Mouse Extra

There are few people left on the planet who are not ingrained in the wonderful world of apps. And no, I don’t mean appetizers. I mean those fun little things you get on your smartphones, ipods and kindles. And one of the most popular is Swampy the Alligator from the Disney game, Where’s My Water? The game itself is relatively simple: get the H2O to the gator so he can bath. Its basically a logic/puzzle game, which to me is good for kids (and adults).

The app itself is one of the most popular out there. I have it on my ipod touch, and my wife has it on her Kindle Fire, and the kiddies can play it for hours. So Disney maybe taking advantage of that popularity (I know, shocking). Swampy will be starring in brief cartoons exclsuively available on Disney.com.

And now, there may be upcoming meet and greets at one the Florida parks. My guess would be either Hollywood Studios or perhaps even Animal Kingdom. The real problem is there are still a whole mess of people who don’t know what a Swampy is. I can only imagine the adults walking by the meet and greet who have failed to pluck down their $0.99 for the app will be puzzled by the gator meet and greet, and the line of kids with thier ipod touches to be signed. The cast members will likely get sick of the “hey is that the crocodile from Peter Pan?” comments.

And then, of course, there are the hardline Disney fans who bemoan the modernization of Disney parks. “Why must we have Swampy meet-n-greets when you can’t meet Jiminy Cricket or The Rescuers? Walt would never have stood for this!” These same people, I assume, don’t like the Phineas and Ferb meet and greet either.

But i do. Swampy isn’t my thing so much, but lots and lots of kids love the game. I know my 7 and 10 year olds would much rather see Swampy or Phineas then they would Peter Pan or Meeko. So I hope they bring Swampy to the parks. The world of the app is what our kids live in.

There is a fascinating article recently at damouse.com showing photos from a test run of a new adventure game in the mold of Kim Possible and the recently announced Sorcerors of the Magic Kingdom. It takes place at the Animal Kingdom and features the characters of my favorite Pixar movie, Up.

There does not appear to be any video of the characters of the movie. I sure hope they do add Russell and Dug, but for now I do like this idea. Essentially, its a treasure hunt through the Pangani Forest Trail. I would love for them to add a walkie-talkie type gizmo where you can receive information/ideas from Dug (Squirrels!) and Russell. You earn badges as you explore the Pangani. It seems a simple yet fun idea.

My kids for instance absolutely love Kim Possible and Sorcerors of the Magic Kingdom is sure to be a hit too. I do hope they add some tech to this but even what I see here will be well recieved I think.

Now that Disney is adding a game to the Animal Kingdom, one can only imagine that the Hollywood Studios won’t be far behind. I would love to see a Phineas & Ferb interactive game there. It would be amazing thwarting the plans of Dr. Doofensmirtz and getting info from Major Monogram and even Perry.

Disney World has begun a very interesting and worthwhile transformation into the “internet” world.  Soon you will be able to check in to your hotel online, book dining reservations, and even use your Verizon cell phone to get real-time attraction information.  It’s time for the Mouse to step up and do the same for their Magical Express service.

Disney’s Magical Express is a great idea and it is really hard to find anything to complain about with it.  But every so often you may be unlucky enough to find an enormous, and I really mean enormous, line waiting to check in before you ever even queue up for the next bus to arrive.  It seems to me this checking-in process serves only to see who has arrived and more importantly how many bags Disney needs to now go and find. 

This is all well and good, but why can’t you go online 24 hours or less before your flight takes off and check-in with Magical Express and tell them exactly how many bags you will be checking into luggage?  If I can track myself when flights are on time or when they are delayed surely Disney can as well.  If that is not possible, how about after checking in the previous day with Magical Express you print out a boarding pass with a barcode which a cast member can simply scan before you board?  A handheld scanning device as you head towards the bus lines would be fast and easy.

This may sound a bit like nitpicking, but I can’t be the only one this bugs.  On my first day on vacation I simply can’t stand to watch my precious time tick away while waiting on line at Disney’s Magical Express.  To be honest, when I used Magical Express last week the line was so long that a couple behind me gave up and went for a cab.  Now that may have been an extreme circumstance, and it certainly was the longest I had ever seen the line, but I really doubt it was.  Disney needs to streamline this process, and an online check-in can only help.

Reading through the Mouse Planet Walt Disney World Resort Update yesterday morning, as I do every Monday morning, I noticed an offer that somehow slipped by me for the Disney Cruise Line and Disney Vacation Club members.

While the general public can book a 4- or 7-night Disney Cruise this spring and get a 3-night cruise in the fall for just $99 per person, Disney Vacation Club members can achieve a similar deal using their DVC points. Members booking a 4- or 7-night cruise departing between January 31 and March 8 or between March 21 and 28 will be able to book a 3-night cruise on most sail dates between August 13 and December 17 for just 23 reservation points per person. As with the offer for the general public, the cruises must be booked by next Monday, December 15.

We have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks talking about how Disney can limit their losses during this recession by pulling out all the stops to entice people to vacation at the Mouse.  This deal is a good opportunity for DVC members, but not a great one by any stretch of the imagination.  For those who don’t know, 23 points is about the equivalent of a weekend night at a deluxe resort.  If you do the math, you’ll see that $99 per person is a far greater value than 23 points per person.

This brings me to a much broader issue.  On Friday’s episode of the WDW Today Podcast, the hosts were naming the three wishes they would like to see come true at Walt Disney World.  Matt Hochberg of StudiosCentral.com said he wished that Annual Passholders and DVC members would receive discounts above and beyond what the general public is offered.  To him, the “buy 4 nights and get 3 free” deal is terrific, but it ends up essentially negating the real value of AP discounts.  Why have AP discounts if the normal discount is as good if not better? 

What Matt was saying is that passholders and DVC members are the suckers.  We are the people that will most often take advantage of a really good offer.  We are the ones who, even if the economy is not doing well, will do all we can to make it happen.  You want people who will go on an extra vacation this year despite the troubled times?  Make an offer your fanatics can’t refuse.

I can not agree with Matt’s assessment more, and it is not because I am both a DVC member and a passholder.  And it is not out of any sense of entitlement either, even though that argument is not entirely without merit.  The fact is we are the target audience.  We are the people who already spend a fortune at the Mouse.  For the right discount, the fortune will get larger.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom has done some outstanding work since it opened ten years ago.  Its conservation efforts are worthy of great credit.  But it is time for the park to give its guests a look behind the scenes at the work they do in a more accessible way.  If the animals are truly the stars, give us a better backstage pass to see what you do for them.

My point is this; make Rafiki’s Planet Watch better than it is.  In concept it is a great idea.  You take a wonderfully themed train out of Africa to the place where the magic happens.  But after you board the train, the magic quickly fades.  You get only a passing glimpse at the animal buildings on the way, rather than a truly good look at what is there.  And when you finally get to your destination, there are only a hand full of exhibits and often nothing really happening besides typical character meet-and-greets and a slightly underwhelming petting zoo.

To be honest, I don’t know the logistics of what is available to do there as far as the animals’ welfare is concerned.  But even just a more interesting and entertaining complex would be a start.  How about an IMAX style film of the Serengeti?  I would like to see some more interactive items that teach us about the animals and their homes.  How about some animal areas like a lion section where you can actually see lions, as opposed the glimpse of the top of a sleeping lions head you get on the safaris.   Or maybe cheetahs, which are almost never seen by guests on the ride?  Place experts at these areas to answer questions and get people involved.

It seems the Imagineers started with a good idea at Rafiki’s Planet Watch.  And after the design of the train, either ran out of money or creativity.  It is time for Disney’s Animal Kingdom to show off the good things it does and bring the people closer to the animals.

Sometimes it feels like all you do at Walt Disney World is wait.  You wait on line for rides.  You wait for food.  You even wait outside the gate before opening so you can go inside and start waiting.  It can be maddening sometimes, to say the least.

But Disney has done a good job in making the waiting a little bit easier to handle.  They have broken up lines, added interactive elements to queues and have created many terrific pre-shows.  But there is one attraction that is severely lacking a pre-show, even though it probably the one most prime to have an especially good one.

To get a decent seat at Fantasmic, even during the slower periods, you have to be there early.  For forty-five minutes or more, you need to sit on incredibly uncomfortable bleachers, probably sweating, and just stare at your watch.  There is no pre-show nor any interactive games to ease the pain.  There simply is nothing to make the time go by faster.  Every time I go to the show, I can not help but asking myself how this could be.

Right next door at the Beauty and the Beast show, there is an a cappella group that performs for the waiting crowd.  Festival of the Lion King at least gets people to do the “hand jive”.  It may not be mind blowing excitement, but it’s at least a distraction.  And both of those shows have much shorter wait times needed to get a good seat, and significantly fewer people in attendance.  Why would Fantasmic not have something twice as good as these shows?

In my opinion, Disney is missing a huge opportunity here to make the best pre-show possible for a huge and captive audience.  Fantasmic! is an amazing show, and worth seeing on every trip to Walt Disney World.  But it can also be a very time consuming and frustrating experience.  And I know many people who attend during the more crowded seasons that simply do not want to wait there with their kids for over an hour staring at an empty stage.  A well done pre-show would go a long way to solving this problem.

So it is time for the Imagineers to get to work and help the waiting masses sweltering at the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater.  Make us a pre-show that is a worthy introduction to Fantasmic!.  Such an addition could make a night spent at Disney’s Hollywood Studios a truly terrific experience.