You only get one chance to make a first impression. Which is
why Walt Disney World's initial roll-out / in-park testing of the MagicBands component of MyMagic+ — which was supposed to begin being offered to Guests staying at Disney's Boardwalk Resort next month — has quietly been pushed back
for a few weeks.
"Pushed back?," you ask. "For how long? And for
what reason?" To be blunt, the My Disney Experience program isn't quite
ready for prime time. Not yet, anyway. Some tiny glitches have been discovered in the software that WDW Guests are supposed to
be using to schedule in advance their trips on attractions like Test Track or character
interaction experiences like meeting with Winnie the Pooh and Friends at
the UK Pavilion. So the software writers & computer engineers that the
Company hired to write the code that drives MyMagic+ are now holed up in their
offices at the Team Disney
Building, trying to get a handle on
that balky calendar function.
Mind you, this delay is perfectly okay with the folks who
are putting together all of the training materials for the My Disney Experience
program. Given that the cast members who took part in the first round of MyMagic+
training came away with more questions than answers when it came to how exactly
they were supposed to help Resort Guests customize and personalize their
Disney World vacation experiences … Some tweaks obviously still have to be
made to these training materials.
WDW Resort Guests using the newly installed tap-and-go gates at the entrance of Magic
Kingdom Park this past Wednesday. Photo by Nancy Stadler
But the upside is … The Walt Disney Company remains firmly
committed to the My Disney Experience program. WDW's Casting office has hired dozens
of new Guest Relations Cast Members over the past few weeks specifically to staff
MyMagic+. Most of these WDW employees
will be right on the frontlines when it comes to My Disney Experience. These
new hires will be greeting Resort Guests as they arrive at their respective hotels
or as they come through those tap-and-go gates that have been installed at the
entrance at each of the four theme parks.
Speaking of which … Wait 'til you hear the acronym that MyMagic+
managers have come up with for those new Guest Relations reps who'll be
assigned to work at those theme park entrances. They'll be standing there, iPad
and iPhone in hand, ready to help Resort Guests with any & all Disney
Experience-related questions they may have. We're talking one Guest Relations
rep assigned to every two tap-and-go gates.
"So what's this acronym?," you ask. GRAPEs. As is:
Guest Relations At Park Entrance.
The Animation Magic show at the Animator's Palate restaurant aboard the Disney Fantasy
demonstrates how the innovative use of new technologies can clearly enhance the
overall Guest experience. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
Anyway … So just to recap here: Though the start of
official onsite testing of MagicBands has now been quietly pushed back to late February /
early March, it's still full speed ahead for the My Disney Experience program.
Which Company officials eventually hope will bring that hassle-free, pampered
feel of a Disney Cruise to the Walt Disney World Resort vacation experience.
That said, Disney knows that a lot of people will be paying very
close attention to what happens during the initial roll-out / in-park tests of those MagicBands.
Which is why — rather than allowing Guests who are staying at Disney's
Boardwalk to have first crack at this particular component of the My Disney Experience program — the thinking
now is that they may need to get away from the Epcot Resorts area. That a far more
remote resort might be a better test site for the initial roll-out of MagicBands.
Which is why the in-house scuttlebutt now is that Guests staying at Disney's Animal
Kingdom Lodge may wind up being the guinea pigs for this yet-to-be-field-tested-in-a-large-way element of MyMagic+. That it'll be
people who've booked packages at AKL who'll be the first to be issued MagicBands.
But make no mistake, folks. In spite on any privacy concerns
that Ed Markey's letter to Bob Iger last week may have raised, the My Disney
Experience program is still going forward. The Walt Disney Company has put too
much time & money into the development of MyMagic+. Though that said, Mouse
House managers recognize that — given how long it took to educate WDW visitors
about the particulars of FASTPASS when that ride reservation system was first
introduced back in 1999 — there'll be a pretty steep education curve with the
public when it comes to this much-more-involved use of technology. Especially since some of the more innovative features of the My Disney
Experience program (EX: The ability to order quick service meals in advance from
anywhere inside of a WDW theme park using your smart phone) aren't expected to come
online for a few months yet.
Photo by Nancy Stadler
But the in-house belief is — once MyMagic+ is up &
running — this program will be a real game changer for Walt Disney Parks &
Resorts. Especially for those folks who are making their first very trips to
the Walt Disney World & Disneyland Resorts and will welcome the opportunity
to customize and personalize their vacation experience, scheduling specific ride
times and character meet-n-greet
experiences months before they actually arrive on property.
Anywho … That's the latest on the My Disney Experience
program. I'll continue to keep my ear to the ground in regards to what's going
on with the ongoing test phase of MyMagic+ (More importantly, zeroing in on which Guests at what Resort will actually be the first to be issued MagicBands). And when I learn more, I'll post another My
Disney Experience story here, okay?
Your thoughts?