I recently took a trip to Disney World in Orlando FL. We all know technology has changed everything in our lives. During this trip I paid attention to the good and bad uses of technology. Even myself as a techie was surprised at some things.

Tickets

I always get my tickets online before I go since you can usually get them cheaper. I had boughten tickets in 2007 online and they worked out great. I printed out the receipt and took it to the will call window to get my pass. When I went to purchase them this year I was shocked. There was no way to print them out. Every site I went to forced me to have them mailed some where or pick them up at the local office which was not inside Disney. Since I waited I had to have them mailed to the hotel for an extra $12. I was surprised with this. Technology took a backwards step in this area.

iPhone Apps

Before I left I was playing on my phone to see if there were any apps that just gave me maps of the parks. I hate carrying around those paper maps I found two apps. The first one listed each of the main parks. For each park it gave you the parade times, all the food places and their menus/prices/phone numbers, option to put your tickets in it, scheduler to track which rides you need to be at when and shows you are scheduled for, and wait times. I was truly impressed by the rides function. It gave you up to the minute wait times and how far you were from the rides from your current location. Talk about a great use of technology. This currently cuts down on wasted walks to the other side of the park for a ride when there is a 2 hr wait.  I used the restaurant feature the most. Being someone that has a specific diet this was a huge help for me. I could go through all the menus and mark the restaurants I could find something to eat at. Last time I was at the park we wasted so much time wandering looking at menus to find something I could eat.

The second app I had just had a map of each park. I actually used this a few times when I could not find things. It not only showed me where everything was but it was a GPS too. It showed me my exact location. So I could follow the blue circle on my screen to know if I was getting close to what I was looking for. This got me un-lost a few times during my trip.

One feature which they said they are working on is obtaining fast passes on your phone.

Cell Phones

Times have certainly changed. When I first started going to amusement parks we all stayed together or knew we had to meet up at a certain location at a certain time. We wore watches. Then I saw the move to walkie talkies. Parents would give every family member a walkie talkie to keep track of the kids and each other. Now we have moved to cell phones. A simple text to tell people where you are. Much more efficient and less annoying to the people that are around you.

The downside – boy there are plenty. First you are on vacation! I cant tell you how many parents I saw walking with their kids while they were on the phone with the office or checking email. Seriously? Put the phone away for one day and enjoy your kids. Because most phones are now Smartphone there is no getting away from the office. You have to make a conscious decision to not answer the phone or check email. Ya even I got a few people mad this week that I did not take their call but everyone needs a few days off. I will be the first to admit this is not easy but necessary.  Even while I sat at Tony's Restaurant (from Lady & the Tramp) I looked around. At one point every table had someone on their cell phone. This was discouraging. These were people of all ages too from young kids to 60's.

I noticed that even the kids were on cell phones. Here they are at the happiest place – Disney – they were not entertained enough. They were playing games on the phones or were ignoring their families by having headphones listening to music while texting their friends. These were not just teenagers. These were also kids from 5 on up. Kids start way too young with cell phones as a form of entertainment.

Getting into the Parks

Getting into the parks has changed since 911. With the amount of visitors coming to these parks, Disney has to be real careful but I am not sure they are there. When you first get to the park there is a bunch of people checking your bags. They look briefly in your bags and pass you on to the ticketing counters. I am not sure what good this does. They don't check the person, strollers or really the contents of the bags. The quick look they do won't catch anything. I have mixed feelings about this. I have no desire to go through airport security like checks getting in but it seems like they should be doing a bit more.

Your tickets to the park are now linked to your finger prints. This way tickets can't be shared between people. For a family this can be a nightmare if you don't mark the pass you get with everyone's name. I ran into this one day. Family of 5 had to try each pass with each person until they got it right. I can certainly understand why Disney did this. On the other side of it do I want Disney having my finger print? Where is that information stored and who has access to it? Do they tie your name with it or just your pass number?