A brief series on the creativity and innovation consumers are taking advantage of when vacationing at a resort such as Walt Disney World. Based on my own experiences in researching, testing and using the online culture of user-and-small-biz generated message boards and iPhone applications.  Parts 1 & 2 here.

The Trip

Life is often too fast to be too connected. We enjoyed ourselves at Disney, at the expense of what is usually a set of social media channels used for constant Twittering and updating. In this trip’s case I might light the occasional candle of an update midday, but for the most part my feeds were public ghost towns. Part of this was the plan to not broadcast we weren’t at home, but part of it was a conscious effort to not feel inclined to spend a vacation staring down at my iPhone.

I still used my iPhone, primarily as a quick-camera and the occasional video-recorder as well as the hub for about a dozen apps. But it was infrequent use only and not as a reporting device. At night, well-after my daughter went to sleep, I plugged back into the online world to download photos and video and pick a few key shots to share with friends and family. I had created a designated Friends List on Facebook to share our vacation with only a select group, so that any photos uploaded to that album had a certain set of privacy filters applied. On the last day I lifted most of those filters so everyone could see the whole albums. But except for those evening excursions I stayed relatively disconnected.  Call it the joy of moderately unplugging.

Consumer Needs, Consumer Life

While there I was under the spell of the many iPhone apps I had, even as the potential for far more mobile interaction and engagement laid before me. There were so many applications I could have used if they existed: ones that used augmented reality to show me the best spots for parades, an app for tracking my Fast Passes, and what I really wanted from Disney: an app that let me browse the PhotoPass photos I had accumulated.

It’s not hard to daydream what could be with the technologies available to the general consumer right now. Using the new geolocation capabilities of Twitter there are certainly opportunities to interact “out loud” with people in the park. We should be encouraged to update our public albums and pass on deals to our wide networks while we’re on these trips. Bus routes, ride times, Disney Dining Plan tracking and any number of basic information.

Which I think is part of the frustrating reality for consumers at tourism destinations these days: they often arrive to find that they are farther advanced than the destinations themselves. While I saw plenty of people reading Kindles on the buses, kids with DSi’s and every family with at least one smartphone, there were tens of thousands of connected people all creating their own networks and realities despite the lack of interaction prompted by the destination itself. Their information never gets transferred past the networks that they themselves create. You can see how these entirely separate communities and spheres of influence have been able to flourish (like All Ears, DisBoards, DisneyDaddy blog, and others). The information available on these destinations and the related ephemera is completely splintered. And the base websites created by the destinations themselves are sometimes the last places we go. I don’t want to just see a restaurant’s menu, I want opinions on it. I don’t want to know a ride exists, I know that, I want the real tips they’d never tell me on the main website (such as targeting and point-grabbing tips for Toy Story Midway Mania). Many times during our trip I felt myself enjoying the destination but staying tethered to these kinds of communities because they exponentially enhanced my experience through shared experiences and decision making – something the destination wasn’t participating in. I was enjoying the destination despite itself.

I could have easily interacted with dozens of apps and sites and both read and written thousands of words in support, critique and chronicling my experience – and never once contributed to or interacted with the actual destination. That should scare destinations that aren’t participating in their consumers lives.

Does this mean the destination needs to get in the community-building business? Not necessarily. But knowing exactly how savvy your population is and at least matching it with features and awareness is an absolute must right now.

-Dean (@dbrowell)