Disney’s parks in the US are incredibly popular. Due to this popularity mainly at peak vacation dates, waiting times to enter the park or go into certain rides can be excessive. In 2008 Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World requested research be done into ways to help relieve these ‘customer pain points’.
The development team came up with RFID wristbands called MyMagic+. Visitors to Disney World would be able to buy wristbands with RFID chips that had several functions within the park. It would function as a hotel key, automatic payment system, and even allow visitors to make reservations at certain rides so that they could enter them immediately at their designated time and did not have to wait in line. The investment for this project was significant, a $1 billion budget was drawn out to create and launch MyMagic+. The question is, was this large investment worth it?
According to Disney’s financial report of 2015 they are currently still losing money to MyMagic+. However the investment is still relatively new, so this is not out of the ordinary. Customers are very positive about the MyMagic+ experience, and waiting times have been cut significantly. Waiting times at the entrance of the park have been cut by up to 35%. More than 18 million guests have now used the MyMagic+ wristbands.
However the problem with technology now a days is that it becomes obsolete very quickly. RFID technology is now compatible with most modern day smartphones. When asked if MyMagic+ would be expanded outside of Walt Disney World, Disney executives answered that it would, but most likely in different ways. They acknowledge that smartphones are most likely the way to go. In the new $5.5 billion dollar park in Shanghai, that just opened this spring, Disney will not be introducing the wristbands. Instead the park will make use of a mobile application and smartphones. Disney will also not be introducing the wristbands in its other two parks in California.
MyMagic+ was an interesting approach to applying the internet of things to an entertainment park. Whereas it does make the park more efficient and result in more customer satisfaction, it may have been the wrong way to go about using this technology. If Disney had made use of smart phones from the beginning onwards, investment costs would most likely not have been as high. MyMagic+ might have been a cheaper project and might have had better business results. In the end it is still a very interesting case related to the internet of things to look at, and many companies, including Disney itself, can learn from the project.
Sources:
Disney’s Annual Report 2015 – https://ditm-twdc-us.storage.googleapis.com/2015-Annual-Report.pdf
Bloomberg Report MyMagic+ – http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-03-07/disney-bets-1-billion-on-technology-to-track-theme-park-visitors
Themepark Report MyMagic+ – http://www.themeparktourist.com/news/20141107/29594/5-important-facts-tucked-away-disney-s-quarterly-and-yearly-earnings-report
Steven Van Belleghem About MyMagic+ – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtQKVEk1aig
Orlando Sentinel on MyMagic+ – http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-disney-magicbands-phones-20160408-story.html
Shanghai and MyMagic+ – http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-10/why-disney-won-t-be-taking-magic-wristbands-to-its-chinese-park
