands just don't um ......butter my biscuit. How about new bees? Samantha Brown bouncing around on Christmas Day did little to make me think about a Disney trip and I know how much Magic lives at WDW.


I bet the Disney PR folks have been worried about the same thing for years!

 

[tjkraz]

So imagine for a moment you have never made a pilgrimage to Disneyworld. You are hanging out one evening and a Disney commercial comes on the Telly.

Be honest. What's is it going to take to make you pick up the phone.......


Wrist bands! Oh honey, lets go! We have waited soooooo long and now they have WRIST BANDS!!!

Or.........


It's BIG-BAD and the newest, most innovative ride in North America. Come ride the Brand NEW Mickey's Ride Till The Next Ice Age!


Wristbands just don't um ......butter my biscuit. How about new bees? Samantha Brown bouncing around on Christmas Day did little to make me think about a Disney trip and I know how much Magic lives at WDW.


I bet the Disney PR folks have been worried about the same thing for years!

I think you vastly overestimate the number of people who have never been to Walt Disney World, yet would suddenly be enticed by new attractions.

Disney has its bases thoroughly covered. They have characters which appeal to all ages: Mickey & Friends, princesses, pirates, Star Wars, Pixar, Muppets, Pooh. They have experiences to suit all ages and tastes: coasters, simulators, water rides, kiddie rides, stage shows, parades, fireworks, dining.

What could Disney unveil which would make someone who has never visited stand up and shout "NOW I have to go!"?

Meanwhile, there are millions of families who previously went to WDW and were completely disappointed with the experience. Most common reasons are crowd levels and wait times. Perhaps many of them should have prepared better or expected large crowds during peak periods. Nevertheless, they've vowed to never return after paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for a trip and not being able to ride a signature attraction like Space Mountain or Toy Story Mania.

Picture this group being told they can not only be guaranteed a ride on Toy Story Mania--with zero wait time--AND it can be reserved before they even leave home. Same for Fantasmic viewing, a photo with Mickey and a spot on Main Street to watch the parade.

NOW you've got people's attention.

FastPass+ isn't aimed at repeat guests who already know the best approaches to touring the parks. It isn't designed for people whose response to exhausted Soarin' FP supply is "oh well, we can just ride it later in the week or on our next visit."

If there are any big attendance gains to be realized from FP+, it's from people who have been to the Disney parks and never want to go back because they weren't astute enough to keep up with the pros. The people who refused to stand in a 75 minute Standby line for Haunted Mansion or POTC on the day after Christmas. Or who were foolish to arrive at DHS at 11am, thinking they could still get a FP for TSM.

This is the group who could be swayed to give WDW another try when given greater control over their vacation experience.

 

[Robbi]

I think you vastly overestimate the number of people who have never been to Walt Disney World, yet would suddenly be enticed by new attractions.

Disney has its bases thoroughly covered. They have characters which appeal to all ages: Mickey & Friends, princesses, pirates, Star Wars, Pixar, Muppets, Pooh. They have experiences to suit all ages and tastes: coasters, simulators, water rides, kiddie rides, stage shows, parades, fireworks, dining.

What could Disney unveil which would make someone who has never visited stand up and shout "NOW I have to go!"?

Meanwhile, there are millions of families who previously went to WDW and were completely disappointed with the experience. Most common reasons are crowd levels and wait times. Perhaps many of them should have prepared better or expected large crowds during peak periods. Nevertheless, they've vowed to never return after paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for a trip and not being able to ride a signature attraction like Space Mountain or Toy Story Mania.

Picture this group being told they can not only be guaranteed a ride on Toy Story Mania--with zero wait time--AND it can be reserved before they even leave home. Same for Fantasmic viewing, a photo with Mickey and a spot on Main Street to watch the parade.

NOW you've got people's attention.

FastPass+ isn't aimed at repeat guests who already know the best approaches to touring the parks. It isn't designed for people whose response to exhausted Soarin' FP supply is "oh well, we can just ride it later in the week or on our next visit."

If there are any big attendance gains to be realized from FP+, it's from people who have been to the Disney parks and never want to go back because they weren't astute enough to keep up with the pros. The people who refused to stand in a 75 minute Standby line for Haunted Mansion or POTC on the day after Christmas. Or who were foolish to arrive at DHS at 11am, thinking they could still get a FP for TSM.

This is the group who could be swayed to give WDW another try when given greater control over their vacation experience.

Yes and then the website loses their passes or they show up with their ride times-oops, they disappeared and the guests didn't bring a hard copy. Sorry, you're not getting on the ride.

This certainly will get their attention.

 

[xie]

Universal's spending will end, too. Capital investments are costly and they'll soon reach the point where they opt to start profiting from the expansion rather than writing more checks.

It's hard to say if that's really going to be the case or not.

Look at Amazon. Nearly two decades on, they still aren't wildly "profitable" or profit-taking, because Bezos chooses to plow the company's earnings right back into capex projects to add more diversification to the business. And they are a hugely successful company in many, many ways beyond their humble beginnings as a bookseller. And despite the fact that Amazon doesn't really profit-take and park it in the bank (i.e. Apple's cash billions), shareholders still love Amazon because they see that Bezos is building a really competitive, solid business.

Universal could choose to do the same thing with their parks division, which is continue plowing profits back into expanding the business for many years to come. At some point, should Universal continue doing that and Disney continue doing almost nothing to their parks, they will overtake Disney. Harry Potter is huge, huge and will be for a long time. One or two more IPs like that and the park expansions to go with them, and wow. And I for one hope Universal is WILDLY successful because their success will push Disney to try harder.

Honestly Universal's only limitation could be physical space - I'm not sure how much land they own. Universal's already clearly shown they have the will and ability to go vertical in public spaces though (two story Citywalk, multistory parking), which Disney's not yet really done.

All that said, I have hope that WDW will soon stop building DVC buildings and MagicBand systems and go back to building parks, now that they own Star Wars and have the Avatar deal in progress.