One of the most common complaints right now about the experience at Disneyland and Walt Disney World is the need to be on your cell phone while in the park. Guests need to use their cell phones to make Lightning Lane reservations, to access theme park wait times, plus use mobile order or manage dining reservations.
The leader of the Disney theme parks just acknowledged this issue and shared thoughts on how to balance this with the need for technology usage in the parks. Let’s get into the details, including how Disney looks at whether it is acceptable to increase required phone usage. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including the recent Disney World price increases, the latest news this week, and the new dining plan releasing next year. Plus, the new rides opening this summer and other Disneyland additions.
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Chairman of Disney Experiences Acknowledges Phone Use Issue
Mickey Visit was recently one of a dozen or so media outlets that attended a business update at Disneyland Resort with Thomas Mazloum. He was just promoted to Chairman of Disney Experiences, taking over for Josh D’Amaro, who recently replaced Bob Iger as CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Before that, Mazloum was the President of Disneyland Resort. The business update took place just before he was promoted.
In the past few weeks, we have covered other aspects of this conversation, including planned ways to attract more young families, park-hopping changes and park reservations, the choice to delay a permanent ride closure, changes considered for security at Disneyland, and more. Direct quotes were not allowed from the meeting.
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During this business update, Mazloum commented on phone usage at the parks, from the positive impacts of the technology to the need to listen to guest feedback about excessive screen time. He highlighted how important it is to simplify the experience for guests while balancing the desire to be mindful of how the parks introduce new cell phone technology. He explicitly said that they are actively working to reduce the amount of time that guests spend on their cell phones and that he is personally always pushing for a reduction of tasks required on the phone.
We previously covered Mazloum’s stated theme park priorities and his approach to running the business, which includes focusing on delivering a simple experience for guests and cast members.
The comments from Mazloum on this front are actually quite encouraging. When Mazloum was asked about reducing phone use in the parks, he said that while adding technology can simplify the guest experience, it should not come at the cost of the emotional connections people make with one another. He added that he wants to make sure the use of technology is not overextended since many guests view Disney as a form of escapism. And a key part of that escapism? According to Mazloum, it’s being able to enjoy Disney as a way to get out of their routine and connect emotionally with their family. He said that we live in a world where people are constantly scrolling on their phones and that Disney is a place where guests can leave that behind.
Part of this process is also being mindful about how much technology is integrated into the parks regardless of how much it might simplify the guest experience. Mazloum said that he wants to be very thoughtful about how Disney uses technology and how easy it is to go overboard on all the technological opportunities to add to the parks experience.
He added that he’s very aware the parks are places where families connect emotionally and create lasting memories and actively hears that feedback. Mazloum shared specific feedback that he heard from a parent that a visit to Disneyland helped to provide the longest conversation they have ever had with their kids while waiting in line. Disney is a place to reconnect and he acknowledged how important that is.
He emphasized that Disney shouldn’t require too much screen time, and that if technology improves efficiency at the expense of those emotional connections, it isn’t worth it. If efficiency is established by cutting down on human and emotional connection, they should not make that decision to be more efficient. He shared a similar sentiment about the general expectation that Disney needs to be cutting edge in technology. New tech is important, but not if it cuts into the parks experience.
I can see how the new technology can keep creeping into the parks experience with the promise of improvement without the recognition that it has fundamentally changed the way that people experience the parks. Mazloum shared that he wants to make sure that they don’t overdo it with required phone use and implementation of new tech.
These comments follow a story last year where Disney shared a look at new technology they hoped could reduce guest phone usage.
At the time, Walt Disney Imagineering President Bruce Vaughn commented on the Disney theme park experience and how phones get in the way of that. “A big differentiator for us is that you’re there together with friends and family and people that you care about, and every time you have to look down at a device or a phone, it breaks that spell.”
This all emphasizes Thomas Mazloum’s point that an overuse of a cell phone can take away from the emotional connection and lasting memories that guests can make while in the parks.
Technology Also Simplifies Park Operations
My takeaway from his commentary is that this essentially becomes a balancing act of wanting to use technology to streamline and improve the guest experience while also being thoughtful about what we can do to reduce screen time. And of course, acknowledging the marketing opportunity technology presents for Disney, whether it’s guests live-streaming in the theme parks or Fortnite exposing new guests to the magic of Disneyland.
We need to acknowledge the good that different mobile technology can bring to guests visiting the theme parks. For power users, the apps can unlock ease during a visit. Those who know how to navigate the system get the great benefit of more easily maneuvering through the parks.
Mobile order is a great example of that. Guests can place a food order on their phone, then walk right over to pick it up without waiting in long cashier lines. This is a win for Disney and for guests, as it allows quick-service locations to run more efficiently, prepare more orders, and reduce wait times during peak hours. This is an example of the balanced benefit of improving the Disney experience while also increasing phone use.
MagicBands can also help reduce phone use by letting guests tap their band to redeem Lightning Lanes instead of pulling out their phone. This works well at Walt Disney World, where MagicBands are widely used. At Disneyland, though, the benefit is more limited since far fewer guests use MagicBands. This is a technology constraint that Mazloum spoke about, noting that guests at both resorts use it very differently, which requires more decision-making on Disney’s part when it comes to investing further in that technology.
The key decision point that Disney will need to balance in the future for technology is how power users who visit the theme parks often use the suite of mobile cell phone tools vs how those who are visiting for the first time use them. It is easy for me to say mobile order and Lightning Lane are fantastic and improve my trip, but how does a first time guest feel? There may be a feeling of overwhelm for those who don’t know the tools and are navigating the parks and the digital ecosystem for the first time trying to deliver a great experience for their family.
Disney needs to continue to listen to guest feedback to balance the use of the phone in the theme parks with the benefit that guests receive from using the mobile app. There is a core issue of screen fatigue in our world and Disney is a place that can be an escape from that. The real challenge remains that Disney needs to balance the value that they unlock for power users while keeping the theme parks a welcoming place for first time guests. How Disney strikes this balance will define the guest experience at Disney in the coming years.
What do you think about the comments and use of the cell phones in the theme parks? Would you want to see it reduced? What would you change?
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Lindsay Brookshier contributed to this report.
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I feel people are on phones way too much. I know it will never happen but 2 things I wish would change.
1. A separate line for people with physical tickets.It is very annoying to get behind a huge group where only 1 person has everyone’s tickets. Scrolling through each one and then finding that person standing there, getting them scanned in and then start the process over for the rest of the group. Meanwhile I have my ticket ready to go and have to wait. If not a physical ticket then only 1 person per phone
2. Go back to paper fast passes. I know lightning lanes make a lot of money but the whole process is time consuming and kinda complicated to figure out. Even after you’ve got them lined up people spend a lot of time trying to change them instead of enjoying the parks atmosphere and all the magic. I’ve bought them before and my day was spent trying to get other ones I wanted instead of taking in everything that was in front of me.
Technology is great but it has definitely taken the spotaniety and even some of the fun away.
Think that final part of the comment is key – “Technology is great but it has definitely taken the spotaniety and even some of the fun away.”
Thank you for the thoughts
You are 💯 correct. There is so much money grabbing by DLR that it is no longer fun. Everything is a reservation by phone that is never available because so few spots and so many people with cell phones. We are giving up on the passes as it is not as much fun as it is used to be with the amount of people in the park and rides out of order.
1) Taking photos of everyone with a new ticket takes too long at the gate. Fix that somehow. Perhaps Make lines for those who are not using brand new tickets/passes.
2) Ditch reservations. I want to be spontaneous again, not on my phone trying to get a reservation at the last minute. Or missing a reservation and getting a rude email. It feels very punitive and not like the customer is appreciated. Or at they very least, give us Good to Go days again!
3) Ditch Lightning Lane. Terrible to charge families more and then make them figure out how to use it on the app. Bring back paper fast passes!
I agree with you a thousand percent. Had to do it twice now and was so irritated by the time we got in the park we all started the experience in a bad mood and had to find a way to shake it off. It really puts a bad taste in your mouth for places when this happens. I get it is a super busy place and all but things were just easier before all this because you expected the waits. Now that they have gotten super money hungry and put in all this stuff to “Make things easier” it has just become frustrating and annoying, and really harder in a lot of ways. Simplistic is always better. It may not be as profitable but I don’t think in the long run that was what Walt wanted. He wanted the joy and laughter of all the people, especially the kids. But that is no longer how it is. Very disappointing.
The only thing technology-wise that bothered me on a recent trip was someone live streaming on a dark ride with the flash on the entire time. It was very obnoxious.
Magic Bands are great, and I’ve used them at Disney World and on Disney Cruise Line. It did seem like we spent a lot of time checking and securing Lightning Lane passes, which was annoying.
In the good old days of Disney World. In my job I was connected to my phone constantly. My children and my wife made it a rule that I could not take my phone when we were at Disney World. It was some of the best times of my life in such an enjoyable experience that I did not have to check my phone constantly for messages or calls. I got to enjoy my family and all that Disney had to offer. I actually enjoyed standing in line to use my credit card type Disney pass key to get the Fastpass tickets. I fear those days are gone. Plus Disney has overpriced everything so much that a middle-class family cannot afford to go anymore. I have promised my grandchildren that when I retire I will take money out of my 401k take them to Disney World for a couple of days. That is the only way to afford it now in my family.
I agree with Dennis. Bring back the paper passes and he is right, things have gotten so expensive that the experience is ruined. Once through the gates you in a race from one thing to the other to cram everything in to get your money’s worth. It is not a wonderful family experience any longer.
As a grandparent, I cannot take my five grandchildren to Disneyland because we cannot navigate the technology required to make it happen. My responsibility is to keep my attention on the grandchildren not my phone and I cannot do this with my attention on my phone constantly instead of enjoying my grandkids. My friends feel the same way so we are no longer taking our grandchildren to Disneyland or Disneyworld. Too expensive and too difficult. It is no longer the “Happiest Place on Earth” for me and my family. So sad. We are vacationing now in places we can enjoy our time with our children and grandchildren and not being frazzled at the end of a day being overwhelmed by technology and outrageous costs.
Bring back the Disney DAS passes as they were!! My Grandparents took me to Disney World when it first opened when I was a little girl. I’ve been going ever since, my entire life taking my kids and now my granddaughters, Grandpa needs the DAS pass for incurable cancer. It was wonderful until it wasn’t. How you took that benefit away and offer what you offer now is not acceptable. We rent a scooter for him 7days not cheap. Now we pay extra so he doesn’t stand in line because he can’t due to a disability. Your current solutions are unacceptable we go to be a family not to have one person stand in line etc. Disappointing doesn’t cover it disbelief.
I agree with you 100% Debbie! Thank you for bringing the DAS wishy-washy rules up!
The DAS pass rules, with the idea they have that disabled people HAVE to rent a scooter to get around- another huge expense & if you don’t require it 100% of the time, it’s a pain to store it.
It’s insulting for DAS representation say there’s the Lighting Lane option! The extra cost of Lighting Lanes are their idea of “assisting the disabled” – that’s ridiculous!
Oh yes, another great idea to help out is to split up your group & let some stand in line while the disabled wait alone or with one of the group!
I get it that many non-medically necessary people abuse the system, but there has to be a better way to help out truly disabled people without imposing additional costs!
WDW is out of touch!
And let’s add the panic attempts to get up early to go online to possibly get a spot on one the favorite rides (which then breaks down for hours & messes up your ride plans you spent months planning!)
All the phone necessities made me & my husband get newer phones to make it easier when we took our grandkids. At one point I got so fed up, I wanted to toss my hands up & give up! Luckily, a kind worker passing by saw & heard the commotion & offered to help. Thank goodness!
I enjoy technology but not at the expense of making it impossible to go & relax with our grandkids, hoping to have the same fun, carefree experience our children once had.
This is an interesting conversation! This week I saw a family with older grandparents using a paper map and it never occurred to me that it may have been by choice not to use phones. As someone who goes to Disneyland a lot with my kids, often for just a few hours in the morning with my preschooler or a couple hours after school with one of my older kids I absolutely appreciate tech in the parks. When a ride is temporarily down but was the one thing my kid was most excited about that day I love the ability to keep checking the app without walking over to the ride to see if it’s back up, and always use mobile oeder. I wish the Animation Academy schedule was on the App so we could better plan when to walk over to DCA. I do consciously put my phone away in line. I find my little ones don’t want to plan “what’s next” until they have fully experienced the line/ride we are about to do.
I think they should het rid of all lightning lane, other than single rider, but think they all should go. For me the two biggest issues are lightning lane causing unneeded waits in lines, while at the same time causing one’s face to be in the phone booking the next one after checking in. If lines were always moving as was the case before fastpass, wait times would be drastically decreased for the majority which is a good thing imo.
I was a die hard disney fan ,when my kids were small we always had season passes and was looking forward to enjoy Disneyland well into my old age. Last time I went with friends it was the worst experience ever. We aren’t up on the technology and couldn’t figure out the new systems. Wasted half the day trying to figure it out. All we wanted was a fun girls day out and to act like kids again . Im afraid I will never go again unless my adult son takes me and does all the logistics because its too much for me. Its very sad you can’t just let the day unfold without all the planning and being on the phone. It takes all the fun out of it. But maybe thats how theyre trying to control the crowds. Make it as complicated as possible and you lose a core base of devoted customers
1 thing I wish they would bring back are fast passes. I know they have the lightning lane system now, but I feel like it was much more simpler to go to the ride you want a fast pass having a “ticket” or connect it to your park card to help with the balance of tech use within the parks.
From park reservations to ride reservations to food reservations. Disney has made you do everything on their phone app. It’s not the technology that has taken the fun out of the park experience. It’s the fact that Disney has forced you to use your phone and its app to do everything, and now they’re saying they don’t want the guest to use their phone as much when the reason why the guest is using their phone so much in the first place is because Disney has forced them to. What a bunch of hypocrisy.
Very few people use a magicband at Disneyland. I love how quick it is to enter the parks and lightning lane. The biggest complaint I hear from guest is there is not enough perks to buy one if you can just use the phone which is definitely slower at being scanned.
Check out Ride Alert app in the Apple App Store
It addresses this issue of always being on your phone
You can get a push notification when the wait time for an attraction drops below a certain amount
In magic land, I’m in charge and I would make special events phone free. Get a perk if you lock up your phone for the event. Encourage, rent out old school point shoot digital cameras. Turn off real time apps and wifi during events, make them truly immersive. Make magic bands reasonable and useful. Their value is limited due to price and usefulness. Go back to wait time screens around the park.
I’m not sure why, because I’m not smart, but why are fireworks such a mess and lines for the parades. It’s impossible for spontaneous fun and encountering magic, everything has to be planned and you line up 45 min in advance for a parade or 90-120 min early for fireworks. Are there more people allowed in the parks? Is the app, fomo, competitiveness taking over and gamifying the experience?
Speaking of, side note, I miss wandering the parks. I remember just wandering the parks and riding a ride and having fun. Now, with kids and family and outside pressures, I feel it’s more important to do everything than it is to experience the magic. I can’t put a pin in it. It’s probably a pin board honestly, but society has changed. The need for thrill rides, the get it done and competitive how many rides did you do mentality really ruins it for me and my family.
It was much simpler when you had a park day pass or hopper pass. You didn’t have to spend weeks beforehand figuring out what you wanted to do and how much extra money you had to bring. Yes, you had to wait an hour or so at popular rides, but the lineup wasn’t slowed down by having to scan tickets. It was a fair system and everyone had to wait their turn. Now it’s just so confusing and you need to have a phone. Disney is supposed to be fun and not stressful.
My family use to come every year but you have to pay to get in the Park pay hundred dollars to ride the rides average family can’t afford all the high prices we go to universal and sea world every thing is out of control at universal and most of the cast members are not that friendly or helpful premo
F Gordon ramsey!
Please educate yourselves on the reasons that people use their phones in your parks. You set it up so that we have to use our phones in order to get around the parks and then complain about us using them too much. Also, if there would be any kind of plan to block signals like WiFi or Bluetooth in the parks please be aware that many personal medical devices rely on Bluetooth to function and relay information to their users. Don’t be dumb about this please.
Why not just drop everything and bring back the good Ole days of the A,B,C,D and E ticket booklets for each and every single ride, that was the only way to go on rides back in the 70’s and 80s. Geeze.
The statements from Disney were useless psyco babble.
Going to Disneyland should be a place where you LEAVE YOUR PHONES BEHIND! Also, forcing guests and cast members when they use their passes, to make a reservation for a visit has destroyed the spontaneity of going to the park. Please stop trying to control the guest experience!
The disconnecting from our phones is an easy fix for Disney…
1) still have the phone for tickets, mobile orders and a wait time map if you want to look. This will make your phone only necessary IF you want to use it.
2) have live maps all over the park with wait times in them in real time.
3) to use a lightning lane everyone in the party must have a wristband (still an extra cost). Go to a ride with a lightning lane, scan in and you are good to go…no reservation needed just scan and go; yes that might mean you have a longer wait but it should still be shorter than standby but that’s the risk you take. You can still have special lightning lane tickets sales in the app but again that’s if you want.
See…Easy…Simple…Love it!!
My wife and I are both senior citizens with poor eyesight but we love going to Disney World often. Using a phone to mobile order food and/or using the phone as a park map just does not work well for us since we cannot read the small screen on our phones. Paper park maps and paper restaurant menus reduce screen time as well.
Hi Fred, I totally agree with you, we are from the U.k. and have been visiting the parks for over thirty years, I could not believe it when I could not get a paper map, and when I asked about getting one I was told they no longer have them. It’s ok for the younger generations they have been brought up with technology, I have a phone purely for calls, photos, and that’s about it. I can’t book a meal in a restaurant days weeks or even months ahead of time, I don’t know how I will be feeling on the day, will I even want to eat at a time that was booked so long ago. My husband and I rely on the daughter and granddaughter to do things for us. It spoils there day having to ask them things all the time, I personally love a paper map, we usually work our way round the parks at a steady pace and we decide what we want to go on and what shows we want to see. Why can’t we go back to queuing as normal people do have a lightning lane and single rider lane. And one other thing is I think they should go back to treating the disabled with dignity and compassion, but I would limit it to them and 3 other people to go on together, not like the old days were they had at least 50 family members with them.
A park mode for the app would help a lot. Focus on what is specifically needed in that park that day and likely reduce the app to three buttons.
Ride times / show times
Eat
LL booking.
Ride times should also enable you to swipe away complete rides or unwanted rides to reduce scrolling and also push falling wait times.
I’d dispute that mobile order saves wait in line time. I bet wait in line time is longer because the staff are serving the app not the line.
My two cents worth: One of the things that increased phone usage at the parts (primariily for Magic Key holders) was when Disney no longer issued physical passholder cards and put it on the phone. So, if you don’t have a Magic Band you have to pull your phone out before you even can enter the park plus every time you make a purchase so you can get your discount. I miss having a physical card and I feel they need to bring those back. That would help with one part of the issue.
My two cents worth: One of the things that increased phone usage at the parks (primarily for Magic Key holders) was when Disney no longer issued physical passholder cards and put it on the phone. So, if you don’t have a Magic Band you have to pull your phone out before you even can enter the park plus every time you make a purchase so you can get your discount. I miss having a physical card and I feel they need to bring those back. That would help with one part of the issue.
Alot of people agree that the whole scrolling through each ticket is a pain and I’m finding I’m making all these reservations for rides and then having to run from one ride to the next and maybe across the park is too much rushing around instead of slowing moving through the park. It would be nice to work from ride to ride and make your way around the park then having to check which Lightning Lane we have to get to next. It would be nice if you have a like generic Lightning Lane available then use it at whatever ride you are close to and then get another one in like an hour.
The mobile order aspect is good, as long as it’s an option and not the only way to order food. The change that would make the biggest difference in how much time you have to spend on your phone is Lightning Lane. I get that some people think that the reservation aspect is a “fun” challenge but it’s a frustration for most people, especially the occasional visitor. A person shouldn’t have to buy LL multi pass and single pass and a magic band to have fun and go on the rides they want to experience. Go back to Fast Pass or Maxpass (if they must make more money) and have a reservation system for the most popular rides like Radiator Springs Racers, Guardians, Rise of the Resistance, like they have had in the past. I don’t understand why people like LL but I understand why people feel like they have to pay for it. That really bothers me.
I have tried posting this several times but was unsuccessful so I will try again…
The disconnecting from our phones is an easy fix for Disney…
1) still have the phone for tickets, mobile orders and a wait time map if you want to look. This will make your phone only necessary IF you want to use it.
2) have live maps all over the park with wait times in them in real time.
3) to use a lightning lane everyone in the party must have a wristband (still an extra cost). Go to a ride with a lightning lane, scan in and you are good to go…no reservation needed just scan and go; yes that might mean you have a longer wait but it should still be shorter than standby but that’s the risk you take. You can still have special lightning lane tickets sales in the app but again that’s if you want.
See…Easy…Simple…Love it!!