The $2,000,000,000 Mistake of MyMagic+
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2023
- MyMagic+, one of Disney World's largest projects would add no shops, no rides, and no lands, but would completely overhaul the guest experience and not necessarily for the better.
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There was a certain period of time where the magic band experience was pretty great and seamless. Well after the launch and when all the initial bugs were fixed. You would build anticipation for your trip by selecting your free/included magic band(s) and getting a nice box in the mail before it was time to go, officially start your vacation by tapping your magic band at the bus area at MCO, get on your Magical Express (your bags were picked up and delivered for you), enter the parks with your band, received a notification on your phone when your room was ready, and tap into your room with your band too. And then they took a bunch of that away or started charging you extra for it. The magic band golden years have passed, sadly.
Yes! That time was wonderful! They really added to the feeling of magic in the parks. Ngl, I also spent more than I intended, but there was a total bill limit as well, so it was fine. Magic bands, and what they added to the experience were one of my favorite things. Sadly, greed will always win in the corporate world.
Sounds more of a golden period then a golden year or years. They really couldn't make it last.
I really liked the customization of the bands. Even though I can't afford to go, I loved walking around Disney Springs and picking out a band and accessories. (I live near Disney. And I used to have an annual pass, but the prices have shot up.)
Sounds like my experience in 2020 (right before the shutdown)
I must have visited during this time. I absolutely loved my experience with MagicBands.
I personally don’t think you should have to look down at your phone to enjoy your time. I really dislike the direction they are going in.
I go to a Theme Park for a real life experience.
I have app games and video games at home.
I look for unique physical experiences, as I work on my phone all day every week, I’d like a break from f***ing screens at a park.
But I guess that’s too much to ask these days…
100% When I went to Disneyland in Paris and LA I don't think I looked at my phone more than 5 times the whole time I was there. It's a real life experience that is meant to take you to a magical otherly world, not keep us glued to our phones/devices.
We heard you! AR glass version incoming!
You don’t have to look at your phone at all if you don’t want to. You can experience Disney the original way - just enjoy the experience.
If you want to plan your day, do it. If not, don’t.
@@wanaan For cast members too! That way they can see individual guests, see which are the "good ones" aka those who stay at more expensive hotels, or buy a lot more things, maybe by a golden glow around them or something and then they can give those guests a more "magical" experience like personalized attention and experiences that they don't give to any one else.
That said, the phone is useful to figure out wait times on rides and which ones you should be aiming for without actually going to said ride to find what the wait time is.
I actually much prefer the old fast pass and magic band to the current phone based system. Much less magical now
You can still use the old magic bands to get into parks and pay for food. You just don’t get the enhanced interactive experiences.
Agree, the old fastpass seemed like a simple and easy to understand way to have a skip the line for people. I know other places like Tivoli Gardens in Denmark, one of Disney Parks & Resorts closest partners, actually introduced a digital queue system on their app that was nearly identical to Disney's original fastpass during the pandemic to avoid crowding in the queue lines.
I like the magicbands, especially when they detect when you got off a ride and they automatically update your account with the latest photos, but other than that and a couple other features its really nothing special, as they vibrate and light up during shows its actually distracting from the show to look down at the magicband, and the waving statues feature is very minimal, I’d like to see something more creative and interactive with the parks on the same level the Universal Studios Harry Potter wands are
The Wands are interactive?
@@zerokool-2058the park has sensors you can't point them at to trigger a gag
Two thoughts.
1. I was actually working for Disney way back in the scenes during this. The technical challenges were daunting, but like in many F500 companies, management often hamstrung a lot of the success that could have been. Many of the features could have been accomplished by small teams with well defined goals instead of large teams with abstract goals.
2. I have been to the Disney parks countless time since they implemented this. I would have probably gone a total of once or maybe twice before this. The main feature that made this happen is the 3 ride guarantee. Since they've done away with that, I've been once and don't have any plans to return.
Nothing points to the idea of improving the guest experience. Everything pointed to improving data capture, increasing incremental revenue, and maximizing shareholder value.
“Enshitification” is practically an inevitability with our current eternal growth valuation models
Honestly the system as it is now is much better for me than it was as a kid. I remember standing in line a lot more in my younger years. I went earlier this year and the ability to plan and schedule rides meant the line times were super minimal in a day. over 3-4 days we got to hit everything we wanted to do with time to spare for universal as well. The problem was that it is so ridiculously expensive and many aspects were felt like you were being nickel and dimed, but that is the game they are running now if your time and comfort is more valuable.
@@dlevI hope in my heart of hearts that one day the tipping point will come and corporations realize that happy customers spend more (and happy workers work harder), but in my brain of brains I know that as long as they have millionaires dropping huge amounts of money on four yearly full-package-and-then-some vacations, none of us small fish matter enough to care about.
Praise be your knowledge
@@kilbert666 we are on the same page, brother
We recently helped our adult children take our grandkids to Disney World. We wanted them to have the Disney experience that we both treasured from our childhoods. We sprang for the works, hotel, character breakfasts, Genie+, etc. The bottom line, for 2 parents and 2 kids, came close to $10,000! I was in shock, but fortunately, we can afford it. I don't know how, these days, middle class families could afford a Disney vacation, without taking out a loan. I hope the kids enjoyed it, because this will be a one-and-done for us.
That is bonkers!
Thank you sooooo much for doing that. Im a single father with a 12 year old daughter and growing up we lived less then 4 hours away from Disneyland and I know that my 2 parents took 3 kids a handful of times before I was even 15. At this point I live in Texas and im quite literally as far as you can be from both Disneyland and Disney world. Long story short I basically knew that I would never be able to take my daughter in her youth to have that experience like I did....now the good news. For 2 years in 2020 and 2022 I was a personal assistant for an elderly woman and basically helped her out almost 7 days a week and in January 2022 she planned a trip to disneyworld for herself my daughter and my self for 11 days staying at the Grand Floridian. I dont work for her anymore but ill never be able to thank her enough for giving that experience to my daughter(also to me. I had never been to Disney WORLD).
So from someone who sympathizes with why you helped your family out I just want to say Thank You.
A lot of the cost has to do with what resort you stay in.
The Value resorts - POP Century, Art of Animation, the three All-Stars - are significantly less expensive than a Deluxe, or even most Moderate, resorts. And staying off-site can be even _less_ costly (though it does mean accounting for transportation, parking, and time spent on both).
I stayed for 7d/6n this January (2023), on a solo trip. Preferred room at POP Century, park tickets, memory maker, MagicBand+, and travel insurance all together came to $2,150. Adding three more tickets would have at most doubled that.
The real killer, honestly, was airfare, and food. (Well, that and I treated my family - 4 adults, and three kids, aged 10, 5, and 2 - to a day in the Magic Kingdom; those park tickets alone cost a hair over $900 ..!! And our dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern was $350, including the tip.)
Simple answer, they can't, unless they live within driving distance.
God bless you.
Instead of Disney treating us like guests, I believe a more apt word would be "Rube" or "sucker". My family and I previously took many trips there. We recently thought about taking a vacation there and were surprised to find that it would be cheaper to spend a week in London.
I don't believe that anyone wants to spend precious vacation time staring at their phone
Arguably you’ve gone from guest to consumer. Admittedly guests were always consumers but deff more apparent now
Did you ever consider the 3rd world slave labor necessary for your entertainment and merch you buy? You expect dignity because you’re paying when you yourself don’t give a single fk about how supporting a mega corporation affects children elsewhere. Cry me a river, boo hoo capitalism didn’t pay off for the small fry. Shocking.
I think the system has been a great success for Disney. It has allowed them to extract more money from guests for the same stuff faster than ever!
I was a travel agent when this was all starting, people were very excited. I was too, it seemed almost like magic that your bracelet could open a door or pay for something.
those days are over! @@DJFuzzboy
they are more interested in the data they can collect from this system, obviously. not mentioned in this video. the data is valuable, shows where guests are at all times (the rfid pinging off different rfid gates hidden everywhere in the park), what and how they spend their money, how long they wait for rides on average, when they enter and leave the park, etc etc
I mean they can, it just doesnt make it ethical or even good financially in the long run. We already know how their profit maximization has destroyed their consumer reputation and diminished their customer base since many now cant even afford it. And thats on top of the general population across the US becoming poorer and poorer year after year with wealth inequality on the rise.
Although I used to really love the Disney parks, this love has increasingly disappeared over the years and has been replaced by a frustrating reality: the love is not mutual! All Disney cares about is money! Where I used to think I was going to a magical land full of fun, today I find myself entering a huge store with an attraction here and there to keep me in that store. And even in addition to the high prices of entrance tickets, there is an increasing need to pay extra to be able to do something effectively. Everything that used to be available in services to give a "guest" a great experience; is today a paying service to a "customer". And you only get better service as you become a bigger customer. Which actually means that the service is poor. The food comes from large industrial producers, the merchandise from cheap companies... all about profit optimization. The "guest" has disappeared, the "customer" is stripped naked.
Yes. Disney makes us love them, but they don't love us back. And the more they put up paywalls and economically segment their customers, the more inescapably obvious it becomes.
100%
true i do agree but the nostalgia and the rides to your favorite universes are still there
Disney has always been about selling stuff. Ultimately, it’s your choice how you interact. You don’t have to enter a store (except those at the end of an attraction) or buy a popcorn bucket. You don’t have to buy lightning lane. You don’t have to Mobile Order.
Just go and enjoy.
It just feels like their strategy now is to nickel and dime people. I know they announced they are going to invest 60 billion to the parks. But everything before just felt cheap compared to what disney used to be. And i hate having to be glued to your phone to do anything at the parks now.
11:11 A little push back: magic bands cost more to make than a paper ticket. However, magicbands where not free to guest after the first year. People rather families swoop them up for a pretty penny for what they actually cost to make.
I did enjoy the magicband; they should have kept them simplistic though.
I got yelled at a few weeks ago by a castmember for using my phone and not scanning my magic band in the lightning lane line. I was wearing an Apple Watch.
In 2015 we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and I turned down my free MagicBand because I'd always used the room key as a pass and didn't see the benefit. The front desk people couldn't explain what the MagicBand did either, aside from "opening your room door", park entry, and charging purchases back to the room.
"So just like a regular room key card?"
"Uh... yes."
"I want a card, please."
And the other people in my party got MagicBands. Which, as our trip progressed, were proven as useful as my room key card. At the time I figured they were still building out the system and eventually the MagicBands would have some beneficial use cases.
it saves me from digging in my bag to get my card out, and i personally think some of them are cute. to each their own, im honestly glad they’re not totally necessary because not everybody likes them :)
@@nanananananananana00 Similar. I don't want to be digging around for me card key. I don't want to use my phone to unlock the door, etc. because I need two hands to unlock the phone and I'm usually carrying stuff. So much easier with a MB; at least at WDW. OTOH, we recently went to DLR and I saw no need to get a MB; there's far less integration there and the bands won't even unlock your door.
Wow I’m so impressed, you’re a genius 🙄
My family was asked to beta test magic bands before they were widely available. It was exciting, and they really listened to my input. They even called me back to get more information and clarification on my feedback, so I was looking forward to this new experience from Disney. That being said, it seems to be falling short. There's so much missing. For example, why does an annual passholdee need to show a ticket to get a discount after paying with the magic band? Disney can do better and should. They owe it to the guest who come back year after year.
The fact that you continue to come back year after year signals to the shareholders that they don't need to invest anything more in you, unfortunately.
@jeffs1571 fair point. And yet, I keep going back. Ugh.
Friction. It is one extra step that a percent will not be willing to take just to get the discount.
My fam was planning a disney world trip like we do every few years (disney credit card so we save up like thousands of disney dollars then use them for the vacay) BUT my mom got sooooo stressed planning the vacation with all the new rules/stipulations/hoops to jump through/and micro-planning that we just straight up cancalled the trip and have no plans to go back anytime soon. might do a disney cruise but that's it.
Go to Universal! Better experience for your money if your family enjoys thrill rides
I remember what a nightmare it was as systems switched over. So many issues at the front desks of hotels and more. But now that it’s done I think it’s ok. I hate you have to plan every second of your day now and then plan what you wanna eat 180 days before you go down. I heard the magic band made a ton of money like a lot because it was like credit cards you aren’t tracking how much you are spending.
Then it's not an improvement...
You can only book dining 60 days out, not 180 days now. PLanning wasn't bad when you got limitied to 3 FP+ per day, and then could get more after you used those. The same day GENIE+ is abysmal. Plus having to get up AT THE CRACK OF DAWN to get into a virtual queue.
Yeah, it completely removes the impulsive escapism that theme parks like the Disney World parks used to master in the past.
Went to DW for the first time in 2015 (for my 50th birthday). The Magic Band and Magical Express were the number one reasons I chose-to stay on property. I literally entered the parks each day with NOTHING in my pockets -- no phone, no wallet, no keys, no tickets. It was heaven! A complete escape from the stresses of the outside world. Now that they've all but abandoned those services I very much doubt I'll stay on property again if I ever go back.
No wallet (or purse). This alone makes it all worthwhile. ok, I brought my phone. :)
We were selected as a 'test family' the year before the public launch....it went great! No issues getting on the magic bus, checking in, dining or even getting through fast passes. The trip was gloriously efficient and only got better was the years went on. Bums me out that they've reversed a program that was so solid. Alas. Wish they'd put the 'Disney' back into Disney.
Magic bands are also used on the cruise ships to track the kids in the Kids clubs.
I really liked the bands when we went 4 years ago. I'm always worried about forgetting/dropping my wallet or keys when on vacation, so having everything on your wrist was very handy. And however the fast pass system worked at the time, it was awesome. You were able to pick new rides after you've used up your original ones. My girlfriend and I would mash the refresh button on the app and get a new fast pass every hour or so. Didn't have to stand in too many lines.
I believe an over reliance on technology is hurting the joy of theme parks. The requirement to have a cellphone , particularly a smartphone model , is part of the reason i suggested Six Flags for the next vacation.
Some of the things Disney did in the 1990's worked just fine , and would probably still work if given the chance.
Everything that disney is doing with spending , so far , seems to ignore the fact they need a new theme park , somewhere in the center of america.
It’s no surprise that if you are choosing not to get with the times you feel left behind. Buy a smartphone and learn how to use it
Magic band greatly improved the experience. Even if apple watches are taking over now, the systems put in place are still being used by those watches or phones. Did it reach full potential no, but it was a system that did set Disney apart.
Personally, my family and I really enjoyed them. We still paid for things with cards but if we needed to while split up, it was useful. And pre-planning was just a part of the lead up till we went there. I hate the new reservation system with a passion though!
Same! We used them during my high school band trip and it was so seamless. Booking the fastpasses was always so fun too. Can’t believe they’re charging so much for every little thing now
When I went to Disney for the first time in August 2013, I think select resorts were experimenting with them (Port Orleans Riverside, where my family stayed, wasn't one of them). In December 2014, the music department did a Florida trip and everyone got stuck with dull grey Magic Bands that we received at the All Star Movies Resort and we still spent a day at USO because that's where the Jazzband got a gig.
I also have an old Simba plush from somewhere IDK and it wears one of the two I ended up with like a collar-the other is on a rabbit plush of similar age
I would rather go to USO
You "got stuck" with the default one because you did not pick another one beforehand.
@@vincent412l7 well we had no chance to for one, being a large group trip
You’re looking pretty healthy. Congrats on that.
I miss the days of easy going park experience, just show up and have fun. Now you have to be on your app weeks ahead of time at a specific time to make sure you get one of the fun restaurants. It's not an escape any more it's more hectic than reality now.
Demand is higher than it was 20 years ago.
I conceptually really like magic bands and wished the idea had been fully explored
5 years ago our visit to Walt Disney World was amazing, party because of this amazing Magic Band experience!
3 rides per day which youbcould do without long waiting, a note that your room was ready, the magcial sound of the bliep of the scanners, onrude photos which where automatically added to your account, beautiful
Thank you for not stretching this into a 40+ minute video essay
Yes. Nothing more annoying than, “Before we talk about the Magic Band, let’s explore the history of the park…”
There are definitely some cool things out there with the new bands+. THe Bounty hunter experience in galaxies edge. the tapping your wrist when you are near a 50th anniversary gold statue, and when used with the play Disney app gives you little AR experiences when you wave at the statues. plus the syncing with fireworks.
Omg….last summer my father paid for my 3 boys and I a trip to Disneyworld! It was so nice, he got us first class plane tickets, we stayed in the VIP Section at The Contemporary Resort- it was great!
Except- I had already been having problems with my phone for a few months prior. Even though we had the Genie Plus and Lightening passes, it was absolutely AWFUL planning the day the night before. Or sometimes we couldn’t even sign up for a ride’s time spot due to my phone being so slow.
It really caused me a lot of anxiety during our trip, because my dad did so much for us, and I got so aggravated at times. We spent one day at each park, and NEVER explored 1 full park. Riding rides OR just exploring. SMH.
I would agree that in this day and age the magic bands are obsolete. Everyone enters the park with a cell phone or at least one group in the family has one and they do all the same functions for paying for things without cash to getting you into the park with your tickets. They could have saved 3 billion dollars and just waited a few years for people's pocket technology to offer what they spent trying to make it happen sooner. It's funny that I saw this video just now as I literally threw out my old magic bands as I'm getting ready to move soon. Came across them in the closet and I said well this is over.
I just wanted my park pass to be a plastic card and my fast passes to be printed in front of the ride...
Dom the host with the MOST!! Great breakdown and history lesson. I was a pretty big blog reader at the time, and the articles over the years of development and protracted launch were……entertaining. I miss the simplicity of the old Paper Fastpass, but wish they would just get rid of the whole second queue systems which inflates the wait times of the standby queue.
I'll admit I like Magicbands mostly for the designs, but I do appreciate being able to link my credit card to the band for payments (although it took forever for them to actually enable this rather than just charging everything to the room.) The power-up bands from Nintendo world arguably offer a more interactive experience, but they don't have a payment capability and they really only work in one section of the park, while Magicbands work everywhere including hotels (I also enjoy not having to worry about a separate room key.)
That being said, Disney has a habit of implementing technology before it's ready and guests are left to deal with the consequences. I'm remembering the disastrous rollout of Genie+ specifically.
I haven't used the bands in the parks before but the family and I did just do our first Disney cruise with them. The biggest benefit to me as a parent is that when my child is in their play area on the boat, Disney staff know their exact location (similar to the Be Our Guest restaurant). It also allows guest services to know if my child as any special needs, dietary restrictions, preferences, etc... Also during certain performances on the boat the bands would light up or make sounds which they loved.
My only trip to Disney was a day trip i took on a whim while in Orlando in February 2020 before The Incident began, and while I paid a lot of attention to my phone while there it was worth it due to having succeeded in cheesing the FastPass system that i got to go on every ride once, Thunder Mountain twice and Space Mountain three times while onky having to wait in line a handful of times.
3 times Space Mountain which is the most fun fair attraction ever to be found in a themepark.
What a horrible experience that was. And you went in 3 times? WHY?
Just wanna give you a shoutout as a fellow person who refers to huge things as The Incident (though I used that for the World Trade Center's destruction, personally)
@@Dr.Quarex It'd my favourite euphemism for it
I generally agree that it didn't live up to its expectations, especially given the price tag. And way too much of the experience now relies on being in your phone all day. There were at least two other attractions that made (really simple) use of the long range tech.
For a while It's a small world had screens in the ending scene that would say goodbye to the people in the boat.
In the final queue room for expedition everest, there are some screens showing advertisements and reviews. The names are the people in that area of the queue.
I never understood the "people will spend more" rationale because they had already been using Key to the World cards with charging functionality for years. But I guess the wrist band was even less friction in the purchase experience.
idk i love love love disneys app. it’s not perfect but i go to busch gardens and universal and it’s so much more tedious and exhausting to get my disability passes, adds thousands of steps and a ton of time wasted to walk to each ride multiple times and get a sign off. i love mobile ordering food, i love that it’s constantly accessible, i love that my phone can be my wallet, and my ticket, and my itinerary, and my hotel key. i love how quickly and easily you get your ride photos. i’m personally a huge fan, i never use the games because i’m too involved at the parks but my lord i wish universal and busch gardens would follow suit.
They need to go back to the original fast pass and ditch everything else…. Go to a kiosk at the ride. Get a time and come back. It’s too complicated now
Love magicbands, phone battery doesn't last a day. They were stupid to not push them further
I really enjoy magic bands, they massively simplify the experience. They should make them cheaper though, if they cost $5 to make, they should sell the basic ones for like $6, and most of the premium ones for $10-15. I also think that broadly they need to shift to a model where they remove ALL physical line-up queues, and replace them with more open areas filled with seating where people can just take a load off, and virtual queues instead. You could only virtual queue for one line at a time, just as you can only stand in one line at a time, but you wouldn't be forced to death-march on your feet from one end to another, you could just find a place to relax and do so.
The one thing I loved about Disney was the fact that I could leave my phone in my room and get completely away. I hate that I can’t do that. I used to go 5-6 times a year from Italy but now I go 2-3 because it’s not the same. The newest bands are a big joke to me because I was at the parks during the launch. And I was offered to buy the new Disney band and declined. I ended up standing near another group from afar and watched them wave their hands in front of the statues to hear a sound and I rolled my eyes. The fire works show is the same thing, just stand near someone with it and you can get the experience. So not only am I not buying a magic band, but I’m also not going to the parks as much.
Super Nintendo world uses bands quite a bit and I have not heard to many complaints about it ruining the experience. In fact I hear quite the opposite. So I definitely agree with Disney about trying to integrate them. But I feel that the integration of the bands in Disney tried to cover to many things and provide to little. And although Nintendo world was built with bands in mind, Universal has not tried to expand the system past that. Whatever happens, bands will definitely become a bigger part of the theme park experience.
Volcano Bay also uses bands, but that also was built with them in mind as a universal virtual queue system to keep people in the pools and stalls while they wait in line.
The problem isn’t the magic bands, the problem is the app.
Although an even bigger problem for all theme parks is fast pass, it gives the illusion of shorter waits. But longer waits overall than standby only.
The Mario world bands look like they have hefty batteries. And the volcano bay bands are free
Sounds like this was a success. They installed wifi everywhere, they installed all new hotel locks that work with modern tech, they have rfid readers everywhere, they upgraded all their booking systems, have customer tracking analytics throughout the park, live tracking of congestion, digital payment systems, etc.
Maybe their new fastpast sucks, but entire system was needed and is flexible to easily change it to how they want.
This is a good point. Even if the system doesn't really do what they wanted, the infrastructure behind it is highly adaptable to other uses.
This is ultimately my conclusion as well. Many of the customer facing aspects of MyMagic+ didn't succeed - the pre-booked Fast Passes especially turned into a disaster - but what remains of it has worked a lot better, even (sigh) Genie+.
I wish they just had tap booths at every ride and they worked like the old fastpass system 🙃
I used the system in late 2019 and it was a bit of a novelty, but I didn't use it for payments as I had a budget to stick to. The hotel room key was a great feature, but didn't always work first time for me. It did make getting into the parks easy and tapping on a sensor to link a ride photo was great. Similarly the photographers in the parks were easier to make use of. Rides like Star Tours read the band to display my name on a boarding screen which was fun when you noticed, but on closer inspection I felt my home town didn't need to be displayed. On experiencing an in show exit, an extra fastpass was given and the band made it much easier for cast members to issue them.
A mobile phone with WiFi and Bluetooth could achieve the same results though. I preferred the wristband to having a lanyard at Universal last year, but I associate lanyards with work and had an unfortunate experience with a lanyard at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi in 2013. It feels like the team tried to get it to do too much and could have added features in phases.
In 2019 many touch points were looking worn and needed a refresh.
Nice to put a face to a voice. Excellent video, as always. Keep up the great work!
I only started going to Disney parks as they were starting to phase out things. (2017?) I wish I had gotten an original MagicBand but I was never staying on site until this year. Getting out your ticket or fumbling with the phone to get the ticket or room key isn't the best. Also since so many of the ride photos are now linked to having a band or phone with it enabled, I learned too late on my trip that it doesn't work in Low Power Mode. I was very tempted to get a band on this trip but I've also heard horror stories about the new MagicBand+ with needing to be charged often or not working so well.
I like my Magic Band collection. If I'm going to Epcot, I can grab my Epcot Anniversary band or my MK Park map band if going to MK, etc. I like the way they look, and I like not having to pull my phone out to go through a tap point. Having my on ride photos just arrive in the app automatically is great. For the bands that I have that do the special sounds, it's fun. The CMs always get excited too, but they killed that project for some reason. I wish all special edition bands did something special, or if there were special touchpoints on property that only certain bands could interact with. Imagine in front of Pirates, if you have one of the Pirates themed bands, you could tap onto a "hidden" touchpoint and a cannon would fire. Something that everyone could see and hear but unless they had a certain themed band, couldn't do.
Your average vacation guests probably wouldn't have any reason for the special bands, but for AP holders, give them a reason to buy more. Let me attach my Credit Card to the app and let me pay with my band even if I'm not staying on property, because I live 3 miles away. The 50th statues were a start, but they never worked right. The audio was always too quiet and there was nothing visually signaling that it actually triggered. Repaint them, add lighting, improve the speakers, etc. I have my bands, let me do things with them in the parks, and please bring back the special sounds.
Was at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party this past week and didn’t love how much I was required to be on my phone with this current system. I love technology but in it’s current state, things are just too cumbersome and involved.
I lost my magic band on that yeti coaster. The strap doesn't hold too good. They eventually found it weeks later and mailed it to me. Lol.
Where did bought the Disney castle on your library? Thanks
We go to Disney and always stay off property. Only stay in property when we do a short weekend trip.
Friday - Sunday. We found that doing shorter trips around the year was cheaper. We can stay at a cheaper place off property as well as get tickets.
Stay at a hotel near by, get tickets, and pay for the Uber was cheaper than staying on property. Way cheaper.
If _MyMagic+_ was conceived around 2008 and implemented in 2012, part of the cost burden might've been down to Disney running just ahead of the consumer tech at the time - Particularly the invention of the smart watch - And spending lots to develop their own magic bands, rather than simply letting consumer mobile and watch tech catch up in the following years to the point the magic band would simply be a guest-downloadable app. 📲
Rolling out the contactless tech in the parks in 2010 would've been a good start (Half the cost of a 2017 roll-out) and providing guest cards (Cheaper than the bands) for testing and special case purposes would've made for a good soft-start for the system, with full release aligning with the availability of app-controllable RFID on cellphones (and later watches) so that most of the work could've been left to (cheaper) software implementation on the guests own device.
The idea was a great one on the whole...But I think what cost Disney a lot was the fact they were working _just ahead_ of the bleeding-edge, rather than letting it overtake them and then following closely behind. 💸
It took me way to long to realize he was saying “be our guest restaurant” and not “BR guest” I was like what does Louisiana have to do with anything lmao
Watching these videos make me SO HAPPY, that I never have gone to a disney park EVER
I said at the time that building a 5th gate in Orlando focused on the acquired IP would of been a better spend. Would also of allowed a diverting of guest traffic from the older parks and hopefully enough reduction at EPCOT to revitalize the park.
Instead there's throw away plastic bands and an user experience that's mid at best.
When magic bands first came out I think that it was a very awesome system. Getting a box in the mail with your entire families magic bands a couple weeks before the trip really brought on the anticipation. Being able to scan your magic band at the MCO airport and get on the bus with all your luggage, taken care of added, that “magic“ feeling that you wouldn’t get going to some other resort like universal, for example, having kids at a young age, being able to scan their badge into the resort, was also very cool, the whole experience just put Disney ledge above everyone else. I recently took my parents to Disney World because they had never been back in 2022, I had never been more disappointed not only are there no free bands, you have to pay for a band. You have to also pay for the genie plus on top of that cost you also have to pay for premium rides. Disney has emphasize micro transactions and it shows, not to mention there’s no magic bus so we had to Uber everywhere. They took a company that used to seem somewhat magical and it’s delivery and now I just feel like their money grabbing just like every other company which is unfortunate.
1. I can't argue with any of the points you raise, but what troubles me about these types of videos is that it bashes innovation. Why would any corporate managers ever even TRY to do something better/innovative/different if they know this is the result? 2. I also think that huge parts of the project were basic infrastructure that would have been done one way or the other. Could you imagine Disney Parks and Resorts without WIFI coverage? 3. Your commentors will whine either way. They hate planning ahead and then they hate waiting in line. They want some impossible experience of massive new E-tickets with no one waiting in line. 4. There seems to be a culture at WDW where middle managers kill innovations through 1000 tiny financial cuts, over and over again.
I honestly love the idea! I went with my mom (as a 29 year old man) last year and we loved it but I didn’t like having to download the app, make an account blah blah blah. At the end of it we couldn’t even do a fast pass of any kind😂 still enjoyed the hell outta ourselves tho!!
Good Show! I was an early adopter. And I was heavily employed so in 2012? 2013? I bought a ten day pass- something that is incomprehensible to me today. Over the next couple of years I used up 7 of the 10 days before even getting TO Florida became impossible. I'm going back in two weeks and Disney will not be in the itineary. They've turned into a money grubbing corporation PLUS the noise with that punk assed governor really turned me off on giving any of my woke money to that state- despite my family living there. I might still visit Disneyland since I live in California- but I was always a little miffed that the local resident pass only applies to Southern California! And that was policy even back in the Eisner days.
I haven’t thought about anything Disney in over 30 years and I started my journey with Disneyland in the early 60s stop going to Disneyland in the early 80s and I’ve never look back
First off, it's an extremely transparent plot to get people to spend more because they're just tapping a "watch" rather than pulling out their credit card, like you mentioned.
However, if I were a parent, in a huge park like Disney with teens of thousands of people and hundreds of things that can grab a kid's attention, having something integrated into a Disney system that could help cast members find a lost kid's would be an invaluable peace of mind.
I was on a Disney cruise during this time period and it was amazing to not worry about where they were. Only kids wore bands. If a child got lost they would know who the parents were. Disney could tell me my child was in a different room by checking the location on the bands or on a field trip with cast members.
It was amazing I think it was a success. If they did just kept it simple I love having the band to get through everything and I liked that when I was walking around Epcot with my husband, someone came out and got us to take us to a phone that we got a call from Mickey and Minnie to congratulate us on our honeymoon they should have the magic bands a little cheaper and then sell all the accessories and then every time you got the magic band you just need to get the accessories and you get more and more I want to be more money over a long time like they have new covers for your magic decoration. Specially, with the kids.
My last trip to the parks, fairly recently, I noticed only a very small percentage of people using their cellphones in place of magic bands. I'd estimate over 90% of what I saw in the parks was magicband use. They're convenient, you don't need to pull out your phone and most importantly, require virtually not thought to use as a security pass and for lightning lane activation. Once you own one, you can continue to use it for successive visits, and the slightly more expensive magicband + is interactive, lights up and buzzes depending on what you're doing. I think your negative spin on it doesn't take any of these benefits into account. Honestly, the convenience of the band is the reason our group used it and of course if you like to collect memorabilia it's a perfect little memento and there are so many differently themed bands to choose from. From a security standpoint, having kids wearing a band is also an extra level of peace of mind should a little kid go missing their band is connected to the parties details.
This was fascinating. I had a season pass to DW for a few years, and magic bands came in on the second time. I really liked them for the most part and I loved getting a "present" in advance. I never bothered hooking mine up to a CC, but I did like using it for access to things. It sounds like their use has gone downhill, plus I agree that for most people, an app would be even better and cost both the guest and Disney (after initial development) very little in comparison. But they were pretty neat while they lasted. Having said that, I enjoyed the park experience without them just as much.
Nothing stays free for long at Disney.
Couple years ago when my friend was going to go to Disney World. And he was telling me about how he had to reschedule months in advance. For all the rides, it’s soured me totally. And made me decide I wasn’t going to go to Disney World at all. Now between Covid, the nickel and dime of people, all the construction and very little to show for it, and my Disney pass being canceled and taken away for no other reason then we couldn’t get into the parks. I’ve completely soured on going to Disneyland. Or Disney World. Short of if I go to Paris or Tokyo. But I do keep up on the news. And I have my video memories of what Park I’ve been to and what rides I’ve been on.
I assume this happen when smart phone wasn't able to do the same thing. I have to admit using your phone to virtual que your rides have been a life saver from long wait in line. My last visit at Disney park I rarely had to wait in the stand by lines.
I don’t like the dependence on the phones either. I see they are trying to use the technology we are already carrying but it’s too much. The best experience I had at Disneyland was the initial fast pass system. First come first served. It wasn’t perfect but I only needed my legs and a watch to tell time 😆
Did not visit Disneyland for a decade…but from your description, the project sounds like a huge success to me. The infrastructure you mentioned are all essential in modern age. They have to build it at some point anyway. They can swap from the band to phone/watch and doesn’t cost them much all thanks to the existing infrastructure. I don’t see any mistake here.
with all technology, its going to come with a price. Without the insane initial spend, most of the stuff you say you now use your phone or watch for would not have been possible. Disney was an implementor of technology thats now at the majority of hotels worldwide. Maybe without that first company making the step we would not have been there yet. Its hard to say. However, Disney is still using all that data they collect daily to transform the parks. Personally, I rather go back pre fasspass v1. But you cannot put the Genie back in the bottle. Every major theme park is now using a similar system. Not only that, but they are typically charging more for it, and paid less for the technology as they saw where Disney made the mistakes.
As someone who’s gone my whole life and I’ve been an AP holder since 2017, I won’t be renewing this year due to their fall. They’ve removed all of their amenities, all they’re rides are lacking in detail and new ideas, the Genie+ is awful and you can’t ride anything without it anymore (and you still struggle), their constant overpriced items and increased ticket prices while refusing to pay their employees more. I miss the old Disney I grew up with but I’m excited to give Universal my attention considering they listen to guest feedback and are opening a new park soon. Sad to see what Disney’s turned into, especially considering what Walt Disney wanted his parks to be. Greed will ruin everything and I unfortunately think Disney will realize they’ve lost their customers and their loyalty when it’s too late.
Best way to do it is to que all the rides you want to do the day before and have the wristband just direct you where to go with over lap travel time and some extra sightseeing time in between
I visited in 2022 and man, it was massively different from even 2017 when I went. Fast pass was the coolest thing ever did and now that's a weird hollow shell of itself, making it much harder to get on rides than in previous years. It felt a like more like a waiting simulator than a theme park. My Magic Plus has definitely made that problem worse than it needed to be.
I tried out the magic bands for the first time on my most recent vacation a few weeks ago... and I lost my band on a ride on the second day of a weeklong trip.
The Magic Band was cool for the two days I was using it but setting up the app on my smart phone I could do everything the magic band did with my phone. Not only that but my hotel card (was at a Disney Hotel) could do literally everything the magic band could as well.
My wife didn't lose her band but stopped wearing it because we could just use our phones or room cards depending on what we felt was easier to pull out given the circumstance than wearing an extra watch we aren't accustomed to all day.
I no longer believe Disney offers anywhere near the value relative to their costs. They hold a virtual gun to your head to pay $10 per person per day for the + feature to book fast passes etc, and you still only get to ride the popular ones at most twice in a day if you're lucky. You're waiting hours, they have awful food with high prices, and it's so busy I'd much rather just go to Sea World or pretty much any other attraction than Disney now.
It works pretty well on the cruise line. I also still have my band from the galactic starcruiser. Those are unique and I really like them
Magic Bands were a pain to get set up/working, but once they were it wasn't bad. The pre-planning was fine, but neither the hotel nor initial park access were remotely seamless. Both required lengthy waits in the guest service line to get working.
Personally I think magic bands are pretty but otherwise just “(insert part of Disney park-going) with extra steps.”
I don’t have an Apple Watch yet, but I’m second nature at using my phone for tickets and passes and Apple Pay, to the point where I don’t even spend enough mental energy for it to count as “being on my phone during a Disney trip.” I usually take a loungefly bag with my to the parks armed with my wallet (just in case), a battery pack and extendable charging cord, and a thing of sunscreen or chapstick and not much else. It’s so nice and I don’t think having the magic band would stop me from bringing any of those items anyway so it actually feels like an extra thing to remember.
Im in the camp of wanting to not look at my phone AT ALL while enjoying a theme park. My 24yo only goes along to parks for the people watching so she will sit and use the park's wifi while i ride rides. 😂😊🥰
I like it, a lot, I think it really enhances the experience compared to theme parks here in Europe. Even Genie+ seems like good value to us Europeans, who can often be charged up to (and over) $100 per person per day for a similar system at parks in Europe.
To say "but you can do the same thing on your iphone or apple watch" seems a little naive. Without all of the investment in the infrastructure back then, which let's be honest, was most of the budget, you wouldn't now be able to do it on a phone or watch either. The band itself is not where the money went, nor is what makes the system great in so many ways.
Wow, Dom's eye's in this lighting. 😁
The unfortunate conundrum is that park culture will inexorably trend toward the “complex and transactional” as the parks themselves inch ever outward from everyday affordability. The only way to circumvent the spiral is try and “slow down” the experience to what it was originally- a true park setting. This only happens when you drastically reduce the sunk cost incurred to even make it through the gates.
I HATE having to use my phone when I’m in the parks this takes away from my vacation Disney please stop this
Vacations are times to be free - not pre plan. Why should I change my schedule to make Disney more money ?
Why carry a phone? I've spent decades in parks without one. Why should I carry a phone for Disney's convenience or profits ?
Look at the cruise ship. "One card to rule it all" A wrist ban with "An enhanced experience" That said, it is weird to get to a restaurant, sit anywhere, get food and drink and not have to pay / tip.
What I miss is talking to someone to make a reservation. We are social creatures. Let us interact.
2bil....WHEW. That could have been a massive expansion on both coasts
I really feel how they particularly failed is that you had to pay money for the bands i feel like it should be free if you would like one.
The only thing that has been beneficial is the ability to use the app to see wait times in the park. 🤷♂️
Love your accent... Where is that from?
Disney is rapidly becoming an embarrassment, and I'm here for it
Thanks!
Thanks so much for the support Sean we greatly appreciate it!
I bought a magic band and 3 hours later it flew off while I was on Space Mountain. Never bothering with it again
I'm sorry, I didn't pay attention to anything, I'm just wondering where you got that Figment figure
*Guests were fatigued by long lines and high prices*
You mean how they are now?
You can still use magicbands for everything you could so im not sure why you'd say theyve taken that away. They've just ADDED the ability to use your phone for select things. I much prefer them than having to hope my phone loads or i can find a card
Like many things it was great when it started. It was fun and intuitive, bold in its operation with a little of that Disney Magic sprinkled in. Then it got greedy. The fares that didn't exsit became a barrier of entry. That magic became an annoyance in constant checking your device, maybe missing great guest experiences. Playing became work and relaxation ran afoul of fake promises. All in all I still believe it could be fun. Disney just needs to go back to its first work. Making unique and wonderful guest experiences.
I’m pretty sure it’s all the extra charges that are killing the experience. It feels like Walt’s worst nightmare, a carnival grift, except 10 times as expensive. No one enjoys the feeling of getting played. It used to be great to know that all you were paying for was your tickets, food, and purchases. Nickel and dining like a cheap cruise ship is just offensive.