Disney parks have a new ring

The Happiest Place on Earth soon will know where in the world you are. The Walt Disney Co. has struck a deal with Verizon Wireless that will allow it to remain in wireless contact with its theme park visitors – even when they step beyond the turnstiles in Anaheim, Calif., and Orlando, Fla.

Disney and Verizon bill it as a way to enhance the “theme park experience.” But it has broad – and potentially controversial – applications for marketers and consumers as each attempts to balance the need for information with privacy. The new service has echoes of “Minority Report,” a futuristic film in which Tom Cruise’s character is inundated with personalized ad messages as he passes interactive billboards in a mall, and could be adopted by an array of businesses, from Starbucks to J. Crew.

On the face of it, the service appears innocuous enough: Visitors to Disneyland or Walt Disney World will be able to download an application to their mobile phones to plan trips, from booking hotel rooms to creating a checklist of which attractions and shows to see. Once they arrive, they’ll also be able use their cell phones to check wait times at Space Mountain, find the nearest restaurant serving pizza or learn where Snow White is signing autographs. They might even be able to reserve a place in line for a popular ride.

“What we’re doing is putting tools in the hands of our customers to better personalize their experience,” said Scott Trowbridge, vice president of creative for Walt Disney Imagineering’s research and development group.

Disney joins a growing number of tourist attractions to employ mobile phones as a kind of personalized tour guide. Some museums already offer cell-phone tours, in place of cumbersome rented hand-held devices. History buffs walking Boston’s Freedom Trail can use their cell phone as a virtual docent, to accompany them on the 2.5-mile trek past 16 historic sites.

Using technology in mobile phones that pinpoints the device’s location, Disney would be able to recommend activities or restaurants to those who opt to participate with the theme park operator. For example, Disney could help park-goers avoid a long wait at Pirates of the Caribbean by alerting them to shorter lines at the Matterhorn Bobsleds, or exploit the phone’s location-awareness to suggest burgers at the Tomorrowland Terrace to visitors who’ve just exited the nearby Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride.

“If I’m standing here, Mickey is there, how do I make my way to Mickey?” said Ryan Hughes, vice president of business development and strategic partnerships Verizon. “If we’re dying for food, where’s the closest restaurant? How do we find our way there?”

This communication could extend beyond the park, with Disney sharing personalized mementos of the visit, such as a photograph from Sleeping Beauty along with a message, thanking the young guest for visiting her castle.

However, Disney and Verizon executives say they have no intention of bombarding park guests with marketing pitches, for fear of intruding on privacy or detracting from the experience.

“This is not us shooting out random messages; it’s about the guest experience,” Disney parks spokesman John Nicoletti said.

But places that have adopted similar technology have found the temptation to pitch incessantly hard to resist. In a cell-phone centric country such as Japan, posters feature small, bar-code-like images that contain coded information. When photographed with a cell phone, the image takes the would-be concert goer to an online ticketing site.

“There’s just an awful lot of experimentation right now. People understand these phones are very much a part of people’s lives,” said Gene Jeffers, executive director of Themed Entertainment Association, an alliance of companies that design, create and build theme park attractions. “Disney has really been a leader in terms of the theme parks exploring these technologies and how they could be used.”

Jeffers said the amusement park industry looks to Disney as a technological trail-blazer, because it has the resources to experiment with innovative applications of technology. Last year, for example, children who brought their Nintendo DS hand-held game consoles to Disneyland and Disney World could use the gadget’s wireless capability to conduct a virtual treasure hunt, seeking out hidden “hot spots” throughout the parks and downloading exclusive content for their “Pirates of the Caribbean” game.

Disney’s new wireless service debuts early next year at Epcot in Walt Disney World Resort in Florida at the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. Visitors will receive a hand-held device, dubbed a “Kimmunicator,” which they will use as they travel throughout the park, searching for clues and solving puzzles, as they help the Disney Channel animated sleuth on her mission to save the world. Over time, park visitors will be able to use their phones to locate shows, restaurants and Disney characters inside the parks, and get instant information about wait times for attractions.