Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:46:14 GMT

I can't imagine it would be that expensive if Disney rolls it out. Since it's for the DS, one would assume that you would purchase a cartdridge and utilize the wi-fi of the DS. If it we're $20-$30 bucks to own it, I'm in! It's amazing how technology is making our lives more connected. (But is that a good thing?)

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:57:57 GMT

I think it would be an excellent tool for better planning, they should make it windows mobile compatible as well so that phones and pdas can access the data as well.

What would be a good addition as well as parade routes is an update on crowd levels along the route so you can see if the popular sidewalks like Main Street are empty, busy, full. This would mean you wouldn't have to sit down an hour before a parade and realise 30 mins later that you could have done another ride and then sat down because there's still plenty of room or if you're running late for a parade you can go straight to where you are likley to be able to get a viewing spot rather than somewhere that's already totally congested.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 08:38:20 GMT

Nice idea Strongstyle! Have colors like the traffic maps on Google maps - red for packed, yellow for congested and green for plenty of room. As wedway pointed out, it would be optimal to sell the cartidge that could be used in an existing DS, with a way to play the games and do some things when you get home. Of course, for those who do not own a DS or did not bring it, a Disney branded model would be availabe for purchase (or rent?). The best thing about this, is that people will read the information, rather than have to listen to a talking toy (I was in line with as many 3 different Pal Mickey conversations going on at once). What will be bad is the number of people who will be buried in the electronics rather than enjoy the beautiful parks.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:35:59 GMT

A couple of questions:

What's wrong with being bored sometimes??

Is all of this information making people smarter?

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:46:26 GMT

Blech.

Just what we need ... more self-absorbed boobs wandering around the parks with their heads buried in some handheld device. Maybe they can send one to the jackass I had to sit behind at Candlelight Processional this year who literally spent the ENTIRE SHOW texting on his Treo. I can't TELL you how fun that was, being half blinded by the light from his screen and listening to that "click-click-click-click-click" while I was trying to watch the show.

Honestly, I wish Disney would stop wasting money on stupid crap like this. Wasn't Pal Mickey a dismal failure (if not, it should have been ... what a waste of time!)? Spend some freakin' money on new, GOOD rides and attractions and quit pouring money down the drain on things that are only guaranteed to make my park going experience more irritating.

I'm sure it will be great standing in the dark, dank Pirates queue only to have the illusion shattered by 18 morons standing around me trying to figure out how long the wait time is in Aladdin's Magic Carpets.

Once again ... Blech ...

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:56:00 GMT

And thanks to Disney, the average park goer just gets stupider and stupider as the company takes their hands and gently guides them through their vacation.

Seriously, park maps and times guides have been effective tools for decades. Is this electronic nonsense really necessary?

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:57:59 GMT

Put it on an iPhone and I'll pay $200 for it! :grin:

People who are Disney-compulsive enough to visit this site probably don't have much use for such a device. I already know how to minimize wait time and wouldn't gain much from such a device. But it will be interesting to see how the trials go and how first- and second-timers react. During busier times it could be very helpful -- or not. The poor schmoes who show up at MK at 11:30 during spring break and want to ride all three mountains after eating lunch are still going to be out of luck, regardless of technology.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:23:39 GMT

I'd be more impressed with this if Universal wasn't already doing it. They have a free service available for use across all mobile devices with an internet connection, namely practically every phone on the market now. I'm sure Disney will market this as "revolutionary" when in reality they are second banana.

...and to think, I should have patented this idea when I had it two years ago. :-)

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:28:22 GMT

I’m sorry, as one who takes his family to Disney to get away from video games and “crackberry’s” and the like… I would never sign up for something like this. Our gameboys and cell phones stay in the car when we visit as this is one of the few times it seems that the entire family is together and we all get the chance to actually TALK to one another! I too have been annoyed several times recently by other guests who just can’t seem to part with texting on their beloved cell phones in places like Mickey’s Philharmagic and the Finding Nemo musical… and will bet this would only get worse with a device like this! I’m sorry, on our family vacations, this would be a big NO.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:19:34 GMT

I agree with the comments that say it should be available on PDAs, iPhones, ect. When I'm at a theme park, the last thing I need is another clunky peice of equipment in my pocket. I can hardly enjoy the rides when I'm worried about my cell phone sliding out of my pocket the whole time. While a DS is small as compared to other gaming devices, it is quite large and bulky compared to an average cell phone or PDA. I think they would see a much better return on this investment if they allowed your average internet compatible mobile device to download this service. As also stated above, this is really only going to be useful to Disney newbies and the uninformed. This is also the demo that will most likely get completely confused and frustrated with this device and end up even angrier at Disney than had they just had to wait in a normal line.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:40:24 GMT

I am skeptical of the idea.

*Guests have to learn how to operate the system. Who is going to coach them and teach them to make the most of it? They are going to turn to any CM at hand if they don't know where to click. I can't imagine Disney going to train everyone.

*It has to work perfectly all the time and what are the odds of that? What about when it's down or showing results from 30 minutes ago? Guests are going to be arguing that they "should" get a FP or have a shorter wait because the device told them so.

*The way to maximize the fun on your Disney vacation is to do some planning and research AHEAD OF TIME. Know what you want to do & roughly where things are located. Seems like this device would encourage people to fail to plan, play by ear, and they would actually get less enjoyment.

*I think Disney would do better to play to its supposed strengths. Add "vacation guide" CMs to the resorts to help guests plan their activities before & during their stay. I know there are concierges to book things for you, but this would be a person to help you decide where to go which days, what park to skip if you have to. Maybe a certain amount of time would be free and beyond that youd'd pay an hourly rate. That way you're giving guests personal interaction. It's something more to make people want to stay at a Disney resort.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:07:03 GMT

In some ways I do like the idea. I'd love to be able to see if there is any current seating available at various eateries before heading over, or whether it is worth it to run to Soarin' to try to grab a Fastpass. What would be even better though would be that when you got to a certain point in the queue, it gave you a warning that it would not operate within certain areas, ie. the areas where you should be paying attention to a CM and within the attraction itself.

I DON'T like the idea of it playing games, and for that matter, that it is on a DS, for just that reason. The cell phones and PDA's are bad enough; I actually got stuck behind a family at Splash that didn't want to get on before their child finished a level in their game on their DS or Gameboy or whatever it was at the time. But giving people more of an excuse to bury their face in a screen instead of enjoying the park theming and heaven forbid, talking to their families, is just taking away from the Disney Experience (trademark copyright all rights reserved do not taunt Happy Fun Ball).

What I will be VERY curious to see is if recomendations change based on where people are staying on-property if applicable. Will someone staying at the Grand Floridian be recommended to head to the Coral Reef for something wet and refreshing, where someone staying at the All Stars will be directed to a counter service (or even Club Cool)? Word has been around for a long time that the higher the cost of the hotel, the higher the priority for seating and Fastpasses, may be around the corner. It will be interesting to see if they somehow integrate this into this new idea.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:31:43 GMT

Another issue is the DS' battery life, which is about 10 hours. Now, the kids are bound to shave off some of that.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:54:06 GMT

Tomoyo, that's why you charge your DS at night.

I for one will probably buy the cartridge if it is released, play with it for a while, and then realize that I already know pretty much everything that it can tell me.

Same as Pal Mickey...

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:31:04 GMT

worse than DS's battery life? DS's life in water. One good "splash mountain" trip and the device may be history...

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:45:02 GMT

On the one hand, I can see the advantages this would have for people.

On the other hand, it just seems like another way for Disney to herd people wherever they want them to be.

In either case, I won't be using one.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:51:02 GMT

I took part in a laptop survey at Epcot at about the time Pal Mickey was released. As I recall, my answers generally questioned the usefulness of such a device. (They handed me an envelope with two crisp $10s for my troubles.) One problem with the Mickey was it didn't work everywhere, only near certain sites and it wasn't interactive -- a problem that was echoed at that time with cell phones -- because of all the steel in the buildings, cell phones often didn't work inside or behind the structures (maybe that's a good thing.) Antenna coverage has since improved.

Perhaps they could just spot dozens of hardwired terminals around the parks for those who must be interconnected and leave the frequency spectrum uncluttered.

(Another occasional complaint was that folks who put their annual passes in the same fanny pack or pocket with their cell phones sometimes had the data erased from their APs -- but that's another topic.)

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:01:56 GMT

Wescot> As someone who primarily plays DS on longer car rides and flights, I've never run out of battery before charging at night. But to go around with it on during a park visit, yeah, I do have concerns on the battery there. Mostly because I use it during the tour bus ride to and from the Anaheim park.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:05:24 GMT

buttermaker: "What's wrong with being bored sometimes??"

bonk!: nothing.

buttermaker: "Is all of this information making people smarter?"

bonk!: do you mean the information presented in this article?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

pickstar: "Maybe they can send one to the jackass I had to sit behind at Candlelight Processional this year who literally spent the ENTIRE SHOW texting on his Treo."

bonk!: nice use of sarcasm, but your sentiment is in league with that of a Luddite.

pickstar: "I'm sure it will be great standing in the dark, dank Pirates queue only to have the illusion shattered by 18 morons standing around me trying to figure out how long the wait time is in Aladdin's Magic Carpets."

bonk!: just one dude with b.o. can spoil the illusion today. no technology required.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

mayerobeyer: "I'd be more impressed with this if Universal wasn't already doing it."

bonk!: if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, who knows that it fell?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

wdwtitan24: "worse than DS's battery life? DS's life in water. One good 'splash mountain' trip and the device may be history..."

bonk!: introducing the official wdw water-resistant ds pouch!

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:20:49 GMT

Yes, bonk ... that's me ... a Luddite ... the guy who's been in IT leadership for the past decade ...

Being a Luddite and being opposed to people being freakin' rude are two completely different things. I fully support the use of technology in society ... when used with courtesy and respect for those around you. But then again, from the tone of your post, it would seem that the concepts of courtesy and respect are probably lost on you.

Although I have to say ... I am very impressed that someone with your obviously limited thought processes actually knows what the word Luddite means. Wikipedia is an amazing thing.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:44:57 GMT

Social stratification has been invading all aspects of the entertainment industry for decades, and this new device is just another indication that the Disney bean-counters are still in control. There is absolutely no need for something like this Nintendo device, but the marketeers will have you all believe it's necessary, just as they got you all to believe that FastPass is the best thing ever.

Disney Magic Connection, FastPass... what next will they come up with to make us self-involved, impatient, greedy and spoiled baby-boomers happy?

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:26:41 GMT

I think it's a terrific idea, and especially if this device will do one specific thing - let folks know when a ride is down for repairs. Last summer I tried to ride on Everest TWICE - and both times it was down, which meant I took a long bus ride for nothing. And Everest is the only thing about AK I actually really like. So if the device could relieve guests of THAT aggravation, I'd gladly use it.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:51:30 GMT

I'm confused... were the park maps not working out for people? Did Disney forbid bringing common sense into the parks?

I'm flabbergasted at this idea. As others have mentioned... all we need are more people walking around with their eyes glued to yet another portable device. Yes, let's give them something else to complain about when it doesn't work, or gives bad information, or they drop it, etc, etc,...

All you need to enjoy a day at Disney is:

1. Ticket

2. Brain

3. Park Map

4. Schedule

Until they make an electronic device that mutes loud and obnoxious people and turns off people's flashes in dark rides, count me anti-this thing!

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:17:21 GMT

That skips over ride closures, tips on lines, etc. Which, as gigglesock just said, is particularly helpful in WDW.

I would keep this to cell phones because they're more universal devices and I think they have the battery life for a whole day. I can't say for certain, since mine's always gets turned off when I'm on rides. Never heard a cell go off on one, but I wouldn't treat a DL attraction less than I would a movie.

I've gotta say I like the idea of Pal Mickey, although it was introduced years after my last WDW visit. But this technology is in its infancy. I really enjoy the navigation program Verizon cellphones have but I'm really looking forward to being able to just ask my Asimo for directions, weather, which rides are working, etc.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:29:06 GMT

Excellent ! Fantastic ! Amazing !

It solves problems I don't have ! Where do I sign up?

If your case of a.d.d. is this bad, you probably won't get past all those long shiny tubes at the airport to actually make it to a Disney Park - Where Dreams Come True (registered).

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:32:42 GMT

Stupid. Just another way that you can ignore the person you're on your vacation with... or your family. Leave all your mundane real world devices at home people, and learn to have some fun!

The berm was designed around the park for a reason.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:51:46 GMT

* Never has Splash Mountain and Kali River Rapids sounded so potentially expensive.

* arrowyn: "Add "vacation guide" CMs to the resorts to help guests plan their activities before & during their stay. I know th. ere are concierges to book things for you, but this would be a person to help you decide where to go which days, what park to skip if you have to. Maybe a certain amount of time would be free and beyond that youd'd pay an hourly rate. That way you're giving guests personal interaction."

Most CM's are capable of doing that Arrowyn. Just last week I helped a guest choose between DAK and Hollywood Studios and suggested shows and restaurants to check out. But I DO love the idea! Imagine getting paid to do EVERYTHING so you can speak with authority as to what it's like... "Well I suggest the stone massage although shiatsu IS very nice..." AWESOME!

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:07:00 GMT

In other news...Jim Hill gets called out for his under researched, uninformed bit on the Russia "news" at Epcot by Screamscape...

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:55:58 GMT

A couple of comments:

I'm not sure how this jives with "Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy". While I guess it goes okay with the world of tomorrow, I agree that having all these glowing screens popping up in Pirates or HM would distract from the fantasy that I am trying to enjoy. While I find my cell phone invaluable at Disney when my family of 6 splits up, I don't really feel the need to be any more connected than that.

Also, if this service ends up costing, I would definitely grow to hate it, just like I hate the Universal Express over at USF when they stopped making it available to everyone for free. The fact that it costs money to use their "fastpass" system just bugs me to no end. It ends up being cost prohibitive for larger families so we just get to stand in long lines and get annoyed watching the same people pass by in the express line multiple times. The Disney fastpass system is available to anyone in the park, and is quite effective if you use it wisely.

I'd hate to see Disney divide its guests into the have's and the have not's. If you have to rent a device from them, you've automatically excluded those who are doing Disney on a budget because it was all they could do to afford to get into the parks. Even if the service is available on cell phones, believe it or not, there are people out there who don't have them.

One of my biggest pet peeves in the entertainment world is the recent development of making extra content from a tv show (like Lost or Heroes) available to a select group of people (like people with Sprint or something like that).

I was a passholder at WDW for 3-4 years, and am planning on becoming one again this Spring. I know my way around the parks very well, and so a device like this really doesn't interest me in the first place. But even still, I obviously have issues with this idea.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:38:03 GMT

I'm a little unclear on how this is going to work ... some folks seem to be under the impression that you'll have to have your own DS and then just get a cartridge to make this work, but Jim's story specifically mentions Disney giving you the DS for a $300 credit card deposit.

Is Disney going to make this available both ways? Rental and has just a cartridge? Or will it be one way or the other?

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:41:44 GMT

That is all we need..., a bunch of kids running around the park with their eyes glued to this device and not watching where they are going! I don't know how many times someone has crashed into me or was walking in front of me and suddenly stopped because they were distracted with something and not paying attention. It already pisses me off when people are on their cell phones while in line and are holding up the line because the people in front of them have moved forward and the person on the phone is standing in the same spot yaking their mouth away!

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:36:57 GMT

Could it be a cost saving tool??

Have you ever thought about how many park maps, and show schedules are printed EVERYDAY? I belive the max attendace at Magic Kingdom is 75,000 people, combine that with all the parks and resorts, that is a lot of maps that mostly get flipped into the trash at some point during the trip.

Disney may assume that people have these items with them already so why not have us pay for something that they were giving for free.

This could be a great tool.

How many of us have been on one side of the world showcase, said "let's try (fill in spot on other side of lagoon) for dinner", only to walk there and find it is full. Menus, with prices too, from the restaurants would be great

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:13:45 GMT

As if WDW wasn't hectic/stressful and hurried enough, now they want you to have a device to help you "make the most of your vacation" sounds like more work than a vacation.

I will stick to the leisurely, relaxed and magical pace of Disneyland and will continue to avoid WDW...

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:52:35 GMT

Any device with a video screen would certainly be used to transmit a stream of commercial advertising when users aren't searching for other content.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:30:59 GMT

I hate how Disney has to keep playing down to the lower-class/brainless visitors.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:18:20 GMT

Make it stop! Please make it stop!

As if our kids aren't instantly hypnotized by anything moving on a video screen now.

maybe Disney will use this as an excuse to cut back on landscaping and trash pickup cast members. After all, who's going to notice an untrimmed bush or two when they have a VIDEO GAME TO STARE AT!! Dad can stare at his Blackberry, Mom can be talking on her cell phone, and the kids have their Nintendos.

Why leave home?

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:13:56 GMT

I'm happy with the electronic boards at Epcot, especially now that they have placed them around Future World. I think those should be placed at all the parks. I don't know about the rest of you, but I like to carry as little as possible. I put my credit card, pass/room key, and ID in my husband's wallet and take our small digital camera (which goes in a small waterproof pouch on my belt), and off we go. My family and I are commandos, no time to slow down and play with a hand held device.

However, after planning other people's Disney vacations for quite some time, I know that there are tons of "newbies" that will salavate over this product...just so they can feel "in the know". They're so cute!

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready to make the "Disney Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:23:58 GMT

We got to use this snazzy little device today at MK. While those of you who have posted against the idea, it was great to be able to get off of Pirates, flip open the DS, and check the CURRENT and ACCURATE wait times at every other attraction in the park. Made our backtracking and decision-making for where to go next very easy. As folks who get to go to WDW nearly every weekend, I would still invest in this device (assuming I could own the program and not have to rent every weekend) simply for the current line condition information. Pooh pooh it if you want, but it was extremely helpful. My family really enjoyed the games, too, as a good way to pass the time while waiting in line, or just to play to have fun (which we did several times). JHM has all the specs right in his commentary about what this device can and can't do, too, although we didn't find the device's suggestions for what to ride next very helpful. Can't say why, though, since we signed an NDA.

Disney World testing DS-based interactive guide

Jim Hill — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:30:23 GMT

Monday Mouse Watch : Disney has trouble convincing guests to come make a "Magic Connection"

Jim Hill — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:12:26 GMT

Jim Hill reports on the field test of these new handheld units. Which supposedly worked great ... Once you could actually convince a tourist to come take part in this test, that is