How close does Disney track you with magic bands?

[kay1864]

And at 1 show - Indiana jones, we used fastpass to get in (it was our first use of FP). we got good seats even with the arena half filled with FP people. I went to a CM just to talk to him saying the place is so full already - is that how FP works? and jokingly ask about a roped off area of seats. He air quotes that those are for VIPs. I lighthearted ask when / if that opens up. He winds up saying come with me and puts me (and I pulled the rest of my party from their seats) into that VIP section.

Did the CM scan your MB while talking with him? Or was there only the initial scan at the FP line?

 

[sndral]

...
...especially considering the minority of people using MBs...

Is it really still the minority of people?
I was there 1/1/15-1/11/15, and entered at least one park and usually 2 every day and judging by what I observed of those around me entering parks at the turnstiles the majority where using magic hands to enter the parks. And everyone I saw entering FP+ qeues ahead of me used MBs. During EMH everyone used MBs for the CM hand scanners as well.
But maybe I was so fascinated by it all that I didn't notice people not using them.

 

[11290]

I suspect crowd control is achieved with cameras and smart technology that can "count" density in various areas around the parks. It is known that there are CMs in the utilidors that direct resources (and open up lines, etc.) in response to crowded/not crowded conditions.

Would really be interested to see the "source" of that "known" information.

 

[ethanwa]

a bit scary they watch people that closely.

This is going to sound harsh but...

News flash: No one at Disney is watching your moves via MagicBand. It's all automatic with computer software. There aren't groups of people behind some curtain sifting through your personal information. There is 100,000+ guests in the parks daily. Your life isn't that special, trust me. Neither is mine. So you had 2 slices of pizza at Pizzafari and then want on Expedition Everest at 2PM. Who cares?

And they have your picture and know who you are whether you have a MagicBand on or not. There are security cameras EVERYWHERE. The place is probably as heavily watched by security as a high-end Las Vegas casino.

They simply track this stuff to help with guest services (like you did and saw) and to help Disney find out where guests are going and what they are spending money on so that they can tweak park experiences in the future to benefit both the guest and Disney.

The simple solution, if you REALLY don't want to deal with it all, is to just not wear a MagicBand. The normal cards can't do long-range tracking.

Ethan

 

[dwbrewster]

I think knowing you were in the VIP section if you didn't scan it is interesting, would be intrigued to know how they knew that.

Regarding the ride pictures they have sensors that are supposed to automatically ID you and your picture, not sure how it works but we were told by a CM not to bother scanning our bands because it is already linked to our account. It's not a fool proof system so I've read you should still scan your band if you want to ensure you get your picture.

WDW has said that they are tracking what you do to determine trends among their guests. They haven't said it but I wouldn't be shocked if what a previous poster stated happens with frequent guests, that if you are in a crowded area they might push you to attractions in a quiet area of the park by sending you a FP+ for something over there.

They also have said it is not as sophisticated as some might want it to be so I don't think it can do things like track where a guest is in the park because they are lost or something. I wouldn't be shocked if they work on this for finding lost kids and stuff though!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . They simply track this stuff to help with guest services (like you did and saw) and to help Disney find out where guests are going and what they are spending money on so that they can tweak park experiences in the future to benefit both the guest and Disney . . .

1) Not exactly.
2) The statements above are valid - - - as far as they go.
3) The system is built to track you and your purchases.
4) Eventually, you will get offers for items commensurate with your interests.
5) Example:
. . . you visit Fantasyland for twelve hours
. . . you buy ice cream bars
. . . you visit Ariel
. . . you could get coupons for Mickey Bars, Ariel merchandise, cartoon character purchases
6) These are only in test phase at the moment, but the system was designed for this.
7) You don't think Disney paid $2-billion for crowd control?
8) The profit motive of additional sales is the reason.

 

[JoeA]

Somebody from Disney just called and asked me if I can take our MB's out of our dresser here at home...something like they are having a hard time reading them since they're buried under my socks! I thought that was strange.

 

[HollieS]

It is not just the magicbands. Most of us have downloaded the MDE app and agreed to let it use the GPS on our phone to track our location.

They know what you're buying. They know exactly where you are at. The software that runs the facial recognition cameras probably knows what mood you're in.


I bet there are all kinds of interesting correlations they'll unearth and exploit. When they plant yellow flowers people walk fast through and area and when they plant red flowers people make angry faces, angry face people buy more chocolate, put a chocolate stand by the red flowers to increase sales<---totally made up but you get the point.

 

[Laketravis]

They know when you are sleeping....
They know when you're awake...
They know if you've been bad or good.....
So buy Frozen stuff for goodness sake...

 

[vault19dweller]

Smart phones, tablets, cookies & web browsers - we live in an age of tracking, data mining, targeted avertising, etc and have for a very very long time now.

Not sure why there is concern over Disney monitoring their crowds when everyones smart phones and web browsers do a lot more monitoring, which is a lot more personal.

(PS: @ethanwa - wish I could like your post)

 

[Micca]

They know when you are sleeping....
They know when you're awake...
They know if you've been bad or good.....
So buy Frozen stuff for goodness sake...

Ha! Except for the Frozen part I was thinking the same thing--Santa has been tracking us forever!

I need some alerts that remind me that I've got an ADR for dinner in a hour, I shouldn't get ice cream right now.

 

[kay1864]

Originally Posted by kay1864 I suspect crowd control is achieved with cameras and smart technology that can "count" density in various areas around the parks. It is known that there are CMs in the utilidors that direct resources (and open up lines, etc.) in response to crowded/not crowded conditions.

Would really be interested to see the "source" of that "known" information.

To be honest I can't remember if it was a Disney utilidors video or a "behind the scenes" article, but yes, there are CMs who monitor and manage the flow of crowds.

It also just stands to reason, if you think about it. Disney doesn't want crowds blocking flow of guests unnecessarily, so they want to be able to send resources where they're needed.

Not sure why you're so dubious about something that's not insidious, but just good business practice.

 

[kay1864]

Is it really still the minority of people?
I was there 1/1/15-1/11/15, and entered at least one park and usually 2 every day and judging by what I observed of those around me entering parks at the turnstiles the majority where using magic hands to enter the parks. And everyone I saw entering FP+ qeues ahead of me used MBs.

FP users are more likely to have MBs, but FP users are not all guests. Still plenty of people in the standby lines.

During EMH everyone used MBs for the CM hand scanners as well.
But maybe I was so fascinated by it all that I didn't notice people not using them.

EMH is for onsite guests only, so naturally they would be using MBs.

 

[Erin1700]

My 14 years old DD wears her magic band at home sometimes. drives my DH nuts! But DD swears they can track her.

 

[tweak89]

I believe this might be the only solution to avoid being tracked:

I wonder, though, do they make ride pics available to you even if you don't have memory maker?

 

[mom2rtk]

To be honest I can't remember if it was a Disney utilidors video or a "behind the scenes" article, but yes, there are CMs who monitor and manage the flow of crowds.

It also just stands to reason, if you think about it. Disney doesn't want crowds blocking flow of guests unnecessarily, so they want to be able to send resources where they're needed.

Not sure why you're so dubious about something that's not insidious, but just good business practice.

I believe the poster you quoted is or recently was a CM in the parks.

 

[HollieS]

My 14 years old DD wears her magic band at home sometimes. drives my DH nuts! But DD swears they can track her.

Well she is half right, they are still tracking her just not with the magicband.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I believe this might be the only solution to avoid being tracked:

I wonder, though, do they make ride pics available to you even if you don't have memory maker?

Yes they do, you can purchase them individually. They are about $15 for one pic so if you want several pics then get the memory maker.

 

[Skullcrusher]

I never understood why there is concern about monitoring. I say it's great to build up a robust data warehouse. Track everyone - adults, kids, CMs. More data means more possibilities.

I'm hoping to see some cool benefits in the future. Imagine being over in Frontierland and you get a text that says 'hey, it's busy over there but there's almost nobody at Space Mountain. We've given you a FP for the next 30 minutes.'. Real-time management of crowds, smoothing of traffic patterns, oh my!

Have you ever seen the movie Westworld with Yul Brynner?

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I believe most would be surprised ho much tacking is happening today by your smart phones, cameras, etc. in stores, malls and other venues. Likely much more then what Disney does.

Its the wave of the future.

AKK