Tech Thursday : When it comes to the Disney theme parks & interactivity, what price is right ?

Jim Hill

17 years ago

Have any of you folks checked out those “X-marks-the-spot” hotspots that went live at Disneyland as well as at WDW’s Magic Kingdom last week yet ?

If not, I really suggest that you make a point of dropping by some of them sometime this summer. For the people-watching in these parts of the theme parks is just extraordinary.

And — no — I’m not talking about the 12-year-old boys who are eager to score unlimited health & other exclusive content for their “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” DS. But — rather — all of the Disney Interactive Studio staffers as well as Parks & Resorts suits who are lurking about. Who are clearly anxious to learn if the Mouse’s latest experiment with in-park interactivity is a success or a failure.

Of course, it’s easy to understand why these guys might be anxious. How many of you remember those “Magical Moments” pins that Walt Disney World rolled out as part of that resort’s “100 Years of Magic” celebration ? WDI had hoped that the public would just go wild over these hi-tech badges that (Thanks to a series of sensors that the Imagineers had scattered all over WDW) would light up at specific moments in various rides, shows and attractions around property. But what actually happened was that while some Disney World visitors may have been intrigued by this interactive gadget, most people were put off by the “Magical Moments” pins’ very high price tags. Which — back in 2001 — sold for $16 (I.E. $15.09 plus tax) apiece.

As a direct result, few WDW guests ever bought any of these hi-tech badges. Which is why thousands of these “Magical Moments” pins eventually wound over at Mouse Surplus, selling for just pennies on the dollars.

The Imagineers had a similar problem in 2003 when they introduced My Pal Mickey. Admittedly, this interactive doll featured some amazing technology. Keying off of a second set of sensors that WDI had set up all over property, this 10 1/2 inch plush could recite fun facts as well as give its owner up-to-date information about what was actually going on inside of the Disney theme park that they were visiting that day.

The only problem was — with a price that started at $47 (plus tax) and eventually crept up to $65 — My Pal Mickey was a very pricey piece of plush. Which is why Disney World sold far fewer units than they originally had hoped to. Which is why Parks & Resorts eventually abandoned its plans to go forward with construction of a My Pal Minnie & My Pal Buzz Lightyear product line.

Which thoroughily depressed the Imagineers. You see, had My Pal Mickey been wildly successful, they had plans to significantly expand the interactivity of this hi-tech doll. According to the U.S. patent that Disney filed on this technology …

The present invention will allow the child/owner to program its own name into its memory. This allows the character to refer to its owner by name during all activities.

Copyright 2003 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved

(This) interactive plush … (also has) an event memory such that if a child moves through the theme park, the device will store information about each location, object or character that interacted with the device. This memory can later be accessed by the child /owner so that the character can appear to intelligently reminisce about a visit to the theme park once the child is back home. For example, “We had a lot of fun today at the Magic Kingdom. My favorite ride was Space Mountain. What was your favorite ride, Billy?” or weeks later and triggered by switches activated by an adult, “Remember when we went to Disney World? I loved the Haunted Mansion. Did that scare you?”

But perhaps the most impressive aspect of Disney’s expanded My Pal Mickey program was what the Imagineers hoped to do inside of many of the attractions. Effectively rewiring certain Audio Animatronic figures so that …

… a character within a theme park ride (could) sense via reception of an IR or RF signal that (an interactive) plush character is nearby and (then) initiate a conversation with that character. For example, “There’s Mickey. Hi, Mickey. Are you enjoying the ride?”

(And if that interactive) plush (then has its) owner’s name in memory, (that) theme park character … can (then) react personally with the child / owner. For example, “Hi, Billy. I see you brought Mickey with you. How do you like the ride?”

That would be pretty cool, don’t you think ? To be floating through “Pirates of the Caribbean” and then have that new Jack Sparrow AA figure say your name and ask for your help in evading Barbossa.

But again because Disney set far too high a price for this hi-tech device, My Pal Mickey then didn’t get the market penetration that it needed. Which is why the Imagineers have yet to bring any of these additional features online. Which (obviously) would then enhance the desirability of this interactive doll.

So what exactly is the problem here ? Why can’t WDI ever market these new devices at a price point that most theme park guests can actually afford ? As one Imagineering insider explained it to me recently:

WDI spends years researching & developing these things. And they always make the mistake of trying to recover all of their R & D costs in the first year that these items go on sale. Which is why they price these things so damn high.

I mean, did you see that Mobile ESPN cell phone ? Disney was trying to get people to pay $199 for the phone itself and then upwards of $225 a month for premium content. They needed 500,000 people to subscribe in order to just break even on that project. After seven months of heavy-duty promotion across every one of ESPN’s platforms, all they wound up with was just 30,000 subscribers.

Copyright 2007 ESPN / Verizon. All Rights Reserved

That mobile virtual network project was a complete disaster. Disney’s going to lose $150 million on this deal. All because they didn’t market ESPN’s new cel phone service at a price point that would have really appealed to hardcore sports fans.

Which brings us back to this special “X-marks-the-spot” promotion that’s running at both Disneyland & WDW’s Magic Kingdom now through Labor Day … Given that it seems like Disney is forever getting tagged with that “You make people pay far too much for emerging technology. Which is why none of your in-park interactive efforts have been huge successes to date” label, the Mouse is now trying something different. It’s giving away some new technology. As in : for free.

Oh, sure. In order to get access to this cool free content (Like extra costumes and characters), you first have to have purchased a copy of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” Nintendo DS. Which currently retails for $29.95. And then you have to remember to bring both your DS player as well as your copy of the “At World’s End” game with you when you go into the park. And then keep in mind that this free bonus content can only be downloaded if you’re standing on or near one of the 10 “X-marks-the-spot” hotspots that are located inside of Disneyland and WDW’s Magic Kingdom.

Wow. That’s an awful lot of stuff to remember, don’t you ? No wonder those folks who are hovering around these “X-marks-the-spot” hotspots and clutching their clipboards look so nervous. They know that Disney CEO Bob Iger (Who’s a certified hi-tech gadget freak) really wants this project to succeed. For Bob has plans for the Disney theme parks that include all sorts of handheld devices. Which will then allow guests to capture cyber-spooks as they ride through the Haunted Mansion (So that Disney theme park visitors can then actually live the final line of that attraction as ” … a ghost will follow you home” and live on as an avatar in your computer). Or — better yet — pretend that they’re Kim Possible and wander all around Epcot’s World Showcase area searching for super-villains with the help of their trusty Kimmunicator.

But none of that is ever going to happen unless the public finally enthusiastically embraces one of these in-park interactive initiatives. So here’s hoping that — when it comes to the “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” Nintendo DS Download Program — that “free” proves to be the right price.

Your thoughts ?