According to a survey conducted by Omnico, 91% of Japanese and Malaysian park guests are looking for ways they can bypass queues entirely. Specifically, they are looking to do this by using a mobile phone app to purchase ‘FastPass’ like passes that come equipped with specific time slots.
It would seem that the Disney FastPass system, specifically the My Disney Experience App and system at Walt Disney World is catching on and that park guests over in Asia are looking for a similar service. The one difference here is that Japanese and Malaysian park guests don’t appear to mind paying for such a service.
In addition to this, 89% of guests in these countries want to be able to use an app to buy their park tickets and gain entry into the parks, and 85% of Malaysian park guests are looking for cashless wristbands, MagicBand anyone?
Mel Taylor, CEO of Omnico Group had this to say:
These apps are integral to many people’s lives and they expect park operators to use them to eradicate hassles such as handling cash or queueing.
For example, 85% want to decide where to eat in a park using an app to see where the waiting times are shortest. 63% in each country would also like to receive personalised deals and discounts on their phones, based on where they are.
It would seem that some parks have a lot of catching up to do in order to be in the place that Walt Disney World is currently at in terms of technology. Though it is fair to say that some parks in Dubai are taking this even further…
I sat down with Mel a few weeks ago to talk technology in the parks, you can listen below:
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Ryan has been attending theme parks since as long as he can remember and his first proper memory comes from when he was just three years old sitting in Main Street USA drinking a Nesquik milkshake from a carton while the piano was being played outside Casey’s Corner.
