DVC Winter 2007 magazine:Layout 1 - Disney Vacation Club

DVC Winter 2007 magazine:Layout 1 12/18/07 9:13 AM Page 8
disney destinations
news & tips from the places where dreams come true
M U S I C P U T S M A G I C I N M O T I O N
WALT DISNEY WORLD ® Resort: For more than 35
years, Walt Disney World Resort hotels have reduced the experiential
gap between a day in the Parks and a good night’s
sleep. Today, specially equipped buses are closing the gap
completely.
Imagine that you’ve just stepped out of your Resort and
boarded a Disney Transportation bus bound for the Magic
Kingdom ® Park. As you approach your destination, Main
Street, U.S.A. ® or Fantasyland ® music flows through the vehicle,
and a recorded voice sets the tone for the day ahead. The
end result is an experience that makes getting there part of
the fun.
These audio elements, themed to support all Walt Disney
World Parks and resorts, are part of an ongoing Magic in
Motion initiative that aims to make transportation a seamless
part of the Disney vacation experience.
Mood music can be powerful stuff. Did you know that doctors have begun experimenting with music as therapy for patients? One
recent study focused on cancer patients undergoing invasive stem cell transplantation treatments that often result in psychological
distress. The patients who received music therapy as part of their treatment scored nearly 30 percent lower on the anxiety/depression
scale, which was music to researchers’ ears!
t i m e f l i e s b e f o r e y o u d o
WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort: The aforementioned musical
buses aren’t the only enhancements making “getting there” part of
the fun of a Walt Disney World vacation.
Guests waiting to take flight on Soarin’TM at Epcot ® are playing
their way through the attraction’s queue line, thanks to the dreamers
at Walt Disney Imagineering.
“We’re always looking for new ways to entertain Guests, and
we saw an opportunity in the great hall of the Soarin’ queue, which
originally featured
lightbox
landscape photos
and trivia,”
Imagineer Joe
Garlington told
Disney Files
Magazine. “It’s a
natural space to
entertain Guests
in a more active
Guests guide a bird through a snowy landscape before
boarding Soarin’ at Epcot.
way, so we came up with a concept that does just that.”
That concept, a series of interactive games and activities presented
on giant projection screens, employs a sophisticated motion-detection
technology. (It’s proprietary stuff, so we’ll just call it
“magic.”)
In one activity, on-screen silhouetted characters mimic the
movements of Guests, matching Guests’ arm movements, and
swatting at virtual water balloons that burst to wash away the
screen’s neutral background and reveal a hidden image. In another,
groups of Guests compete against each other in an on-screen bird
race, controlling their feathered friends simply by leaning left and
right.
So how much Cast Member-led instruction does it take to get
Guests up to speed? None.
“Each game and activity begins with a simple on-screen demo,
and it’s extremely intuitive,” Joe said. “We began play-testing this
concept this summer, and Guests picked it up right away.”
Okay, so it’s easy. But does it slow down the line?
“The games end whenever it’s time to move another group
into the attraction’s theaters,” Joe explained. “So we aren’t increasing
the wait time. We’re just making that time fly.” (Or soar.)
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