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

Jim Hill

17 years ago

Well, the first field test of the Walt Disney World Resort‘s new “Magic Connection” system was completed late last week. And — to be honest — things didn’t go quite as well as WDI R & D had hoped they would.

Don’t get me wrong, folks. The problem wasn’t with the technology. From what I hear, aside from a few minor GPS & battery-related issues, the “Disney Magic Connection” units worked great. In their exit interviews, guests who actually took part in last week’s test just raved about these wireless devices. They loved all the real-time park info that they were able to get out of this Nintendo DS.

“So what was the problem?,” you ask. Well, the Imagineers had originally hoped that they’d be able to recruit upwards of 60 families to take part in each day’s field test. But on most days, WDI had to settle for less than half that number. Mostly because cast members had such a tough time convincing families to come try “Disney Magic Connection.”

Which is understandable. When you consider that your typical family of tourists — in order to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom — must first …

Leave their hotel and get the kids loaded in the rental car

Battle the traffic on I-4 & World Drive

Pay $11.00 for the privilege of parking their car

After parking, unload all of the kids, the bags and the stroller

Hike on over to the tram waiting area in the Magic Kingdom parking lot

Once the tram arrives, quickly find seats for the entire family

Ride the tram over to the Ticket & Transportation Center

Then stand in line to buy their theme park tickets

Hike up the ramp at the Monorail loading platform

Wait for, then get loaded onto the next available Monorail

Hike down the ramp from the Magic Kingdom Monorail Station

Get the entire family through Bag Check

Wait in line to present their tickets at the turnstiles

Finally hand over those tickets, then help all of the kids with that Finger Scan device

At this point, most people have already invested an hour of their precious vacation time just in getting to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom. And to finally make it through the turnstiles and really be looking forward to that first ride … And then have some clown with a clipboard accost you, asking you if you’d be interested in taking part in some pilot program, was more than most parents with small children could bear at that moment.

Another aspect of the “Disney Magic Connection” field test that allegedly turned off a lot of would-be participants was the security deposit. You see, before these folks could actually get their hands on that DS, they were asked for a credit card. Which (strictly as a precaution) Mickey then took an imprint of. So that — in the event that these Magic Kingdom visitors accidentally left the theme park without first returning their test unit — Mouse House officials could then charge them $300 for the missing device.

As one Imagineering insider explained it to me:

“Trying to recruit guests to try out these DS units right after they came through the turnstiles was a bad idea. After riding over to the park on a crowded Monorail or a packed Ferry, people don’t want someone coming at them with a clipboard and then giving them a sales pitch. They just want to get inside and ride some rides.

And that $300 security deposit, asking people for an imprint of their credit card right after they’ve paid for their admission … That was a mistake too. A lot of people just turned and walked away as soon as we mentioned that security deposit.

Next time, we’ll do better. We’ll be smarter about where we try & recruit people. We’re now talking about putting cast members in the lobbies of the Grand Flo and the Poly. Do our pre-screening there.

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After all, people who stay in our high end resorts aren’t going to squawk if we ask them for a $300 security deposit. Particularly if we tell them that it’s only a precaution. That if they actually return the unit before they leave the park, they’ll never ever be charged.

Plus by recruiting test subjects in a much more relaxed setting, we’ll then be able to get guests who are genuinely interesting in testing a device like this. Rather than getting people who make some spur-of-the-moment decision as they enter the Magic Kingdom and then don’t even use the unit while they’re wandering around that park. Which is what a couple of families that we recruited last week actually did. They just used the device once or twice, then stuffed in a bag.”

But even with a much smaller sampling than they had originally hoped for, the Imagineers were very pleased with the way the “Disney Magic Connection” field test went. They enjoyed hearing guests rave about how they were able to get real-time info on every ride, show and attraction in the park that had a wait time. Which made it so much easier to decide what to do next during their day at the Magic Kingdom.

Of course, the beauty of that particular “Disney Magic Connection” feature is that it basically came free of charge. All the Imagineers had to do to make that happen was tie these wireless devices into the Magic Kingdom’s Flick system. Which — every three minutes — sends out a message parkwide about what the current wait times are.

Another cost-effective aspect of the “Disney Magic Connection” project is that these handheld units actually make use of the 400+ sensors that were put in place in this theme park back in 2004 for the “Pal Mickey” project. Of course, because there were areas in the Magic Kingdom where WDI deliberately didn’t put sensors (So that this interactive plush then wouldn’t speak up and ruin the show for all of the other guests) … The Imagineers had to install hundreds of additional sensors so that these Nintendo DS units would then tell the guests where they were. Which really drove up the start-up costs of this pilot program.

Speaking of costs … Because “Disney Magic Connection” cost so much to develop and install, WDI opted to go with a very limited field test of these new wireless devices. Meaning that — to date — only the Magic Kingdom has been wired for DS use. So were you to smuggle one of these handheld units out of that theme park and then go walk around Epcot, Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom … It wouldn’t work properly.

That said, the Imagineers remain supremely confident that they’ll be able to recover the millions of dollars that they’ve already spent on the development of “Disney Magic Connection.” Particularly since some of the special features that they expect to go live with with the next generation of these wireless devices are sure to be popular with WDW visitors.

“What sort of special features?,” you query. Well picture this : You’re sitting down to lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern with your family. And as your waitress goes off to get your drinks, you ask what attraction the family would like to ride next after they’re done eating. And the kids immediately say “Space Mountain.”

So you pull out your handy dandy “Disney Magic Connnection.” And you then check to see if there are any FastPasses left for that Tomorrowland attraction. And as it turns out, they are. So from your table right there in Liberty Square, you reserve FastPasses for your entire family to ride Space Mountain later that same afternoon.

And the beauty part of this proposed “Disney Magic Connection” feature is that you won’t need any paper FastPass tickets. Once you arrive at the attraction that you’ve reserved FastPasses for, you just show your handheld unit to the cast member who’s standing watch over the FastPass portion of the queue. Once he sees the virtual FastPass that’s displayed on the screen of your Nintendo DS, he’ll wave you and your family on through … And then you’re good to go.

It’s that particular feature (i.e. Being able to book FastPasses in advance through this wireless device) that the Imagineers feel will compell many guests to rent “Disney Magic Connection” devices for use over the entire length of their WDW vacations.

And — yes — I did say “rent.” As of right now, the Walt Disney Company has no plans to sell these handheld units. Nor will you be able to bring your own Nintendo DS into the park from home and then tap into Disney’s wireless network.

Of course, let’s remember that “Pal Mickey” started out as a rental-only device. And then — due to guest demand — that plan changed. So it’s possible (provided that the Imagineers can agree on an appropriate price point) that these “Disney Magic Connection” devices could someday be available for purchase.

But as of right now … That ain’t in the cards. As of this moment, all WDI is interested in doing is reviewing all of the material that was collected last week. Once they dig through that data, they’ll then decide what sort of changes need to be made to these “Disney Magic Connection” units before the next field test. Which could come as soon as March.

Your thoughts?