Social Media & The Mouse: Part 2 – iPhone Apps

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.

iPhone, iPod Touch & Disney

My apologies that this is iPhone-centric. However most of these applications are also available and work great with the iPod Touch (the main exception being those who use GPS). There may be equivalents for Droid and the other handhelds.

“There’s An App for That”

Not unlike searching your nearest bookstore for third-party guides to your potential or chosen vacation spot, browsing the available applications conjures up conflicting first-glances measuring usefulness, design and quality. In fact you may find the same guidebooks have application equivalents. In fact, there are so many, it’s a bit overwhelming. And I should point out early that Disney doesn’t have their own Disney Parks app, even though one might assume they could wave their hand and a high-quality one could appear (free iPhone games based on every recent Disney movie, from Princess and the Frog to Bolt, appear before each theatrical release). There is a Disney.com application that recently debuted, but it doesn’t begin to touch the functionality of the slew of third-party applications available.

There’s a ton of apps. It’s actually hard to corral them all in a single effective search of the iTunes App Store. They bear strangely nondescript names with references to “WDW” and occasionally “Disney” floating in but careful not to take center stage. Some names are clever takes for fans (“eTicket”) while others have a nomenclature that’s just horrible and devoid of explanation (“T Wiz”). It takes several searches to find them all, which can’t help the average person who might never even see some of the most useful ones.

In order to give a comprehensive view of the variety of applications (and their usefulness) I tried to approach this much like I used to approach software reviews back in my previous life as an Apple/Mac industry online journalist. You should know that I mostly avoided the “travel guide” applications except in a few cases that I will explain. This was about functionality and practical use for the most part, and really about what the average person might encounter. After all, I’m trying to explain a context of culture, not actually systematically review every app available.

The prices varied. I can’t emphasize this point enough: They varied and I don’t know why. There was very little rhyme or reason why one app was $3.99 and another $1.99. In the reviews I could see people complain or laud an app for its price point and on more than one occasion I saw the reviews complain about a higher price point than the app was actually selling at, meaning the developers listened. A few of them were completely free, which was helpful and I would have gladly accepted small adds in exchange for their functionality. I don’t recommend you buy a ton of similar apps like I did – do your homework first and you won’t be stuck with pricey duplication of services. That said, some duplicated pieces of other’s services but held enough functionality on their own. I’m not putting prices on the ones below because they seem to change frequently.

So I started grabbing a few apps about a month or two out, when we made our initial reservation. This follows the normal excitement cycle as you plan every vacation, but it also gave me an indication of how often these apps are updated, tweaked and improved in the weeks that followed. The good news is, they are improved quite often. I began collecting them on their own app screen on my iPhone, corralled for easy access. The two month lead time also gave me time to try the other search strings to uncover even more apps (I actually found one of the most useful apps, “Mouse Memo”, right before we left – its name causing it to be buried in my searches).

Finally, I designated two wild-card applications that I wanted to try out: Freeverse’s “Postman” (which seems designed for vacationers) and the new Microsoft Bing application, to use it for my searches while on the trip.

The Apps

The following list is what I installed and used. Notes include details and usefulness prior to the trip, use during and any interesting points about them and why I selected them*.

App Name: eTicket WDW
Developer: Vista Film & Media
Link for more info and/or app
Notes: This app is billed as essentially the end-all-be-all of the apps, combining several feature concepts into one package. Early work with it signaled it did a great job on some (the map/GPS, seeing into the messageboards Disboards) and others are very plain executions (My Itenerary, Calculator). I like that the Park Hours function is built-in, since there were some ridiculously priced apps that only showed you park times for your current day.
Grade: C
Review: I want to give this thing a higher score but there are just too many things that don’t work well. The map really was helpful and in fact had more comprehensive information on it than the other map app I tended to lean-to. But, and this is a big “but” – it was slow. Incredibly slow. So slow it was rarely worth pulling it up. I used almost none of the other features because I either didn’t need them, they weren’t well executed or more often than not, it was just too slow an app to bother. Where were the features that would really set this apart like show schedules, etc? This app tries to do everything and trips on its way, unfortunately, because it’s a noble attempt.

App Name: Mouse Memo
Seller: C.Y. borg’s Neutral Net, LLC
Copyright: TavWare
Link for more info and/or app
Notes: From a pre-trip perspective, this app was the most convenient and helpful. It clearly was designed well from a functionality standpoint and is a great way to organize all the reservation numbers and plans. It’d be nice to see all activities and reservations on one calendar, but it’s still a very simple but functional app.
Grade: C-
Review: The good news is this app did most of what it advertised. The bad news is, that’s all it did. Since most of our timed events were meals, it was far easier to use the dining app that had more information embedded. I’m not sure why this app couldn’t show us our events and dining schedule on one page. And if this app wanted to be a true memo app in practice, it would have a quick-and-easy way to input collected FastPass times, collected PhotoPass codes, and more. Heck, give me a true countdown of my Disney Dining plan or at least a place to keep track of it. Ultimately what I thought would be so handy pre-trip ended up just being redundant and not really helpful in practice.

App Name: Walt Disney World Maps Box Set
Seller: Aaron White
Copyright: UPinPoint LLC
Link for more info and/or app
Notes: I’ve actually used UPinPoint’s map apps before and were very happy – they used to (and still do?) have them available on a per-park app basis but it’s far smarter to get this Box Set and have them all (including the extras such as Downtown Disney, the water parks and even the airport). They have very clean and well-designed map art (the best of any of the map-apps) and use an integrated GPS function.
Grade: A-
Review: If I could give an award to the app we pulled up and used the most, this would be it. It was lightening fast compared to other apps, slick in design and full of info. The GPS worked well and it did as advertised. It even had a map of the Orlando Airport (MCO) which was very helpful (I can’t believe we actually needed it, but we did use that airport map). Does this app still need work? In a word, yes. There aren’t any stores on any of the maps which was really, really inconvenient when someone said something “was behind the Christmas shop in Liberty Square” – well we had no way of figuring out where that was and had to resort to the other, slower map app.  Also, it needs to have parade routes, the basic ones that are on the standard park maps handed out by Disney (that would be easy to add, right?). With stores and parade routes, these maps would easily be something I’d pay a lot of money for and could completely avoid taking a paper map. Without them, it’s a very, very useful and well-executed app that almost does what I need.

App Name: Disney World Dining
Developer: VersaEdge Software, LLC
Link for more info and/or app
Notes: This dining app does exactly what it says – and not a thing more. It’s nice, but on first glance the info isn’t any different than what’s nestled in the map apps. (Why won’t one of these pull in Yelp or Urban Spoon- or even Google Reviews – data is beyond me…)
Grade: A
Review: Great descriptions, held my reservation info and had menus of every spot in the parks. This app does what it does flawlessly. It would be nice for it to pull in more data as I mention above, but you know it really doesn’t need to. A must-have with the map app.

App Name: OLP WDW Transportation Wizard for Walt Disney World
Developer: Laughing Place Communications
Link for more info and/or app
Notes: If I could give out an award for most hideous application image and convoluted name, this one would win instantly. Now what’s so hilarious is that despite all appearances, this app does something incredibly unique and helpful: helps you plot the best routes between things (parks, hotels) at Disney based on all the available transportation methods (bus, monorail, boats, walking). I’m interested to see if it’s as helpful when we get there.
Grade: A+
Review: I want to give this app a lower score for looking so ugly, but frankly it’s truly a swan at heart. It does what it means to and doesn’t sugar-coat the travel times, which I appreciated. I consulted this app at least once a day and we took its advice – frequently changing our plans because of their interesting suggestions (ensuring that we took a few cool monorail trips rather than just being resigned to buses, and rightly reminding me that you can’t get to the parks from Downtown Disney buses). It would be very cool if this app also added a few tips about what to see, for example: that the monorail from the Transportation & Ticket Center to Epcot does the interesting trip through the park. But the only thing I would really add is a designer.

App Name: Weather Plus for Disney Parks- wdWeather+
Developer: Christopher Zenzel
Link for more info (iTunes)
Notes: Another it-does-what-it-advertises, but it does it well, putting everything from multi-day forecast to personal weather reports and weather cams into one app (and it covers Walt Disney World and Disneyland).
Grade: B
Review: This app does what it should with a cool set of additions, but sometimes the multi-day wasn’t thorough or even all that multi– only stretching ahead one or two days. It’d be nice if it offered at least a 5-day look all the time.

App Name: “Walt Disney World Guide” Notescast
Developer: TimeStream Software, LLC
Link for more info and/or app

App Name: “Walt Disney World Secrets Gold!” Notescast
Developer: TimeStream Software, LLC
Link for more info and/or app

Notes: These sister apps win for the apps I spent the most time on BEFORE going to the parks. It works just like a guidebook of the normal and super-detail-imagineering-geek variety, but can help you make some important decisions. In fact as soon as we knew the dates of our trip and the initial resort reservation was made, these apps helped me figure out some important dining reservation and planning decisions.
Grade: A+
Review: When combined, these two apps make up more info than your average guidebook. Not to mention they are more interestingly written and helpful (and organized) better than most guidebooks, making this more portable alternative very attractive. These are must-have apps that will continue to serve me well beyond our trip. These apps also get an A for at least one reason: one tip we decided to take advantage of was booking a late dinner at the Contemporary Resort’s California Grill so we can watch the fireworks from Magic Kingdom – these apps planted the idea and revealed that the Grill actually pipes in the same music playing in the park for the fireworks. That nugget alone made the purchases worth it – we had one of the most amazing meals and views we’ve ever had on any trip to the park.

App Name: Lines At Disney – Magic Kingdom – Florida
Seller: James Burggraf
Copyright: Impulse Applications
Link for more info (iTunes)

App Name: Disney Attraction Wait Times (WDW Wait)
Seller: Louis Obssuth
Copyrights: NKR Innovations
Link for more info (iTunes)

App Name: Disney World Wait Times Free
Developer: VersaEdge Software, LLC
Link for more info and/or app

The Wait Times Apps
Notes:

Not the most elegant apps, the wait-times apps are all doomed to be unhelpful. At least  ”Disney World Wait Times Free” is free (with ads at the bottom) or $.99 with the smartest, most helpful user interface of all the line-watching applications.
Grade: D
Review: Remember that my trip was during Disney’s busiest week of the year and even then the content wasn’t all that helpful or consistent from any of these apps. Wait times apps were wildly inconsistent — some didn’t even update or seem to believe me when I put Test Track was “closed” (I was, in fact, stuck on the ride and knew for a fact it was closed). What we really need is a real wait time app that’s plugged into Disney’s system- anything else is doomed to be flawed due to lack of frequent, helpful, aggragated data. This isn’t a service a third party can pull off elegantly no matter the nice user interface.

App Name: Walt Disney World Tour Plans – The Complete Touring Guide
Developer: CXI Gaming
Link for more info (iTunes)
Notes: Essentially a guidebook, it takes the initiative to suggest different tour plans, for every park, based on whether you are in a group of adults, adults with kids (separate plans for 4 and under and 5-10) and for senior adults. While plain in presentation, it’s pretty thorough, like having a personal trainer for milking a day at a park. I got a few practical ideas by scrolling through the plans.
Grade: B
Review: A nice, helpful app if you need it. But if you’re a build-your-own-day guy like me, I felt hemmed-in by their park speed through style. That said, I can see how this would be very, very helpful for some people.

App Name: “Disney at Work” Magic Kingdom
Seller: TimeStream Software, LLC
Copyrights: Performance Journeys
Link for more info (iTunes)
Notes: This app is an anomaly and isn’t tied to visiting the parks per se. But I am fascinated by the Disney corporate culture and management (especially the attention to detail) and what this app does is break down the parks and how they are examples of certain ideals, practices and plans. I picked up the app as much for an evening read while we’re there, after the young ‘un goes to bed.
Grade: A
Review: Providing you realize this isn’t really about helping tourists, this is a great app. It’s mostly just a book, but it was very interesting and helpful to give glimpses into the corporate culture. It made me notice several details I wouldn’t have otherwise paid much attention to, such as the amount of people power (in terms of actual employees or billable hours) applied to a specific solution or quality-ensuring moment. Interesting stuff, but only for those curious about such things.

App Name: Disney.com
Developer: Walt Disney
Link for more info and/or app
Notes: Disney’s official app came on the scene just recently and its incredibly slick, has a fantastic user interface and interacts with all of your other official Disney apps. Unfortunately, it as almost nothing to do with the parks. I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt by including it here in hopes that its frequently-updated content somehow surprises me for our trip. A missed opportunity in a huge way. Is Disney doing FastPass times, special schedules and park info for mobile users at all? Yes, if you’re a Verizon customer there’s an app they have built that’s $10 (ugh).
Grade: C or F
Review: I’m being harsh here, but that’s the reason for the two grades. This app gets a “C” for doing what it does elegantly (organizing your Disney apps, providing a brief glimpse into the web portal Disney.com, and a few other minor tricks) but it gets a flat-out F for blowing an opportunity for any meaningful connection to the Disney Parks. There is absolutely no connection to all my info and vacation plans that also use Disney.com. I’ll articulate below what should be, but suffice to say this app isn’t it, while it has all the potential energy in the world as a delivery system.

There are lots of other apps with menus, memos and more. This is just a sampling of what’s available.

Wild cards:

App Name: Postman
Developer: Freeverse, Inc.
Link for more info and/or app
Notes: Not an app designed just for Disney park visitors, but when I found that Freeverse had done this clever app that sends digital postcards I realized how perfect it is for folks on vacations.
Grade: B
Review: This is a cool little app – it just takes the speed out of simply emailing or texting (MMS) a photo to someone. It makes neat postcards that you could customize quickly, but the number of options also is its downfall – the default is to have a “Wish you were here” message across your photos, which you end up trashing most of the time and by the time you’re trying to undo defaults, you could have just emailed your cute photo. It has its merit, and some tricks (like the map) are really cool. We just didn’t end up using it that much at Disney and found ourselves just sending photos other ways – and if you’re at that point at a place like Disney, I’m not sure when I’d end up using this app.

App Name: Bing
Developer: Microsoft
Link for more info and/or app
Notes: Will be using this for all searches while there, just to try out the new app.
Grade: A-
Review: For the trip I used Bing for every search out of the gate to really put it through the paces. Everything from “Where is Tiana signing in Magic Kingdom” to investigating monorail colors, it pulled in some interesting and relevant content. It had a couple of shortcomings in that for products it tended to pull in too many links from eBay and in some cases it was slow as molasses to connect to pages with the in-app browser, but in most cases Bing was a fast, serviceable search app.

-Dean (@dbrowell)

EXTRA CREDIT: How do these apps get dreamed up?
In one of the “lines” application’s case, it was an ex ad-agency guy; read the story here.