Disney uses the DS as tiniest tour guide

by Justin McElroy { Jan 22nd 2008 at 9:00AM }

As anyone who's been to Walt Disney World can tell you, it's a dangerous place. Around every corner there are hot dogs that not only cost $9 but would likely lead to an early grave and one wrong turn can lead you to fake Mexico where a charming local will try to trick you into smuggling "Disney Magic" into fake Germany. It's rough. Luckily, Disney is rolling out the Disney Magic Connection, a new portable tour guide that runs on Nintendo's DS to help keep newbies out of such tight spots.

The system is GPS equipped so you can use it to see where you are in the park and the best way to get to some of the most important attractions (the restrooms). Sadly, you can't use your own system (magic doesn't come standard on the DS), but you probably wouldn't want to take it into the wilds of the park anyway.

[Via Engadget]

Tags: disney, walt-disney-world

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Juice @ Jan 22nd 2008 9:08AM

I can think of a bunch of other devices that would have made a better solution. A DS? Two micro screens? How bout' a PSP? Or a PDA?

Maybe you get to keep it? I'd rather have a PSP.

NaeemTHM @ Jan 22nd 2008 9:46AM

Well Disney probably went with the DS, since twice the amount of people own a DS rather than a PSP. Pus you have to remember Disney is mostly filled with 8-12 year olds, all of which own a DS.

Also....GPS? GUH!

Farseer (GDI) @ Jan 22nd 2008 10:13AM

They probably went with the DS because of the touch screen. Anyone at any age can quickly grasp a touch screen, but many are confused by multiple-button interfaces.

Kendall B @ Jan 22nd 2008 9:33AM

That's actually a pretty neat implementation.

ThornedVenom @ Jan 22nd 2008 10:14AM

I'd agree with everything you said, except that the term "implementation" needs clarification.

They're implementing the system into their DS which they lend to you: you can't take your own and hook it onto their wireless because of GPS capabilities.

They might have been better off using cheaper proprietary Disney-themed GPS screens, so I suspect that it's due to Nintendo marketing.

motang @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:23PM

Yeah it is neat and the Japanese have been doing this for some time now. It makes sense as the DS are relatively inexpensive, has wifi on them, and has touch screen.

Bucket @ Jan 22nd 2008 10:04AM

As anyone who's been to Walt Disney World can tell you, it's a dangerous place.

What dangerous place? What gun? YOU'RE A POLICEMAN!

Andrea @ Jan 22nd 2008 10:14AM

I want a GPS for my DS too! (and the PSP is missing that wonderful touch screen!)

ThornedVenom @ Jan 22nd 2008 10:15AM

I forgot how many times I used to get lost in a theme park when I was a kid... I could have used one of those.

But knowing your way is one thing, but can one DS locate another in this case? Like a child locating a parent and vice versa?

mocax @ Jan 22nd 2008 10:16AM

Maybe they chose DS because it lasts a couple of hours longer than the PSP or a PDA.

kiwi @ Jan 22nd 2008 10:28AM

That's really cool, but they should let you use your own DS.

I understand it has GPS capabilities so that's not entirely possible, but they already have something sort of like this called "Pal Mickey."

It picks up signals in certain parts of the park and tells you different things about the stuff around you. They should be able to implement this type of thing for the DS without requiring GPS. It wouldn't be as exact, obviously, but it would be a nice feature.

Jess Q. @ Jan 22nd 2008 11:31AM

Actually this is kind of an off-shoot of Pal Mickey. They kind of discontinued that thing because, I don't know, it didn't work that well or something. I think it couldn't always get a signal in the parks because there's so much steel and stuff blocking signals like that. I've heard they have trouble with cellphones working, sometimes, for the same reason.

commen-cents @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:36PM

i got a pal mickey when i went to disney with my former girlfriend... it worked fine, and was actually pretty cool.

Orangecoke @ Jan 22nd 2008 11:13AM

Very cool idea, probably very useful for parents taking their kids there. DS is a great device for this from a cost perspective (PDA would likely be too pricey).

xyz @ Jan 22nd 2008 11:44AM

Anyone who actually read this, original poster included, would have seen that this is a pilot program. Whether or not this could be used on your own DS in the final program is unknown.

That said, this is a really cool idea. I know Disney has been working for quite a while on making the theme parks more interactive for the ADD generation and it looks like they've made some real progress.

The coolest feature to me is showing you how long the wait is at each ride and what the return times are for fast passes being issued. It'll also show you any closed rides.

Adv2k1 @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:12PM

thats cool i want other places to use a ds.
i would love to go to Sonic, download the menu real quick pick what I want, and give them the order exactly the way I want it and hit send.

That would be very nice instead of the stupid microphones and you say "no pickles" and they give you "more pickles". LAME