Very impressed with IT on Disney web site!!!

[g8torphan]

Looks like the PR folks are alive and well.

Looks to me like the Universal sales team has arrived

 

[teddygurl28]

Does anyone ever wish there was a "Don't like" button on these boards? I was hoping some of the negativity had slacked with people on vacation and it starting to get warmer in colder climates. I guess not. Technology is here to stay. I remember when people complained about bad phone waits. There's always something. Maybe we should look at the progress that has been made, which is amazingly fabulous. I am always surprised any of it works, but I work on tiny things made of sand that make all of this go. Soon we will have to worry about whether the sand really exists here or there (Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle).

I forgot about the posts of phone waits being outrageous for dining and pin codes...haha..its true, if its not one thing making people unhappy its another....trust me I was in the frustrated bucket when my oh so dear husband went and screwed up the accounts online but a helpful it person got it squared away...plus I always remember the person im talking with in IT really has nothing to do with the problems with the system- chances are they are not the specific person that wrote the codes to run everything

 

[Disneylover99]

Does anyone ever wish there was a "Don't like" button on these boards? I was hoping some of the negativity had slacked with people on vacation and it starting to get warmer in colder climates. I guess not. Technology is here to stay. I remember when people complained about bad phone waits. There's always something. Maybe we should look at the progress that has been made, which is amazingly fabulous. I am always surprised any of it works, but I work on tiny things made of sand that make all of this go. Soon we will have to worry about whether the sand really exists here or there (Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle).

I don't have a problem with technology. But it is a problem when IT can't fix your problem because they don't know how. That's not progress.

 

[bumbershoot]

I totally messed up my Disney Experience. I had made 2 resorts, increasing from 1 room to 2, putting wrong names in the rooms, signing in with a nickname, linking my ticket to that and nothing was linked to my reservations!

So...one wonders if those errors would have been made with a better website. You were pleased with the tech support person that helped you, not really with the disney website or the IT involved in making it. But could those errors have been made with a less buggy site? I doubt it.

I am aware this isn't a popular opinion, but Disney has managed to merge multiple incredibly complex system into one platform.

There was no reason for them to do so, though. FP+ was needed by no one. One could already charge back to the room. The concept of the MB being the only thing you need has been proven absolutely positively wrong. They aren't even making the MB chargeable without a room reservation, which would be terrific for many people who stay offsite (just hook that band up to the CC, not to the ROOM, and it's done).

I feel that they took a look, back in '11, at all the various sites that had popped up to help us plan. Spreadsheets, is the dining plan worth it, how long until I can make my ADRs, etc, and they got jealous. They felt that those things should be done with them. And they set out to make it. Much like Disney looked at all the hotels and restaurants that sprung up around Disneyland and decided to not let that happen in Orlando (so he used other people to buy the land for cheap cheap cheap instead of manning up and using his own name to buy it at the cost his name would have gotten) (from The Mouse That Roared, small but good book I read years ago). Same idea. They wanted that web traffic. And they've done an awful job. Right now we're just glad for anything that vaguely works...but there was never a reason to do it from a customers' point of view at all.

And if they are, what WDC has done with MDE by linking accommodations, dining, tickets, and ride reservation DB's pales in both scope and capabilities.

Agreed.

And at least one of those sites doesn't work on a LIVE website. It's why that particular company has had, as far as I recall, ONE outage since it started in the 90s. And it wasn't the fault of a faulty rollout. They work on a non-live site, make everything perfect, and as things are PERFECT they roll it on out.

I remember when people complained about bad phone waits.

There are still complaints about long phone waits. And part of the reason is because of the bad site.

 

[g8torphan]

And they've done an awful job. Right now we're just glad for anything that vaguely works...

Thats just not true.
Not even close.
The vast majority of visitors experience no issues and like the ability to plan some big things in advance.
And its working wonders, attendance is up, revenue is up, exposure is up.
There is an excitment about WDW that didnt exist in the earlier part of the decade.


The sky is not falling.

 

[Ambear]

Does anyone ever wish there was a "Don't like" button on these boards? I was hoping some of the negativity had slacked with people on vacation and it starting to get warmer in colder climates. I guess not. Technology is here to stay. I remember when people complained about bad phone waits. There's always something. Maybe we should look at the progress that has been made, which is amazingly fabulous. I am always surprised any of it works, but I work on tiny things made of sand that make all of this go. Soon we will have to worry about whether the sand really exists here or there (Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle).

There are a lot of people who don't like IT for the pure reason that they just don't understand it. It's confusing to me why some would criticize a job they don't even understand or practice. I get frustrated with my mechanic when they don't fix the problem as quickly as I like and then I remember I know nothing about cars. And I shut up and let them do their job.

I definitely wish there was a dislike button but I know it would be abused by certain members. So I just ignore them.

 

[Disneylover99]

There are a lot of people who don't like IT for the pure reason that they just don't understand it. It's confusing to me why some would criticize a job they don't even understand or practice. I get frustrated with my mechanic when they don't fix the problem as quickly as I like and then I remember I know nothing about cars. And I shut up and let them do their job.

But what if they can't fix your car for something seemingly easy, but they can fix everyone else's car who experiences the exact same problem. How would you feel then?

 

[Ambear]

But what if they can't fix your car for something seemingly easy, but they can fix everyone else's car who experiences the exact same problem. How would you feel then?

Why does no one understand analogies are imperfect and can't account for every situation but get the general idea across? I don't even know how to answer this because this isn't even what IT does. I guarantee you IT does try to fix everyone's problems and are not out to be horrible monsters who ruin your experiences.

 

[Disneylover99]

Why does no one understand analogies are imperfect and can't account for every situation but get the general idea across? I don't even know how to answer this because this isn't even what IT does. I guarantee you IT does try to fix everyone's problems and are not out to be horrible monsters who ruin your experiences.

IT doesn't try to fix your problems? Or you wouldn't be upset if your mechanic couldn't fix your car? Did somebody call IT horrible monsters?

If you have a seemingly simple problem, you should expect it to be fixed. It's that simple. If it can't be fixed, then that's a problem.

 

[Alfalfa]

Has the fact been lost that we are talking about calling an IT technical support help desk for a THEME PARK?

 

[Disneylover99]

Has the fact been lost that we are talking about calling an IT technical support help desk for a THEME PARK?

I know. Crazy right?

 

[Ambear]

IT doesn't try to fix your problems? Or you wouldn't be upset if your mechanic couldn't fix your car? Did somebody call IT horrible monsters?

If you have a seemingly simple problem, you should expect it to be fixed. It's that simple. If it can't be fixed, then that's a problem.

Soooo... Pretty sure you were trying to say that IT doesn't fix your problems by expanding on the car analogy. But now it seems you just want to talk about mechanics. I've lost you completely then sorry... Not sure what else there would be to say to this.

 

[Disneylover99]

Soooo... Pretty sure you were trying to say that IT doesn't fix your problems by expanding on the car analogy. But now it seems you just want to talk about mechanics. I've lost you completely then sorry... Not sure what else there would be to say to this.

My point is........I understand that IT tries to fix your problem, but wouldn't you be frustrated and upset to be told by IT that they don't know how to fix your problem?

 

[TheDisGuy]

Yeah, I think every software developer can sympathize with buggy release rollouts

As much as I griped about the website last year, the CMs on the phone were extremely helpful.

I have found the CM Tech support people very helpful, but have also had them complain to me on the phone about some of the problems in the system. Have also been contacted afterwards by the Tech Development team, who asked me some specific questions about an issue we had, which is great, they are working on the system and trying to resolve even some of the more rare issues people have. And they even gave me a couple FPs for my time, all in all that is the good side here.

However, This isn't a buggy "roll out" this isn't anywhere near their "Go Live" day. This system was in development for years, has been "rolling out" and in testing for a couple years now.

That simply isn't an excuse.

As someone else with a background in IT. I get the excuses, but that's really all they are, excuses. I get the sympathizing with the complexity of the system, but that's the job, that's what WDW has been spending massive amounts of money on. Either you get it done, or you shouldn't be doing it.

IF disney's in house IT can't handle this, bring in someone else, several companies that anyone in IT can point to that could do this easily.

The complexity of this system compared to something like Amazon, or Ebay, or Facebook, or paypal, or Google, or umpteen companies, is really small potatoes.

The fact that a multi-billion dollar company has so many problem with their IT is pathetic.

And the problem of the 4th FP+ via phone app, simply look above, Again, small potatoes in the grand scheme of multi-billion dollar access systems.

Remember that, the amount spent on this, is BILLIONS, billions, billions. I can't repeat that enough, Billions. (maybe only 2 of the, but still BILLIONS ! )

 

[Ambear]

My point is........I understand that IT tries to fix your problem, but wouldn't you be frustrated and upset to be told by IT that they don't know how to fix your problem?

Yes I would be frustrated. But it's much better in any situation for someone to tell you they don't know how to fix something if they really don't. Not sure why you'd want to be lied to and expect a fix and never get it... And not knowing solutions to certain problems occurs in any profession. But my point was since people don't understand IT they unfairly expect too much... Like tech professionals will be able to magically answer all questions ever. I feel like this conversation is going in circles and I'm not sure what's getting lost here lol...

 

[Ambear]

However, This isn't a buggy "roll out" this isn't anywhere near their "Go Live" day. This system was in development for years, has been "rolling out" and in testing for a couple years now.

The complexity of this system compared to something like Amazon, or Ebay, or Facebook, or paypal, or Google, or umpteen companies, is really small potatoes.

The fact that a multi-billion dollar company has so many problem with their IT is pathetic.

Remember that, the amount spent on this, is BILLIONS, billions, billions. I can't repeat that enough, Billions. (maybe only 2 of the, but still BILLIONS ! )

So as someone familiar with IT I'm not sure why you'd be hung up on a "release date." You'd know that with a system like this there are updates happening behind the scenes all the time to try and improve the system or add/remove features. So there are issues that can happen at any time they do work on the site.

Also not sure why you'd compare wdw website to Google. I highly doubt young awesome tech talent is rushing to work at Disney. Not that there aren't great people there but.. Come on, Google lol?

But if we're speaking about Google, their chrome iPhone app sucks. And they spend billions on their dev team and products. No company is infallible lol.

 

[Disneylover99]

Yes I would be frustrated. But it's much better in any situation for someone to tell you they don't know how to fix something if they really don't. Not sure why you'd want to be lied to and expect a fix and never get it... And not knowing solutions to certain problems occurs in any profession. But my point was since people don't understand IT they unfairly expect too much... Like tech professionals will be able to magically answer all questions ever. I feel like this conversation is going in circles and I'm not sure what's getting lost here lol...

I really don't know why you would even say that. Honestly? I just want a simple problem to be fixed. I'm not expecting too much.

 

[Ambear]

I really don't know why you would even say that. Honestly? I just want a simple problem to be fixed. I'm not expecting too much.

I'm sorry.. I really do appear to be missing something... Maybe I missed a previous post of yours. I definitely understand that you want your problems fixed so I'm sorry someone couldn't do that for you.

 

[mom2rtk]

I actually think someone with no IT background at all is qualified to judge Disney's system. The complexities of what happens behind the curtain should remain behind the curtain.

I don't want to hear "but it's just so big. And so complex". If it's too big..... or too complex...... then don't roll it out.

 

[TheDisGuy]

Thats just not true.
Not even close.
The vast majority of visitors experience no issues and like the ability to plan some big things in advance.
And its working wonders, attendance is up, revenue is up, exposure is up.
There is an excitment about WDW that didnt exist in the earlier part of the decade.

The sky is not falling.

Thats just not true. ------ you actually have no idea if its true, of course they don't really know either
Not even close. -----See Above
The vast majority of visitors experience no issues and like the ability to plan some big things in advance. ----- We have NO idea if this is true, none, zero. No data that supports this. What percentage of visitors are having issues exactly ? What percentage say they like to plan things in advance ???

And its working wonders, attendance is up, revenue is up, exposure is up. ----- Numbers and attendance were up in 2005, and 2006, and 2007. Was that because of FP+ too ? We have NO idea why attendance is up, we have heard that revenue is up due to increased spending per customer though, but we also know prices have gone up quite a bit, exposure is up ? Not sure what this means exactly, if it means they are running commercials sure. But if you are referring to the articles on the internet about FP+, its pretty important to note that a lot of those articles have negative elements about the system.

There is an excitment about WDW that didnt exist in the earlier part of the decade. ----- Ummmm ... Based on their IT system? I really just don't know where you get this from. There was plenty of excitement about WDW throughout the decade and plenty of excitement about FL2, and Frozen, and stuff like that, but I haven't heard anyway saying "I can't wait to go to WDW to use MM+" ... ??? I mean if you have some information about this that we don't, please share it, would be great to see it.