When it comes to delivering successful guest experiences to families, it’s hard to ignore the giant mouse in the room. Disney often sets the bar for the entire family leisure entertainment segment, and in 2014, it actually raised it with the introduction of the MyMagic+ program.
Designed to streamline the Disney World experience, the billion-dollar initiative traded in the park’s turnstiles for microchip-embedded MagicBand rubber bracelets that connect to sensors throughout the park. MagicBands also work in conjunction with the program’s website, MyDisneyExperience.com, and mobile app, which guests can log in to months before their stay to sign up for events, select rides to FastPass, make dining reservations, and even order meals.
While customizing your trip in advance is a perk, the high-tech MagicBands are the key to making the “Happiest Place on Earth” a little happier by serving as a data hub for guests. After booking a vacation at a Disney Resort, guests receive their MagicBands—which are customizable by color and able to be monogrammed—in the mail. Online check-in can also be completed from home so that upon their arrival at their Disney resort, visitors can go straight to their guestroom—the number they will have received in advance by text or email. For the duration of guests’ stay, the MagicBands serve as a hotel key, park and entertainment tickets, FastPass, payment option, and more, effectively lightening guests’ loads. And it works in tandem with the My Disney Experience app, so visitors can update their preferences and activities on the go.
Making the guest experience more efficient and more customizable are core components of the MyMagic+ program, but it also benefits Disney, who can now collect richer data about visitors as it tracks their movements throughout the park and resort (Disney does offer users privacy options, sensitive to the privacy issues that pertain to children in particular, and the bands will not store private data). For the Disney corporation, the possibilities that come with this amount of information are seemingly endless or, as some might say, magical.
