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The world according to Disney: The Mouse is getting smarter but still needs cash!

November 25, 2013 by Richard Buckle — Founder and CEO, Pyalla Technologies, LLC

Disney should be running countries' infrastructures! Perhaps not, but Disney could easily run a major county, if not some of our largest American cities — it only takes a trip to a Disney property to realize how well.

This week I am in Orlando attending a conference, staying at the Disney Contemporary Resort; part of a "county" that includes the Magic Kingdom as well as numerous other resorts and vacation clubs.

There are 65,000 "cast members" working full- or part-time keeping this Magic Kingdom county running smoothly; when fully occupied, the kingdom must hold more than 200,000 residents within county limits.

I use the term "county" with some license, of course, but it's easy to visualize what Disney supports when it's compared with something like a typical American county. Yes, a freeway bisects this county, but once inside, there is little need to leave — it's fully self-contained.

Upon driving to the Disney Contemporary Resort you are greeted by cast members equipped with iPads. Even as your luggage is unloaded, these cast members are checking you in and providing you with the wristband that will open the door to your room.

The wristbands contain RFID chips, and everywhere you turn, you see vacationers and conference attendees alike wearing one. Make it something special, a treat if you like, and yes, you will empower a whole community only too anxious to wear the latest fashionable accessory.

After a very short time, you forget you are wearing the band and adapt to a completely cashless society, with scant regard for the transactions you are generating or the information you are providing the Disney team.

As for the information collected on every visitor to the county, there's no question it will find its way into future one-to-one marketing campaigns. Take me, for example. Disney will know that my daily routines include stops each morning for lattes (as well as the occasional fresh donut).

They know that I exit the elevator on the floor where the restaurants are located and they know the bar I visit. They even know I travelled to a different resort for a haircut. Connect this with other demographics they collected upon check-in, and I can already anticipate the kinds of promotional emails I will be receiving in the weeks ahead.

There are backups for everything at Disney. Should the cast member who greets you as you alight from your vehicle have a problem with an iPad, or should too many guests arrive at the same time, there's still the traditional lobby.

I rarely ever saw a line waiting to be served — just as Disney has mastered the lines leading to popular attractions, so too have they refined the dynamics of the front desk where lines rarely form.

Should a problem arise with the monorail that links the many premises, then a bus service —will take you wherever you need to go. There's always a boat service moving vacationers across the manicured lakes as well. Moreover, one can easily walk or cycle between properties.

But what of the wristbands? What if you should experience a problem that leaves you unable to access your room? In true Disney style, there's a backup card with NFC properties that, at a minimum, opens your room door.

When it comes to purchases, the backup is far more traditional, even for Disney. Discretely placed around the resort are ATMs from our good friends at CHASE. Yes, credit, debit and cash are still the fallbacks when all else fails.

As we have read so often of late, when disasters occur, the first need of those directly affected is for cash, and Disney proves to be no exception. Despite all the high-tech touches, Disney continues to support cash. The county, as run by Disney, has the wherewithal to keep everyone happy using traditional means.

The extensive use of automation is driven in part by the recognition that if we don't remove cash from our wallets, we really don't have any idea of how much we are spending. Furthermore, there's the reality that we are freed from worrying about losing our cash or having it pilfered. More importantly, however, is the ease with which we purchase Disney merchandise when not paying with cash — something Disney discovered long ago and continues to exploit.

Cash as a backup when all else fails strikes a chord in us. Whether it's the $100 bill tucked away in the car in case we run low on fuel and have left our wallet at home, or the extra $20 we keep in our notebook should we be off site and need a latte from a trolley that only takes cash.

Frequent flyers who travel internationally on business never exchange in the currency in their pockets as they depart a country — there's always room in the travel wallet for a collection of currencies to be used on the next trip, with more than enough of the popular currencies to catch a train from the airport to a hotel.

As for cash as a backup, I still needed cash to tip the bellhop who carried our luggage — first to one room and then, following Disney's gracious upgrade, to a room on a higher floor. And the out-of-towner leaving the city by car will need lots of cash for the many tollbooths on Florida turnpikes.

The reality is that Disney doesn't have a monopoly on innovation when it comes to meeting all our transactional needs. However, any observant vacationer or conference attendee can learn much by watching Disney at work.

As forward thinking as they are and as big an investment in infrastructure as they have made, it's reassuring to see that when all else fails, or the necessity arises, it's still all about cash.

That's something many of our sophisticated counties could leverage, if only they paid closer attention to the world of Disney.

About Richard Buckle

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Richard Buckle is the founder and CEO of Pyalla Technologies, LLC. He has enjoyed a long association with the Information Technology (IT) industry as a user, vendor, and more recently, as an industry commentator, thought leader, columnist and blogger. Richard participates in the HPE VIP Community where he is part of their influencer team.

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