Creator of Disney’s MagicBand evolves vision for Princess Cruises
Disney’s MagicBand was primed to revolutionize the guest experience, but now Princess Cruises is executing the wearable technology’s original vision.
During our recent media cruise on the Sky Princess, president of Princess Cruises and chief experience and innovation officer of Princess’ parent company, Carnival Corporation, John Padgett talked about his former career with Disney.
Padgett’s thoughts read as a manifesto on the art of guest experience. His perspective on technology and the state of the travel industry, from Disney’s Magical Express to Princess Medallions, gets to the heart of the important, yet fragile relationship between a business and its customer: building it, evolving it, and the all-too-easy process of tainting it.
Wi-Fi at Disney World: ‘Unheard Of'”‘
Padgett joined Disney marketing in 1994 and transitioned to a role involving guest experience initiatives in 2003. One of his first projects was implementing Wi-Fi service throughout Walt Disney World property.
“That sounds commonplace,” Padgett told us, “but at the time, to do complete, resort-wide Wi-Fi was unheard of.”
Magical Express: “A Competitive Difference”
Next came Disney’s Magical Express: complimentary transportation and luggage transport between Orlando International Airport and Disney World for guests staying overnight at a Disney resort hotel.
Padgett described the launch of Magical Express as “one of the most challenging things ever” because of its cohesion across varying departments — not just within Disney, but among federal, state, and local sanctions, not to mention the airport.
“It was all — and this was very key — included in the resort price,” Padgett said. “It was about using things only Disney could do to differentiate the product. It became such a structural amenity to the resorts that it was quite a competitive difference there.”
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique: Transforming Retail from ‘Transactional’ to ‘Emotional’
As popularity rose for Disney princesses in the mid-2000s, Padgett came up with a new way for young fans to engage with their idolized heroes.
Padgett recalled his pitch for what would become Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique: “If someone feels like a princess,” or a prince, as the idea evolved, “that’s worth substantially more than buying a [costume] off the rack. It was that simple. Can we make the princess experience emotional vs. transactional with the retail?”
The pilot location for the concept? A janitor closet inside Cinderella Castle. During an appointment with one of Fairy Godmother’s apprentices, visitors at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique would receive a princess or prince makeover of their dreams that went well beyond clothing and makeup.
Though Disney leadership doubted it, the experience was a hit, and still resides inside the castle at Magic Kingdom Park today, along with other locations at Disney Springs, Disneyland Resort, and onboard Disney Cruise Line ships.
From Pal Mickey to MagicBand
In 2007, Jay Rasulo, who, at the time, was president of the division now known as Disney Experiences (aka Josh D’Amaro’s job today) tasked Padgett and four others with developing a “next-generation experience” for Disney World. The team had six weeks to think of something. The obvious move was to brainstorm a new hotel or attraction, but Padgett had something else in mind. “My hypothesis was about improving the whole, not one component,” he remembered.
Though Padgett hadn’t been involved in Pal Mickey — a plush Mickey Mouse whose location could be tracked to announce traveling tips and trivia facts for its owners — that 2003 project was closer to what Padgett hoped to ideate.
“The notion of a device that was connected that would empower the experience” was “game-changing,” Padgett said
Photo by Blake Taylor
Inspiration from SkyMall Magazine
Inspired by the book “Experience Economy” by Joe Pine, Padgett defined his team’s true-north vision: “If things are personalized to you, then they effectively are priceless.” That makes a fine leadership maxim, but how would Padgett and company logistically achieve that goal?
Padget observed a common problem guests faced: keeping track of multiple items to perform basic functions during a typical day at a Disney theme park. Credit cards, room key cards, FastPasses (at the time still paper tickets), the list went on. Padgett also empathized for the family member who was inevitably stuck handling those items for the entire travel party. He identified processes that were not only cumbersome, but wasted the guests’ time.
“If we could take that hassle out of the experience,” Padgett theorized, “that time could be reinvested in the experience and then guests would have more experience, thus they would value us more.”
But how? The executive found a starting point in, of all places, SkyMall Magazine. Padgett noticed a product listing for the Trion Z, an elastic band with a magnet inside, designed to improve one’s golf swing. Could a wearable device handle the ambitious challenges the Disney folks sought to improve?
Photo by Matt Roseboom
The first iPhone model had just debuted. The Nike Fuel Band was the only comparable model to Padgett’s concept, and was still quite different. If Padgett and the team could get this right, their solution could revolutionize the Disney vacation experience.
The MagicBand Vision Board
As they moved forward, Padgett and his team laid out a few questions they wanted their Rasulo-mandated “next-generation experience” to answer:
- How can we connect everyone?
- How can we eliminate friction and hassle?
- How can we deliver a personalized experience?
- How can our cast members be more aware of guests’ needs, wants, and desires?
Photo by Matt Roseboom
Additionally, in an effort to embrace simplicity, Padgett preferred the product not have an on/off button or a switch. He also didn’t want the wearable to be bogged down with contrived gadgets and gizmos that resembled a toy.
“Everyone else was talking about technology,” Padgett recalled. “It was supposed be ‘not technology.’ You were supposed to wear it and forget it.” He continued, “Let’s make it do nothing, so it does everything.”
Photos by Matt Roseboom
MagicBands’ Successes and Shortcomings
By 2013, MagicBands were a focal point of a new era of Disney vacation-planning that also included the launch of the My Disney Experience app. MagicBands were complimentary for Disney resort guests and annual passholders, and could be purchased by everyone else.
Crucially, MagicBands addressed the logistical needs Padgett strived to simplify: guests could purchase food and merchandise, unlock their hotel rooms, and enter the theme parks and FastPass queues, all using a MagicBand. The wearable device didn’t live up to Padgett’s 2007 plans, though.
“It was extraordinarily exceptional at improving the guest experience,” Padgett noted, “but it didn’t achieve the vision I had … to push the experience to the next level.” He called the MagicBand’s launch “a massive step forward” for Disney, but said it lacked “personalization of scale,” admittedly difficult to achieve when that scale is all of Walt Disney World.
Though MagicBands provided personalization in some ways — like a sign within an attraction addressing a guest by name — these were cosmetic perks of the infrastructure, not the full potential of the concept’s design. Additionally, while several chores of the vacation process were streamlined by wearing a MagicBand, the wearable devices didn’t completely eclipse still needing other tools (like an app), nor did all guests have free access to MagicBands, thus limiting their widespread impact.
Disney eventually introduced MagicBands at California’s Disneyland Resort in 2022, nearly a decade after their Florida roll-out.
The Princess Cruise Medallion
Padgett joined Princess Cruises in 2014, the year after Disney introduced MagicBands to the public. A Princess project he’s particularly proud of — and which clearly possesses influence from his MagicBand experience — is the Princess Medallion. First introduced onboard Princess cruise ships in 2017, Medallions resemble a thick coin and can be worn in a bracelet, necklace, or carabiner. They perform guest-service functions throughout the ship, such as unlocking your stateroom door as you approach it, tracking your family members onboard, and having delivery directly to you wherever you are on the ship.
“You’ll probably forget the Medallion exists, which is the goal,” Padgett said. Passengers can connect their Medallion to a Princess app, but that’s optional. “This is a very big deal. You do not need a mobile device to experience any level of our personalization and hassle-free service.”
Unlike a MagicBand, every guest receives a Medallion, removing the barrier of not participating due to lack of access. Padgett called the Medallion’s capabilities “personalized service at a giant scale” with “incredible choice.”
The State of Guest Experience in the Industry
“There are a lot of people who participate in both industries: theme parks and cruises,” Padgett said. “There’s a lot of great brands in them both.”
Today, MagicBands still exist, but most of their functions can be performed with a mobile device. Back in 2013, you couldn’t open a hotel room with an iPhone. Now you can.
Also different for today’s Disney vacations: less freebies. Want a MagicBand? You’ll have to fork over the cash and buy one, even if you’re a resort guest. The front-of-line access available to any guest by acquiring a FastPass? That costs money now, too. Oh, and Magical Express, which Padgett pioneered in 2003? Disney discontinued the free airport shuttle in 2022.
Though Padgett never mentioned Disney Genie+, Lightning Lanes, or virtual queues by name during his hour-long conversation with Attractions Magazine, his efforts at Princess seemingly seek to simplify the juggernaut of modern technology to serve the guest rather than overwhelm them.
“If I was connecting you into my experience for my benefit and not your benefit,” Padgett posed, “that would be a problem. Why would you do that?”
In other words, if figuring out a procedural process complicates the guest experience, the technology is doing the opposite of what it’s supposed to do.
As he strives to create a hassle-free vacation experience with Princess Cruises, Padgett attributes the theme park community, fans and professionals alike, for holding the industry accountable and vocalizing honest perspectives. The articles, the Tweets, the comments, the reactions? Leaders read them, Padgett said.
“The reality is, you are all critical in the success of all of this. The reality is the feedback that would come back from the things that y’all write and the comments guests wrote … they’re all inherent in this. All of that is about listening and not being about a particular technology. It’s about, ‘What does the guest want?'”
How Does a Princess Cruise Compare to a Disney Vacation?
Princess Cruises currently has 16 ships in its fleet, and by this summer the total will be 17. Disney Cruise Line has five ships, with three more on the way.
While Padgett attributed Disney Cruise Line as a top-tier option for families with young guests, he expressed Princess was more suitable for a cross-generational vacation. He said Princess especially caters well to empty nesters.
Compared to a Disney vacation on land, Padgett said a Princess voyage is 50% cheaper. Though he still admires Disney as a brand and Walt Disney World as a destination, the executive hopes Disney veterans may broaden their horizons.
“I struggle sometimes with people that get a little bit caught in thinking only Disney can be great. That’s not the case,” Padgett said. “I think people can be a little bit afraid to try something exciting and new, and that’s what you can certainly do with Princess. You can do it with zero risk. The value is so there, and I think you’ll see the experience is quite second to none.”
Read our editors’ trip report from their recent Princess Cruises trip here.
More MagicBand History
Jim MacPhee was one of Padgett’s teammates in the task force of developing MagicBands and the broader MyMagic+ initiative. Read our 2022 interview with MacPhee to hear even more backstage insight behind the project:
We’ve tracked the progress of MagicBands and their many forms and accessories over the past decade on our Attractions Magazine YouTube channel. Take a trip through Disney history with the videos below.
