Official word on the success of MyMagic+

[MrInfinity]

You disagree with they will use FP+ packages to entice visitors to WDW in the event of a disaster/downturn-I think they will. Let's hope we never find out.

As any solid investor will tell you, a political disaster is not in itself a reason to change ones investment, because a solidly run company will be relatively unimpacted. Case in point.

2001, Disney stock dropped from it's $40 high to about $20. It closed some parks, suspended some construction, and today, the stock has not only come back from there, it's also endured the 2008 crash and now sits at $93. It is more than double the high before 9/11, and it's almost 5x its low after 9/11. Even if you'd bought Disney stock at the worst possible moment right befor 9/11 and held it since then, you'd have made 2-1/2 times your money in 13 years. That's pretty incredible.

As much as season pass owners would like to think they are the bread and butter, they ~are not~. They did not "keep Disney alive" with their contributions.

You have to remember the season pass local is the least profitable customer Disney has. I believe they are a loss-leader even. in that they consume more value from Disney than they pay in. They do not stay on property, eat less, and shop less, on average, than a visitor. It is only as the visitor traffic slowly returned post 9/11 that Disney stock went back up.

 

[MrInfinity]

I work in research for a big company and I can tell you that they absolutely CAN make correlations between MM+ and the gains in key performance indicators. There is a lot of science behind it and a company like Disney, I can guarantee you is on top of that. They would only use spin if the results were poor. It seems to be having a positive impact, and just because a poster on this board hates MM+ does not somehow make that untrue.

Yes!

Oh my. Folks are still saying Disney is shooting from the hip here. Get real. Disney has hundreds of staff dedicated to analyzing this data, then know who will go, who will use bounceback offers, who they can encourage to stay in resorts by offering FP+ at 60 days, who will throw away rooms, how much additional each customer is spending as a direct result of MM+.

Just because you do not get access to this info, it is absolutely absurd to assert that one of the highest regarded companies America has produced is being run so cavalier and they have just lucked into being one of the greatest most profitable companies owning some of the strongest brands in the world.

I'm pretty sure Disney knows when you will go back before even you do.

They know what effect MM+ is having.

But if you choose not to believe that, hey. Cool.

 

[Laketravis]

We just returned from a two+ week stay. They seem to have worked out a couple of issues we saw on our last trip such as band reader latency which has greatly improved.

But there are still nagging issues, such as the reliability of the app in the parks, the handheld readers used by CM's and food service are still buggy, but more importantly are the systemic issues involving guest education that may prove much more difficult to tackle in the future. Despite WDW's efforts so far to educate, I lost count of how many guests asked CM's how much the FP line cost or how it worked or where to get them. That's a pretty steep learning curve with a constantly renewing source of new students which presents quite a training challenge. Then there are counter-productive components to the guest experience such as entering the Star Tours FP queue and walking side-by-side with another guest in the Standby queue, only to see them progress to the ride queue first because the FP queue has to stop for another band read. As minor as that might sound, it instills diminished value in the mind of the guest.

And then there is the fact that it's a rare event for any corporation to admit that a $2 billion dollar project is not successful. I agree with other viewpoints that there are a wealth of factors that could contribute to increased revenues right now, certainly the growing exuberance of a positive economy being one of them. It is Disney's own option as to what element they assign success to.

 

[Jennasis]

I can't say I get why MM+ would cause increased attendance. Increased spending, sure. But are there people going "Hey...they just implemented this $2billion new system...gotta go try me some of that!"?

Seems like the advent of Frozen would cause a rise in attendance more than MM+.

I've got my next 3 trips planned despite MM+...certainly not because of it.

 

[Nancyg56]

I am sure that for the most part, the entire package is a success. Does it have some issues? Yes. Is FP+ the most controversial aspect of the package? I bet!

I am trying to look back on my October trip and honestly assess my feelings about MM+, and frankly, I liked it way more than I anticipated. I liked the convenience of using my MB for everything from entering the parks to paying for my meal. The only issues I had with the darn thing was user error, and I cannot blame Disney for me. Touring the parks during a very busy week was much easier knowing I had a FP booked ahead of time, so no anxiety about getting to the Kiosk. I will say that I do not like having to use a kiosk to book additional FP, so I did not. Changing attractions wold have been easy if I had actually checked the date, which I did not. Again...user error...mine.

I had way more stressed before I booked my FP because I had never done it before, and had no idea what to expect. Next trip, I won't get my bloomers in a bunch, I'll just make a loose plan, add some FP and call it a day. The problems was me, not the system.

I recognize that MM is not going to be a win/win for every guest, and I bet FP+ is mostly the reason, but I would not toss out the notion that it is successful for many, and therefore a success for WDW.

 

[Suvadoo]

We just returned from a two+ week stay. They seem to have worked out a couple of issues we saw on our last trip such as band reader latency which has greatly improved.

But there are still nagging issues, such as the reliability of the app in the parks, the handheld readers used by CM's and food service are still buggy, but more importantly are the systemic issues involving guest education that may prove much more difficult to tackle in the future. Despite WDW's efforts so far to educate, I lost count of how many guests asked CM's how much the FP line cost or how it worked or where to get them. That's a pretty steep learning curve with a constantly renewing source of new students which presents quite a training challenge. Then there are counter-productive components to the guest experience such as entering the Star Tours FP queue and walking side-by-side with another guest in the Standby queue, only to see them progress to the ride queue first because the FP queue has to stop for another band read. As minor as that might sound, it instills diminished value in the mind of the guest.

And then there is the fact that it's a rare event for any corporation to admit that a $2 billion dollar project is not successful. I agree with other viewpoints that there are a wealth of factors that could contribute to increased revenues right now, certainly the growing exuberance of a positive economy being one of them. It is Disney's own option as to what element they assign success to.

This has always been the question. How much is Disney willing to pay for continuing guest education? This is not something that's going to change since most guests are one and done.

 

[Laketravis]

The problems was me, not the system.

And while you are astute enough to recognize that, there are many guests who are not and will blame the problems on the system.

This has always been the question. How much is Disney willing to pay for continuing guest education? This is not something that's going to change since most guests are one and done.

Another unintended consequence I found was the tendency for CM's to dumb-down their approach with guests. I'm sure this was a manifestation from many guests simply not understanding the basics, so the CM's tend to start with first-grade responses.

And for guests like us, this can be annoying. Compound several little annoyances like that over the course of a visit and it leads to a negative impression.

Imagine after dozens of park entries getting a blue mickey and being asked "are you using the same finger?". Now, I totally understand WHY they have to ask that question, but they run the risk of accusing half their guest population of being ignorant - because pretty much one half is, they just don't know which half.

 

[MrInfinity]

I can't say I get why MM+ would cause increased attendance. Increased spending, sure. But are there people going "Hey...they just implemented this $2billion new system...gotta go try me some of that!"?

No they're not saying that. But FP+ gets most guests into the park and on a few rides quicker than before, who then leave the park to do other resort activities. This makes room in the park for other guests to now enter. It has to do with increasing efficiency to get more ppl thru the same capacity.

Guests who used to go, spend all day, ride many rides, will still go, spend all day, and ride many, or a few less, rides. But the majority of guests who used to go and want to ride 4-6 things and be good can now do so in much less time.

Those guests spending more time doing other things leaves more room for A) additional guests to be in the park riding rides, and B) more per-person spend on incidentals.

 

[MrInfinity]

This has always been the question. How much is Disney willing to pay for continuing guest education? This is not something that's going to change since most guests are one and done.

Why make up statistics. When I quote stats, they're real data.

So you're saying "Most guests are one and done". So you believe, honestly, that 51% or more of those who have been to Disney World have only gone once and will never go back. Riiiiight. I'd guess the # of ppl that fit that bill is something like 1%. I know lots of ppl that go more than once. Almost everyone on the Dis has or will go a second time, and everyone I know has been or will go more than once.

I don't know Anyone who has gone once, said it sucked, and will not go back.

Perhaps ppl from overseas for which it is a major expense, but of those who CAN (logistically and financially) go more than once, almost all will.

Show me this 51% that only go a single time.

 

[Jennasis]

No they're not saying that. But FP+ gets most guests into the park and on a few rides quicker than before, who then leave the park to do other resort activities. This makes room in the park for other guests to now enter. It has to do with increasing efficiency to get more ppl thru the same capacity.

Guests who used to go, spend all day, ride many rides, will still go, spend all day, and ride many, or a few less, rides. But the majority of guests who used to go and want to ride 4-6 things and be good can now do so in much less time.

Those guests spending more time doing other things leaves more room for A) additional guests to be in the park riding rides, and B) more per-person spend on incidentals.

That's some interesting fuzzy logic.

 

[Planogirl]

Why make up statistics. When I quote stats, they're real data.

So you're saying "Most guests are one and done". So you believe, honestly, that 51% or more of those who have been to Disney World have only gone once and will never go back. Riiiiight. I'd guess the # of ppl that fit that bill is something like 1%. I know lots of ppl that go more than once. Almost everyone on the Dis has or will go a second time, and everyone I know has been or will go more than once.

I don't know Anyone who has gone once, said it sucked, and will not go back.

Perhaps ppl from overseas for which it is a major expense, but of those who CAN (logistically and financially) go more than once, almost all will.

Show me this 51% that only go a single time.

Still throwing that fuzzy logic around?

I know a few people that haven't been thrilled and thus haven't gone back but I don't pretend that that means anything in the overall picture. Your assumptions are the same, as always we really don't know. We are told a few numbers by Disney and the rest is guesses based on our own biases. Nothing wrong with that but that doesn't make it fact.

It will be interesting to see what's going on in ten years.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You're right. I've seen the people who hate FP+ dismiss the people who like it and I've seen FP+ lovers dismiss the people who hate it. I think everyone is guilty of this.
But I still don't think people are trying to convince others to "follow them" as you said in a previous post.

It is what I inferred from a lot of posts. Some may be by the same palate re posting frequently. But inferring was not hard to do especially with all the name calling of folks.

On yelp, when folks have a bad experience, they write their bad review and that is that.

If you aren't trying to have folks follow you, then clearly, I was not speaking of you or people who post similarly.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I can't say I get why MM+ would cause increased attendance. Increased spending, sure. But are there people going "Hey...they just implemented this $2billion new system...gotta go try me some of that!"?

Seems like the advent of Frozen would cause a rise in attendance more than MM+.

I've got my next 3 trips planned despite MM+...certainly not because of it.

Yes! That and completion of 7 dwarves. I know not everyone cares for the ride, but new attractions tend to time with boosts in attendance.

Someone earlier commented on increases attendance at Universal. That makes sense since the Harry Potter expansion completed.

Vacations take time to plan and save for in general--so boosts in attendance spread over time.

We traveled with several families this week. Everyone looked forward to the mine train and several headed to Universal for Harry Potter. I think net for our group was nearly 45 people, maybe a few more than that. All here for the week and no one traveling explicitly due to MDE. Granted a small sample. While most liked the app--it had no impact on the decision to come to Orlando. But the new rides at both places was a topic of discussion many times leading up to the trip.

(And yes--the Frozen stuff as well.)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Why make up statistics. When I quote stats, they're real data.

So you're saying "Most guests are one and done". So you believe, honestly, that 51% or more of those who have been to Disney World have only gone once and will never go back. Riiiiight. I'd guess the # of ppl that fit that bill is something like 1%. I know lots of ppl that go more than once. Almost everyone on the Dis has or will go a second time, and everyone I know has been or will go more than once.

I don't know Anyone who has gone once, said it sucked, and will not go back.

Perhaps ppl from overseas for which it is a major expense, but of those who CAN (logistically and financially) go more than once, almost all will.

Show me this 51% that only go a single time.

I know a family!

They were one and done. They actually loved their experience. But they have no intention of ever going again. I would like to say that they just wish to do other things. While that may be the case--I think their uppity "cultured" attitudes play into it as well.

But folks do decide to only to once whether they love it or hate it because they have other parts of earth to explore.

Not sure now to actually poll for this.

 

[Hokie2000]

It's amusing how some posters reduce a highly successful/profitable company to a bunch of incompetent liars, based solely on the force of their personal dislike of FP+.

Money talks. The 34% dividend increase was the most telling part of the OP for me. The thought that the company wasted 2B dollars, is misleading investors and increasing dividends when they know it's a failure is pretty absurd. But believe what you want to believe. If some of these posters are correct and the company is run that poorly there won't be a WDW to visit in the future anyway.

 

[jade1]

As any solid investor will tell you, a political disaster is not in itself a reason to change ones investment, because a solidly run company will be relatively unimpacted. Case in point.

2001, Disney stock dropped from it's $40 high to about $20. It closed some parks, suspended some construction, and today, the stock has not only come back from there, it's also endured the 2008 crash and now sits at $93. It is more than double the high before 9/11, and it's almost 5x its low after 9/11. Even if you'd bought Disney stock at the worst possible moment right befor 9/11 and held it since then, you'd have made 2-1/2 times your money in 13 years. That's pretty incredible.

As much as season pass owners would like to think they are the bread and butter, they ~are not~. They did not "keep Disney alive" with their contributions.

You have to remember the season pass local is the least profitable customer Disney has. I believe they are a loss-leader even. in that they consume more value from Disney than they pay in. They do not stay on property, eat less, and shop less, on average, than a visitor. It is only as the visitor traffic slowly returned post 9/11 that Disney stock went back up.

Say what you want, but I still think a solidly run company like WDW now has more tools in its tool box to use than before (with this new system compared to without it)-when it comes to any unfortunate events reducing/impacting travel/vacations.

 

[btk2333]

always happy to hear wdw is doing well!

 

[TreyQ3]

Some of y'all are really reaching saying that Disney is lying about the statement that MM+ is positively contributing to the operating income. Hasn't everyone heard of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)? Robert Iger would be subject to criminal prosecution if he made false statements related to earnings. You can bet your house that Disney has data that supports that statement. I have reviewed and edited external communications for a Fortune 100 company. These communications are completely vetted and then have to pass Legal review. There is nothing that is left to chance.

Also, I do not read the quote as saying that MM+ is increasing attendance. That sentence is only stating a fact that attendance is up, not that MM+ is the cause (or for some of you - is correlated to MM+ ). If Disney was attributing the increase in attendance to MM+, they would make a direct reference to MM+ in that sentence.

"The early returns we are seeing from MyMagic+ are encouraging. During the fourth quarter MyMagic+ had a positive contribution to year-over-year increase in the segment’s operating income. Attendance at our domestic parks was up 4% with Walt Disney World setting a new fourth quarter record."

 

[Angel Ariel]

You reminded me of the phone survey after calling Disney. "If it was exciting, press 1, magical press 2..." There were a few calls where I wished there was an option for (suddenly channeling my inner Bambi's mom) ... something less positive.

lol, yes! I usually choose "informative" (I think option 3) or efficient (if it was a short call/answer) unless it really was exciting. I save magical for truly magical customer service, which doesn't happen all that often.

 

[Angel Ariel]

People can move on to other experiences as they see fit. I don't understand the continued energy to ensure others follow them.

I don't think anyone who dislikes FP+ or MM+ (or both) here is trying to convince others here to dislike it with them.

I think most are voicing their opinion, their experiences...and yes, I'm sure many hope that Disney will hear them and make adjustments. That's only natural.

And as for why people who dislike some or all of the new system would not just "move on to other experiences" - just because they dislike the new system doesn't mean they don't still love Disney. Is it really so incomprehensible that someone could dislike part of something so much, yet still love the overall entity?

I know there are many people here who like it, and I don't have a problem with that. I also know that there is no going back to pre-MM+ days. It just isn't going to happen. But Disney is making it quite clear that this is all still in testing, and that they WANT feedback, and that they are making changes to the system as they go (i.e. - we now have 4th and beyond FP+). Given that feedback is *wanted* and Disney has specifically said more than once that they are listening to guest feedback, why *shouldn't* people give them that feedback, even if it is negative? I highly doubt Disney expects to only *get* positive feedback, so why should people be chided for giving them negative feedback?

If people are posting passionately about it here, either positively or negatively, I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt that they've exercised other options to tell Disney as well. I know I have.