As part of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Walt Disney World Resort, Disney announced two new technologies.
Let’s take a look!
Hey Disney
Disney vacations are a blast, and there is a lot to see and do. You will have questions. When can you get the next bus to EPCOT? How can you request more towels for your room? How about a joke after a long, hot day of walking the parks? Soon, a new technology called Hey Disney will be able to help.
Hey Disney, a voice assistant using Alexa technology, will roll out across Disney resort hotel rooms in 2022. The free offering on Disney property will allow guests to get useful information like weather forecasts and park operating hours with some help from Disney characters like Mickey Mouse.
In addition to useful information, Hey Disney can share greetings, jokes, trivia, and audio environments inspired by Disney locations and movies.
In time, guests will be able to purchase Hey Disney for use at home from the Amazon Alexa Skills store.
MagicBand+
MagicBands have been popular since their introduction in 2013, allowing guests to enter the parks, unlock their Disney Resort Hotel room, pay for food and merchandise, and link PhotoPass pictures to their account.
Disney is looking to take this technology to the next level.
In addition to the current features Disney guests use, new MagicBand+ will change colors, light up, recognize gestures, and enhance storytelling in the parks.
The MagicBand+ will allow guests to find virtual bounties in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, interact with the Fab 50 statues, light up for nighttime spectaculars like Harmonious at EPCOT and Disney Enhancement at the Magic Kingdom.
Guest and Annual Passholders will be able to purchase MaagicBand+ in 2022.
More Technology, More Magic
Both Hey Disney and MagicBandk+ are ways that Disney is creating a “theme park metaverse” – integrating and combining the physical, digital and virtual worlds in new ways.
Looking forward to Hey Disney and MagicBand+?