Disney engages universe travelers in new ways
4 views - published on May 29th, 2013 in Disney News tagged Disney, disney news, disneyland, walt disney, walt disney worldLAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Disney star is populated by a large array of heroes and villains. Think Simba and Scar, Peter Pan and Captain Hook, Cruella De Vil and a 101 Dalmatians.
They’re a stars of screen, theatre and page, and it has been in those venues that Disney-philes traditionally have come into hit with a characters they many desired or desired to hate.
But a Mouse House is holding it a step serve these days, affording Walt Disney World visitors not customarily a event to see their favorite characters though to correlate with them in new and singular ways.
The latest era of Disney thesis park-goers — immature and technologically savvy — wants some-more than customarily to be in Disney World.
They wish to be in Disney’s world.
And Disney in new years has been some-more than happy to accommodate that desire.
It introduced a span of problem-solving contests during Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Epcot parks; combined new interactive queues to a array of renouned existent attractions, among them “Dumbo a Flying Elephant,” ”The Many Adventures of Winnie a Pooh” and a “Haunted Mansion”; began charity a “My Disney Experience” mobile application; and amped adult a pin and Vinylmation offerings and trade opportunities via a parks.
“The trend is unequivocally many to formulating a many some-more interactive experience, since that’s what immature kids want,” pronounced Lou Mongello, a Disney World consultant who hosts a weekly “WDW Radio Show” podcast. “They don’t wish to lay behind and watch a show.”
“I consider we are during a unequivocally early stages of a outrageous change in guests’ experience,” Mongello said, station in Epcot’s U.K. pavilion, customarily stairs from where a handful of kids and their families were personification a “Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure” game.
Featuring characters from a renouned Disney Channel charcterised series, “Phineas Ferb,” a “Agent P” diversion transforms participants into tip agents, provides them with a “high-tech tip representative device” — fundamentally a cellphone — and asks them to scour a World Showcase territory of a park for clues as they try to assistance a drastic Agent P better his nemesis, a immorality Dr. Doofenshmirtz.
Like a Epcot counterpart, “Sorcerers of a Magic Kingdom” also is partial high-tech scavenger hunt, partial problem-solving contest.
Participants turn neophyte sorcerers and, armed with special spell cards, do conflict with some of Disney’s many famous charcterised villains — Jafar from “Aladdin” and Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” among them — who uncover adult on LED screens sparse opposite a park.
“What you’re saying is video-game character soak and depth, though now practical to” a Disney parks, pronounced Jonathan Ackley, a member of a Walt Disney Imagineering group that grown a games. Ackley assimilated Disney from LucasArts, where he grown adventure-style video games.
Based in California, Ackley recently finished a outing to Florida and walked by a Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland section, examination with a large grin as his diversion was being played.
“What these immersive practice do is make a guest a favourite in a story and concede a guest to play a purpose that people customarily usually get to watch in cinema or on TV,” he said.
Nearby, Patrick Smith, 8, of Metairie, La., readied his cards for battle.
Patrick’s father, Mike, pronounced he’s a fan of a diversion simply since his son is.
“We spent an whole day personification this,” Mike Smith said. “If it keeps him occupied, that’s good by me.”
Disney officials were not peaceful to yield a numbers of or commission of park visitors who play a dual interactive games, that are giveaway with a cost of admission, though they contend their recognition has exceeded expectations.
The same could be pronounced of pin trading, that began during Disney World in 1999, and, according to merchandising orator Steven Miller, was customarily approaching to be a 15- to 18-month program.
“We unequivocally had no thought . either people would be meddlesome in this,” he said.
Well, they were, and now, 14 years later, Miller pronounced 19,000 employees, or “cast members” as they’re known, trade pins with guest on any given day during Walt Disney World.
Pin trade has turn as prevalent a steer during Disney World as Mickey and Minnie.
The approach it works is this: Guests are entitled to any pin on a expel member’s lanyard, as prolonged as they benefaction an central Disney pin in trade. It’s not odd to wander down Main Street, U.S.A., and declare guest sidling adult to Disney employees and scrutinizing their pin-laden lanyards before indicating out a specific square of steel they want.
Vinylmation trading, meanwhile, is not as prevalent, though has a possess wild following.
The 3-inch collectible total paint classical characters, attractions or icons desirous by Disney parks and resorts and can be traded during a array of sell stores via Disney World.
The introduction of a “Sorcerers” and “Agent P” games, a continued importance on pin and Vinylmation trading, a new float queues, a new app and a like have had a outcome of creation “the parks many some-more alive,” Mongello said.
“At a many simple level, a mom and a father and their two-and-a-half kids come here to suffer a attractions, accommodate a princesses, suffer a food, and as we start to flay some of those layers back, there’s a lot some-more detail, a lot some-more depth, there’s a lot some-more story,” he said. “And we consider they wish that. They wish an enhanced, interactive experience.”
Disney isn’t finished adding those experiences.
Next adult is another interactive quest, “A Pirate’s Adventure: Treasures of a Seven Seas,” that is in contrast and takes place not distant from a iconic “Pirates of a Caribbean” captivate in a Magic Kingdom.
“We’re not fearful to try crazy new things,” Ackley said, laughing.