The Disney Dog Collar (MagicBand)

[MrRomance]

Just a thought.....Couldn't this feature be adventagous in lost child situations. I, personally, would feel better knowing that if my child were to become seperated from me or lost, a CM could easily scan his bracelet and use the information to determine who he is and retrieve my cell phone number. Heck the bracelets might could even be linked up and perhaps my bracelet could be scanned and my son's location be determined (like GPS). I know that's a lot of "big brother", but if it were the case of a missing/lost child, I would be super happy to have the technology available. Just trying to look at it from another perspective.

EXACTLY... there are a lot of elements to this that are massively beneficial. Too many people are so sceptical and so against these bands that they don't stop to think about how it can and probably will be used to improve guest experience and solve problems!

If I did this I would give Disney as little info as possible. I don't particularly want personalized experiences and I would never charge using a wristband. I would imagine that you wouldn't be forced to tell them everything. I probably wouldn't wear it but would put it away somewhere. I'm not comfortable with tight things on my wrist.

I'm wondering how would this thing track how many people are waiting for a bus? I noticed a PP stating that this would be an advantage.

A long range RFID receiver would be installed at the bus stop. Every MagicBand within 25 ft would be detected. Simple job for a computer to track how many guests have been waiting, and for how long. As buses arrive, they can be directed to the stops with the most waiting/longest waiting guests. I think Disney may do this manually with spotters at the parks. But this could automate dispatch.

I do not recall any announcement that Disney is contimplating this.

It isn't just buses either. The data that these bands can gather (which so many people seem to think is some sort of spying facility) can make a massive difference to guest experience in ways that are no completely obvious. Crowd management, transportation, CM deployment, management of ride breakdown, line control, finding lost children, providing discounts for things guests actually want.

Stop and think about this technology with an open mind. Assuming it's just some sort of "Big Brother" initiative because "Disney want to spy on everything I do and I don't want them to know what what I'm doing" is taking a really narrow view.

Imagine what this technology could do in an average trip to WDW if the possibilities are implemented. People think that data gathering has some sort of bad motivation on Disney's part, they don't think, well actually, the more Disney know about me and my family, the more they can cater to us and make our experience better.

To put this in context, if I don't like coffee but love frozen lemonade, sending me a coupon for Starbucks means nothing to me, but a coupon for frozen lemonade might put a smile on my face. Giving the best experience to guests is far easier and far more effective if you know what the guest wants and what the guests frustrations might be.

Another example of how this technology might improve guest experience is in the in the case of ride breakdown. Imagine being in line for 40 minutes to ride Space Mountain only for the ride to breakdown. I might be really irritated and frustrated by that. I'd be less irritated and frustrated if a free ice cream was beamed to my account or a FP for another ride etc.

We don't know what this technology will do and how it will be implemented but there are a lot of possibilities!

 

[dadddio]

Another example of how this technology might improve guest experience is in the in the case of ride breakdown. Imagine being in line for 40 minutes to ride Space Mountain only for the ride to breakdown. I might be really irritated and frustrated by that. I'd be less irritated and frustrated if a free ice cream was beamed to my account or a FP for another ride etc.

Imagine that they sent you an 'open time' FP for SM and a coupon for a free soda on that hot June day and then texted you to let you know when SM was back up and running. That would be pretty good customer service.

 

[Superspectral]

It may be easy to imagine a number of potentially good uses of the MagicBand that Disney hasn't announced. I'm hesitant to set my expectations based on the innovative and well meaning creativity of the DIS community until Disney announces the feature.

 

[Birdman1511]

I'm hesitant to set my expectations based on the innovative and well meaning creativity of the DIS community

I'm pretty sure the magic band wasn't created by any member or members of the DIS community. But, you go on and keep thinking that, just like you inititally thought it was going to be a piece of material put around the neck of a dog

 

[dadddio]

I'm pretty sure the magic band wasn't created by any member or members of the DIS community. But, you go on and keep thinking that, just like you inititally thought it was going to be a piece of material put around the neck of a dog

I'm pretty sure that most everyone took the thread title as hyperbole.

 

[Birdman1511]

I'm pretty sure that most everyone took the thread title as hyperbole.

i was being sarcastic

 

[dadddio]

i was being sarcastic

Sarcasm and comedy. Both are hard to pull off to a wide audience.

 

[Birdman1511]

Sarcasm and comedy. Both are hard to pull off to a wide audience.

and the comedic part is??

 

[dadddio]

and the comedic part is??

I don't know, I didn't get that either

 

[Birdman1511]

I don't know, I didn't get that either

Well you obviously did because you implied that I was trying to be both saracastic and funny

 

[dadddio]

Well you obviously did because you implied that I was trying to be both saracastic and funny

Good grief. No I didn't. You are not being attacked.

 

[Planogirl]

A long range RFID receiver would be installed at the bus stop. Every MagicBand within 25 ft would be detected. Simple job for a computer to track how many guests have been waiting, and for how long. As buses arrive, they can be directed to the stops with the most waiting/longest waiting guests. I think Disney may do this manually with spotters at the parks. But this could automate dispatch.

I do not recall any announcement that Disney is contimplating this.

They do this manually with CM's at the resorts too or at least they did so at ours. It works OK SOME of the time. The CM can radio consistently for a certain bus but the bus still has to be dispatched which sometimes still required a long wait. I would guess that the same would be true of a receiver plus it wouldn't have that personal touch that a sympathetic CM can have.

I hadn't heard anything about this until now either.

 

[Birdman1511]

Good grief. No I didn't. You are not being attacked.

I wasnt trying to stir up a debate with you on "who said what"..i sincerely apologize if it seemed that way and meant no offense or disrespect.

but i rarely get involved in these type of threads on these boards bc i think most of the arguments are pointless and ridiculous..but in this case, I know several people, family members and close friends, who are working their tails off, putting in so many extra hours, going through a lot stress and panic, spending less time with their families, losing a ton of sleep, all to try and create a more fun and efficient way for people to try and experience Disney. and when people get on here and criticize it prematuerly(not just on this thread but others as well), without even experiencing it to it's fullest, it pretty much ticks me off. it's almost like a food critic writing a bad review on a restaurant he/she hasn't eaten at yet, based on his own personal prediciton, without taking in consideration the hard work people put into creating it...so, im sorry that im not sorry, in this case i'm backing up Disney.

 

[Luvchefmic]

I wasnt trying to stir up a debate with you on "who said what"..i sincerely apologize if it seemed that way and meant no offense or disrespect.

but i rarely get involved in these type of threads on these boards bc i think most of the arguments are pointless and ridiculous..but in this case, I know several people, family members and close friends, who are working their tails off, putting in so many extra hours, going through a lot stress and panic, spending less time with their families, losing a ton of sleep, all to try and create a more fun and efficient way for people to try and experience Disney. and when people get on here and criticize it prematuerly(not just on this thread but others as well), without even experiencing it to it's fullest, it pretty much ticks me off. it's almost like a food critic writing a bad review on a restaurant he/she hasn't eaten at yet, based on his own personal prediciton, without taking in consideration the hard work people put into creating it...so, im sorry that im not sorry, in this case i'm backing up Disney.

Beautifully said If only it would end all of this already

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I wasnt trying to stir up a debate with you on "who said what"..i sincerely apologize if it seemed that way and meant no offense or disrespect.

but i rarely get involved in these type of threads on these boards bc i think most of the arguments are pointless and ridiculous..but in this case, I know several people, family members and close friends, who are working their tails off, putting in so many extra hours, going through a lot stress and panic, spending less time with their families, losing a ton of sleep, all to try and create a more fun and efficient way for people to try and experience Disney. and when people get on here and criticize it prematuerly(not just on this thread but others as well), without even experiencing it to it's fullest, it pretty much ticks me off. it's almost like a food critic writing a bad review on a restaurant he/she hasn't eaten at yet, based on his own personal prediciton, without taking in consideration the hard work people put into creating it...so, im sorry that im not sorry, in this case i'm backing up Disney.

Beautifully said If only it would end all of this already

Please understand that I am not posting this to be mean, snarky and/or disrespectful!!

But you know what would "end" all of this (or at least SOME of it)?? Some more definitive answers from Disney about it, how it will work and when it will start.

That would end quite a bit of speculating, what if-ing and trying to read between the lines of a very long and complex legal document (the T&C).

I'm not saying it would stop discussions and ensuing criticism but at least we would know what we are actually dealing with rather than speculating what we think we will be dealing with.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Please understand that I am not posting this to be mean, snarky and/or disrespectful!!

But you know what would "end" all of this (or at least SOME of it)?? Some more definitive answers from Disney about it, how it will work and when it will start.

That would end quite a bit of speculating, what if-ing and trying to read between the lines of a very long and complex legal document (the T&C).

I'm not saying it would stop discussions and ensuing criticism but at least we would know what we are actually dealing with rather than speculating what we think we will be dealing with.

Don't get me wrong discussion is good but all of this is an exercise in futility
the whole new system is a work in progress It won't be implemented fully anytime soon
Annything is subject to change that was, and continues to be the official word from the Disney Co (per Tom Staggs) he said guest feedback appreciated
None of this is my opinion its from the official Disney Blog

All this stressing guessing predicting gets us nothing except a lot of threads saying the same thing over and over Are there certain things about magicbands FP+ etc that I'm not crazy about of course BUT I'm nit going to lose sleep over it
When all is said & down the decision to contnue to patronize WD parks will be an individual one For me I will ALWAYS go no matter

I know its hard not to speculate but I think what is called for is patience

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

But you know what would "end" all of this (or at least SOME of it)?? Some more definitive answers from Disney about it, how it will work and when it will start... I'm not saying it would stop discussions and ensuing criticism but at least we would know what we are actually dealing with rather than speculating what we think we will be dealing with.

Just one problem: this is not how major corporations generally roll out a big initiative! They don't make the announcement accompanied with a detailed how-to-navigate manual! This is marketing -- first, get people excited. And outside of some places in online boards, sounds like people are (and even some of us on here still manage to be a tad excited!).

Then they continue with latter testing phases, continue to incorporate feedback and make changes, etc. Then the wider roll-out accompanied by more details.

They're not trying to make our lives difficult. Why would they?? THAT makes no sense at all! They're trying to introduce a new major "product" in a way that most companies do.

Oh, and there is NOTHING Disney could do that would stop the premature doomsday stuff on these boards -- I think we agree there...?

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Just one problem: this is not how major corporations generally roll out a big initiative! They don't make the announcement accompanied with a detailed how-to-navigate manual! This is marketing -- first, get people excited. And outside of some places in online boards, sounds like people are (and even some of us on here still manage to be a tad excited!).

Then they continue with latter testing phases, continue to incorporate feedback and make changes, etc. Then the wider roll-out accompanied by more details.

They're not trying to make our lives difficult. Why would they?? THAT makes no sense at all! They're trying to introduce a new major "product" in a way that most companies do.

Oh, and there is NOTHING Disney could do that would stop the premature doomsday stuff on these boards -- I think we agree there...?

Absolutely!

But, I guess I am not seeing the doomsday on the other thread. I am thinking of it more as a lively, sometimes heated, discussions of what may happen. In life there are pessimists and optimists. There are also people who can never see the other's point of view no matter how much you want them to. Such is life...

Anyway, I certainly don't want to carry that discussion to another thread so I won't talk anymore about it here. I just didn't want Birdman1511 to think we are all evil over there because we are over-analyzing his friends' work. Its just that we are all VERY curious as to how it will play out, and for me at least, I just want to know when it will start (for my own "selfish" reasons- eg will it affect MY trip?)

But that is all from me on this thread, since clearly this is one is about the Magic Band. For me, I have no issue with it one way or the other. If its more convenient to wear it vs keeping it on a card then I will wear it. Heck, they will probably get the extra $10 or $15 from me so I can have a pretty one!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Absolutely!

But, I guess I am not seeing the doomsday on the other thread. I am thinking of it more as a lively, sometimes heated, discussions of what may happen. In life there are pessimists and optimists. There are also people who can never see the other's point of view no matter how much you want them to. Such is life...

Anyway, I certainly don't want to carry that discussion to another thread so I won't talk anymore about it here. I just didn't want Birdman1511 to think we are all evil over there because we are over-analyzing his friends' work. Its just that we are all VERY curious as to how it will play out, and for me at least, I just want to know when it will start (for my own "selfish" reasons- eg will it affect MY trip?)

But that is all from me on this thread, since clearly this is one is about the Magic Band. For me, I have no issue with it one way or the other. If its more convenient to wear it vs keeping it on a card then I will wear it. Heck, they will probably get the extra $10 or $15 from me so I can have a pretty one!

I hear ya'! I'm curious for my own selfish reasons, too... and am looking forward to more official info. I'm not thrilled with wearing a band... I don't even wear a watch or any jewelry other than my wedding ring! So it's not all rainbows and pixie dust on my end!

I can imagine how hard the team(s) on this are working, and I sympathize with Birdman1511. And because Disney has a phenomenal track record in my book, and hasn't really "done our family wrong" before, I'm cautiously optimistic. And I'm usually the realist (read: pessimist) in the bunch, so go figure!!

 

[larryz]

Don't get me wrong discussion is good but all of this is an exercise in futility
the whole new system is a work in progress It won't be implemented fully anytime soon
Annything is subject to change that was, and continues to be the official word from the Disney Co (per Tom Staggs) he said guest feedback appreciated

Disney's bringing it all on themselves. If they'd release some information, there'd be a lot less speculation (and by extension, would reduce your stress level over some of it). It's not like we're entitled to it or anything... After all, people plan their trips a year or more out, and it's hard to plan if you don't even know what the FP system will be like in 5 or 6 months down the road...