MyMagic+ Delay - Article

[mom2rtk]

I'll take the new dca over current dhs any day. I love dhs, but it needs more attractions.

I'll give you my opinion after we check out DCA for ourselves in 16 days!

 

[pigletto]

It might not be a big deal to you, but I bet offsite guests going to Disney over the holidays appreciate the heads up to know there's pretty much no chance it will be rolled out to them. That's some uncertainty taken away from their trips.

Not only them. Here's one onsite guest who would loved to know what the heck was going on rather than guess and hope and worry. It feels like I picked the absolute worst year ever for the long dreamt of Holiday trip and I can only suck on so many sugar cubes before the sour taste in my mouth isn't going to go away.

 

[BuzzBelleMom]

What I took away from the article is simple, "This is not working like we had planned and unless we want riots over Xmas and be the opening story on every news program/headline on news sites, we need to slow this puppy down and regroup in early 2014."


But then I can be uber-cynical.

 

[SmallWorld71]

A lot of it seems to be geared towards first time and casual guests:

Make the planning experience less overwhelming by offering FP+ "itineraries" that might keep them in the Park a full day or turn a half-day Park into a full day

"Suggest" quick or table service options in between their FP+ times, as well as other things

Increase Disney's on-site occupancy by having an earlier window for making FP+ reservations or giving a higher number of reservations to them - still speculation, but happening elsewhere (think: Universal)

Offerings to previous guests based on usage patterns based on RFID patterns

Also decrease costs by:

Using FP+ reservations to do better staff planning (they'll know who's going to be in which park, which part of the park, and at what time)

Get rid of infrastructure like FP- machines (widely dispersed, high maintenance and on the grid), and even KTTW cards (hey, they cost something and so do all of the program and acceptance devices)

All of this and much, much more is what they and the analysts are excited about, from a profit perspective.

Thank-you

 

[Buckeye218]

Oh that's a surprise!! I think I'm gonna have a heart attack and die from that surprise!

 

[mom2rtk]

With all of that in mind, I'm sort of surprised they went ahead and yanked the KTTW cards for POP guests. Once they started pulling cards, I sort of expected them to quickly move to the other resorts so some people didn't feel like they had gotten the short end of the stick. I just don't see their current position as being one they would want to offer in a sort of holding pattern for any length of time. Likewise, I can't see them wanting to yank KTTW cards for the rest of the onsite guests only to hold at that spot for a while, since offsite guests could conceivable be getting more FPs during the busiest season of the year.

 

[ArwenMarie]

With all of that in mind, I'm sort of surprised they went ahead and yanked the KTTW cards for POP guests. Once they started pulling cards, I sort of expected them to quickly move to the other resorts so some people didn't feel like they had gotten the short end of the stick. I just don't see their current position as being one they would want to offer in a sort of holding pattern for any length of time. Likewise, I can't see them wanting to yank KTTW cards for the rest of the onsite guests only to hold at that spot for a while, since offsite guests could conceivable be getting more FPs during the busiest season of the year.

I think they are still going to yank them from the other resorts, and fast. But I'm not sure that means offsite will get more than 3 a day anyway.

I think they are worried about the upcoming holiday weeks. Like really worried, and they should be, considering that 50% of their park customers don't have access to FP+ yet.

Hence jamming in the tiers, taking away the KTTW cards, all of that.

What a mess.

 

[Disfanx4]

Just returned a week ago and my feeling is disney will never get a correct read on numbers as far as rides go when a person with a DAC is never going to be counted in any tests as return times are not enforced to give leeway to the holder of the card and also most people use there FP+ at the time or bottom of the window given. It just to unpredictable IMO.

 

[ArwenMarie]

What I took away from the article is simple, "This is not working like we had planned and unless we want riots over Xmas and be the opening story on every news program/headline on news sites, we need to slow this puppy down and regroup in early 2014."


But then I can be uber-cynical.

Yep, I agree. They fell behind schedule and this is the patch for the holidays.

 

[Planogirl]

Disney will make this square peg fit into that round hole and we'll all enjoy the clunky system eventually. I would bet on that.

I find it hard to believe that only Pop will have to deal with no KTTW cards for length of time. That just seems...weird.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Just returned a week ago and my feeling is disney will never get a correct read on numbers as far as rides go when a person with a DAC is never going to be counted in any tests as return times are not enforced to give leeway to the holder of the card and also most people use there FP+ at the time or bottom of the window given. It just to unpredictable IMO.

That's why I think they had to end the GAC. At least DAS will cut down on the amount of the unpredictability.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Disney will make this square peg fit into that round hole and we'll all enjoy the clunky system eventually. I would bet on that.

I find it hard to believe that only Pop will have to deal with no KTTW cards for length of time. That just seems...weird.

It is weird. I think they will pause the "test" at Pop or get rid of the KTTW cards at the other resorts quickly. One or the other and fast. They can't have one huge resort so disadvantaged. It has to appear equal.

 

[Momtomouselover]

I suppose instead of a quick roll out they could just continue marching forward slowly. Alternatively, they could end the Pop test on a certain date if they feel the full roll out will be delayed. I am surprised about how long they are saying it will be for a "full" roll out but then again I'm not sure what all that entails.

 

[pigletto]

Disney will make this square peg fit into that round hole and we'll all enjoy the clunky system eventually. I would bet on that.

I find it hard to believe that only Pop will have to deal with no KTTW cards for length of time. That just seems...weird.

I still don't think that is the case. Unless I missed something I am still going with my hunch that all the resorts .. or most .. are going to lose the ability to pull day of fast passes with KTTW cards. I think this is in direct response to the frighteningly low fastpass- inventory we've been seeing. If they can get the resorts guests off of Legacy fastpass in time for the holidays they may just narrowly avoid the nightmare meltdown scenario that's coming if they don't.
I've said it all along.. onsite guests being able to get 3 fp+, plus pull legacy fastpass, or bring along their hoarded KTTW cards from the past 10 trips, while tens of thousands of people can't get any would be a NIGHTMARE for them and the PR for this new system. Christmas crowds are bananas as it is. Now picture half of those people irate that they can't get on anything.
I think pulling all the resorts off the legacy system is going to be rushed through really really quick. Wouldn't be surprised anyway.

 

[Planogirl]

It is weird. I think they will pause the "test" at Pop or get rid of the KTTW cards at the other resorts quickly. One or the other and fast. They can't have one huge resort so disadvantaged. It has to appear equal.

This has felt imbalanced from the beginning. First you had different resorts starting at different times and if you overlook that, you still have AP holders and offsite visitors at an extreme disadvantage. I hate to think of offsite visitors arriving Christmas week and many not having a clue about all of this.

 

[Disfanx4]

That's why I think they had to end the GAC. At least DAS will cut down on the amount of the unpredictability.

But it doesn't that's what I'm saying a person with a DAS doesn't really need a FP+ but make them anyway because they are asked to but it is just to hard to stick with the time schedule so hit the first one but after that just get return times and leave the booked times unused which are counted as already taken so a true reading of numbers will never be seen and not only people with DAS just people missing times in general for whatever reason. Like I said this is just what I gleamed from my time spent there recently and listening to chatter on buses etc.

 

[Mad Hattered]

When C-levels speak to the media they can be a little "obtuse". So I ran the article through an "Executive-Speak" Translator, so It would be more understandable:

Senior Walt Disney Co. executives once said they hoped to have MyMagic+ "largely" introduced by the end of the company's 2013 fiscal year, which concluded in September.
Translation:“We believed our Systems Integration Partner’s timeline because we’re paying them $150 million dollars…..”

"From the outset, our MyMagic+ development has been focused on enhancing the experience our guests have with us. Our roll-out schedule is designed to be flexible so that we can make adjustments based on our testing and guest feedback,"
Translation: “This thing is supposed to make us a lot of money but we’re not going to tell you when we’re going to roll out each part because we don’t want you to cancel and we can still keep doing CYA”

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs said in the statement. "We're happy with the progress we are making, and MyMagic+ is now available to all our Walt Disney World hotel guests."
Translation: “Hey, they can still get in their rooms and into the Parks to spend money - can’t they…?”

Staggs added that Disney has been making "modifications" based on the feedback it is receiving from guests during testing. "Once we're satisfied with those adjustments, we will continue to broaden the availability to our other theme-park guests."
Translation: “Man, this thing is really full of bugs...”

Some analysts had expected the project to begin contributing to profit growth for Disney in 2014, but that now appears unlikely to happen until at least 2015.
Analyst Translation: “Told you they bit off more than they can chew…”


One month after announcing MyMagic+, Walt Disney Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said it would be rolled out "over the next several months." Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo expanded on Iger's comments in May, telling analysts at a New York conference that "by the end of this fiscal year, you're going to feel like it is rolled out," though he said Disney would continue to add elements over time.
Translation:“This thing better be up and running by the end of January or somebody’s getting FIRED…!!!”

But they began to push that target back over the summer. Iger told analysts in August the project was designed for "a probable full rollout in the early part of fiscal 2014." And they have since stopped offering any specific time frames.
Translation:“We can’t believe anything our Systems Integrator is telling us right now…”

During Disney's year-end-earnings call earlier this month, Rasulo said MyMagic+ was "still very much in the early days of rollout."
Translation: “We are way over budget…”

Disney would not discuss the delay in any detail. But in discussions with analysts, executives have characterized the project as exceedingly complex and repeatedly said they intended to make sure all kinks were ironed out before beginning a wide launch.
Translation:“We should have listened to our IT instead of that @#!%& Integrator when they said “no way we can get this done on time…””

"We are walking before we run, so that when you come down and use the service, you are going to feel really good about how it works and not experience glitches, which is our business and not the guest's business," Rasulo said in September.
Translation: “Hey, they should be happy those “Band Thingy’s” at least let them in the Park to stare at the Castle and soak up all that atmosphere, so they should stop complaining so damn much…!”

In addition to taking longer than expected, some analysts suspect the price tag for MyMagic+ has climbed. Doug Mitchelson, a media-industry equities analyst with Deutsche Bank, said he initially projected spending on the project at about $800 million, but "clearly they would have to be north of $1 billion at this point in time."
Analyst translation: “Wow, I can’t believe I bought into their timeline…”

"This is a project of relatively historic undertaking," he added. "It's never been done."
Analyst translation:“What in God’s name were they thinking…?”

Asked what had changed, Rasulo cited MyMagic+ costs, noting that the information-technology infrastructure Disney World has installed as part of the project depreciates more quickly than conventional attractions.
Translation: “We need to buy a lot more servers…”

Rasulo has also said that some of some of Disney's other big investments primarily the California Adventure makeover, which culminated in the 2012 opening of Cars Land turned profitable faster than the company originally expected.
Translation:“Ummm, can we talk about something else….?”

That was great!

 

[Planogirl]

I still don't think that is the case. Unless I missed something I am still going with my hunch that all the resorts .. or most .. are going to lose the ability to pull day of fast passes with KTTW cards. I think this is in direct response to the frighteningly low fastpass- inventory we've been seeing. If they can get the resorts guests off of Legacy fastpass in time for the holidays they may just narrowly avoid the nightmare meltdown scenario that's coming if they don't.
I've said it all along.. onsite guests being able to get 3 fp+, plus pull legacy fastpass, or bring along their hoarded KTTW cards from the past 10 trips, while tens of thousands of people can't get any would be a NIGHTMARE for them and the PR for this new system. Christmas crowds are bananas as it is. Now picture half of those people irate that they can't get on anything.
I think pulling all the resorts off the legacy system is going to be rushed through really really quick. Wouldn't be surprised anyway.

I posted before I saw your post. I couldn't agree more. I've been imagining that family arriving for their maybe regular Disney Christmas visit and stumbling into this mess without having a clue. I know that I would be livid.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

This has felt imbalanced from the beginning. First you had different resorts starting at different times and if you overlook that, you still have AP holders and offsite visitors at an extreme disadvantage. I hate to think of offsite visitors arriving Christmas week and many not having a clue about all of this.

I don't understand why you think we AP holders are at any disadvantage. As long as AP holders stay onsite one night, they are at advantage over everyone else.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't understand why you think we AP holders are at any disadvantage. As long as AP holders stay onsite one night, they are at advantage over everyone else.

As countless posts have shown, many AP holders haven't stayed onsite and have no intention of doing so. That's them talking not me.