Disney Parks Plan to Greet Returning Guests With New Digital Tech for Phones
Photo Credit: Guests stop to take a photo at Magic Kingdom Park, July 11, 2020, at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, on the first day of the theme park’s phased reopening. Walt Disney World Resort / Kent Phillips
Skift Take
"Interactions instead of transactions." "Service discovery instead of service recovery." "Screens that complement rather than dominate experiences." Those are some of the ideas animating tech executives at Disney this year. Other travel brands could learn a thing or two.
Walt Disney Company has for decades been wowing guests with tech-savvy attractions at its U.S. theme parks. But the company has been seeking to innovate with technology beyond their rides and animatronic robots to become more personally relevant. As a result, Disney has been increasingly finding ways through mobile digital technology to engage with guests throughout their stay — and even before guests arrive.
"We've got these amazing physical environments," said Gary Daniels, vice president of Disney's digital experience. "But we have a tremendous opportunity to have guests connect with us in ways that are better and different from what they're used to."
This month guests are returning in large numbers to Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, which had sat closed for months, and to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, which had limited operations during the crisis. Many visitors will have more one-on-one digital interactions between themselves and the parks than before.
