News Walt Disney World Heat Safety Tech? Disney Patents System to Help Guests Manage Summer Heat

[HauntedPirate]

While I could see some benefit to this, it really steers into a privacy arena most probably aren't comfortable going into.

 

[monothingie]

Because it can only possibly be one thing, right?

Summer heat in Florida is not a new thing. Stupid high prices and lack of value and quality are relatively new and just happen to coincide with the summer attendance slide.

 

[Mr. Engagement]

My thoughts:

• Data is awesome; the more the better. I can see them using this to determine where to add shade/rest areas (like the recent ones in SWGE and TSL.
• Shade isn't the only answer: it doesn't do much in 97% humidity
• An overheated guest is an unhappy guest.
• It may be to avoid liability when guests get heatstroke!
• Giving guests a warning isn't the same as forcing them to do anything.
• Mist systems create their own set of issues (wet walkways, mildew/mold, corrosion, etc.)
• MDE/Genie has the capability of showing each user/group different experience recommendations, offers, advice, etc.
  • If the system knows you're hot/tired, it can use recommendations to entice you to buy ice cream or a $8 bottle of Coke.
  • It can also more effectively balance traffic/crowds throughout the parks.

 

[Mr. Engagement]

While I could see some benefit to this, it really steers into a privacy arena most probably aren't comfortable going into.

I'm pretty sure they already established body temp permissions back during the pandemic.

 

[Disstevefan1]

The guests will see it..... in life insurance policies.

WDW can market/sell the biometric data to insurance companies. Think of it.... a vacation and a stress test. Now if WDW could slide in a colonoscopy without you knowing it.

Wow, the saying is, "if its free, YOU are the product.

Here we are PAYING and is also the product!!!

Disney wins again and the guest loses again....

 

[mysto]

I was imaging a system that would cool me down, silly, I am so naive.

I hope there's a way to turn the heat nanny off, to opt out. Like so many things we may be unable to say no.

I just coined the term "heat nanny", please pass it on. No not hot mama, that's not one of mine. AI probably can't tell those two apart.

 

[Wicwas3]

The more they try to control the crowds and micromanage everyone's day, the worse the experience gets.

I agree. All this planning and scheduling and re-scheduling suck the spontaneity and enjoyment out of what should be an in-the-moment kind of experience, with the flexibility to change plans when a good reason comes along. We last took our 14-year-old daughter to WDW in late 1996. She was so turned off by the crowds and waiting that she had never wanted to go back. She has taken her family to Universal Florida twice and Legoland in CA twice. It's not that they're isn't waiting there, it's that it seems like less of a drain on the overall experience. I would also repeat a trip to Universal than go to WDW or Disneyland (where in 1998 we spent 13 hours in the park and rode 7 rides).

 

[HauntedPirate]

I'm pretty sure they already established body temp permissions back during the pandemic.

But just as with wind chill, heat affects everyone differently. Wind chill is calculated with about a dozen health data points, and thus it affects everyone differently. Are you willing to give TWDC essentially all the physical health information you'd get from an annual physical for their "heat algorithm"?

 

[HauntedPirate]

And, just for those who are inevitably going to chime in about how "Orlando is getting hotter in the summer!!!1!!!":

It was hotter in the summer months, on average, before the turn of the century than it is today (with admittedly overlap with the 1990's in the data). Unless you consider the National Weather Service an unreliable source of weather information.

 

[Chi84]

And, just for those who are inevitably going to chime in about how "Orlando is getting hotter in the summer!!!1!!!":

View attachment 916853

It was hotter in the summer months, on average, before the turn of the century than it is today. Unless you consider the National Weather Service an unreliable source of weather information.

I don't think anyone is particularly bothered by the averages. It's the unpredictable, wild streaks and swings we seem to be having now.

 

[Mr. Engagement]

But just as with wind chill, heat affects everyone differently. Wind chill is calculated with about a dozen health data points, and thus it affects everyone differently. Are you willing to give TWDC essentially all the physical health information you'd get from an annual physical for their "heat algorithm"?

I don't think they're going to get that personalized or specific with the data. Most of the metrics would have to be opt-in (especially if it's going to access data from Apple Watch, Fitbit, Aura, etc.), and there'd be liability with retaining it.

I was just speaking specifically about body temps.

 

[wdwmagic]

I think a large part of the problem is that in the past, Disney worked hard to move crowds away from the packed summer season to less busy times. People then got a feeling of how much better it was away from July and August, and wont go back. It's a hard sell for those who have a choice to travel outside the summer.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think a large part of the problem is that in the past, Disney worked hard to move crowds away from the packed summer season to less busy times. People then got a feeling of how much better it was away from July and August, and wont go back. It's a hard sell for those who have a choice to travel outside the summer.

I don't give Disney credit for working hard for doing anything. I blame Disney for a broken system that drove folks away,

I give credit to the folks who changed their travel habits to avoid what was the super busy summer crowds that are no longer busy any more.

 

[monothingie]

I think a large part of the problem is that in the past, Disney worked hard to move crowds away from the packed summer season to less busy times. People then got a feeling of how much better it was away from July and August, and wont go back. It's a hard sell for those who have a choice to travel outside the summer.

The crowds were the result of families with kids on summer break visiting. When the parks became unaffordable, they lost that segment.

Disney adults can travel pretty much anytime of year and are less susceptible to economic considerations. Moving them around could be as easy as announcing the latest popcorn bucket offering.

Changing guests visitation habits around by manipulating assorted variables seems like a strategy that had some unintended consequences that are biting them right now, hence the marketing campaigns and promotions for Summer 2026.

 

[Chi84]

Record highs are within 10 degrees of the average high temp. Across the board. Have been for a century. Stop buying into the weather hype and "climate experts" who make money off of it.

Within 10 degrees can be huge for a humid climate like Orlando’s.

I don’t think the decline is as much due to high temperatures as a change in the people visiting. We have gotten used to being more comfortable in every way.

Just as people are willing to pay more for lower crowds and premium events, they are choosing to make adjustments to avoid the most uncomfortable months.

Also, summer months were often chosen because of families with school age kids. Disney is pricing these families out. They’re also making WDW more difficult for families by cutting services like Magical Express.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Also, summer months were often chosen because of families with school age kids. Disney is pricing these families out.

BINGO!

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

It sure seems like the simple answer would be to provide more AC and more water refill stations.

How much would it cost to have an ODV cart that literally can be rolled out that can dispense cups of cold, filtered water for example?

 

[mysto]

But just as with wind chill, heat affects everyone differently. Wind chill is calculated with about a dozen health data points, and thus it affects everyone differently.

Can we patent "wind chill"? It sounds so refreshing, Disney should absolutely be providing us with this!

Are you willing to give TWDC essentially all the physical health information you'd get from an annual physical for their "heat algorithm"?

"heat nanny", get with the program man, sheesh.

 

[wdwmagic]

It sure seems like the simple answer would be to provide more AC and more water refill stations.

How much would it cost to have an ODV cart that literally can be rolled out that can dispense cups of cold, filtered water for example?

We are only seeing one aspect of the possible plans via this patent. There could be a lot more going on behind the scenes to make the summer more attractive.

 

[lazyboy97o]

This seems like something that wouldn’t actually make it to wide deployment, even if they tried. People didn’t like the little NextGen tests of things like servers asking about someone’s most recent ride or their upcoming plans.