Made with Magic products launch today at Epcot

deix15x8Dec 18, 2015

I attended the premiere of Made With Magic in WDW when it was added to Fantasmic! back in 2013. We weren't lucky enough to get a free pair of ears, they seemed to have predetermined who they wanted to give them to (believe it was the dining package people). We still bought our own and sitting in the back center it was incredible to see all those ears changing colors with the show. The main problem with them is that purchasing them only benefits the people not paying for it. If Disney really wants this to succeed, and it should because it is really cool, they need to look at the Magic Bands for inspiration. The design of the new Disneyland 60th hats (got one of those as well!) would work perfectly with a Magic Band model. The hats currently sell for $25 and they could continue to sell more elaborate version in the usual ear hat stores, but could also give one to every guest staying at an official Disneyland Resort hotel as an added perk. Buying in greater quantities and not trying to earn a profit the costs are probably closer to $5-10 per hat. Using the Disneyland hat as inspiration they could make them all a standard color, maybe change colors each year, and then have a patch on the hat that is unique to each hotel. That gives incentive to stay at every hotel to collect all the unique patches and gives a little more pride in showing off where your staying when walking around the parks. Then using the Magic Band model they could sell all sorts of pins, patches, covers, and even embroidering to allow people to personalize their generic hats. It would give actual benefit to the hats by having so many in use each night. It would make them truly functional as they were designed to which should boost satisfaction ratings while also incentivizing people to stay on property, and most importantly adding a new revenue stream that will likely far exceed that of the few sales they currently have. Seems like it could be a win all around and when everyone in a family is wearing their mickey ears it may even make some people more likely to want to buy the minnie bow to wear instead.

Cmdr_CrimsonDec 17, 2015

It would be different if they had to Pay for those whereas they got those free during the initial event when they were introduced..

Biff215Dec 17, 2015

Thanks for sharing that. My daughter has the ears and my son has the wand. Didn't really notice anything special in Epcot and now I know why. Changing a few random colors of a flag isn't all that impressive. Not including Illuminations just seems silly. To be honest, I find the effect to be disappointing since so few guests are using them, unlike the initial videos Disney made when they passed them out to everyone at World of Color. The coolest part of them by far is the wand's ability to change the ears to a chosen color. Of course this doesn't make my daughter too happy as she has no such control over her own ears!

Cmdr_CrimsonDec 16, 2015

A recent video from the Disney Parks blog sort of shows what the "Key Elements" of using the said Made with Magic items do while in World Showcase.... A bunch of people were confused by the video on the blog and many asked what they did in World Showcase... Then I found this quote from Steven Miller in regards to what they do that someone asked...... The Made with Magic items will light up and change colors as you travel around World Showcase. They may change colors that are resminiscent of the particular country flag. They also may change patterns. When I was visiting Epcot the other night (as I seem to live there :), I saw them changing from country to country. In the video, the Cast Members from Japan Pavilion probably showcase best how this might work. I hope you get a chance to visit World Showcase soon and check it out for yourself. And someone also asked if it will work with Illuminations...His reply.. They are not a part of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth at this time. So there's your answer folks on what they exactly do...

admiral-ari-xNov 26, 2015

It may not win any battle versus Potter, but darnit I love these hats! Should get myself one when I'm down there in a few years :p

Zummi GummiNov 26, 2015

Like Butterbeer vs. Lefou's Brew, if that's the case, it's a battle Disney won't win. There's an emotional connection between Potter fans and wands (and Butterbeer). They're both prominent parts of the stories. No such connection between Disney fans and Lefou's Brew and a wand that isn't half as cool or neat looking as its west coast cousin.

flynnibusNov 25, 2015

Disney had them on the cruise ships back in 2011/12... And magi quest which most people move from great Wolf Lodge goes all the way back to 2005. Not a new idea, but everyone is putting their own twist on things and rolling more of them out. I don't think this is a case of Disney copying Harry Potter here, besides the whole merchandising angle

peter11435Nov 25, 2015

Agreed lol

Zummi GummiNov 25, 2015

Except the wands are hideous looking.

Biff215Nov 25, 2015

So what will they interact with in WS?

Cmdr_CrimsonNov 25, 2015

It's kind of like they want us to be reminded of something that was attached to some big geosphere...But, that's crazy..While I do want the wand...I wish they also sold the Paintbrush.

Magenta PantherNov 25, 2015

This kind of interactive stuff is cool! Although I think I'd like that wand better if Mickey's amputated arm weren't attached to it... :P

Cmdr_CrimsonNov 25, 2015

I still hope thet implement it with Illuminations...I think it would be pretty neat.

habumaNov 25, 2015

We picked up a couple of the paintbrushes in DL this summer and my kids loved them. They felt somewhat "powerful" as they walked by other guests and changed the colors of their MwM Mickey ears. I'm assuming that their DL brushes will work in WDW...we'll be packing them for our upcoming trip.