Universal RFID Bands?

[IzzyB]

I don't think Universal will ever go back to a fast pass system because they found a way to make money off of their system. I am not sure why when we talk about bands they assume universal will look at fast pass, because universal had that once and they decided to go the pay route.

Now I do see at some point that they will start to package their food with hotel rooms as they get more hotel rooms. Because Disney makes more money this way and Universal will want to make that money. But I think they will wait for more hotels and places to eat they can control reservations and meal plans with.

On the same side I don't see Disney ever going to universals pay system because they have too many hotels and they have enough occupancy that they don't need to add express as a benefit. Each system works for each park, but Universal did it to make more money and get more people to stay on site. It accomplished that and they won't go backwards.

 

[Scott W.]

This is why I HATE discussions like this, magicbands or FP+ is short hand for the whole network and network infrastructure.

Biggest issues and most money was spent on the physical hardware in the parks, increasing data in park (wifi is an offshoot of this), and the MDX back end with accounts.

I have heard VB, like many water parks, will use an off the shelf band and queue less system.

Does Universal have wifi? I've not been in 3 years.

 

[Brian G.]

Does Universal have wifi? I've not been in 3 years.

Yup. One of the perks of being owned by Comcast. Installed it about 2-3 years ago?

 

[Nick]

Yup. One of the perks of being owned by Comcast. Installed it about 2-3 years ago?

It's not the easiest to use though.

Unlike Disney where it auto-connects every time you enter property, you have to sign into the wifi every time you visit at Uni.

 

[CatCatCat]

I stumbled across an interesting Behance "Work in Progress" that details a possible direction a system like this might take. Here's a link directly to the project:

Behance

And here are some of the interesting slides from it:

This concept seems to heavily stress social networking and sharing of moments/memories, while still baking in some of the features we've seen in MDE. Could be an interesting direction for sure, but I'd imagine this is only a small part of whatever they're planning.

 

[*Q*]

Whoa, what?? What is Behance? Is this official?

 

[CatCatCat]

No, not official at all. Behance is simply a site for creative types to show off their portfolio of work. This particular user specializes in UX design and mobile integration. Looks like he was working on concepts for Universal at some point, and decided to upload them to his online portfolio. I happened upon it by chance today (saw a link to Behance in the Cobra's Curse thread, and did a search for Universal Studios...) and thought it could be relevant to this discussion.

 

[amityboattours]

I stumbled across an interesting Behance "Work in Progress" that details a possible direction a system like this might take. Here's a link directly to the project:

Behance

And here are some of the interesting slides from it:

This concept seems to heavily stress social networking and sharing of moments/memories, while still baking in some of the features we've seen in MDE. Could be an interesting direction for sure, but I'd imagine this is only a small part of whatever they're planning.

This has just blown my mind a little.

My wife and I were eating Dinner at Cabana Bay's bowling restaurant late one evening about 2 weeks ago and there were approximately 5 non-universal staff (they certainly didn't look or seem to be direct employees, anyway) on the table behind ours, working on what now looks to be this very project with their laptops. I actually recognise that first screenshot near-enough exactly (the page was laid out slightly differently, but the hand holding the phone was 100% the same), as we were having a good old snoop at them throughout our meal, to see if it was anything juicy, but we couldn't quite make out what the text was saying at the time.
They seemed to be working on some sort of PowerPoint presentation, as they kept flicking through lots of screens that always seemed to contain at least one of the Universal characters on it in some form, Shrek & Potter are the ones I definitely remember seeing. I may even hopefully have a picture or two of some of the screenshots that I'll try to blow up (my wife pretended to take some pictures of me at the table, with them in the background), will check through my photos when I finish work later today.

Edit: sorry guys, the pictures are a bust, but the date of that evening was Wednesday 3rd Feb.

 

[Mad Dog]

This has just blown my mind a little.

My wife and I were eating Dinner at Cabana Bay's bowling restaurant late one evening about 2 weeks ago and there were approximately 5 non-universal staff (they certainly didn't look or seem to be direct employees, anyway) on the table behind ours, working on what now looks to be this very project with their laptops. I actually recognise that first screenshot near-enough exactly (the page was laid out slightly differently, but the hand holding the phone was 100% the same), as we were having a good old snoop at them throughout our meal, to see if it was anything juicy, but we couldn't quite make out what the text was saying at the time.
They seemed to be working on some sort of PowerPoint presentation, as they kept flicking through lots of screens that always seemed to contain at least one of the Universal characters on it in some form, Shrek & Potter are the ones I definitely remember seeing. I may even hopefully have a picture or two of some of the screenshots that I'll try to blow up (my wife pretended to take some pictures of me at the table, with them in the background), will check through my photos when I finish work later today.

Edit: sorry guys, the pictures are a bust, but the date of that evening was Wednesday 3rd Feb.

:thumbsup:Thanks for the info. Good looking out. BriMan probably wouldn't have posted the pictures anyway since that's confidential information.....Did the enitre CBBR experience work out OK? I remember your initial posts were pretty excited.

 

[amityboattours]

:thumbsup:Thanks for the info. Good looking out. BriMan probably wouldn't have posted the pictures anyway since that's confidential information.....Did the enitre CBBR experience work out OK? I remember your initial posts were pretty excited.

Cabana is just an absolute delight. I'll be honest, I still held a slight scepticism even days before we arrived there about it, with all the hyperbole from other's raving about just how special it is (people always tend to big up the new & shiny), but you can't really quite appreciate just how good it is until you spend a full afternoon or more drinking cocktails on that lazy river I can afford the other on-sites and have stayed at them in the past, but I don't think I'll stay on-sites at anywhere but Cabana from now on, it's a huge home run

 

[Mad Dog]

Cabana is just an absolute delight. I'll be honest, I still held a slight scepticism even days before we arrived there about it, with all the hyperbole from other's raving about just how special it is (people always tend to big up the new & shiny), but you can't really quite appreciate just how good it is until you spend a full afternoon or more drinking cocktails on that lazy river I can afford the other on-sites and have stayed at them in the past, but I don't think I'll stay on-sites at anywhere but Cabana from now on, it's a huge home run

Yeah, I'm a believer too. I'll going to continue splitting my vacations in the future, with some nights at Cabana & some at Portofino. As I said previously, I think the genius of the Lazy River, and what gives it it's quality, is that you have to supply your own floats. That keeps it calm and relaxing, instead of the massive crowds lazy rivers generally attract. There's little reason to book an off site hotel with the prices you pay at Cabana. For a few extra dollars you get that campus feeling, which can't be duplicated by an off site resort.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

My trip last year and staying at the Bae was a really special trip and I loved it.

 

[UNIrd]

My trip last year and staying at the Bae was a really special trip and I loved it.

The Bae

 

[rioriz]

I'd welcome this at Universal...functionality the Magic Bands are awesome to me...less things I have to carry and payment as easy as Apple Pay

 

[Quint]

I have heard VB, like many water parks, will use an off the shelf band and queue less system.

You have a good source.

 

[Scott W.]

This may have been covered before but I'm not sure. Was having a look at trademarks by Universal trying to find the 8th Wonder Expedition Company logo and stumbled upon this:

Trademark information for ANYTIME ADMISSION from USPTO - by Markify

"Entertainment services, including arranging for ticket reservations for amusement parks"

I didn't know where else to post this but I know this has been a topic of discussion in this thread recently.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

This may have been covered before but I'm not sure. Was having a look at trademarks by Universal trying to find the 8th Wonder Expedition Company logo and stumbled upon this:

Trademark information for ANYTIME ADMISSION from USPTO - by Markify

"Entertainment services, including arranging for ticket reservations for amusement parks"

I didn't know where else to post this but I know this has been a topic of discussion in this thread recently.

8th Wonder is Kong

 

[Scott W.]

8th Wonder is Kong

I know that but the trademark is for something called: anytime admission.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I know that but the trademark is for something called: anytime admission.

I can't read sorry dude :doh:

 

[Scott W.]

I've read that Anytime Admission thing completely wrong. It's for Universal Hollywood and allows you to buy a park ticket that can be used any time time until the end of the year. Nothing to do with reserving ride spaces.