EUROPA
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2000
I think this is what AV is alluding to....btw "How are those new tank tops working out for you Mr. AV.."
http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=593
http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=593
'Destination Disney' Goes High Tech
Message posted by J. Dana (via 208.173.24.10) on July 8, 2002 at 9:07 AM (MST)
For those of you who have seen the new Steven Spielberg / Tom Cruise thriller "Minority Report," Disney's new customer relations plan may sound a bit familiar. Almost futuristic-of course, Disney prides itself on being ahead of the fray. But let's hope they don't overstep.
Remember the scene when Tom Cruise's character walks into The Gap of the future only to be met by seemingly clairvoyant greetings from the holographic host: "Hello, welcome back to the Gap. We sure hope you're enjoying that navy dress shirt you bought last month. We've got a great pair of khakis that would go great with it." And so it goes. (I know this isn't verbatim, but I was watching the 11 p.m. showing, and slept through most of it) This isn't too far removed from reality, and Disney has been hoping to capitalize on less-intrusive versions of this idea.
Here's how .
For quite some time now, Walt Disney World engineers and marketing gurus have been developing Destination Disney, the next step in customer relations. In real-world terms, it's called Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Always one to adapt generally accepted business language into its own "world" of words, WDW has labeled its own CRM efforts as Creating Relationship Magic.
Although it encompasses the whole guest experience, from first contact to "lifelong friendship," there's a core component that is a spitting image of the "Minority Report" scene: Tracking guests.
Ideally, what will happen is when someone decides to book a Walt Disney World vacation, that person will offer up personal information to the reservationist (or computer screen) that will help Disney to arrange the best accommodations. Also, this information will help the reservationist plan the guest's itinerary while at Walt Disney World. Sounds okay.
However, plans call for each guest to carry a Personal Assistance Device (PAD-sorry, no cutesy name yet), commonly referred to as a Palm Pilot. These Palm Pilots carry the guest's personal inventory. So, when checking into the hotel, the front desk person will say, "Glad to have you back Mr. Smith. How's the weather been in Maine? And did your daughter have a good honeymoon?" All real homey.
The retail locations push it even further. For example, when Mr. Smith then enters a Walt Disney World retail location carrying his PDA, the computer chip in the PDA will make all his personal information available to the clerks in the store. And not just when he makes a purchase-no, it will be instantly available when he enters.
Now do you see the similarities between this and Tom Cruise's interaction with the Gap?
When Mr. Smith enters World of Disney, a clerk will greet him with, "Welcome, Mr. Smith. We've been waiting for you. Hope you're enjoying your accommodations at our Wilderness Lodge Resort. And from what we understand, you're looking for a great pair of earrings to match that beautiful necklace you gave your wife last year." Then, as he enters the sports store at Downtown Disney Marketplace: "Hello, Mr. Smith. You may want to consider this fresh set of golf balls for your tee-time tomorrow morning over at the Buena Vista Golf Course."
Then, back at the hotel, his wife is met with, "Mrs. Smith, since your husband is golfing tomorrow, would you like a spa treatment like last year? Or may we suggest that instead of the mud bath, you try the seaweed treatment this time?"
All this information will show up on computer screens discretely located around the resorts and retail outlets so that only the cast members can see them. They will be activated by each PAD that is carried into the store. And this isn't too far away.
Disney is already successfully testing (and profiting) from this technology. Have you noticed all the light-up pins that are being sold around property? They "magically" start flashing during the fireworks finales, during the electrical parade, and in close proximity to other specially designed locations. The crowd during Fantasmic! (Disney's exclamation point) sparkles with these pins.
These pins contain little computer chips that are activated by certain electronic prompts located throughout Walt Disney World, much the same way that your PDA serve as the electronic prompt to computer screens throughout WDW.
In all honesty, Destination Disney, for all its ominous overtones and disconcerting advances, will definitely be a stroke of customer relationship genius when fully implemented. I mean, how many of us will turn down our favorite dessert when it's "unexpectedly" offered to us at our favorite Disney dining locale? Or shy away from that beautiful set of earrings when we're politely reminded by the clerk that our anniversary is two days away and our wife has the matching necklace?
If done right, this could be great. If overly intrusive, there's another hundred million down Disney's drain. And some serious shivers down resort guests' spines.
ALSO:
It's being reported (or at least strongly rumored) that Universal Pictures is eager to develop Peter Jackson's update to King Kong.
Jackson is currently spinning out the wonderful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the third of which, "Return of the King," will be released in December of 2003. The studio hopes to persuade Jackson to start work on King Kong immediately thereafter.
If Universal is reviving the Kong franchise, then why are they closing the Kongfrontation attraction? It's scheduled to be replaced by a "Mummy Returns" or "Scorpion King"-themed thrill ride. We'll see if any Kong-type attraction remains in the park, especially since the film will surely generate quite a few bucks and marketing tie-ins.