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On December 17th 2009, Disney announced the next step in their management move round. Jim McPhee, 51 moved from his position as vice president of Epcot into a new position, “Vice president of next generation experiences and Walt Disney World parks”. When the news broke the Disney community looked a little puzzled?
“What on earth is this strange new title?” they cried
Well, as the months moved on more details, albeit sketchy, have begun to resurface. The first is the “Next gen queue”
This new queuing system was announced as part of the Fantasyland expansion back in September 2009. The new Dumbo will have no queue but have three “rings”, much like a circus. Each ring will have interactive activities for children and parents to take part in. Parents will collect some sort of token (current favourite is a coloured feather) and will proceed to the ride when their colour is called. In recent months, Disney have tried a childless queue for character meet and greets at Pooh’s Playful Spot that seemed to have proved successful as well as a test at Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster.
The Winnie the Pooh experiment allowed children to play in Pooh Playful Spot while parents queued for characters. Once their parents reached a certain point, the children joined them in the queue and meet their favourite.
At Rock ’n’ Rollercoaster, visitors were given a number and sent to play on Guitar Hero until their numbers were called.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am all for the new queueless rides system. Admittedly, we British won’t like it because we like to queue and the French won’t like it as they won’t have a queue to cut in on, but my biggest worry is that we may now longer see the themeing Disney are so good at. Think of the elaborate queues of Toy Story Midway Mania, the excellent Expedition Everest or Test Track. Are we going to see these extensive areas a thing of the past because people won’t need to queue through them anymore? Yes, it will save Disney time and money because they don’t have to design such an expansive areas but pre-show and queue area is one thing that often made Disney stand out from the crowd.
The other area we that has been rumoured is a new interactive element through wearing RFID tags. They will allow interactive elements to be tailored to your trip. You may walk down Main Street and a window display comes to life wishing you a “Happy Birthday”. Personally, I would love this to be an addition as it would be truly magical but only if it doesn’t detract from what Main Street is all about. I would hate for modern technology to stop people from really taking in all the detail that Main Street has to offer. Especially all the windows along the upper floors.
RFID may also become your park and Fastpass ticket. A ticketless system would be great but would you want to pre-arrange your times for Fastpass before entering the park. I don’t know about you but I love have to plan my strategy for Fastpass as my day goes on. It adds to the excitement of my vacation!
I am sure there are many more things expected to come from the “Next Gen” team and I eagerly anticipate each one of them. I am not against the change in the slightest as long as they are sensitive to what is already there.
So, if by any slim chance you happen to be reading this Mr Iger. Roll out the changes but please don’t ruin what is the most magical place on Earth.
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Mark (Waspie500) on 06 February 2010I am all for the technoligy for cutting queuing down but have to agree with you about losing the themed queue areas. Also agree with Gordon about kids not wanting to go on the ride and stay playing the game.
I personelly always have a plan of which rides we want to do and a plan of sorts to do them, but I love the Spontinaty of doing things, and think this adds to the enjoymeant of Disney. Jury out on this one for me,for now.
Gordon (Finkelstein) on 06 February 2010
Technology is great if it helps you have fun I dont want to be part of a network RFID in a park. I do love to plan to the nth degree but once I am in a park bar for ADRs I like to just go with the flow. If I had a bracelet telling me, say, ride times or parade times down to the minute I would feel in some way pressurised and this would distract from the sponteaneous fun you can have. Rather perversely I enjoy the "boredom" factor of a queue for a ride, especially since I have kids and sometimes one will do a ride that may not be a fave but as part of a trade off with their sibling. Now if I have to drag them away from Guitar Hero to ride something they are not bothered about then I am not going to have an easy time of it. Whereas 30 minutes staring at a slowly moving queue will ensure they will gladly board any ride to get them out.
It will be very interesting to see what Disney propose to do with technology to enhance the fun but there is a sense of magic about Disney that exists in the physical surroundings. I want to see it and touch it, not "experience" it virtually.
Adam on 06 February 2010
I love the idea of seeing this technology in the parks. More interactivity equals more engaged Guests. The only thing I would caution Disney on is making guests wear RFID tags to experience this. One of the reasons I love Disney is that I don’t have to wear a stupid wrist bracelet, and if I have to wear a bracelet to get the RFID features then I’ll probably pass. Now, if they could build the RFID chip into a park ticket, that becomes much more intriguing. If the sensors can pick up the RFID chip that’s in my pocket, that would be cool. I’m sure Disney’s thought of this already, but this is my major concern about NextGen.