But how will it change?
As I mentioned in the same article from the Sentinel, MyMagic+ has upset many long-time Disney fans because it disrupted the way that they had planned and enjoyed their Disney World vacations. All that experience and knowledge that guests had built up over years and years of visiting no longer mattered as much in a new system where the rules for securing ride times on popular attractions were very different.
MyMagic+ is hardly the first time that Disney has disrupted it systems, and each time something like this has happened before, the parks' attendance and revenue has continued to grow. Remember the variety of ticket and vacation packages that Disney offered before the Magic Your Way ticket structure? People howled when Disney introduced Magic Your Way, but most of those critics came around and found how to make the new system work for them, too.
What about when Disney started requiring credit card numbers to hold restaurant reservations? People who were exploiting the old way of doing things complained because they couldn't sit on blocks of reservations times any longer. But the rest of us started getting more chances to get the reservations we wanted without having to go through self-appointed third-party gatekeepers online. Eventually, everyone adapted.
Imagine if we'd all been on the Internet back when Disney started allowing people to call in advance for Epcot restaurant reservations instead of requiring you to use the in-park video conferencing screens that Epcot used in its first years. I suspect that there would have been a handful of very vocal critics howling that Disney was dumbing down its futuristic video calling system that rewarded fans who got to the park early in favor of letting lazier visitors book reservations with just an old-fashioned, low-tech phone call. (Full disclosure: I, uh, probably would have been one of them complaining about that. Sorry.)
We already are seeing operational changes on the west coast in preparation for the introduction of MyMagic+ at Disneyland. This month's switch to a World of Color-style Fastpass reservation system for Fantasmic! at Disneyland provides one example. Are some people who've been coming to the park after work and holding spaces for hours in advance of the show upset that they can't do that any longer? Sure. But many more of us are happy to see the New Orleans Square riverbank free of campers in the early evening, giving everyone a little more space to walk around the often-crowded area. Of course, that's distributed more people throughout the park in the hours leading up to Fantasmic!, but if you're one of those people who otherwise would have had to been sitting on the ground in front of the river trying to hold a space, it's nice to be able to enjoy the rest of the park for longer, for a change.
The point is: Whenever you disrupt a system, many of the people who had optimized their experience under the old system will be upset that they have lost their advantage over people who didn't optimize their experience. But the new system creates new opportunities. And, I suspect, given past experience, that the people who figure out how to make the new system work for them will pretty much be the same people who figured out how to work the old system, before.
So, here's the challenge, and my question for you. Given all that you know about MyMagic+ and your experience visiting theme parks, what would you like to see Disney do as it rolls out MyMagic+ to other parks to help ensure that the change helps more people? How would you like to see Disney adapt MyMagic+ to better serve the different audience in Southern California? And how would you like to see Disney tweak MyMagic+ in the months ahead to better serve its existing audience in Orlando?
Let's make one thing very clear, however. Going back to the old way is not an option. MyMagic+ is driving more guest spending at WDW, as new visitors embrace it and old visitors who complain about it keep spending their money at Disney anyway. The system is working for Disney and it's not going away.
But it will change. Staggs has said that. So let's take this opportunity to talk about how we'd like to see that happen.
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Locals looking for a quick ride or two, or a day of spontaneous enjoyment will be disappointed at having limited options. I tend to plan around the spring specials or Halloween parties. I hope MyMagic+ won't disappoint at Disneyland.
-Guests staying at a Disney Resort may reserve attractions 60 days in advance. Guests at a good neighbor hotel may reserve attractions 45 days in advance. Day visitors may reserve attractions 30 days in advance as long as they have purchased tickets.
-Guests may make reservations at either park, but may only reserve three attractions per day in advance.
-Guests may have three active reservations at any given time. In other words, once a Fastpass is used another may be obtained immediately. Day of Fastpasses must be reserved at a kiosk in the park but may later be modified using a smartphone.
-To aid those who purchase tickets on site, kiosks will be installed by the ticket windows so guests do not have to wait until park opening to make their initial reservations.
-Guests with annual passes will be given a certain number of advance reservations per year (approximately 70 for the cheapest pass up to 150-200 for the Premium). Only three or four days' worth of attractions may be reserved at any given time. If reservations are not used or rescheduled before the reservation window opens, the reservation is forfeit.
-Fastpass will be available on 40-50% of the attractions at each park. Only about 20% of each attraction's hourly capacity will be made available as a Fastpass. There are no attraction tiers.
My brother is visiting Walt Disney World in a couple months, so I'll have to see what he thinks of MyMagic+. So far he's liking the Magic Bands and not really liking Fastpass+.
So let's hope that when the system goes to other parks, they take the time to build a system that actually functions instead of the dysfunctional waste of $1 billion that was installed in Florida.
MyMagic+ is a great idea on paper, and I support it if it's done right. But when the implementation is a complete disaster like it has been in Florida, it's a gigantic step backwards for Disney and just results in frustrated guests.
In the news today, Disney closed both the California and Florida parks at mid-day due to overcrowding issues. I hope that if anything good comes from the MyMagic+ disaster it will be a change of Disney management: away from the penny-wise, pound foolish policy of squeezing every last dime out of their customers. It's time to return to Walt's philosophy of making a fair profit by exceeding customers' expectations.
There is not doubt an increase in attendance and profits at WDW, but can't that be pointed to an overall increase in Orlando travel attendance? Universal Studios grew 14% this past year and of course guest spending is higher due to a better economy and more faith in the markets.
Whether MyMagic+ is really an improvement over how the parks previously functioned is really more of a debate than an argument that can be made factual, but I don't see the same operating procedures and rules that govern WDW working in Disneyland or other parks, even if they adjust some of the rules associated with FastPass restrictions, etc. People don't go on vacations to Disneyland that they plan months ahead and have to know all about their fast passes and restaurant reservations and meet and greets and everything else included in a vacation like the ones people go on in Orlando.
I haven't been to Disneyland in quite a few years, but as someone who lives in eastern Canada, I would appreciate to ability to do the same out there. Yes, Disneyland is more of a "locals park" but those of us who come from out of state and don't know how to game the system like the AP holders need a level playing field.
Also, the My Magic Plus app for the iPhone is next to useless. You can not use it to schedule new fast passes after you have used all of you existing ones for a given day (the app tries and then hangs), the attraction wait times shown by the app are almost never current, and the horrible WiFi availability in most of the parks makes the app next to useless. So many people were lining up at the MM+ terminals in the park trying to get fast passes that one park guest commented to that you needed a Fast Pass for the Fast Pass Plus terminal line.
The moral of the story, if you are not staying on site, Disney no longer wants your business.
On the plus side, I liked the bracelets. They worked well were much more convenient than having to carry fast passes and reservation info around.
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But with the clunky app in play and spotty wi-fi throughout the resort, the whole system just comes off half-baked. Add in a sizable percentage of guests not packing smartphones, and I just don't see who this system is meant to be optimized for.
I've wondered, would the system work as advertised if the Disney folks didn't have to potentially deal with every make and model of smartphone on the market? You can check out, free of charge, an old-school cell handset to do the fun World Showcase Adventure... Maybe down the line Disney hands each party arriving at the parks a cheap-o mini tablet designed specifically for MyMagic+. Bonus for Disney- it'll be like handing out digital cattle tags a la Uber's God view.