Disney has been a game changer for the amusement park industry since they opened Disneyland in 1955. They basically created the concept of an immersive theme park and have continued to improve and build upon that philosophy throughout the decades. When Disney introduced FastPass in 1998 with the opening of their brand new Animal Kingdom park, they changed how guests waited in line by creating a reservation system that expedited wait times. The creation of MyMagic+ and FastPass+ changed the game by making it digital and allowing guests to make reservations from a mobile app or from the comfort of their own home well ahead of their trip to Walt Disney World. They also introduced interactive queues to make waiting in a long standby line not quite as painful by giving everyone things to do and interact with. The fact is, waiting in a line is what people dislike the most about modern theme parks and Disney's chief competitor Universal Orlando has something to say about it.
Once your group is called by having the colors around the room change to your color, you move to the second floor of the building. In this room, there are a number of couches and USB charging stations where guests can take a load off and charge their devices. There are also big tablet tables where you can play little games. The highlight of the room is a small stage area where you can watch live performances by The Ragtime Gals and Hashtag the Panda as well as a sampling of sketches and moments from Fallon's take on the Tonight Show, This is probably the single best part of the attraction as a whole. You honestly forget that you are waiting in line for an attraction and can easily enjoy everything going on around you. Once the room changes to your color again, you head to the last lobby room which is the preshow for the ride itself.
So how is Jimmy Fallon a game changer? Well, for one, you never have to stand in a long line to experience this attraction. You are either able to wonder around the park until your return window or wander around a free flow lobby or entertainment area and do what you please with plenty of things to see and enjoy while waiting. This is a concept I certainly hope Universal will continue to use in the future. There are already rumors that a similar idea will be used for The Fast & The Furious: Supercharged when it opens at Universal Studios in 2018.
TapuTapu is very similar to Disney's FastPass+ service, but instead of it being a way to skip lines at some of your favorite attractions, this service applies to all slides and experiences. Each guest who enters Volcano Bay will have a TapuTapu wearable device similar to Disney's MagicBand included with park admission. It will be used to reserve a time at each attraction as well as activate special effects around the park. What is revolutionary about TapuTapu is using it at a water park and not having any sort of Standby line as an option. It remains to be seen how well the system works, but we won't know for sure until Volcano Bay opens on May 25th.
The new restaurant looks to be an interesting and very popular location with some exotic food options, but what makes this location unique is it is serving as a Guinea Pig for a new application of Disney's My Disney Experience App.
From the app, you will be able to select what items you want, customize your items to your liking and pay for your food without even being in the restaurant. When you arrive, you select "I'm Here" and go to a separate line where you can pick up your food and bypass any long lines the new eatery is sure to have.
While this concept has been done before at various fast food locations like Chipotle and Chik-Fl-A, this has never been done at a theme park and is sure to be a big game changer, especially in what is sure to be a very busy and crowded new land. If the test is successful, Disney is sure to implement this new functionality to other popular quick service locations throughout all four parks.
There is no question that both Disney and Universal are always looking to improve the guest experience at their theme parks and water parks and 2017 looks to be a year where they both go all out with some intriguing experiments. We won't know for sure how successful these concept will be until they are fully realized out in the wild, but ideas like these will hopefully help improve guest experiences at theme parks for the better.
Written by Chris Coburn