News Round Up 2018

[TheMaxRebo]

News

More details on D23 Destination D Mickeys Birthday event

https://d23.com/d23-event/destination-d-celebrating-mickey-mouse/?share_token=0a1efd4721

I love how even with the $1,300 VIP tickets they can't just include the $7 processing fee

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I love how even with the $1,300 VIP tickets they can't just include the $7 processing fee

Pretty typical for any event/gala tickets I purchase. And you can probably afford the $7 if you're springing for a $1,300 ticket.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Pretty typical for any event/gala tickets I purchase. And you can probably afford the $7 if you're springing for a $1,300 ticket.

oh, I know - just think it is silly that if someone is giving you $1,300 to still charge them for that (and not blaming them, I know it is typical, I think it is silly all the time)

I mean, that would be like charging $700 a night for a room and then charging $24 extra for parking rather than just baking it into the price

 

[STLstone]

oh, I know - just think it is silly that if someone is giving you $1,300 to still charge them for that (and not blaming them, I know it is typical, I think it is silly all the time)

I mean, that would be like charging $700 a night for a room and then charging $24 extra for parking rather than just baking it into the price

Too soon.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

yeah, i was thinking maybe something like the Cars meets, but at least they have wheels so can be on the ground .... is this going to be like you stand next to a fish tank?

and last bit is obviously pointing to Edna Mode, right?

Ah, I totally missed the Edna Mode reference. That would be a cool meet.

 

[StrawberryChan]

That's odd. I was reading a D23 article about the Pixar summer things in DL. They mentioned Pixar characters that you could meet and included Nemo and Dory. That is going to be a weird meet.

maybe they'd be puppets like the finding nemo musical at DAK? would be pretty hard to ignore the puppeteers though lol

 

[crazy4wdw]

News

More details on D23 Destination D Mickeys Birthday event

https://d23.com/d23-event/destination-d-celebrating-mickey-mouse/?share_token=0a1efd4721

Anyone here planning to go? I'd really like to go this event but every time I get my hopes up regarding attending a D23 event, I can never get tickets as they usually sell out in seconds.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

News

More details on D23 Destination D Mickeys Birthday event

https://d23.com/d23-event/destination-d-celebrating-mickey-mouse/?share_token=0a1efd4721

It's this kind of stuff that makes me wish I really lived in Orlando. Anyone hiring in the area?

 

[crazy4wdw]

Anyone hiring in the area?

Walt Disney World is probably hiring parking lot attendants for their resort hotels.

 

[writerguyfl]

That's all true, but not at issue in this case, right? Pretty tough to claim age discrimination on this one... ...

The way I see it, all they have to do is say, "we have several employees who feel uncomfortable working with you and/or for you, and we believe this is an issue we are unable to resolve through mediation or less severe methods."

Agreed. My comment was just about the general concept of protected classes, not this specific case. There'd be no valid claim of discrimination if he were fired.

Moving past the simple, Magic Bands allow Disney to harvest and mine massive amounts of raw data concerning nearly limitless different aspects of Guest's behavior while on site. They don't just know everywhere you go, everything you do, and everything you purchase, they know the order in which you do those things, they know which members of your party you are with.

I used to be a hotel Revenue Manager. If I had access to the level of detail of guest spending that Disney does, I would have been in heaven. Disney hasn't even begun to stratch the surface of their use of this data. At some point, I expect they will create customized "sales" based on operational needs.

For example: If they notice that occupancy is down at the Epcot Resorts for this coming August, they could use the data to create a special offer. They could select guests who usually book Deluxe Resorts about 4 months out but rarely cancel. From that group, they could choose guests that spend more than average on dining and/or merchandise. They could even choose guests who don't usually go on the E-Ticket rides, thereby adding potential revenue without adding to the lines for other theme park guests.

Then, create an offer and send it out via email. It's a bit like the old PIN codes, except far more targeted using the MyMagic+ data.

I love how even with the $1,300 VIP tickets they can't just include the $7 processing fee

There's probably some obscure regulation that states that any fees have to be separate line items in an invoice.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I used to be a hotel Revenue Manager. If I had access to the level of detail of guest spending that Disney does, I would have been in heaven. Disney hasn't even begun to stratch the surface of their use of this data. At some point, I expect they will create customized "sales" based on operational needs.

For example: If they notice that occupancy is down at the Epcot Resorts for this coming August, they could use the data to create a special offer. They could select guests who usually book Deluxe Resorts about 4 months out but rarely cancel. From that group, they could choose guests that spend more than average on dining and/or merchandise. They could even choose guests who don't usually go on the E-Ticket rides, thereby adding potential revenue without adding to the lines for other theme park guests.

Casinos have had Disney beat on individualized marketing for many years. It has always surprised me that they haven’t developed this further, faster. Seems like they may be moving towards it at a snail’s pace, but aren’t even close to harnessing the data they actually have available by individual.

 

[danikoski]

Casinos have had Disney beat on individualized marketing for many years. It has always surprised me that they haven’t developed this further, faster. Seems like they may be moving towards it at a snail’s pace, but aren’t even close to harnessing the data they actually have available by individual.

If I had to guess, based on how often their website crashes, their IT can't handle the super data mining. For the number of guests Disney handles, that's a lot of metadata. You have to have a good IT system to handle that, and in my experiences with Disney, they don't seem to have that.

 

[Teamubr]

If I had to guess, based on how often their website crashes, their IT can't handle the super data mining. For the number of guests Disney handles, that's a lot of metadata. You have to have a good IT system to handle that, and in my experiences with Disney, they don't seem to have that.

I manage a team that has web servers as well as database servers. We built our web servers for the 100th percentile, meaning they have enough capacity to be up 100% of the time. If we see a 105% spike, they may act up. Our datamart servers are built to the 400th percentile. That gives us room for growth, but assures they can handle nearly anything I can throw at them. My boss expects our data analytics to be robust and fast.

Apples and oranges and either are built according to your priorities.

j

 

[skier_pete]

So as a comment on the new Uni hotels. Pretty smart move, though the "starting at" price might be 2 weeks out of the year. Still waiting for anything universal does to have a MAJOR affect on Disney. While certainly universal has grabbed some larger percent of market share, disney attendance continues to rise and the resorts stay full. (Though it should be noted that a big part of Disney's technique for keeping resorts full is to convert rooms to DVC. Note even the new Riviera tower ripped out some 360 rooms from CBR.) However, it is possible a third park and lots of available cheaper rooms could eventually have a negative impact on Disney. It certainly got them to finally upgrade some of these parks.

The other note i wanted to mention is when we were there in february we though early entry was terribly crowded. Only Hogsmead was open, and the wait for FJ was 45 minutes when we got there partly through the hour. Can't imagine if they add another 3000 eligible rooms.

 

[rteetz]

News

Saudi Arabian Officials Attempt to Persuade Disney to Build a New Theme Park

 

[writerguyfl]

Casinos have had Disney beat on individualized marketing for many years. It has always surprised me that they haven’t developed this further, faster. Seems like they may be moving towards it at a snail’s pace, but aren’t even close to harnessing the data they actually have available by individual.

I fully agree. I actually used to work at Disney World. Aside from wanting to escape the 6-7 months of winter I experienced living in Minnesota, the main reason I went to work for Mickey in the Reservations Center was because of the MyMagic+ initiative. I happened to get assigned to a recruiter (the Cast Member who conducted my interview) that knew a lot about the plans for the initiative. If she hadn't been as enthusiastic about MyMagic+, I probably would have ended up moving to Las Vegas to work at one of the hotels there.

The implementation of MyMagic+ has been painfully slow. I left the company mainly to go to grad school. But one of the secondary reasons was because I got frustrated at the massive level of bureaucracy. I was used to working in a medium-sized hotel. When we discovered a problem, we fixed it in a day or two. At Disney, it took weeks to get something as simple as fixing bad information on the intranet Cast Members used to find information they shared with guests. A lot of time, I feel like Disney is successful in spite of itself.

 

[iamfathom]

There is an auction on Saturday 28th April for items from the collection of imagineer Rolly Crump

There is some amazing stuff like the original model of IASW and original designs from Haunted Mansion and Epcot. Sadly I'm sure it's all out of my price range.

http://www.icollector.com/The-Life-...rump-presented-by-Van-Eaton-Galleries_as52386

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

The implementation of MyMagic+ has been painfully slow. I left the company mainly to go to grad school. But one of the secondary reasons was because I got frustrated at the massive level of bureaucracy. I was used to working in a medium-sized hotel. When we discovered a problem, we fixed it in a day or two. At Disney, it took weeks to get something as simple as fixing bad information on the intranet Cast Members used to find information they shared with guests. A lot of time, I feel like Disney is successful in spite of itself.

Funny... my husband often says it's amazing how many things a company can do spectacularly wrong if they do one or a few things spectacularly right! I think that fits here.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Universal Hollywood is having a Jurassic Park


https://ushtix.com/Home.aspx

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Universal Hollywood is having a Jurassic Park


https://ushtix.com/Home.aspx

I'm curious, but this brings me to a screen where I need to log in.