MyMagic+ Delay - Article

[Tara8595]

Have y'all seen this?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-disney-mymagic-delayed-20131116,0,3314807.story

 

[disneylover1980]

Hmmmmmm. Interesting.

 

[DemonLlama]

"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.""

I'll bet I can guess the general consensus of the feedback that's slowing their progress.

Looks like this is clearly not the year to be an off-site guest.

 

[mom2aandj]

Staggs added that Disney has been making "modifications" based on the feedback it is receiving from guests during testing.

This cracks me up. Yes, I bet they got a lot of feedback demanding that tiers be introduced at Epcot and HS!

 

[Kathy Z]

Here now and bought the paper when I saw the headline. Yesterday we wished we could find newspaper to stuff into our shoes to dry them from the rain.

 

[rebbyparker]

Lol!!!

 

[Escape Artist]

Staggs added that Disney has been making "modifications" based on the feedback it is receiving from guests during testing.

This cracks me up. Yes, I bet they got a lot of feedback demanding that tiers be introduced at Epcot and HS!

And those guests over at POP were complaining about carrying too many cards!

 

[ArwenMarie]

I don't get what is slowing them down. They have all of the resorts up, so say half of their customers are on it.

So then all of the other tickets are the issue? If so, why?

Are they trying to decide how to incorporate everyone in due to low capacity? Is that why they brought tiers back?

So many questions, no answers!

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

~I have always said from the beginning that FP+ won't be ready until the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is online, it just makes sense. I also predicted that both the 7DMT and FP+ would debut together sometime in early 2014 or late 2013 at the earliest, so this comes as no surprise to me. I was really shocked when rumors surfaced that FP+ was ready to go. This timeline sounds just about right.

 

[ArwenMarie]

~I have always said from the beginning that FP+ won't be ready until the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is online, it just makes sense. I also predicted that both the 7DMT and FP+ would debut together sometime in early 2014 or late 2013 at the earliest, so this comes as no surprise to me. I was really shocked when rumors surfaced that FP+ was ready to go. This timeline sounds just about right.

That's a good point.

 

[DavidNYC]

Staggs added that Disney has been making "modifications" based on the feedback it is receiving from guests during testing. This cracks me up. Yes, I bet they got a lot of feedback demanding that tiers be introduced at Epcot and HS!

In a way they probably did. Remember all those outraged posts about how fast fast passes we're running out for the top tier attractions? Tiers is the obvious solution for that. This falls into the category of "be careful what you wish for". And while tiers may not be a plus for a specific individual , it makes perfect sense when looked at in the aggregate.

 

[Kathy Z]

They do have all the Disney owned resorts up now and we also still got KTTW cards when we checked in at W L Thursday.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Maybe I'm being ignorant, but I don't understand the point of this article. All the Disney resorts are currently using FP+ and Magic Bands. So, if the tiniest final details won't be hammered out for months, I mean, so what? Nothing is really being delayed here.

 

[wisblue]

I'm surprised that this article really surprises, or upsets, anyone.

It simply confirms and reinforces what should be apparent. Disney is putting these system changes (not just FP+) in place in stages, and will make changes based on how the systems work, what problems they encounter, and what customer feedback they get. Putting in tiers to address FP capacity at the 3 most in demand attractions in the parks (TSMM, RNRC, and TT) are almost certainly part of that.

I got a chuckle out of the last part of the article that describes the "trepidation" expressed by a number of Disney fans. I would guess that Mr. Yee watches these boards and others like it.

 

[wisblue]

Maybe I'm being ignorant, but I don't understand the point of this article. All the Disney resorts are currently using FP+ and Magic Bands. So, if the tiniest final details won't be hammered out for months, I mean, so what? Nothing is really being delayed here.

I would read it as suggesting a delay in what they are going to do with offsite guests. Note the quote about broadening "the availability to our other theme-park guests."

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I would read it as suggesting a delay in what they are going to do with offsite guests. Note the quote about broadening "the availability to our other theme-park guests."

I guess. Seems like a waste of newspaper space to me. Nobody ever said when exactly off-site guests were going to get access.

 

[clsteve]

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….?”

 

[ktlm]

Love it CLSteve!!! And, I think it may be a not so far from accurate translation too! Jkanhn9, after dealing with FP+/MDE for 9 days, and watching how it is unfolding since with the tiers etc, my husband is convinced it was designed by the same people that designed the Obamacare website!


A couple of things irritate me which are "based on the feedback from our guests". We spent 9 days with that system, and it has been over a month since we have been back and I have yet to get any kind of survey or anything else asking what we thought of it or what problems we had with it.

"You are going to feel really good about how it works"-- well right now you are basically limited to one FP a day at EPCOT and DHS with the tiers, since tier 2 is nothing you would ever need a FP for on most days out of the year. Unless that changes, I am NEVER going to feel good about how it works. They are going backwards and taking things away.

 

[Planogirl]

I mentioned this on another thread but this whole paragraph really gets me:

MyMagic+ is critical for Disney, which has spent more on the project than it did in building the hugely successful Cars Land attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Executives have said they think the project will ultimately get travelers to make more trips to Disney World and spend more time and money at the resort when they visit.

Disneyland got Cars Land and WDW got whatever this is. To each their own but I know which one I would have rather seen.

I also don't get this "get travelers to make more trips to Disney World" logic. Someone wittily said that maybe it was to come back and see the things that were missed in the earlier trip (great!) however what in the world is Disney's logic?

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I mentioned this on another thread but this whole paragraph really gets me:



Disneyland got Cars Land and WDW got whatever this is. To each their own but I know which one I would have rather seen.

I also don't get this "get travelers to make more trips to Disney World" logic. Someone wittily said that maybe it was to come back and see the things that were missed in the earlier trip (great!) however what in the world is Disney's logic?

You can't compare CarsLand to MyMagic+. The correct comparison is New Fantasyland which IMHO is miles better than CarsLand.