Where is Disney going with Magic Bands?

[robpa]

Guest tracking, moving them faster, interactive experience, and Disney already has seen increased spending because waving a MB doesn't feel like you are spending money.

Offering FP's based on where you are staying is just around the corner and using them to balance attraction attendance is a plus for Disney and Guests.

I expect that Disney will also be able to reduce the number of CM's once the system is fully implemented.

Bill

But then you are removing the customer service if you reduce CM's. A computerized system is never going to operate flawlessly. When a major crash happens(and it will) who is going to help all the guests? You already read how someone's magical experience was marred by the cranky CM. They are cranky because they are working understaffed. Companies always want to remove the one piece of the puzzle that actually does the work to make the company money....... PEOPLE

 

[disneynutz]

But then you are removing the customer service if you reduce CM's. A computerized system is never going to operate flawlessly. When a major crash happens(and it will) who is going to help all the guests? You already read how someone's magical experience was marred by the cranky CM. They are cranky because they are working understaffed. Companies always want to remove the one piece of the puzzle that actually does the work to make the company money....... PEOPLE

Not all CM's but some, MB's are already increasing the speed entering the parks so less lanes will have to be open and manned. FP machines will eventually be phased out so less CM's there. Neither one of these would be considered negative to guests.

Bill

 

[davedmaine]

I think the fastpass+ is just window dressing anyway. They really want to be able to track where you are at any given time and then market whatever they are trying to push to whoever is in that area via your phone.

Your phone buzzes and a message about it being lunch time and why not try a nice smoked turkey leg. The cart is right next to you.

Spot on. Why people are so excited by a wristband is beyond me.

 

[davedmaine]

I will be very surprised if that happens.

The FP+ advance reservations gives managers greater insight into guest habits and traffic patterns well in advance of the operating day. RFID tags could be used to detect operational trends during the actual day. For instance, if they are seeing a higher-than-normal volume of guests in Frontierland at lunch time, they could reassign staff from Cosmic Rays to Pecos Bill's.

But when you send targeted messages which constantly remind guests "we can tell exactly where you are and we're watching!", that's a level of intrusiveness which would prove very off-putting to many.

Overall there will be many subtle ways in which the MagicBands can help reduce Disney's operating costs AND increase revenues. The mere novelty of the touch-to-pay system makes it easier...and even "fun" in the minds of some guests...to make a purchase. In the earnings calls Iger / Staggs have already confirmed that average guest spending increased for those testing the bands.

Disney undeniably has its own motivations for implementing this tech. But that doesn't mean I need to spend a dollar more than I otherwise would. I don't need to buy a Turkey Leg from the stand next to me. I don't need to browse gift shops while waiting for my FP time.

And regardless of Disney's motivations, I have every expectation that my vacations will be improved by these enhancements.

An increase in Disney's profits and an increase in my satisfaction are not mutually exclusive phenomena.

Said like a true apologist. The purpose of the bands is marketing - 100%. The rest is all spin. Keep passing the Kool Aid around. And yes, I know, if I don't like it I don't have to go.

 

[jtwibih]

Exactly, makes it seem like they are hiding something. The problem is people have been accepting whatever Disney does for years now. The parks are still jammed so why should they add attractions or value to your vacation, you will still come anyway ( by you I mean Disney guests in general not YOU jtwibih)

I guess they hooked me too so you kind of ARE talking to me. Just look at my vacation planner below

We have been going every year for the past 9 years and I'll admit that things have started to really fall off the last 3 or so that I've noticed. I just don't understand how Disney invested $1bill on something and not market it at all. I guess it goes back to "what are they up to?" I also don't see how the tiered system they are testing right now in Epcot helps anyone (Disney included). Now you've created longer standby lines because (GET READY!) people are going to ride the rides. I know that sounds crazy to some but just because they aren't the thrill ride masters, it doesn't mean people don't come to ride. So really you are just asking people to skip Epcot or leave early after they hit the top tier ride choice.

I don't mind the MBs. I think everything in one place is a positive but the FP+ makes no sense in it's current state. Hopefully the rollout will make it clearer though I'm not counting on it. I've never seen more confused people over a trip to WDW in my life. Surely that's not the reaction Disney hoped for.

 

[robpa]

Not all CM's but some, MB's are already increasing the speed entering the parks so less lanes will have to be open and manned. FP machines will eventually be phased out so less CM's there. Neither one of these would be considered negative to guests.

Bill

How much money is cutting some CM'S really going to save? I don't know how much a FP machine CM makes but I'm going to guess not a lot. So unless they have an awesome benefits pkg Disney isn't losing much money on them. Plus a good chunk of those CM's are on the college program so they don't even get paid(Do they?) You want to free up money by cutting positions you cut middle management on up. Those are the employees making money.

 

[MichaelaF]

How much money is cutting some CM'S really going to save? I don't know how much a FP machine CM makes but I'm going to guess not a lot. So unless they have an awesome benefits pkg Disney isn't losing much money on them. Plus a good chunk of those CM's are on the college program so they don't even get paid(Do they?) You want to free up money by cutting positions you cut middle management on up. Those are the employees making money.

Considering they are the largest single-location employer in the U.S., with 60,000+ employees, they could stand to save a LOT of cash by reducing even lower-paid CMs. Add the additional $ folks spend with MBs, that adds up. I don't think reducing CMs in the primary goal (I think getting people to spend more IS), but I do think it's a handy by-product. I'm sure that like every corporation, they have people whose full-time job it is to work on efficiency and processes. All of this is a part of that.

I'm sure it will also allow them to cut some of that middle management as well. Craig was saying on the podcast the other week that he had something like 12 managers when he was in CP, some of whom he didn't even personally know. (At Universal he only had 3, all of whom he knew personally.)

College program kids do get paid, it's just that some of their paycheck gets taken out of each check and goes to housing them (from what I understand).

"Vista Waaaaaaaaaaaaay"

 

[robpa]

I guess they hooked me too so you kind of ARE talking to me. Just look at my vacation planner below

We have been going every year for the past 9 years and I'll admit that things have started to really fall off the last 3 or so that I've noticed. I just don't understand how Disney invested $1bill on something and not market it at all. I guess it goes back to "what are they up to?" I also don't see how the tiered system they are testing right now in Epcot helps anyone (Disney included). Now you've created longer standby lines because (GET READY!) people are going to ride the rides. I know that sounds crazy to some but just because they aren't the thrill ride masters, it doesn't mean people don't come to ride. So really you are just asking people to skip Epcot or leave early after they hit the top tier ride choice.

I don't mind the MBs. I think everything in one place is a positive but the FP+ makes no sense in it's current state. Hopefully the rollout will make it clearer though I'm not counting on it. I've never seen more confused people over a trip to WDW in my life. Surely that's not the reaction Disney hoped for.

What reason do most people go to an amusement park for? Yup to ride rides so you are correct about lines getting longer.

I have only been to WDW 4 times, once for my honeymoon , then 3 times with my wife and kids. The first time was awesome, the second time was also fun. Both those times we stayed at Port Orleans. The 3rd time we stayed offsite at vistana village paid a little over $900 for 2 weeks. Would have cost me I believe around $1500 for 1 week at the French Qtr so a no brainer. This was Oct 2010. All three times were Oct. The 2010 trip just wasn't as much fun. The parks were crowded, much more than the previous trips which were in 2004 and 2007.

But I just really felt that Disney wanted nothing to do with those staying offsite. Like we were 2nd class citizens. They were more than happy to take our money then let us in the back door so no one would see us so to speak. After that trip I said I was done with going to Disney and I haven't been back.

Spent the last 2 vacations in your wonderful state of Tn in Nashville and the Smokey Mountains great vacations. Thinking of San Antonio Tx for 2014.

I come back here to see if things have been changing at all @ Disney because I do think its a really cool place. But I guess things have gotten worse not better. Until I feel they are putting the guest ahead of the dollar they won't be seeing any of my dollars. I hope it changes but I have little faith that it will.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Considering they are the largest single-location employer in the U.S., with 60,000+ employees, they could stand to save a LOT of cash by reducing even lower-paid CMs. Add the additional $ folks spend with MBs, that adds up. I don't think reducing CMs in the primary goal (I think getting people to spend more IS), but I do think it's a handy by-product. I'm sure that like every corporation, they have people whose full-time job it is to work on efficiency and processes. All of this is a part of that.

I'm sure it will also allow them to cut some of that middle management as well. Craig was saying on the podcast the other week that he had something like 12 managers when he was in CP, some of whom he didn't even personally know. (At Universal he only had 3, all of whom he knew personally.)

College program kids do get paid, it's just that some of their paycheck gets taken out of each check and goes to housing them (from what I understand).

"Vista Waaaaaaaaaaaaay"

College program is the last to
Go...it's a better deal for Disney

Government subsidies and no benefits...why on earth would they want to eliminate that?

The cost of decontamination at vista way alone would mean they will never shutdown the program...they don't want that Pandora's box to be opened.

Last part is a joke... Sorta

 

[Marvindude]

The point?

If its "poor Disney...we should all be grateful"... I think thought took a left turn somewhere

We'll if you don't like the changes stay home, less people in the park. Most of the people on here will always go to Disney we can't help ourselves.

 

[robpa]

We'll if you don't like the changes stay home, less people in the park. Most of the people on here will always go to Disney we can't help ourselves.

Which is exactly why Disney does not feel the need to put in new attractions. I mean newly designed not repainted and retooled attractions they pass off as new. Oh and meet and greets also. Those aren't attractions. Why spend on park upkeep if tens of thousands will keep on coming anyway?

 

[lockedoutlogic]

We'll if you don't like the changes stay home, less people in the park. Most of the people on here will always go to Disney we can't help ourselves.

And thank you for the textbook "excuse of greed" defense of the Walt Disney company...

You post has been repeated probably 100,000K times here...because it is the only excuse of pure greed and exploitation.
And the free market does not cure all here...not in this case or most (your civics teacher lied to you...shocking)

I think I've paid my dues to Disney and can question them...and make an intelligent choice about how I fund them or don't... I kinda have earned it.
And I don't believe anyone benefits by blind obedience to a business...shouldn't somebody who is thoughtful question and ask the questions?

We disagree. Pretty plain and simple.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Which is exactly why Disney does not feel the need to put in new attractions. I mean newly designed not repainted and retooled attractions they pass off as new. Oh and meet and greets also. Those aren't attractions. Why spend on park upkeep if tens of thousands will keep on coming anyway?

Yeah...that's pretty much it

 

[robpa]

And thank you for the textbook "excuse of greed" defense of the Walt Disney company...

You post has been repeated probably 100,000K times here...because it is the only excuse of pure greed and exploitation.
And the free market does not cure all here...not in this case or most (your civics teacher lied to you...shocking)

I think I've paid my dues to Disney and can question them...and make an intelligent choice about how I fund them or don't... I kinda have earned it.
And I don't believe anyone benefits by blind obedience to a business...shouldn't somebody who is thoughtful question and ask the questions?

We disagree. Pretty plain and simple.

There are quite a few blinded by pixie dust. My last trip was 2010 and have no plans on going back anytime soon, but I'm sure there have been a few hundred who have taken my place so Disney doesn't mind. Although they keep sending me offers in the mail. I must be the right demographic

 

[robpa]

Considering they are the largest single-location employer in the U.S., with 60,000+ employees, they could stand to save a LOT of cash by reducing even lower-paid CMs. Add the additional $ folks spend with MBs, that adds up. I don't think reducing CMs in the primary goal (I think getting people to spend more IS), but I do think it's a handy by-product. I'm sure that like every corporation, they have people whose full-time job it is to work on efficiency and processes. All of this is a part of that.

I'm sure it will also allow them to cut some of that middle management as well. Craig was saying on the podcast the other week that he had something like 12 managers when he was in CP, some of whom he didn't even personally know. (At Universal he only had 3, all of whom he knew personally.)

College program kids do get paid, it's just that some of their paycheck gets taken out of each check and goes to housing them (from what I understand).

"Vista Waaaaaaaaaaaaay"

I wish there was a way to see a breakdown on the employment #s. Who does what and earns what. I just feel that if you keep taking away the people that interact on a daily basis with your customers not much good can come from that. It leads to overworked, tired and irritable employees. This is then the face of your organization. The most important component in any business is the people, or at least it used to be when companies were located and made merchandise in this country. Invest in your employees and you will reap the benefits.

 

[DPCummerbund]

1) I'm not surprised that Disney hasn't marketed the Magic Band system. it's still in test phase, and the program is still in flux. The changes announced today are a good example of that - with no warning, they changed which rides you're allowed to book and when. If they had announced MBs to everybody and hyped it, lots more people would have been upset. I'm sure they'll hype it more when it's good and ready.

2) If attendance is already high and at or near capacity, there's no point in building MORE rides. The parks are already FULL of rides. The only reason to build new ones is to replace old rides that are no longer attracting people. In Disney's ideal world, there would be no Universal or Harry Potter to draw off guests, and they could just keep maintaining the same rides forever. Besides, many of the oldest rides are the best. I'm middle aged, and the best rides in WDW are all older than I am (BTW, the 4 best rides in WDW are BTMRR, SM, HM, and POTC. If you have a different opinion, you are wrong, and I will brook no argument!) So, at this point, if Disney can do something to change or improve the experience for guests and makes them more money than a new ride would, more power to them.

3) The parks are NOT getting more crowded. After a slight decrease during the recession, attendance at most WDW has been up about 2% per year over the last few years. You're simply not going to notice 2% per year. Any perceived difference in crowd levels (especially over the past few years, as some are claiming) is due to something OTHER than overall attendance - such as changes to the yearly schedule, major events, psychological factors, etc.

4) Disney is doing this so you'll spend more time in the restaurants and gift shops. That's the REAL reason for doing this. It's not about "marketing" to you. If it was about marketing, it would be a two-way system, where Disney would be able to communicate its marketing message to you. Magic Bands can't do that. Yes, Disney is tracking you. But it's not tracking you, personally, it's tracking your data. Who cares?

5) If you're in line, you're not spending money. Most people would be happier doing something other than standing in line. So, Disney kills two birds with one stone - they make money, and guests are happy with shorter lines.
However, as a previous poster pointed out, the lines are a form of crowd control. I seriously wonder how much Disney thought about that. It's beginning to be my #1 concern about the FP+ system.

 

[jtwibih]

I see what you are saying but the frustration in the testing phase is why I bring up the marketing thing. I think Disney's investment is large enough where you do need some buy-in from the customer, even if it's a smoke screen to hide their real intentions. I'm not saying I support being deceived by the company I give quite a bit of money to every year. I'm just a little surprised they aren't doing more to get guests excited about this as mentioned previously.
To point #5, I haven't seen reports either way on standby lines that I can give an intelligent opinion. I know things seem to be crazy busy for some reason but that's about all I've read. Most of the complaints have been how crowded it is and how all of the FPs have been reserved and none are left for offsite guests. My point on the new test in Epcot was if you are honestly looking at slotting rides into tiers, this could potentially be a problem. They are just testing right now so nothing is concrete but I can't imagine (in the short term at least) this will result in shorter standby lines unless they increase the number of FPs a guest can have in a day.
As I said before, the MBs make sense and I think they are a great idea. I'm also willing to give FP+ a real chance. Maybe I just don't understand how this will actually affect the logistics of things and will be pleasantly surprised. I have to take a lot of comments on these boards with a grain of salt simply because people naturally report negative info over positive. I'm honestly trying to keep an open mind but I have concerns about what this will do to my experience down the road.

JT

 

[robpa]

1) I'm not surprised that Disney hasn't marketed the Magic Band system. it's still in test phase, and the program is still in flux. The changes announced today are a good example of that - with no warning, they changed which rides you're allowed to book and when. If they had announced MBs to everybody and hyped it, lots more people would have been upset. I'm sure they'll hype it more when it's good and ready.

2) If attendance is already high and at or near capacity, there's no point in building MORE rides. The parks are already FULL of rides. The only reason to build new ones is to replace old rides that are no longer attracting people. In Disney's ideal world, there would be no Universal or Harry Potter to draw off guests, and they could just keep maintaining the same rides forever. Besides, many of the oldest rides are the best. I'm middle aged, and the best rides in WDW are all older than I am (BTW, the 4 best rides in WDW are BTMRR, SM, HM, and POTC. If you have a different opinion, you are wrong, and I will brook no argument!) So, at this point, if Disney can do something to change or improve the experience for guests and makes them more money than a new ride would, more power to them.

3) The parks are NOT getting more crowded. After a slight decrease during the recession, attendance at most WDW has been up about 2% per year over the last few years. You're simply not going to notice 2% per year. Any perceived difference in crowd levels (especially over the past few years, as some are claiming) is due to something OTHER than overall attendance - such as changes to the yearly schedule, major events, psychological factors, etc.

4) Disney is doing this so you'll spend more time in the restaurants and gift shops. That's the REAL reason for doing this. It's not about "marketing" to you. If it was about marketing, it would be a two-way system, where Disney would be able to communicate its marketing message to you. Magic Bands can't do that. Yes, Disney is tracking you. But it's not tracking you, personally, it's tracking your data. Who cares?

5) If you're in line, you're not spending money. Most people would be happier doing something other than standing in line. So, Disney kills two birds with one stone - they make money, and guests are happy with shorter lines.
However, as a previous poster pointed out, the lines are a form of crowd control. I seriously wonder how much Disney thought about that. It's beginning to be my #1 concern about the FP+ system.

I don't know about the last few years since I haven't been since 2010 but 2007 was more crowded than 2003 and 2010 more than 2007. I went during the same time period each time. So maybe some of the the people who would go during other times started deciding to go then, I don't know, but it was harder to navigate the parks and I still have scars from all the strollers that ran me over. So even if the #s don't support it I can tell you there was definitely a noticeable difference in how many people were in the parks.

 

[tjkraz]

Said like a true apologist. The purpose of the bands is marketing - 100%. The rest is all spin. Keep passing the Kool Aid around. And yes, I know, if I don't like it I don't have to go.

So now we're resorting to name-calling. Charming.

I'll simply agree to disagree. There are many other ways in which Disney can benefit besides "marketing." I've already outlined many examples and won't bother to do it again.

If I were to summarize, the simplest way to describe their motivation is "they expect to use MagicBands to make more money." Period. No question.

HOWEVER, that doesn't mean guests' experiences won't improve with the new tech in place. FP+ addresses the items I hated the most about the old FastPass system: having to run around grabbing tickets, uncertainty of return times, need to be at select attractions near park opening to even get a FP. It also introduces scheduled return times for things like Fantasmic & parade viewing and character meets...events which can easily necessitate 60+ minutes of wait time without FP.

I don't think there's anything apologist about pointing out that--no matter what I'm wearing on my wrist--Disney can't force me to buy unwanted Turkey Legs or t-shirts. I still have my own free will, thank you very much.

 

[tjkraz]

I don't know about the last few years since I haven't been since 2010 but 2007 was more crowded than 2003 and 2010 more than 2007. I went during the same time period each time. So maybe some of the the people who would go during other times started deciding to go then, I don't know, but it was harder to navigate the parks and I still have scars from all the strollers that ran me over. So even if the #s don't support it I can tell you there was definitely a noticeable difference in how many people were in the parks.

From 2008 to 2012, Magic Kingdom attendance is up a cumulative 3%, from 17 million to 17.5 million.

Epcot is up less than 2% from 10.9 mil to 11.1 mil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amusement_park_rankings

Crowd balancing has had some impact. Disney has gone to great lengths to bring more people into the parks during slower periods. However, based upon people I've spoken with and information I've read, they have also increased FastPass utilization on many attractions.

When they distribute more FPs, guests aren't spending as much time in the Standby lines. Instead they are crowding the walking paths and pushing strollers. THAT is a big reason why the parks often seem fuller.