Disney has pulled back the curtain and revealed details for MyMagic+ with MagicBand, a high tech system coming to Walt Disney World that will use wireless bracelets to create custom experiences.
The mouse house revealed in a New York Times interview that MyMagic+ has been in development for two years and cost between $800 million and $1 billion to create. The system will use rubber bracelets with RFID chips to track your movements throughout Walt Disney World. Cinderella will greet you by name, animatronics will wish you a happy birthday, and Disney will know your favorite attractions based on the number of times you scan the bracelet.
The RFID bracelet system will replace the use of paper admission tickets, Fastpass tickets, and room keys. You will just scan your badge at the newly installed readers and that $5 churro will be billed to the credit card on file.
For years, Disney cast members have offered a personalized touch by greeting children by name after seeing it stitched into their mouse ears hat. If you have ever worn a birthday sticker, you know that every cast member goes out of their way to wish you a magical day. With MyMagic+, this will be taken to the next level. When you opt in during the registration process, your name and information will be shared everywhere you go. This will allow the employees to offer a personalized service that was not previously possible.
The downside of this custom experience is that a significant amount of data is being stored about you and what you do in the theme parks. Disney will have a record of every souvenir you purchase, every meal you eat, every character you see, and every ride you experience. In an age where Facebook and Google are seeing backlash over how customer data is being used, it will be a paradigm shift for a theme park to collect this much information on everyone who enters the resort.
RFID bracelets have been used for years at Great Wolf Lodge, though the resort does not use the bracelets to collect personally identifying information about your visit. The bracelets are used for practical purposes of buying food and opening the door to your hotel room. Disney’s plans for MyMagic+ are different in that the company plans to use the service extensively to track your behaviors and to entice guests to plan out more of their stay.
For example, Disney will allow families using MyMagic+ to reserve Fastpasses for attractions on every day of their visit. By allowing you to schedule experiences ahead of time, you will be enticed to stay on Disney property and perhaps skip visits to Universal’s Islands of Adventure with the very popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Disney will not require guests to use MyMagic+, just as they do not require you to use Fastpass now, but skipping the service would mean that you miss several perks. Guests will just need to be mindful of the privacy settings they select when setting up their MyMagic+ accounts. While it can be easy to be lulled into a sense of safety with Disney, it is important for parents to remember that the system will be sharing and tracking information about your children as well.
The new MyMagic+ service will likely be a hit with families and will soon become a standard part of how we visit the theme parks. It will seem strange to think that years ago Snow White didn’t know your name and that you couldn’t track your lifetime number of rides on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
But behind the magic is a big data collection system keeping tabs on everything you do. Depending on your point of view, MyMagic+ can either be the best thing to ever happen or the creepiest addition to the Magic Kingdom. Only time will tell.
Images via Disney
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