Why is it said that Disney, which holds a powerful IP, lacks Internet thinking?

Shanghai Disney Theme Park officially opened on June 16. It is the first Disney theme park in mainland China and the sixth Disney theme park in the world. Tickets are priced at 499 yuan, but they have already been sold out.

Because it was built the latest, Shanghai Disney Theme Park also has something particularly exciting: more complete amusement equipment and more advanced technical equipment.

But if you experience it in person, in addition to marveling at Disney's unparalleled IP and services, you will also be impressed by the long queues. People who are accustomed to enjoying convenient Internet services in Beijing, Shanghai, etc. will also sincerely think how lacking Disney's "Internet thinking" is.

IP is unmatched

When you are in a Disney theme park, the most impressive thing is its incomparable powerful IP. From the castle architecture to the design of the park's attractions, Disney's pride in its own works is revealed everywhere.

This pride can be seen in the naming, such as the theme park games: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure, Thunder Mountain Rafting; and the restaurant names: Barbossa Grill, Sailor Food Stall, Tribal Hall of Plenty, Royal Banquet Hall, Star Terrace Restaurant; and of course the performances: Frozen Sing-Along, The Storm is Coming: Captain Jack Sparrow's Amazing Stunt Adventure, Iron Man Transformation, etc. These all contain elements from the movie.

In addition to the most obvious naming, Disney's use of IP has also penetrated into every project and corner. When you are in the park, you can listen to songs that Disney has copyrighted, eat food with names similar to those in movies and cartoons, and even the dolls played by humans will vividly show the temperament of the characters on the screen as much as possible.

The reporter randomly interviewed several tourists of different ages. Their biggest feeling was that they were traveling in a painting - everything was just as they had seen before, with no sense of incongruity.

In fact, most of the first batch of tourists have watched Disney movies or know the popular animal images of Disney. Of course, if you don’t remember it completely, Disney will also use the castle as a screen at 20:30 in the evening, and bring its own IPs to a climax with music while performing fireworks: starting with Mickey, going through the Lion King, Donald Duck, Snow White, Frozen, Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mulan, etc., and finally to Judy the rabbit and Nick the fox in Zootopia, each of which is a popular classic IP.

In addition to the powerful IP display, Disney theme parks also do not forget to demonstrate the technical strength of their core businesses. In the most popular "Soaring Over the Horizon" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure", Disney has brought the naked-eye 3D technology to its fullest, allowing visitors to be immersed in the experience.

Soar Over the Horizon is a project that showcases pure technical strength. Visitors sit on suspended seats and through simple displacement and the effects of the 3D screen, plus sounds and smells, they feel as if they are actually flying over Greenland, African grasslands, Sydney beaches, Egyptian pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall, etc. There is no need to wear 3D glasses to truly feel the "world", and it has a great reputation.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure sets the entire process as a game. Visitors constantly arrive at new attractions on boats, hear new missions, and are completely immersed in the movie plot. With the naked-eye 3D effect, the scene of sinking to the bottom of the sea and the scene of Captain Jack and other pirates fighting with swords are extremely realistic. Even at the moment when the big ship collapses, in addition to the visual experience, the scene will splash water on every visitor.

This is the most popular attraction in Disneyland, and many tourists are reluctant to leave and queue up again and again. Sina Technology also interviewed a Hong Kong tourist on the spot, who said that the reason she queued up twice for "Soaring Over the Horizon" was because this naked-eye 3D technology has not yet been implemented in Hong Kong Disneyland.

Lack of Internet thinking

However, the Hong Kong tourist also shared the sadness behind the two queues: "I had a two-day ticket, and I queued for two hours on the first day to visit Soaring Over the Horizon, and four hours on the second day."

In fact, the long queues have almost become a burden besides the fun of Disney theme parks, and Disney officials have long anticipated this "burden" when designing, and they have adopted two solutions:

One is the maze-like queuing fence. Because of the circuitous back and forth, it can make the queue look not very long, thus reducing the psychological burden of queuing.

The other is to issue limited "fast passes" on a first-come, first-served basis. It works like a first-class boarding pass. If you get a fast pass for "Over the Horizon" with a 3:00 p.m. entrance when the park opens at 9 a.m., you can avoid the queue and go to the relevant amusement park before 3:00 p.m.

However, these two plans overestimated their feasibility in China. Because there are so many Chinese people, each project basically had a long queue of 30 minutes. The longest "Thunder Mountain Rafting" and "Over the Horizon" once took more than 120 minutes. Due to the long queue time, many parents let their children run around, and even relieved their physiological problems in relatively hidden corners because they couldn't hold it in. Of course, adults were not much better. Due to the long queue time and the hot weather, empty mineral water bottles and used tissues were all over the floor, and in some corners, they piled up into small hills.

Another option - fast pass - was also taken away by scalpers who were well prepared. In order to make back the ticket money, scalpers basically kept the price of a pass above 100 yuan. The most popular projects, such as "Soar Over the Horizon" and "Thunder Mountain Rafting", are basically above 200 yuan. Fast passes are on a first-come, first-served basis. Usually, the most popular projects, the one-day fast passes will be sold out within a short time after the park opens.

However, the above problems can actually be better solved through the Internet. Shanghai Disney has officially developed an app that is essential for visiting the park. In addition to navigating the park, you can also check the current estimated waiting time for each project at any time. However, this app cannot replace queuing. You must go there in person, move slowly with the large group with your flesh and blood, and wait in line for your turn in the hot weather.

"Why can't we use mobile phone ID instead of queuing?" a Beijing Internet person gave feedback to Sina Technology.

He explained, "The ticket needs to be linked to the ID card, which means one person has one ticket. So as long as you swipe the ticket to enter the park, it means that you have arrived. Then bind the ID card, ticket number and mobile phone number, so that the mobile phone identity can be basically confirmed. Then you can use your mobile phone to make an appointment for the project you like. During the queue, you can find a cool place to wait, or you can queue for projects that will not conflict with your schedule. When you are reminded that the scheduled project is approaching, you can rush there directly and swipe your phone to play efficiently... This will not only improve the user experience, but also improve the efficiency of the tour."

However, the Internet person does not have high hopes for the realization of this plan. His reasons come from two observations: first, the WiFi signal coverage is too poor; second, there is almost no consumption scenario where Alipay or WeChat Pay can be used, and very few can use Apple Pay. The vast majority still use credit cards and cash, or even only cash. He believes that Disney lacks "Internet thinking" under its strong IP.

"Did you know? My wife and I waited in line for 3 hours for the Thunder Mountain rafting, and I almost got heatstroke. In the end, we only had fun for 7 minutes..." the above person complained to the reporter.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.