WASHINGTON, January 7 (RIA Novosti) - The frustration of waiting in long lines to ride one of the attractions at Walt Disney World in Florida or pay for a meal could soon be a thing of the past, as the mega theme park announced on Monday the launch of a new program that will help guests customize their vacations with mobile phone apps and a futuristic wristband.
“At Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, we continually push the boundaries of creativity and innovation to deliver the best possible experience for our guests,” Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, wrote in a blog post Monday on the company’s website about the new MyMagic+ vacation management system.
“We’re always looking for ways to take what we do and do it even better,” he wrote about the initiatives that will take place over the next few months.
The major component of the new plan is the MagicBand rubber wrist bracelet, which will be encoded with credit card information and serve as the guests’ room key, theme park ticket and a form of payment all in one.
Smartphone alerts will let visitors know when they can ride the theme park’s attractions without having to wait in line.
The wristband will also allow the company to track consumer spending habits and collect information for future sales campaigns, the New York Times reported.
The launch of the My Magic+ program also includes a website and mobile phone app that will allow visitors to plan ahead and book dinner reservations and reserve times for their favorite theme park attractions, thus “enabling them to spend more time together and creating an experience that’s better for everyone,” Staggs wrote.
“This collection of tools is another step forward in the ongoing evolution of our guest experience, giving us even more ways to help friends and family create the unforgettable Disney memories that they want most,” said Staggs.
Disney has already been testing certain aspects of the program, and the “early reactions we’ve gotten have been fantastic,” Staggs wrote.
Disney is not the first company to use wristbands to improve customer service. Great Wolf Resorts, which operates 11 water parks in the United States, has been using similar devices since 2006, the Times reported.
The new program is estimated to cost Disney between $800 million and $1 billion, according to the Times.
