NextGen technology adds personalized farewell to It's A Small World

According to this blog post, MagicBands have two RFID chips, one of which allows Disney to know exactly where you are -- which boat and row on Small World, or which train and row on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

On Small World, you'll now get a personalized goodbye. Over on SDMT, it allows them to track your specific seat location and attach your on-ride photo to your Photopass account.

I was there last week. I wasn't expecting the on ride photos to magically appear on the app when the trip was over. You could see the monitors at the end of Small World, but they weren't being personal yet.

I noticed the same thing. We were also there last week, and must have just missed this.

The SDMT video you get (with your family riding) is quite a bit longer then last year's version; it still captures you in the same two places it did as last year, but there is more to the intro.

The Photopass association has been going on for at least a year. It's also on Splash Mountain. The cool thing on 7DMT is the slow-motion video they show you on the app from your ride.

But yes, the long-range RFID allows them to track your movements, so long as the battery is working. No idea how long they last, but I would imagine it's not more than two years. We have a big pile of Magicbands now... I think 16 of them. I know it's been done, but I need to tear one apart. For science.

Here is what Seven Dwarfs does for you:

We're in the very last car. The into is about twice as long as last years.

Notice the sheer joy on little Hayden's (she's 4) face.

Hasn't ET been doing these personal goodbyes since 1990? ;)

Yes, but....

...that involved the guests having to be an active participant, telling a ride op their name.

....what's interesting here, to me, is the technology. Here, you're just sitting in your boat enjoying It's A Small World and there's your name on a screen. The possibilities in personalizing a WDW trip like this are very interesting to consider.

Pretty cool. My understanding is that there will be a point when the characters will be able to speak to you...and call out your children by name, for example, as you walk up to them. If the birthday (wedding, anniversary, etc) is programmed then they will be able to acknowledge that too. "Wow, Don...you had a long trip from Oregon to come see me. I hope you have a great birthday...and while you are at Victoria and Albert's I suggest the creme brulee."

Creepy...but in a good way I suppose.

Yes. Disney can/will be able to pull all that information via your MagicBand.

It strikes me as a bit creepy -- "Hi Will, once you're done using the toilet, Mickey is waiting to say hello to you" -- but seriously, I get how thrilling it would be greeted by name by one of the talking Disney characters.

I got a *little* creeped out when they showed up with our (correct) order at Be Our Guest.
It didn't occur to me until later that our bands told them right where we had plopped down. (The server told us it was Magic, which I actually bought for a minute...)
Anyway, I started concocting awesome applications for this in my head, and it looks like some of those Wishes are finally Coming True.

By the way, they've used the same technology on the cruise ships in the kids' club areas. When you go to pick them up, they know exactly where they are because of the Magicbands.

" I'm always watching Wazowski, always watching."

If you ever go to Knott's with a younger kid, try this out. It will make your day: https://www.knotts.com/blog-article/haunt/Meet-Knotts-longest-incar...ad-Eye-Joe

They use it to bring your order to you at Be Our Guest. It's accurate enough to know which seat you're in.