I Had to Log into Disney 18 Times in 24 Hours

Disney has cracked down on password sharing. Maybe you’ve heard.

In the process, Disney followed in the footsteps of Netflix, which just reported record revenue, operating income, and subscribers.

So, you can understand why Disney is following the leader here, as there’s a lot of money down that gold-paved road.

Here’s the thing, though. Netflix really only sells one product.

Meanwhile, Disney sells a plethora of things as a century-old, properly diversified company. Therein lies the problem.

Over the past day, I just logged into Disney services 18 times. None of them were at my request.

This is going to be a problem for Disney, as it’s currently antagonizing its best customers. Let’s discuss the madness.

Disney’s Unique Internet History

In April, Disney launched the MyDisney service, which the company promised would help us as customers.

Here’s a quote from the launch announcement:

“Thanks to MyDisney — a new unified login experience for all your Disney needs — enjoying everything that The Walt Disney Company has to offer is about to get a whole lot easier.”

Whoever wrote that sits on a throne of lies, but let’s focus on the Disney side for a moment.

Disney’s tech has been a problem going all the way back to the 1990s.

In 1994, during the pioneer days of the internet, a clever company named Infoseek created a very good search engine.

I was already using the internet then, and Infoseek was one of my two favorite search sites before Google came along.

Disney identified an opportunity to create a cohesive infrastructure for all its internet enterprises.

You can equate this era as a gold rush for giant corporations who didn’t yet understand the internet but identified its revenue potential.

Then-CEO Michael Eisner and his team made two highly underrated business acquisitions at the time.

One was Infoseek, and another was a Paul Allen startup named Starwave, which had created websites like ABCNews.com and ESPN.com.

Disney bought them, merged them, and formed Go.com.

All these things happened in 1998 and 1999, yet some Go.com architecture remains in place to this day.

That’s one of the primary reasons why these changes are occurring.

In layperson’s terms, Disney is trying to keep a classic convertible up and running 25+ years later.

There’s LOTS of work that must be done under the hood.

Now, Disney has finally grown tired of all the maintenance. So, it’s just ordering a new Ferrari.

What Disney Is Thinking

The goal is to prepare for the so-called Internet 3.0 era, the one where digital commerce is ubiquitous and constant.

You can already see signs of it when you use Disney+. For example, pull up Agatha All Along and notice that giant SHOP button.

Disney wants to sell you Agatha All Along merchandise while you’re watching the show and feeling moved by the content.

You can imagine how lucrative the potential of that idea is for a company like Disney.

Already one of the world’s leading merchandisers, Disney can now connect your shopping needs with your viewer behavior.

Part of me flinches at this notion, as the last thing I need is to have my credit card on file when kawaii merchandise appears onscreen.

That’s how I’ve wound up with a household full of Disney merchandise, and if Disney has its way, it’ll only get worse.

The future of commerce is immediacy, and Web 3.0 promises that in spaces.

There’s more to the password conversation, though. Disney also sells advertising and streaming services.

The company desires a path to profitability wherein the same content pays for itself several times over.

Advertising helps with that, which is why Disney pushes you to take the ad-based version of Disney+ rather than the commercial-free one.

Still, the subscription price matters a great deal, and Netflix has shown the path here.

When you crack down on password-sharing, subscriptions increase, especially when you stream topflight content like Agatha All Along.

So, Disney has waited until it had must-watch content to perform this new “paid sharing program.”

The goal here is obvious. Disney wants to boost subscriptions on Hulu and Disney+, and it’s even better if the viewers will watch ads, too.

There’s just one little problem. The tech is broken.

The Chaos Bleeds on Me

I know you’re shocked that Disney tech isn’t working as intended, as this is a historically unprecedented event, right?

No, I couldn’t type that with a straight face, as we all know the deal here. Disney tech is often more treacherous than Maleficent.

Even allowing for that reality, the password crackdown has proven comical inept.

I realize I’m a power user. So, most consumers won’t experience the issues I have, but that’s part of the problem.

The last people Disney should want to alienate are its best and most loyal customers.

I rarely think of myself in those terms, but I’m confident some Disney algorithm would identify me this way.

Ignoring my content output and applicable Disney research, I’ve also done the following over the past 24 hours:

• Logged into Hulu
• Logged into Disney+
• Logged on My Disney Experience via computer
• Logged on My Disney Experience via my phone
• Logged on Disney Vacation Club via computer
• Made a Disney Store purchase

Let’s Count to 18!

There are several factors in play here which make me a power user on this particular subject.

The first is that I have a Disney vacation coming in two weeks, and I’ll be using DVC Points for my hotel stay.

So, I had to check on those via the DVC website. Disney asked me to log in three times during a 15-minute session. That’s absurd.

Then, I had to check My Disney Experience to verify my Disney Dining Plan reservations. The website forced me to log in twice.

Once I finally got logged in, Stitch ate the page – IYKYK, so I switched to the app. It made me log in once.

I’ll note that in my experience, the app is much less obnoxious about this stuff than an old-school computer is.

That aspect could explain why Disney isn’t aware that it has such an egregious problem here.

Once I’d verified all my dining reservations, I returned to my computer to check about buying PhotoPass.

Sure enough, I had to log in again. In the system’s defense, it had been a full four minutes since the last time.

My presumption is that Disney’s system flagged me as using a smartphone. So, it choked at the notion that I’d be on a computer, too.

We’ve Still Got 11 to Go!

Somehow, that’s not the ridiculous part, though. I also watched Agatha All Along for an episode recap on MarvelBlog.

We started watching it in one room, but I checked it later on a computer for quick verification of line dialogue.

The system forced me to verify my identity each time, sending a code to my email address.

That’s a new added layer of aggravation that started in April.

I accept that Disney does this for my security, but when it happens eight times in a day, I start rooting for Thanos to win.

I’m also accessing Disney+ from several rooms in my house, depending on where my wife and I are working each day.

After I switched rooms, I tried again and – you guessed it! – Disney sent me another code to verify my identity.

This loop continued for several hours, ultimately leading to a total of 10 different requests from Disney for a log-in.

The system either has flagged me as a potential violator or is so ridiculously touchy that any time you switch to a different device, it flips out.

Based on my experience, it appears to be the latter. So, that was 17 times in 24 hours I needed to log into Disney services.

Ostensibly, I was doing it to verify my identity, but really it was just Disney tech being terrible.

Then, while I was debating whether I should write this article, my wife messaged me from downstairs.

Hulu had logged her out, and she couldn’t get logged in unless I performed another verification.

No, Wait. It’s 19!

Hilariously, while trying to take a screenshot for this article, I got a 19^th password check. So, the title here is even a lie.

The final score was 19 log-ins across an infuriating 24 hours of Disney services run amok.

Hey Disney, I most assuredly do NOT agree that “enjoying everything that The Walt Disney Company has to offer is about to get a whole lot easier.”

You’ve overcorrected, and it’s a problem.

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