Disney is constantly searching for new ways to bring personalized, fully-immersive experiences to their Guests. The recently opened Pandora – World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom is one great example. Guests visiting Pandora report feeling fully immersed into the World of Avatar. At the D23 Expo it was announced that a Star Wars-themed resort was being built at Disney World. Initial reports indicate that the resort will offer Guests two-night stays and opportunities to carry out missions both in the resort and when they are visiting the new Star Wars: A Galaxy’s Edge Park. Guests will get a “reputation” depending on how they do on the mission that will follow them around both the resort and the new Star Wars Land.
Well, if this new patent comes to fruition, things are even going to get more magical for Disney fans! The patent looks to combine entertainment, parks, resorts, and shopping into one completely immersive experience. Here is an example from the patent on how this new technology would work:
“After watching the movie about dinosaurs at the hotel room, user may visit second venue or a theme park. Throughout the theme park there may be multiple television displays, screens or devices, which may recognize when user is in the proximity. For instance, user may be standing in a line waiting to ride a dinosaur roller coaster, where there may be devices that recognize user is in the vicinity. User may be, for example, wearing a communication device, such as a wristband having a tag, a cell phone, a smart watch or any other computerized device that is able to communicate with and/or announce the presence of user to the second system.
Having recognized that user is present in the attraction line, the television or screen closest to user may display custom presentation to user as an audio/visual message. For example, the television may display the main dinosaur cartoon character, from the movie user watched at his/her hotel room, saying to user ‘Hi Adam, I hope you enjoyed watching the dinosaur movie, welcome to the dinosaur ride, I hope you have a blast.’ Custom presentation may, in another implementation, include a live character greeting user after the live character is notified that user is in the vicinity. For instance, after second system recognizes that the child is standing in line for the ride, server may notify the live character of the child’s location, enabling the live character to find the child and greet him.”
It sounds to me like the new technology may work like this: Let’s say a guest is watching Peter Pan at a Disney Resort. Then, that Guest decides to head into the Magic Kingdom and take a flight on the Peter Pan ride inside the Park. The guest would be wearing some type of communication device such as a MagicBand. While the Guest is in line at Peter Pan, there may be screens that would greet the Guest by name and ask if they enjoyed the movie they watched at the Resort. Who knows, maybe Peter Pan himself would come over and visit the guest while they are waiting too!
It was also announced today that Disney Stores are going to start undergoing major renovations. Disney is re-imagining their stores to have more interactive opportunities for Guests as well as carrying less merchandise and focusing on ordering merchandise from their online store. It’s hard to say, but it sounds like their overhaul of the stores and website may play into this new patent too.
The upcoming Star Wars-themed Resort might be just the beginning too. Maybe we will see more of these immersive Resorts announced down-the-line from Disney too!
Of course, Disney files patents all the time. When they are filed, it does not guarantee that they will even be put to use. The best thing to do is keep following along with us so you can be the first to know if/when Disney makes any big announcements!
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Image Credit: Disney
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