Do Guests Need to Use Their Phone Too Much at Disney?
“Put down your phone. You’re at Disney!”
If I had a Bitcoin for every time I’d heard or read that comment about a Disney theme park visit, I’d own The Walt Disney Company…and Apple, too.
Much of the older crowd of Disney fans don’t understand society’s obsession with smartphones.
Historically, I’ve shrugged off the criticism, as I had a RIM 957, which people would later call a Blackberry. And I had a T-Mobile Sidekick, too.
I was on the first wave of the smartphone obsession…yet even I have started to wonder.
Do you need to use your phone too much at Disney now? Let’s talk it through…
Why You Need Your Phone
About ten years ago, Disney introduced MyMagic+ as its revolutionary new digital system.
With MyMagic+ and MagicBands, guests could pay for items such as meals and merchandise.
Credit: Disney
Alas, Disney officials miscalculated a bit. By the end of 2007, 122.3 million people were using smartphones regularly.
By the time MyMagic+ debuted at the parks, the number had reached 680 million. At the end of 2013, 970 million people owned smartphones.
Photo Source: Engadget
So, during the authorization and development of MyMagic+, this emerging market expanded by a factor of nearly eight.
Had Disney waited a while longer, it would have skipped MyMagic+ and thereby saved itself a billion dollars.
I say this because the explosion of smartphones grew too dramatic for Disney theme parks to ignore.
In fact, My Disney Experience debuted a few months before MyMagic+. That’s how quickly the tide turned.
This app allows you to do everything from paying for goods and services to proving valid park admission.
Yes, My Disney Experience mimics many of the functions of a MagicBand…and oh so much more.
The agility of app design enables Disney to add new features as needed. That’s how we got Disney Genie and Disney Genie+ recently.
At this point, you can learn virtually anything about a Disney theme park visit via your smartphone.
You can schedule Park Passes, get park directions, book dining reservations, order meals, and do pretty much anything else you need.
With Disney Genie, Disney has introduced wait time calculations, enabling you to pick the best time to return to an attraction.
Photo: Disney
In short, you carry the world’s foremost Disney knowledge base in your pocket whenever you roam the parks.
Disney has designed an entire system around smartphone usage, encouraging you to streamline your park experience via various apps.
And therein lies the problem…
Why You Should Put Your Phone Down
Last year, I wrote an article about the brilliance of the line queue at Frozen Ever After.
I’ll confess that I have another one for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train that I’ve meant to finish for several months now.
Credit: Disney
The purpose of these articles is to highlight what Disney calls staging. Former Imagineer Joe Rohde emphasized the importance of this trait.
Staging focuses on everything you can see while experiencing an attraction. And it starts in the line queue, not just on the ride.
At Haunted Mansion, the staging includes those tombstones you read while standing in line.
For Test Track, the process of designing a car factors into how you feel connected to your vehicle.
While walking down Main Street, U.S.A., you’ll believe that objects are larger than they are.
You would not believe how many hours cast members, especially Imagineers, spend perfecting the details of every piece of staging.
As you stroll through Magic Kingdom, Cinderella Castle should always draw your eye.
At EPCOT, everything revolves around Spaceship Earth…almost literally. It’s the focal point of the park’s design.
The Current Problem with Phone Usage
Here’s the thing, though. When you’re spending all your time on your phone, you’ll never know it.
That’s the drawback of Disney’s recent obsession with enhanced smartphone applications.
When you want to order a meal, Disney discourages you from standing in one of its lines, most of which include theming.
Instead, you look at your phone while ordering…and you’re likely to do that while standing in line for a ride, thereby ignoring your surroundings.
Philosophers call this scenario missing the forest for the trees. Unfortunately, the problem has also gotten worse in the era of Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane.
Now, when you want to skip the lanes, you have to look at your smartphone.
Disney’s latest innovation encourages you to start looking for new Disney Genie+ reservations the instant you get in line for the current one.
Please think about that from a negative perspective. For example, let’s say you booked a Lightning Lane experience at Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
You should enter the Hollywood Tower Hotel and admire the dusty building. Imagineers have created a plausible environment for an abandoned hotel.
Cast members work extremely hard to act like they’re soulless ghouls or sadists or some combination of the two.
When you’re on your phone, what’s the point? You won’t notice any of it anyway.
How Do We Find the Right Balance?
I wish I had a good answer for this. A friend recently vented that she wasn’t enjoying day one of a Walt Disney World vacation enough due to phone usage.
She asked me for tips, and…I’m still working on it.
The reality is that most of Disney’s apps provide tremendous utility.
I mean, My Disney Experience can show a walking path to the closest bathroom or stroller station.
You can learn showtimes for attractions and when characters will appear at specific locations.
None of the information in My Disney Experience or Disney Genie is excessive. Customers have asked for it, and Disney has granted their request.
So, nothing seems frivolous or pointless. Sure, you won’t use a lot of it personally, but someone will. As such, it’s necessary.
During your park visit, you want convenience, and readily accessible information helps with that.
Credit: Disney
The question is how to balance looking at your phone with appreciating the beauty of your surroundings.
Thus far, the best suggestion I have is…be aware of it. Think about excessive phone usage while you’re at the park.
Credit: Disney
By doing so, you may overcome your default urge to check your phone.
The reality is that we probably do use our phones too much at Disney, albeit for good reasons.
Some self-policing is in order to avoid doing so too much.
Do you have any suggestions about how to limit smartphone usage at the parks? Because I’d love to hear them…
Feature Image: Disney
