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Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

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Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#21

Post by baggachipz »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #16
pitt1980 wrote: post #2

the magic bands combined with smart watches make paying for things with your phone seem far more feasable you can pay for everything in the park with your magic band (I think you might have to stay in a disney resort for that to be the case) I'll admit, its really nice, I never take out my wallet if I can just have them scan my wrist

It would be interesting to see how revenues have increased due to band usage - the act of taking out your wallet or handing over cash or using a card act as a good barrier to excessive spending, making this mindless (just hold your hand near here) strikes me as a big win for Disney. Do Disney do the IAP trick of having their own "coins" to insulate from displaying proper prices too?

> Do Disney do the IAP trick of having their own "coins" to insulate from displaying proper prices too?

Not when I was there last year. Lots of customers still don't use the bands, as they're for people staying on resort property only. So everyone else has to do things the Old Fashioned Way.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#23

Post by pitt1980 »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #16
pitt1980 wrote: post #2

the magic bands combined with smart watches make paying for things with your phone seem far more feasable you can pay for everything in the park with your magic band (I think you might have to stay in a disney resort for that to be the case) I'll admit, its really nice, I never take out my wallet if I can just have them scan my wrist

It would be interesting to see how revenues have increased due to band usage - the act of taking out your wallet or handing over cash or using a card act as a good barrier to excessive spending, making this mindless (just hold your hand near here) strikes me as a big win for Disney. Do Disney do the IAP trick of having their own "coins" to insulate from displaying proper prices too?

I was definately a little more mindless with my spending

(to a lesser degree I'm that way with cards too)

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#24

Post by wyldfire »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #11
wyldfire wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first reaction to the magicbands was pretty cynical, like this. But it's really astonishing how much more convenient and enjoyable it made the vacation. No need to slog a camera, wallet, etc. I was surprised that even the smallest out-of-the way Disney feature (Magic Express at the airport, entry into the resort pools, e.g.), they still had a way to scan the magic bands. If we did end up spending more because of i…

I don't really understand your use of "slog" here, do you mean carry? Why then didn't you need a camera - do they have photogs around the site?

They do. We paid for an "all you can eat" photography package. There's many photographers at each park (usually near something fairly scenic), and whenever we were inclined, we'd pop in front of the photographer, click, swipe, and off we went to the next destination.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#25

Post by talmand »

emsy wrote: post #22

I remember that not too long ago, somone commented on HN that he basically pitched this idea to Disney but they declined and said the idea wasn't really good. I hope he shows up and tells us his story. edit: found it https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8839888

Was it a proper pitch or an unsolicited idea? If it was a proper pitch then I would agree. If it was unsolicited then I would imagine it was more like they already had the idea in the works and he took their generic, noncommittal, or whatever response as a sign they weren't interested in that particular use of the technology. Most companies are smart to not react to unsolicited ideas as to avoid being accused of stealing the idea if they had already thought of it.

I wouldn't be surprised if Disney was simply waiting for the technology to catch up with the idea.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#26

Post by brixon »

baggachipz wrote: post #21
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be interesting to see how revenues have increased due to band usage - the act of taking out your wallet or handing over cash or using a card act as a good barrier to excessive spending, making this mindless (just hold your hand near here) strikes me as a big win for Disney. Do Disney do the IAP trick of having their own "coins" to insulate from displaying proper prices too?

> Do Disney do the IAP trick of having their own "coins" to insulate from displaying proper prices too? Not when I was there last year. Lots of customers still don't use the bands, as they're for people staying on resort property only. So everyone else has to do things the Old Fashioned Way.

Annual pass holders get these too.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#27

Post by talmand »

300bps wrote: post #13
fastball wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, how does the Magic Band replace a camera?

It doesn't really. There are photographers throughout the park that will take your picture then scan your band. You can then buy said pictures.

Or as Wyldfire mentions elsewhere, you can get a prepay package that includes every single picture or video you happen to be in. Even the pictures for the rides are included and you don't even have to worry over it.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#28

Post by talmand »

bradfa wrote: post #12

Inside the magic band are 3 radios: 13.56 MHz near field RFID (what's in your credit card's swipe to pay), 915 MHz passive UHF RFID (what's in your timing bib if you run a 5k race or what Walmart uses for inventory tracking), and a 2.4 GHz active radio. The following are my conjectures on how it works. I do not work for Disney or any contractor, but I do work in the field of RFID. The 13.56 MHz near field RFID is use…

Your comment about locating lost kids with the band reminds me of a conversation overheard on the bus at the park. Three mothers were complaining over the behavior of their kids. One said she half-considered losing her kid in the park to get a break. One of the other mothers said to be sure to take the band away from them first or they'll get him back to you faster. Laughter ensued.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#29

Post by talmand »

atwebb wrote: post #20
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>when you're actually scanning it can be a bear to get it just right // So it uses some sort of direct contact rather than NFC? [Perhaps to make it less easy to clone?]

I can't definitively say that you MUST touch but you have to get very close, if not always touching. It also has to be oriented correctly (mouse ears up), there's not too much wiggle room on any of the readers (turnstile, room, handheld). I did assume it'd be a simple swipe but it's more, touch and hold for a second. Sometimes it's almost instantaneous, sometimes I had to take it off to get it to work right.

I don't see how orientation would matter.

After the first day we realized if we wore the band a certain way then it was easier to flip the wrist to hold for a connection. The shape is kind of weird and hard to understand the proper way to wear it. I could have been wearing the wrong way from what was intended for all I know though.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#30

Post by GrantS »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #14
atwebb wrote: post #4

It reads kind of like a fluff/marketing piece but I'll be damned if it wasn't pretty seamless. I have no idea what it was like prior to the bands but the whole experience was clearly made a lot easier by them and the accompanying app (which is pretty solid). I needed my phone and my band, that was really it (well,...snacks, water bottles, strollers etc..) It was 85% well done, when you're actually scanning it can be…

>when you're actually scanning it can be a bear to get it just right // So it uses some sort of direct contact rather than NFC? [Perhaps to make it less easy to clone?]

The direct contact for rides and purchases is there to prevent accidental activation -- you have thousands of people walking around with these bands in close proximity. In contrast, when pulling up to the gate at one of hotels, you just wave your wrist a foot away from the sensor out of your car window and it turns green and opens the gate -- no awkward stretching required.
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