Disney's NextGen Initiative

[maxairmike]

All I'm going to say is that all of my friends at the lower levels were various versions of angry, nervous, cautious, and also vocal about the issues they expected to come up and get ugly...they've been proven right quite often, and yet their initial concerns were brushed off with typical idealized Disney-speak and pixie dust.

They won't be rolling this out to anyone as a final product in any fashion before next year, and they have tests scheduled out through Oct/Nov. Oh, and let's not even touch on that new CM admission system using the bands...

 

[Hockeyman55]

So no chance of seeing this in Dec?

Sounds like the got the typical corporate comb over.

 

[freediverdude]

There's a CM admission system using the bands?? OMG, lol. Very typical though, the people on the front lines who know what is actually going on and what will happen get ignored by people who think they know better, lol.

 

[Mad Dog]

There's a CM admission system using the bands?? OMG, lol. Very typical though, the people on the front lines who know what is actually going on and what will happen get ignored by people who think they know better, lol.

Unfortunately, this is fairly typical of corporate America, not only Disney.....My Magic + Fastpasses will probably be the forefront of customer dissatisfaction. Once people get a whiff of how it really works, or doesn't work in the typical Florida rainy weather, the bottom of Next Gen will fall out. Disney should take their losses and back off the areas that are going to be major headaches such as My Magic+ Fastpasses. Just implement the non controversial parts like hotel room locks & interactive games and admit they were snookered by some software people trying to make a quick buck. A lot of management people really need to lose their jobs over this mess. And I speculate it will get worse once they try full implementation. The customers will be storming the castle yelling kill the beast.

 

[maxairmike]

So no chance of seeing this in Dec?

Sounds like the got the typical corporate comb over.

I would be very surprised if this rolls out as anything more than more tests before the end of the year. It may get pushed to larger "tests" to make it appear that it is being rolled out for good, but I highly doubt it exits the testing stage before Dec. 31.

 

[Hockeyman55]

I would be very surprised if this rolls out as anything more than more tests before the end of the year. It may get pushed to larger "tests" to make it appear that it is being rolled out for good, but I highly doubt it exits the testing stage before Dec. 31.

Ill let you know if i get anything in the mail or email since my 60day time frame falls in October and is when i would supposedly be able to make reservations and get out bracelets-o-fun

Speaking of Dec, need to send you a pm about a photo event then

 

[freediverdude]

A friend and I were discussing this at break, and we were wondering how much of a PR nightmare they're going to have, after letting people make all these dining and fastpass reservations way in advance, then the people show up to the parks and the usual delays happen, causing them to miss all their pre-assigned times for everything, lol. Even IF all the stuff with the bands and the My Disney Experience website work perfectly, what if Cinderella Castle is running late and they don't get seated for lunch for an hour, and then they miss their precious afternoon fastpass+ for Space Mountain that they arranged 60 days ago? This just seems ripe for having upset guests, but I guess we'll see what happens.

 

[Cruiseshipfan]

A friend and I were discussing this at break, and we were wondering how much of a PR nightmare they're going to have, after letting people make all these dining and fastpass reservations way in advance, then the people show up to the parks and the usual delays happen, causing them to miss all their pre-assigned times for everything, lol. Even IF all the stuff with the bands and the My Disney Experience website work perfectly, what if Cinderella Castle is running late and they don't get seated for lunch for an hour, and then they miss their precious afternoon fastpass+ for Space Mountain that they arranged 60 days ago? This just seems ripe for having upset guests, but I guess we'll see what happens.

Or if a ride break down, the rest of your day either has to suffer or you miss out on rides.

 

[IzzyB]

Well I am glad they finally got their heads out of the ground and are not rolling this out to DVC people as quickly as they wanted to. Because these tests have been a disaster.

Does anyone on the inside know if they were sold software or made it in house? I would really think something like this would be made in house or at least contracted out to overseas people to make. But I would think the design and testing would have been done in house. Normally my experience with large companies like Disney is they don't purchase software like this, because it doesn't really exist. They normally have an idea and design it and then bring in contractors to do the bulk of the programming unless they have a large IT department and then it is also developed in house. If you go to a Darden restaurant their POS system was all developed and designed within the company. They didn't even contract the work out, but they are known for having bloated IT departments. And that is a system you can purchase, but I can't see any kind of system like this one already being on the market.

As for ride breaking down, I imagine it will be handled the same way it is today. You no longer have to come back within your window of time. It doesn't destroys someone day today, that won't change with fastpass+ either. I have to think they will actually handle it better because they can just put a note in the computer against anyone that have a timeslot when the ride broke down so only those people can come back at any point. Today when a ride breaks down for long periods of time, I think they end up letting anyone with a FP come back at any time.

 

[Jakemeister]

They're still have a lot of issues with in park WiFi. At least I can say every time I go there are. This is how the scenario plays out.

I turn on in park WiFi hopeful that it will work better than last time.
Try to access a couple apps, i.e. FourSquare or event Twitter. Slow response.
Hmm maybe it's just me. I'll try again in 20 minutes.
Pull out phone, have lost 10% of battery because of spotty service.
Let me try this again. WiFi slow and unresponsive.
Awe screw it. Turns on 4G that uses as much battery life.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

They're still have a lot of issues with in park WiFi. At least I can say every time I go there are. This is how the scenario plays out.

I turn on in park WiFi hopeful that it will work better than last time.
Try to access a couple apps, i.e. FourSquare or event Twitter. Slow response.
Hmm maybe it's just me. I'll try again in 20 minutes.
Pull out phone, have lost 10% of battery because of spotty service.
Let me try this again. WiFi slow and unresponsive.
Awe screw it. Turns on 4G that uses as much battery life.

Neither my wife or I have had issues w/ the in-park WiFi yet; she has an iPhone 4, I have a Droid RAZR MAXX. I do find it slower than my 4G connection (which is to be expected w/ the wide open spaces and the amount of people utilizing the WiFi network), but have not had connectivity issues.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

Unfortunately, this is fairly typical of corporate America, not only Disney...

And political America.

 

[Disneyhead]

Watching politics is like watching a slow motion train wreck.

 

[Mad Dog]

I seem to remember from reading on another site, that the idea for Next Gen My Magic + was originally pitched by an outside firm. Can't remember exactly, but for some reason Cisco pops up in my scattered memory. And I thought software was being done both out of house & in house. My recollection may be wrong though. Anyone with any more concrete info?

 

[jeffxz]

Well I am glad they finally got their heads out of the ground and are not rolling this out to DVC people as quickly as they wanted to. Because these tests have been a disaster.

Does anyone on the inside know if they were sold software or made it in house? I would really think something like this would be made in house or at least contracted out to overseas people to make. But I would think the design and testing would have been done in house. Normally my experience with large companies like Disney is they don't purchase software like this, because it doesn't really exist. They normally have an idea and design it and then bring in contractors to do the bulk of the programming unless they have a large IT department and then it is also developed in house. If you go to a Darden restaurant their POS system was all developed and designed within the company. They didn't even contract the work out, but they are known for having bloated IT departments. And that is a system you can purchase, but I can't see any kind of system like this one already being on the market.

I believe the mobile apps are being developed by UIEvolution, http://www.uievolution.com. I'm not sure about any of the other components though.

 

[maxairmike]

Well I am glad they finally got their heads out of the ground and are not rolling this out to DVC people as quickly as they wanted to. Because these tests have been a disaster.

Does anyone on the inside know if they were sold software or made it in house? I would really think something like this would be made in house or at least contracted out to overseas people to make. But I would think the design and testing would have been done in house. Normally my experience with large companies like Disney is they don't purchase software like this, because it doesn't really exist. They normally have an idea and design it and then bring in contractors to do the bulk of the programming unless they have a large IT department and then it is also developed in house. If you go to a Darden restaurant their POS system was all developed and designed within the company. They didn't even contract the work out, but they are known for having bloated IT departments. And that is a system you can purchase, but I can't see any kind of system like this one already being on the market.

As for ride breaking down, I imagine it will be handled the same way it is today. You no longer have to come back within your window of time. It doesn't destroys someone day today, that won't change with fastpass+ either. I have to think they will actually handle it better because they can just put a note in the computer against anyone that have a timeslot when the ride broke down so only those people can come back at any point. Today when a ride breaks down for long periods of time, I think they end up letting anyone with a FP come back at any time.

From what I know, it is a very convoluted mix of in-house and contracted IT/development work. I can tell you that my experiences with Disney's "in-house" preferred telecom system/operator has been...extremely lacking in end results and service. Cisco is very heavily involved in most all aspects of this as well.

 

[IzzyB]

From what I know, it is a very convoluted mix of in-house and contracted IT/development work. I can tell you that my experiences with Disney's "in-house" preferred telecom system/operator has been...extremely lacking in end results and service. Cisco is very heavily involved in most all aspects of this as well.

And this is how the IT world works. That is what I thought it would be, in-house with contracted/outsourced development. That is how most large scale projects in most IT departments work. You end up with an end product that never works and maintenance is awful on it. It then gets re-written over time by in-house developers. Of course the second part in some ways is going away because even support is being outsourced and well, overall is just a bad trend. I have been the person to clean up the mess of the contractor/3rd party development work, never fun.

So honestly, it does not shock me that this is not working as expected or that the amount of money spent keeps increasing.

 

[freediverdude]

They're still have a lot of issues with in park WiFi. At least I can say every time I go there are. This is how the scenario plays out.

I turn on in park WiFi hopeful that it will work better than last time.
Try to access a couple apps, i.e. FourSquare or event Twitter. Slow response.
Hmm maybe it's just me. I'll try again in 20 minutes.
Pull out phone, have lost 10% of battery because of spotty service.
Let me try this again. WiFi slow and unresponsive.
Awe screw it. Turns on 4G that uses as much battery life.

I've found that the Studios and Epcot are ok with the wifi, not too many problems, but Magic Kingdom is just horrible. I can spend hours trying to get an email with a picture to go through from MK. Probably just way more people trying to use it there, since MK is always packed. However, this is one thing Universal could improve on, they don't have any in-park wifi at all (at least not for guests that I can tell, and I've asked at guest services). So I couldn't even download the Universal app inside the park, had to wait til I got back to the hotel. But I'm getting off topic...

 

[maxairmike]

And this is how the IT world works. That is what I thought it would be, in-house with contracted/outsourced development. That is how most large scale projects in most IT departments work. You end up with an end product that never works and maintenance is awful on it. It then gets re-written over time by in-house developers. Of course the second part in some ways is going away because even support is being outsourced and well, overall is just a bad trend. I have been the person to clean up the mess of the contractor/3rd party development work, never fun.

So honestly, it does not shock me that this is not working as expected or that the amount of money spent keeps increasing.

The problem is, Disney has always had less than stellar websites and digital portals (they're still using "Go"!), so I have zero confidence in their ability to clean up and rework already messy, buggy contractor/3rd party work.

 

[grizzlybarely]

The problem is, Disney has always had less than stellar websites and digital portals (they're still using "Go"!), so I have zero confidence in their ability to clean up and rework already messy, buggy contractor/3rd party work.

I like My Disney Experience, at least compared to the old site But yeah, continuing to use go.com is pretty bad.