Why Disney won't be taking magic wristbands to Chinese park

Los Angeles

MAGICBANDS, the colourful electronic bracelets used by millions of customers at Walt Disney Co resorts in Orlando, Florida, won't be making it to the company's newest theme park in China. Guests at the US$5.5 billion Shanghai Disney Resort, scheduled to open this spring, will be able to use their mobile devices to enter the park, purchase merchandise and likely access rides and attractions. Visitors in Orlando already do those things with the wristbands, which rolled out in Florida with great fanfare in 2013. Disney spent US$1 billion and several years developing MagicBands and making other technology upgrades to its Orlando resorts. But technology moves fast. Today, Disney may be able to achieve more with guests just using their smartphones.

"When Disney was first making their investment in Orlando, the mobile revolution was still at a very early stage," said Douglas Quinby, a vice-president of research at the consulting firm Phocuswright in Atlanta. "Nobody knew how all these technologies were going to shake out." Phocuswright predicts that this year, China will become the first market where the majority of online travel purchases will be made on mobile devices. In Shanghai, Disney will use them to send direct alerts about park conditions and attractions.