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Disney toys with new technologies

Technology can be used in new ways to induce guests to stay longer, spend more.

By Todd Pack | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 1, 2004


Disney already lets people book vacations online, and its smart toy Pal Mickey can tell theme-park visitors where to find shorter lines and favorite characters.

But technology can be used for more than reserving rooms and finding Goofy, according to Jay Rasulo, president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

It can be used for promoting more visits, fuller itineraries and longer stays, he said last month at a conference in New York.

"In the past, we've depended largely on historical booking patterns," Rasulo said.

But recently, Disney's 2,200 reservation agents began using new technology to create a sales process "that satisfies guests while significantly improving yields at our resort assets in Orlando," Rasulo said.

Sales agents record a caller's information and interests; then powerful software creates four distinct offers based on the needs of the caller and Disney's projected capacity, he said.

"This gives reservation agents the range of options they need to up-sell guests without jeopardizing the sale by pricing the caller out of the experience," he said.

And while "this may sound simple . . . it isn't," Rasulo said.

Disney's system uses about 1.5 terabytes of data -- the equivalent of 1.5 million floppy disks -- and "takes forecasting to a new level," he said.

Disney also is looking at new ways to use technology to pull potential visitors into its parks and resorts, Rasulo said.

For example, people at home already can connect to Disney's Web site and play a computer game against visitors to Epcot's Mission: Space -- assuming the queue to play online isn't full.

Race to Space -- at disney world.disney.go.com/waltdis neyworld/special/mission space/welcomeindex -- is free, but users must register an e-mail address and are asked how many children under age 18 live in their household.

Disney also is working on something called Virtual Magic Kingdom, an online version of California's Disneyland built on the same technology as multiplayer online games.

Rasulo didn't say when the cyberpark would open, but he promised it would be "almost as magical as visiting one of our parks in person."

Disney Imagineers also are looking at ways to build on Pal Mickey, a plush toy that uses wireless technology to deliver current park information as well as Disney trivia.

In the near future, guests may be able to use PDAs to "program our parks," Rasulo said.

Preteen girls who like the Disney Channel cartoon Kim Possible could download a "mission" to save the world by completing tasks throughout Epcot, while their parents could receive wireless invitations to wine tastings, he said.

Such amenities are "just ideas at this point," he said, but "they are exciting because they would give guests so many new ways to enjoy our parks -- and so many reasons to extend their stays or come back for additional visits."

Todd Pack can be reached at 407-420-5407 or tpack@orlandosentinel.com.

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