New Survey Talks of Adding New Resort Room Features; Winter Summerland Mini Golf Refurb

New Survey Talks of Adding New Resort Room Features:

A new survey is being sent out to Walt Disney World guests asking them about new interactive features for resort rooms. These features would include things such as a welcome message from your favorite character, live feeds on your resort tv of nighttime spectaculars at the parks, and more. Here is the complete list:

• A welcome sequence where curtains will open, lights turn on slowly, music plays, and a custom welcome message with your FastPass+ plans for the day appears on the TV.
• A brief animated video featuring a character of your choice welcoming you to the resort, playing on a screen themed to look like a picture frame.
• Immersive on-demand movies with choices based on your FastPass+ reservations. Color-changing light bulbs and a star projector would be used to create an experience themed to each movie.
• Live feed of nighttime spectaculars, bringing live video feeds of the park nighttime spectaculars synchronized to the show’s music to your resort TV.
• Your PhotoPass pictures from the day displayed on your resort TV.

This sounds a lot like the patent Disney filed last year for projection technology in the resort rooms. We wrote about the patent after it was filed. This would go along with option 3 where the room would have immersive on-demand movies with choices based on FastPass+ reservations. Color-changing light bulbs and a star projector would be used to create an immersive experience themed to each movie.

Of course this is just a survey and some or none of this may actually come to fruition at the resorts. It is definitely interesting though that how similar it is to the patent that was filed last year. Stay tuned as these new room features could be coming to the resorts in the future.

Source: WDW News Today

Winter Summerland Mini Golf Course Going Under Refurbishment:

The Summer Course at the Winter Summerland Miniature Golf course is now closed for refurbishment until November 10, 2017. The course will then re-open on November 11, 2017. The Winter Course will close in a few weeks on October 23 and will also be closed through November 10 and re-open the following day on November 11. 

During the refurbishment, Disney's Fantasia Gardens miniature golf course will remain open with normal operating hours.

Source: WDW Magic

Disney Files Patent that Will Sense Guests Emotions; D23 to Hold Advanced Screening of Beauty and the Beast

Disney Files Patent that will Sense Guests Emotions Altering Ride Experience:

I love when new patents are filed by Disney because you just never know what they are going to come up with next. Today, the Orlando Business Journal discovered another Disney wonder in a patent filed that will alter a guests' ride experience by sensing their emotions while riding. The patent is called, "Sensing and Managing Vehicle Behavior Based on Occupant Awareness." For example from what was filed, from a camera on the vehicle or from a wearable device (aka the MagicBand), the ride system will read the rider's facial expressions such as being excited or bored. Then it will alter the course of the attraction to increase or decrease speed, spin more or less often, changing the tone of display scenery and/or more to improve the ride for guests.

"The technology would allow rides to adjust show content appropriate for pre-teens, teenagers or adults; or for thrill-seeking and non thrill-seeking passengers. The control system may also operate the vehicle to address (e.g. even solve in some cases) motion sickness issues for passengers such as by adjusting speed or movement patterns of a vehicle. [Through RFID or some other identifying system] access one or more ride experience goals (or expectations) for the occupant. For example, the occupant may simply desire transportation while in the automated trackless vehicle and, hence, will not be wanting to interact with to be entertained by external display systems. In other cases, though, the occupant may have provided goals/expectations (e.g. by completing a questionnaire on a website or the like) that indicate they want to be educated during the ride, be entertained in a particular manner during the ride, be informed of sales on services or merchandise during the ride, and so on. In the same or other cases, the goals/expectations may indicate whether the ride experience" should be thrilling, as smooth as possible, or something in between, said the patent.

Besides the motions of the ride the patent also stated that it will be able to sense the passengers comfort levels such as temperature by altering the air-conditioning on the ride vehicle to make it more pleasant. What do you think or should I say how do you feel about this new patent filed by Disney?

D23 to Hold Advanced Screening of "Beauty and the Beast":

D23 will be holding an advance screening of "Beauty and the Beast" for members before it is released on March 17. On March 8, members will have a chance to see the film in advance on the afternoon of Disney's Annual Shareholder Meeting at the Bellco Theatre at the Colorado Convention Center. Before the screening, a limited number of D23 Gold and Gold Family members will be treated to a complimentary "Be Our Guest" luncheon. Here are more details on the event:

DETAILS
The “Be Our Guest” luncheon will begin for Gold and Gold Family Members at 12:30 p.m., following the Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Check-in will begin at 12:15 p.m.; please do not arrive before 12:15 p.m. RSVP is required.

The screening will begin at 2 p.m. at the Bellco Theatre at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. Check-in will begin at 1:45 p.m.; please do not arrive before 1:45 p.m.

Join us for a special preview of Walt Disney Studios’ upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic Beauty and the Beast, a stunning, cinematic event celebrating one of the most beloved tales ever told. On the afternoon of the Annual Meeting of Shareholders at the Bellco Theatre at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, all D23 Members are invited to see the film before its release on March 17!

Beauty and the Beast is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a Beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart of the true Prince within.

Before the screening, a limited number of D23 Gold and Gold Family Members will have the opportunity to put our service to the test and join us for a complimentary “Be Our Guest” luncheon. This opportunity is a great time to mix and mingle with fellow D23 Gold Members!

NOTE:
D23 General and Gold Members may reserve a space for themselves and one (1) guest for the Beauty and the Beast screening. D23 Gold Family Members may reserve a space for themselves and up to three (3) guests for the Beauty and the Beast screening. D23 Gold Members may reserve a space for themselves and one (1) guest for the “Be Our Guest” luncheon. D23 Gold Family Members may reserve a space for themselves and up to three (3) guests for the “Be Our Guest” luncheon. There are a limited number of spaces available. D23 Members will be required to provide their membership number when reserving tickets. Tickets may be picked up only with a valid photo ID. D23 Members who do not bring their valid photo ID may not be admitted to the event. Ticketed members who do not attend the event forfeit their place as well as all experiences, benefits, and gifts associated with the event. All D23 Special Events are subject to change without notice. D23 reserves the right to cancel and refund tickets not purchased by verified D23 Gold Members. Reservations are non-transferable and non-refundable. Photography will be permitted at specific points during the event. No video or audio recording of any kind will be permitted.

Tickets for the event will go on sale this Thursday, February 2, at 10 a.m. PT. Go to D23.com for link to ticketing. 

Stay tuned later this evening as the final trailer for Disney's live-action remake of its animated classic "Beauty and the Beast" will debut during tonight's airing of ABC's "The Bachelor" at 8 ET/7 CT. Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" dances into theaters March 17, 2017. 

Disney Files Patent for Animatronics to Tell Where You're Looking; Disney After Hours Returns at Lower Price

Disney Files Patent for Audio-Animatronics to Tell Where Guests Are Looking:

Disney could be taking their audio animatronics to the next level and may just be a bit creepy. Disney has filed a patent for their audio-animatronics to begin tracking guests eyes and knowing where they are looking according to the Orlando Business Journal.

"By tracking the gaze of a participant, a computing system may direct various animatronics, automated objects or the like to interact with the participant. For example, a computing system within a theme park may direct an animatronic character from a movie to make a noise if a participant is looking at the animatronic character," said the patent.

Also the patent stated, "The participant gazes at an object, which may be any type of object that draws the gaze of participant such as an animatronic, robot, actor, puppet, product on a shelf, information display and the like. Upon detection of the gaze of the participant at the object, an interaction may be initiated between the object and the participant by the object. For example, the object may provide a greeting to the participant, sing a song, make a noise, make a movement, or the like."

Disney files patents all the time so essentially we may never even see this new technology in the animatronics. Do you feel this is too creepy or would you like to see this technology added to the audio-animatronics. 

Disney After Hours Returning at Lower Price:

Disney After Hours will be returning in 2017 for select dates in January, February and March at a lower price. The after hours event that debuted early in 2016 will now cost $119 instead of the original cost of $149.

The event will take place on January 20 and 27, February 2, 9 and 16, and March 2 and 9. The event allows guests extra time in the Magic Kingdom with an extra 3 hours in the park after it closes. The event also includes complimentary ice cream novelties and beverages. Guests can enter into the park beginning at 7 p.m. 

Extra Magic Hours for guests will not be effected as Disney After Hours will take place on non-EMH nights. Guests can call 407-827-7185 to book. 

Disney Files Patent for Projection Technology in Hotel Rooms

Soon when guests enter their hotel rooms at Disney Parks they will be immersed into an interactive world. The Walt Disney company has filed a patent for projection technology in their hotel rooms that will allows the resort rooms to become an interactive environment, according to the Orlando Business Journal.

Here is the detailed description of the patent filed by Disney:

For instance, right now if one plays a car racing game on a computer, they not only drive the cars, they also hear them, hear other cars, hear the crowd, see fiery crashes, hear the explosions, and the game play is back-grounded by emotional music and the like. If they play with a slot car, they only get to drive a car. There are few sounds, certainly no background music to amp up the emotions. When they play on a screen, the world is completely surrounding and immersive, they only have to move by brain through the frame of the screen bezel and they are into another world. If they play in their room, none of this is true. The goal of the projector with its camera and audio attachments of the display systems described herein is to allow a room, where ever the room is located, to become as immersive as any screen environment or even more so.
To this end, the display system is a device that can be both an input and an output device. On the output side, the display system is a projector of still or animated visual imagery, and the display system may include a speaker or otherwise be capable of sending audio signals to speakers elsewhere in the room. In this way, the display system may provide an audio track to projected imagery to enhance the display and/or gaming experience.

In the patent, it shows that the projection devices can be controlled by everyday electronics such as smartphones, tablets, and a radio-frequency enabled book that will communicate with the devices. This will further enhance the interactivity between the guest and the room. 

Stay tuned for more details on when Disney will start using this new technology in their resort rooms at their parks.