3. Transportation Tracker
Out of the entire list, this is the most glaring weakness of MDE. Currently, there’s no methodology in place to plan an exit strategy for one of the theme parks. Once visitors leave a gate, they’re left to the mercy of the various transportation options at Walt Disney World. All of them are mercurial, which is how I recently wound up waiting for a bus to the Contemporary as 13 (!) Coronado Springs Resort buses went by. My party almost missed our Magical Express transport over this, and the only way we avoided it was by calling the front desk of our hotel. They sent a van to pick up those of us who’d been waiting the longest.
Transportation continues to be the bane of anybody’s visit to Walt Disney World. It’s also the reason why Uber has gone from a business Disney actively worked to keep from infiltrating their system to one that guests willingly pay $15 a trip to use instead of waiting for a bus. While in Orlando, the opportunity cost of downtime is outrageous. If you’re sitting in a Hollywood Studios parking lot waiting for a boat, that’s time wasted for you and potential revenue lost for Disney. It’s unacceptable as a business behavior.
To their credit, Disney has recently gotten a bit more ambitious on this subject. They now warmly welcome Uber drivers into the pick-up areas of all Disney facilities, which means that you should download the Uber and Lyft apps at least until MDE adds better functionality. Disney has also started provided digital displays in designated resort pick-up locations. These give a much more precise estimate of when buses and boats will arrive, a massive step forward for a company that really should have done this a decade ago.
The next logical step is to add this information to the MDE app. It wouldn’t be difficult to provide a fair estimate of transportation wait times based on the current locations of the monorails, buses, and boats in combination with a head count of the waiting queues. This would prove especially valuable at times such as the nightly post-fireworks park exodus. Savvy guests could head to a restaurant, bar, shop, or attraction while they wait for the transportation queues to dissipate. This is simultaneously the simplest improvement Disney could make as well as the most important.
4. Disney Vacation Club options
Image: Disney
The Disney Vacation Club is arguably the most popular timeshare in the world, with tens of thousands of members across the globe. It’s also generated billions in revenue over the past 25 years. Many of the most loyal Walt Disney World visitors, the ones who show up multiple times each year, do so because of their DVC membership. Why then is the MDE oblivious to the existence of DVC?
DVC members who want to check out the points costs for various trips have no recourse through the primary Walt Disney World app. Instead, they have to download paid apps such as D Point and DVC Planner in order to plan their upcoming vacations. Don’t get me wrong. Both of these apps are great, and I highly recommend them. Again, it’s simply frustrating that third party app developers are recognizing such obvious consumer needs better than Disney itself.
To a larger point, MDE lacks the ability to book online. People have to use the company website to perform such transactions. In 2016, that’s unacceptable. The MDE app should function as a hub that provides users with the opportunity to handle all their Walt Disney World needs at once. Instead, it’s a strange combination of oddly specific about some aspects of vacationing at the park while glaringly absent of others. In its current incarnation, In its current incarnation, MDE is an excellent resource but also a half-measure. To become the best resource possible, Disney needs to evolve this app into a full measure.
Comments
It drives me crazy that we have to race to a kiosk to get a 4th fast pass and then sometimes, the kiosk location is closed so you have to go to another one. I also agree about transportation. If I knew we could have dinner or shop and not wait an hour for the monorail, I would be all for it but you have to go visually look at the line to know and then is it worth going back into the park, etc.