Thanks to a WDW-Cast-Members-Only
document that got leaked to the Web over the weekend and today's New York Times story, a lot more people suddenly know a whole
lot more about FastPass+, My Disney Experience and MagicBand.
Mind you, there are a few questions that have yet to be
answered. Like when will The Walt Disney World Resort reportedly turn the key
on this $1.5 billion project. More to the point, which on-property hotel will supposedly
serve as the starting point for this program which will then allow Guests to customize
& personalize their vacation experiences?
Well, let me try and fill in those blanks for you as well as offer
some insight as to how The Walt Disney Company expects to recover the tens of
millions of dollars that they've already poured into the development of FastPass+, My
Disney Experience and MagicBand.
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First of all, according to what WDW officials have been
telling their travel partners, February is when the first phase of all this
NextGen stuff is supposed to go live on property. And Guests staying at Disney's Boardwalk
Inn will allegedly be the first to be issued MagicBands.
"Why wait 'til February?," you ask. "And why initially roll
out FastPass+ and My Disney Experience just to Guests staying at Disney's Boardwalk
Inn?" There's actually a common sense answer to both of these decisions by Mouse
House managers.
You see, the reason Disney held off the official roll-out of
all this NextGen stuff 'til next month is because December &
January are traditionally transition time for the Disney College Program. And given that these
college students now make up a large part of the work force on the
Attractions side of things at WDW (More to the point, given that it just didn't make
sense to train the old group of interns about the ins & outs of FastPass+,
My Disney Experience and MagicBand when they'd all be returning to
college at the end of their winter break), WDW officials decided to wait 'til the students who were
taking part in the Winter 2013 version of Disney World's College Program were all officially on property
& had completed orientation before they then got their NextGen training.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
As to why Disney's Boardwalk Inn was chosen to be the first
WDW hotel to officially offer FastPass+, My Disney Experience and MagicBand to its Guests … To be blunt, since Boardwalk Inn only has 378 rooms, this
is the smallest Deluxe Resort on WDW property. And since Disney officials want
to make sure that they've gotten all of the bugs out of this NextGen stuff
before it's then rolled out property wide … Well, Disney's Boardwalk Inn with
its limited number of rooms & Guests seemed like the perfect place to take
this program out for a test drive.
Now as to how The Walt Disney Company expects to recover its
NextGen development costs, not to mention eventually turn this program into a
real profit center for the WDW Resort … You have to first understand that The Company is now actively pursuing the next generation of
theme park fans. To be specific, millennials.
Upper management at Disney Parks & Resorts now views millennials (AKA Generation Y. People who were born –
depending on who you talk to – between 1982 & 2000 and/or 1983 & 2004) as their new primary target. Especially when it comes to The Walt Disney World Resort maintaining its top position & cultural relevance as the US's primary family vacation spot. The current
belief in-house is that – if The Walt Disney Company can forge a strong enough connection with this increasing affluent & influential group of consumers
… Well, they can then count on these millennials / Generations Y'ers to not
just take one trip to Walt Disney World but – as this specific demographic begins to have children of its own – plan three or more family vacations to The Walt Disney World Resort over
the next 25 years.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
And given that 97% of millennials own computers and 94% of
Generation Y'ers make use of cell phones & smartphones (more to the point,
this specifically targeted group of consumers has enthusiastically embraced
social media as their favorite way of communicating with friends & family) … Maybe now some of the central features of Disney's NextGen efforts –
where would-be WDW visitors can use their PC to book their specific ride times
on Disney World's most popular rides, shows and attractions weeks/months in
advance and/or use their smartphones to order quick service meals in advance
while they're still playing on the other side of that theme park — make a bit more sense.
Now comes the difficult question: How do you feel about The
Walt Disney Company putting this much time & money into a hi-tech program that's
specifically designed at winning over the next generation of theme park goers? Will
this aggressively targeting a single demographic like this prove to be a smart move in the long run?
Your thoughts?