Story courtesy of Jeremiah Good @JeremiahGood
The Hollywood Brown Derby just began some early testing with changing framed “magazine covers” on the walls in the lobby. The frames were installed several weeks ago, but tests actually using these screen pictures just began this past weekend.
At this point, if a cast member with a photo attached to their MagicBands walks into the lobby, they will appear on the cover of the framed magazines. When the final product rolls out with MyMagic+, when guests with reservations come into the restaurant, it will trigger with a “set” picture attached to their MagicBand to appear on the screens.
Once the guest is seated at a table, they will be brought a photo print of their cover. There is no word yet on if this would be an added cost to buy or included with PhotoPass. It is also possible that this will be part of MyMemoryMaker, which we still have no further details on.
The pictures you see in this post are the default pictures. The little black dot on the upper left hand corner of the pictures is the sensor.
So, what do you think? Is this a cool use of MagicBand technology, or a waste?
This is cool as a fun gimmick, but it still bugs me that Disney seems more focused on this type of technology than actually building new attractions and rehabbing their current ones.
This is not taking any focus away from building new attractions or rehabbing current ones. They're all still going on at the same time.
Interesting idea. Along this line. Is there a photo costume shop in HS? Like the old boardwalk shops where you can dress up in old style costumes and have an antique photo taken? I don't remember seeing one. I wasn't looking for one either.
Wow. I can't believe I'm going to say this…but this its pretty dang cool.
Wow. I hope they install this in other restaurants as well. The BD is very
expensive.
Hi Tom / Jeremiah,
At first glance this looks a lot of fun, provided of course that Disney don't try and push the prints too hard while you are sat at your table. Admittedly, if the DVC is anything to go by, they have learned not to 'hard sell' within WDW. Just compare Disney photographers to the pushier Universal guys for an idea of where I'm coming from!
Two things make me wonder a little about the new Brown Derby frames:
Are the images shown in the frame, purely picked out at random, or are they being 'edited' in a backroom somewhere throughout our stay in order to showcase the best images for such use?
Also, how far do the RFIDs actually reach? An understanding was that Magicbands had to be within an inch or so to trigger a reader. If that isn't the case, and certain sensors operate on a longer range, guests might get nervous about security really quickly!
MyMagic is currently under criticism for 'not being Magic' for guests, and these photo frames are one of the earlier signs of the potential fun in store, but Disney would help themselves loads if they let out a little more about the direction our wrists would be taking us in the near to mid term!
Let's hear more about security, about reader abilities, about data protection, about attraction interactions and more.
Sure they might want to hold a lot of surprises back, but right now this huge experiment seems to be struggling in PR terms.
I love technology, but, history shows that technology comes hand in hand with unforeseen consequences.
Someone ought to pass that nugget along to Mickey and the guys?
Kev,
The photos that will appear are going to be some type of set "profile" type photo from what I have been told, more of just a head shot that will just have a filter applied to it.
RFID can be a VERY wide range, the old Pal Mickey would trigger from 10 feet away I believe in most cases. This one will trigger when you enter the lobby of the Derby. The security worries are why they have the code you have to input for purchases and the biometric when you enter the park. Really MagicBands are active all the time in the parks and yes they can use it to track you, but really if there is a worry about you being tracked along with a few hundred thousand people on WDW property I think there are bigger things to worry about!
J