does any one know anything about this?

[razor5002000]

I found the following info on another site and want to find out if there any truth to it.


9 January 2008: Disney looking at using Nintendo DS systems as an interactive guide map?

Over the past few days Imagineering have apparently been testing out some interesting new technology to help guests during their days in the parks. Remember back in the summer of 2006 when Disney were trialling a Kim Possible "Kimmunicator" game using custom PDAs (see the update here - 15 August 2006)? Well it seems now that Disney are looking once again at giving guests an electronic assistant as they visit the parks. This time however, it seems that Disney are looking at allowing guests to use a Nintendo DS as the hardware for the system. Disney are not strangers to using DS systems within parks. Back in the summer of 2007 Disney had a program where guests could bring in their DS to access customised content from Pirates of the Caribbean in the Magic Kingdom. With this new system however, the DS would serve as your interactive guide map. For example, you can click on the individual lands in the park and see instantly all the wait times. Let's use Liberty Square as an example. When you click on Liberty Square it will bring the land into full view. You can click on the Haunted Mansion and instantly see that it's wait time is twenty minutes. Click on the Liberty Tree Tavern and you can get a summary of their menu. It doesn't take much imagination to realise this would be a wonderful system for guests. If all goes well, it is expected that a limited guest trial may be underway within the next few months. As always, this is speculation, and may be subject to change.

[mouseketeer mom]

That sounds amazing!!!!

[kakn7294]

Actually, I heard a brief mention of it elsewhere as well - but no details like you were proposing. Sounds neat if it happens - and we actually have 2 Nintendo DS's (my DD's complain that we are technologically behind the times).

[Strmchsr]

:welcome: to Intercot!!

While different rumors have been flying around here's what's in Figment's post in the January Tidbits at the top of this section:


Mission: Possible?

12/28/07 Walt Disney Imagineering has been quietly filing for small construction projects around World Showcase for a yet-to-be-defined interactive game. Over the last several months construction permits have been filed to to install and support electrical infrastructure for an interactive game in the Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Japan, France, and United Kingdom pavilions. Based on the previous test run the Team Possible interactive adventure in this section of the park, it is widely expected that this work is for a permanent version of this offering. No time table has been stated in the permits for when all of the work will be complete nor when the "interactive game" will begin.

[brownie]

Sounds cool, although I don't know that I want my sons carrying their DS' around the parks!

[Roger's #1 Fan]

WOW, that sounds great. :mickey:
Rumblings in the past about this type of service had focused on cell phones or other PDA devices, but to use WiFi connectivity for DS's would be sweet! (we currently have 3)

Now if you could do fast passes and ressies through this service that would be amazing.
:magic:

[BrerGnat]

They're going to GIVE guests Nintendo DS's, or you will be able to access this through YOUR OWN DS...these things aren't cheap. I don't imagine Disney handing them out at the gate...

If it was something that was available to people who owned a DS, that would be awesome! We just got a DS Lite (my husband got it for his birthday) and I think it's awesome! I secretly want my own. :secret:

[LCPZA]

This would be great. I will believe it when I see it!

[kristnjohn]

This would be awesome...While I certainly don't want our 2 kids with their noses in their DS's all day at the parks, it would certainly be a cool feature that could really be useful at the same time! I hope to hear more on this soon.

[WorldsFairEpcot]

I have heard rumors for years that Disney wanted to get an interactive handheld device for use as a park map, certainly for use at Epcot. You know how rumors go. I would not hold your breath for it. Remember many moons ago when Epcot had guide "books". These gave 3-4 paragraph descriptions of attractions, used actual photographs of attractions, and also gave floor plans, to direct where entrances, exits, and restrooms, ect. were located. My understanding was that these were too costly to produce, and eventually gave way to the "maps" you see today. I think the current maps are terrible, very cheap looking, and give little if any description of attractions. I think most of you would agree.

[BMan62]

I would think this would be the next logical step with the popularity of Pal Mickey and the trial with downloading PotC game scenes already successful.

I would think that most of the infrastructure is already installed and the main concern at this point would be to write the code for the DS itself. These are the coding challenges I love to work on.

The next trick would be to make it 2-way, so you could make ADRs through your DS. Or maybe see the stock from any of the shops and make a purchase through the DS then just go to that shop to pick up your goods or have them shipped to your room.

This may get me to go out and purchase a DS just to try it out, when it becomes available.

[magicofdisney]

My husband bought me a DS last year. I love that thing! This would be an awesome feature to have at the parks. I hope it turns out to be true. :mickey:

[goofyskier]

We were at the Magic Kingdom on Friday and we took a survey on this. The main question being; would you use this service if it were avaiable. I said no as I try to disconect from technology as much as possible while on vacation (no cell phones or laptops if at all possible).

[Magic Smiles]

My son was telling me about this today. He had read about it somewhere on the internet. He is big into the Microsoft and XBox forums. This would be great as we already own a DS and they really aren't that big to carry around with you.

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

I loooove interactive stuff like that. I have a DS lite (in pink!) and all I do with it right now is Tetris and Brain Age (mostly the Sudoku). As often as we go to Disney, this would make me appreciate it that much more. I would love to be able to open it up and click and point to wait times and the ideas with the fast pass and ADRs are really interesting too!

[jszczur5]

That sounds amazing!!!!

Ditto here.
And the bonus is that so many of us with kids already own the hardware. Very cool!

[Grizz16]

They're still going to have paper guide maps, right? I don't have a Nintendo DS, nor do I want one.

[broadway_chick72]

This does sound really cool and I'm really glad my family has a DS. They are small and can easily fit into a backpack. However, I'm afraid that somehow the DS could break or get stolen. Like someone has said before, they are definitly NOT cheap.


But the idea is amazing and would be great for us. It would save families a whole lot of walking.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

They are testing it at the parks between Jan 14th and 24th for a small deposit on a credit card. It will only be done for the first 50 guests each day, according to what I read today.

It will be a less anoying Pal Mickey based on the description.

Sounds interesting. I'd try it.

Although I am not sure if it is going to be renting a DS (might explain the deposit) or using your own. It's available at Guest Relations.

[jszczur5]

They are testing it at the parks between Jan 14th and 24th for a small deposit on a credit card. It will only be done for the first 50 guests each day, according to what I read today.

It will be a less anoying Pal Mickey based on the description.

Sounds interesting. I'd try it.

Although I am not sure if it is going to be renting a DS (might explain the deposit) or using your own. It's available at Guest Relations.


Still, if a small rental deposit saves you from criss-crossing the parks a couple times a day, it still might be worth it to rent one of their units.

[Tink#64]

OMG! I think this would be totally amazing! Both of my DS's have DS's! How cool! That would really change the touring plans wouldn't it! DH carries a small sling style back pack & DS would fit in it no problem! I would love for this to be up & running for our trip this fall! :cool:

[shadowden]

...those of us who do not already own one, nor have any intention of doing so. If they integrate this technology to allow for ressies and FPs, it puts those guests who don't own these (and I am quite sure there are more of us then there are of you) at a HUGE disadvantage when visiting. Seems more like an inhibitor than anything else.

Besides, a little exercise never hurt anyone!

[Cinderelley]

I would love it if they did this. The kids have one and I even have my own. It would make life so much easier when they want to go do something and then meet up with us again. We could whip them out, say "okay it should take you about x amount of time, and then we'll meet at such and such place" That would sure beat the current system -
Scenarion - we're in frontierland

Kids "Mom, we're going to go ride Space Mountain. Then we want to go on Pirates with you again."

Me "Okay. Call me and let me know how long you'll be when you get to Space Mountain."

15 minutes later the phone rings - "We'll be there in about 45 minutes"

Me "I'll be waiting there for you."

30 minutes after that I'm nervous that they'll get done early and just head to PIrates. In actuality, it takes an hour and I spend 30 minutes doing nothing but waiting for them until they call me and tell me they're done with Space Mountain and they're on their way.

I don't think making ADRs with a DS would be an unfair advantage. It would be just like pulling out a cell phone in the park and calling for an ADR. What would be really great with the ADRs would be the ability to have all the ADR information that you've already made come up on the DS screen. That way everyone would know when and where you're eating that day.

[thrillme]

This would be AWESOME...I'm quite certian it'll be a "bring your own" DS. Some people have Pal Mickeys, some people have cell phones, some people have PDA's...If the technology is there and you want it. Oh my...we have a DS for each member of the family. It's wonderful if we have a LONG wait somewhere. It really makes the time go by a LOT faster.

Be sure to bring ZipLock Baggies for these puppies.

[mjstaceyuofm]

Call me old school... but I don't like it. I don't want my kids carrying around their DS's to potentially get lost or wet. Not to mention the fact that this just adds a whole other level of complexity to touring the parks....

Does anyone else think that Disney is over-doing it with these types of things?

First fastpass, then crazy dining scenarios and now (potentially) this. Oye vay.

[MegaDisney]

It will be a less anoying Pal Mickey based on the description.

Except when the guest next to you in the Hall of Presidents (insert any show or attraction) is busy checking the wait times and FP times at various attractions. I am sure the illuminated screen will be distracting in dark rides, etc.

I think this is just silly. I want to relax when I am on vacation, I don't need another electronic device to keep me from enjoying the park and the company of the friends and family I am with, but thats just me.

[MegaDisney]

We have a DS for each member of the family. It's wonderful if we have a LONG wait somewhere. It really makes the time go by a LOT faster.

What happend to talking to your friends and family while in line?

Maybe I am just a cranky old man, but all this technology does nothing to bring people together.

[Grizz16]

I don't like to carry anything in the parks, I fold my guidemap and put it in my pocket. I also don't buy any souvenirs until I'm ready to leave for the day.

[Cinderelley]

Maybe I am just a cranky old man, but all this technology does nothing to bring people together.

I really have to disagree with this statement. Just one example - when I take my kids to the doctor, we take a DS with us. While waiting in the waiting room, we can draw pictures on the DS where each person adds a little to the picture. We usually laugh & joke about how bad my drawing is. We can play a game against each other or try to solve puzzle games together.
Even if you have separate DSs, you can send things to each other (kind've like e-mail), and laugh about them while you're standing there. Having a DS doesn't necessarily mean that each person is wrapped up in their own game.

[WDWfanatic742]

Just as a note, they are now testing the system at the Magic Kingdom. From what I have read, if you enter the park on the right side you have a better chance of testing it. The system is still in the beta stage however...

[DisFan01]

This is awesome! That really is a great idea! I'll try to enter on the right the next time I go... ;)

:number1:

[elmjimmlm]

I hope that this would also work on the shows...Last year we waited in line for Fantasmic for an hour only to walk thru and be told that it was at capacity...That is such a waist of time...It would be nice to know about these things beforehand...:thumbsup:

[Cinderelley]

Just as a note, they are now testing the system at the Magic Kingdom. From what I have read, if you enter the park on the right side you have a better chance of testing it. The system is still in the beta stage however...

Are they giving guests a DS or are people bringing their own into the park or is it both?

[Figment!]

Here's a run-down of the device and the testing based on recent Guest reports:


Disney's Magic Connection


This new interactive park offering is currently in a Guest test mode. Guests entering the Magic Kingdom are randomly selected to test this interactive Guide. Selected Guests are given a modified Nintendo DS that has the Disney Magic Connection loaded on it.

While the DS unit itself reportedly operates like other devices, the device appears to have been modified to only work with the Disney Magic Connection software. The device has also been configured to go into sleep mode at the end of most ride queues to prevent their use by Guests during attractions.

When Guests first turn the device on they are asked to enter the names and age ranges of all of the members of their group.

Disney's Magic Connection offers Guests 5 main interactive services: Park Map, Park Offerings, Characters, Wish List and Games and Trivia.

Park Map

Guests can use this feature to browse an interactive map of the park that shows and select icons for general information about individual locations around the park. When Guests select individual attractions they are shown the current wait time, FastPass Distribution period, if the ride is closed for rehab and any height restrictions. The map feature also shows Guests where they currently are in the park on the map.

The park map also serves as the main screen of the device. From this screen Guests can select 4 icons to acsess the four other services.

Park Offerings

This service lists the park's Attractions, Shows, Dining locations, and Guest Service locations. Guests can select specific offerings from these lists and inact a "path" feature that will produce a dotted line on the map starting where there Guest is and ending at the attraction or closest offering of that type.

The attraction list notifies Guests of the current wait time on the main list. If a Guest selects an attraction from the list they are shown the current wait time, FastPass Distribution period, if the ride is closed for rehab and any height restrictions when an individual attraction is selected. Guests may also select attractions to add to their Wish List.

Characters

This service lists all of the Characters that may appear in the Magic Kingdom. Although selecting a Character from the list does bring up the time period in which the character may appear that day, it refers Guests to see a Cast Member for actual appearance times. Guests may also select Characters to add to their Wish List.

Wish List

The service allows Guests keep track of attractions and characters they have added to their Wish List and check them off after they have experienced them. If Guests are near an attraction or character meet & greet that is on their Wish List, the device will notify them that they are near an offering they wanted to experience with scrolling text on the screen.

Games & Trivia

This service allows Guests to play games based on Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and answer Fantasyland Trivia. In order to "unlock" each of the attraction themed games, Guests must be standing near the attraction or in the attraction queue. That Fantasyland Trivia is immediately available to play and keeps score for each member of the party. The trivia questions are selected based on the age group selected for each member of the party when the device was turned on.

[EPCOTBoy]

Hey gang! I had the privelage to test one on Saturday and although I didn't know anything about it going into it, I was very excited because I love Disney, technology, AND my Nintendo DS. At first I thought that I would need mine at the park with me (which I didn't) but much to my delight, I was informed that they provide the unit and necessary software. I learned about it by approaching a CM just inside the MK main entrance. There were a couple CMs standing around in the "old time" Main Street costumes (not the front admissions costumes). I saw them holding a clipboard with a flyer on the back which showed a Nintendo DS. Being the curious person I am, I asked them what it was about and was invited to try one for the day. It's called the "Disney Magic Connection" right now but the name could change.

My guests and I were escorted to an area in the old Kodak Picture Shop on Main Street (opposite of City Hall) to sign up for the testing. They took down my credit card number and personal info as a precaution in case I didn't return the Nintendo DS since the entire unit is about $300 with the added accessory and software. (There was no charge or hold put on the card and they gave me back the sheet with the info when I returned the unit.) I was provided a white Nintendo DS with an attached gray housing that added features and prevented the user from taking it off of the DS and altering the software or playing other games. It included a soft neck strap which made it easier to carry around since the unit is too bulky to fit in any pocket. Fortunately the unit is fairly lightweight (about the weight of a medium sized camera) and having it hanging around your neck makes it easily accessible throughout the day.

After a brief instruction period, I was off to enjoy the park with my new interactive guide map. Now here's a little rundown about the unit and it's physical features.

-For those unfamiliar with the Nintendo DS, it has two bright and crisp screens and one of them is a touch screen where the finger or an included stylus can be used.
-The Nintendo DS also has WiFi (wireless internet) capabilities like that of laptop (although you can't access the internet on these units).
-The added peripheral appears to contain the Magic Connection software which is probably similar to a game cartridge. This is likely what runs the main program.
-The added housing also provides what I believe is a GPS navigation unit and two infrared sensors.

The main feature of the unit is its ability to act as an in-park GPS/Navigation. The on-screen map will show a small red dot to represent where you are in the park. If there is a particular attraction, restauant, restroom, ATM, or other location you would like to visit, you simply select the destination from the menu and touch a travel button. This will then create a path of red dots showing you on the map the best way to travel to your destination. I did not use this feature often because I am very familiar with my way around the park. Others that are familiar would probably not use this feature much eaither; however I could see the benefit to a new guest who wants to maximize their ability to get around the park. In my experience when I did try it, I found that it worked well most of the time. The only problems I had with locations were in Frontierland. For some reason, the unit would not recognize that I was in the area of BTMRR (which created another small prroblem to be mentioned later).The unit also will give you information on when certain shows and parades are performing.

Another main feature of this unit is the ability to provide summaries on rides and restaurants. Although restaurants typically show a list of a few menu items, the ride information was much more helpful. If you clicked on Space Mountain, not only would it describe the ride, but it would also show you the current stand-by wait time and the current FastPass distribution times! This allowed my guests and I to see which attractions we wanted to go to based on the wait times without walking to it first. I did use this feature often and always found the wait times on the unit to correspond with the times posted at the rides. The FastPass distribution times were normally accurate as well with only one exception encountered. We went to Space Mountain to get fastpasses thinking we could return at 2:30-3:30 but found when we got there about 10 minutes later, the times were actually 4:10-5:10. That was defintely a considerable difference but we didn't let it bother us.

One of the most beloved featues of the unit amongst our group (six men & women in mid 20's) was the unit's games, particularly the trivia game. The unit itself has 5 playable games included. But when you first pick up the unit, the only one accessible is "Fantasyland Trivia" which is a trivia game about general Disney knowledge. Some questions are kinda easy and some you just have to guess on so there is a decent balance to the game. What makes the game so much fun is that it includes everyone in your group. (When you initially setup the unit, you enter the names of everyone in the group.) The game will allow you to use the guest names in your unit to have everyone participate. The questions are multiple choice and it is designed to have the unit passed around the group with each person getting to ask AND answer questions. When the park is busy and the lines are long (like they were for us on Saturday), this is the PERFECT relief for the frustration and boredom of waiting in lines. Depending on what they will eventually charge for this amenity, this feature alone could make it worth the rental price!

I did mention that there are 4 other playable games locked inside the unit. The games are: Winnie the Pooh, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, and Jungle Cruise. The way to unlock these games is to physically visit and ride the attraction corresponding with the game while wearing the unit. Unfortunately, I did not get to test all of the games. I tried unlocking Winnie the Pooh by just standing in the entrance but it did not work. Since I did not go on the ride, I don't know where in the attraction it would have unlocked this. However, when I was standing at the entrance of Space Mountain to get my FastPass, I noticed that the Space Mountain game became unlocked even though I didn't go on the ride. I did not go to the Jungle Cruise and since my unit was having trouble orienting itself around Frontierland, the BTMRR game was never unlocked even though I went on the ride.

So the only additional game I unlocked was Space Mountain. the game itself was OK. It was a generic spaceship game in which you had to navigate a spaceship to specific points and past certain obstacles. There are only three levels but two of them are challenging enough to keep a child (or adult) occupied for a several minutes. I was more frstrated with the game than entertained so I didn't play it much.

Well, that about sums up my experience with the features of the Disney Magic Connection. When leaving the park, I returned the unit back to where I had gotten it. I took a 5-minute survey of my experience with the unit and was not charged for using it. For being a tester, I was given a Disney pin and a voucher for each guest in my party to receive a free 5x7 photo through the PhotoPass website (shipping + handling free)!

I think that this is a great program and I am thrilled to see Disney embracing technology and implementing it in the parks. There is little information available regarding the future of the unit since it is only in a testing phase. I don't think that it will be likely for them to rent out just the necessary attachment if you already have a DS. I think they will keep it on their DS units only to avoid compatibility and technical issues. The unit appears to be designed for the purposes of Information, Orientation, and Entertainment and although I only spent a few hours with it, it looks like it's off to a great start and it can do all of those things moderately well (especially entertain while in line!) I hope that it will be developed for use in all of the parks (not just MK) as I think that this would help people find their way around MGM & Animal Kingdom better and help guests find all of the great forms of entertainment Epcot has to offer. Hopefully they keep the rental price at or under $25. If it's much more than that, I could see it being overpriced with it's current set of features. I really enjoyed using it and for a regular park visitor, I was impressed.


Here are some ideas (of mine) for other features that the unit could do:
-Information regarding seating availability for the sit-down restaurants (possibly even the ability to wirelessly make a reservation).
-Make a "resort-wide" unit that could be used while away from the parks. (Think about picking it up when you check in and using the same one throughout your stay and just checking out a park-specific cartridge is necessary).
-More trivia questions (not just Disney specific). And particularly more attraction specific questions. So say you go to Hall of Presidents, you could unlock a set of U.S. History questions, animal questions at Jungle Cruise, space questions at Space Mountain, international awareness questions at IASW, pirate questions at PotC, etc.....
-Unlockable rewards such as virtual fastpasses, VIP seating, Hidden Mickey guides, etc...
-Instant message chat to other units in the park (to use as a means of communication if there are mutliple units amongst groups that are split up from each other.)


I hope that all of you will get the opportunity to use this someday! I know this was a long read but I was very excited about sharing my experience with you all. Please let me know if you have any questions!

[fielin]

Moderators, feel free to delete this message if it does not agree with the terms of service, but I thought this might be of interest for fellow Disney/DS lovers.

Joystiq has an short article about the Magic Connection, and there are a few photos !

http://www.dsfanboy.com/2008/01/22/taking-a-closer-look-at-the-disney-ds-guide/

Looks exciting !

[meldan98]

On a similar note, I was emailed a survey recently that asked about a similar service for the Disney Cruise Line. This would be cool if they could make it interactive, to include a service to be notified when you have a kid in the kids program.

[magicofdisney]

Moderators, feel free to delete this message if it does not agree with the terms of service, but I thought this might be of interest for fellow Disney/DS lovers.

Joystiq has an short article about the Magic Connection, and there are a few photos !

http://www.dsfanboy.com/2008/01/22/taking-a-closer-look-at-the-disney-ds-guide/

Looks exciting !
That is so cool! I can't believe no one thought of this sooner (maybe they did...). I can't wait to find out when it's active. I just got a GPS for Christmas and I love using that thing. Those screen shots are very intriguing. :mickey:

[poohbearlover15]

That would be awesome! I have a DS and it would be very cool to have a disney map on it! I hop they go through with this!:mickey:

[MickeyChick]

We tested it on January 27 and it was awesome. It didn't cost us anything to use it for the day, though we did leave a credit card number in case our unit was damaged. I scanned the little directions booklet thingee they gave us with it. (http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh289/purplejuli/MagicConnectionbookletfront.jpg)

For filling out a survey at the end of the day, they gave us codes for 4 free 5x7s from photopass and a limited edition pin.

[DanDisney]

This is so awesome! I own a ds and would love to use mine at the parks! Hopefully once the trial is over they will let you bring your own and download the software there! It would be awesome if this would work as a fastpass. I am such a techno person even when i dont need it,lol! That would be cool if you could use a PSP cause of the widescreen but i guess the ds is better cause you can fold it and the touchscreen capabilities.

[caryrae]

I read this the underlined part was interesting but don't know how true it is,

Disney World Tests Nintendo DS in the Magic Kingdom
by Susan on January 28th, 2008
Last week, Disney started a field test of its new Magic Connection system at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. I’ve been looking for some more information about the tests, and today, Jim Hill Media posted a great explanation of how the tests work and what Disney’s plans are for the Magic Connection.

First, the tests are only happening at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom because of the high investment required to add the technology into the park that will link the Nintendo DS handhelds up to Disney’s system. The handhelds will ultimately be able to give guests real-time information about wait times on rides and enable guests to reserve Fast Passes electronically from any location within the park.

The Fast Pass reservation system is what Disney thinks will lure guests into paying the rental fee required to obtain a Magic Connection handheld during their visit to Walt Disney World. However, it’s important to understand that not just any Nintendo DS will work. Only Disney’s special Magic Connection handhelds will be able to receive information from Disney’s system.

Disney’s first field test of the Magic Connection handhelds happened last week, and initial results were positive. Now, Disney Imagineers are reviewing the results and plan another field test in the near future, possibly as early as March.

No word on when the Magic Connection will roll out to all guests yet.

What do you think about these new Disney handheld devices? Would you pay to rent one? How much would you be willing to pay per day for one?

[caryrae]

I wonder how many DS's Disney would have to buy to make sure people can get one especially if they end up doing this at all 4 parks. Nintendo must have been trilled when Disney came up with this Idea.

This could be a new option to add to park tickets.