Disney sure has a thing about magic. There is the world's most popular theme park, the Magic Kingdom, one of its cruise ships, the Disney Magic, and its complimentary ground transportation program between Orlando International Airport and Disney World, Disney's Magical Express, to demonstrate just some of its magic mania. Now comes MyMagic+, a truly groundbreaking, if not downright magical, program to enhance the guest experience at Disney World.
It's the culmination of the Mouse's much vaunted "NextGen" initiative, which purportedly is setting the company back a staggering $1 billion. Using sophisticated online tools and a smart phone app, (RFID)-embedded bracelets called -- what else? -- MagicBands, and a healthy dose of pixie dust, Disney will give park fans powerful new ways to plan their visits and enjoy the resort. Best of all? It's free. Read about MyMagic+.
Photo: Disney, 2013. Used with permission.
Being a fan of theme parks, and working in high-tech, I fully welcome this “next gen” technology that Disney is developing. We need somebody pushing the envelope and coming up with radical new ways to plan our trips to the park. I’ll gladly wear a bracelet that gets me into my hotel room, onto rides, into shows, and let’s me pay for food without carrying cash around. For those who worry about losing them, it’s no different than your wallet. Mine has my room key, fastpass tix, and cash. In some ways it’s actually better because you can probably have it deactivated pretty fast once it’s lost and not be out very much, if anything. Not so with your wallet. Once Disney fully rolls this out and perfects it, others in the industry will surely soon follow suit.
Thanks for writing. I completely agree, Coaster Guy, that other parks will jump on the RFID bandwagon. I also agree that the benefits greatly outweigh the potential downsides of the program.
-Arthur