May 19–The senior Walt Disney Co. parks executive who oversaw development of the company’s billion-dollar “MyMagic+” technology project is leaving the company.
Nick Franklin, executive vice president for next-generation experience at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, will leave Disney in July, according to people familiar with his plans. Franklin has been with Disney since 1996 and is a member of Disney Parks Chairman Tom Staggs’ 11-member executive committee.
Franklin could not be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for Disney said the decision to depart was Franklin’s.
“Nick let us know that after 17 successful years with Disney, he wanted to help other companies innovate in how they provide products and services to their customers, much like he did here in leading the development of MyMagic+,” Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty said. “We want to thank Nick for his tremendous accomplishments throughout his tenure with Disney.”
In 2009, Disney tapped Franklin, then the head of its global business and real-estate development teams, to lead a secretive project that was referred to internally as “NextGen.” That work ultimately produced MyMagic+, the many-tentacled technology project at Walt Disney World that includes a reservation system allowing visitors to book attraction times up two months before their trips and microchip-embedded wristbands that interact with sensors installed throughout the resort.
Franklin effectively functioned as an internal chief executive officer for MyMagic+, overseeing a team that began with 35 employees but eventually grew to more than 1,000.
Some analysts estimate that the Walt Disney Co. has invested more than $1 billion in the project, which has taken much longer to implement than it initially anticipated. Executives once hoped to have the main elements fully launched last year, but the systems did not become available to all Disney World visitors until the end of March.
There have also been persistent rumors that spending on the project has gone over budget, though Disney has disputed those claims. Staggs told The New York Times in March that MyMagic–remained on budget.
Six months ago, Disney moved oversight of MyMagic–from Franklin to Disney World management. The company said it wanted to give the project to its operations team as it moved closer to launch and to free Franklin to focus on future developments, including potentially adapting the technologies to the company’s other theme-park resorts around the world.
Prunty said Disney still intends to extend parts of MyMagic–beyond Disney World, which is by far the company’s busiest resort. “There has been a team working on how best to incorporate elements of MyMagic–into our other locations and businesses, and that is work is continuing,” she said.
As one example, Prunty said Disney is now using “MagicBands” — the rubber bracelets embedded with microchips developed as part of MyMagic– in youth programs aboard the company’s cruise ships.
Although Disney executives have been hesitant to discuss MyMagic+’s financial performance, they say Disney World visitors are embracing the technology. The company’s chief financial officer, Jay Rasulo, told analysts recently that more than 75 percent of guests staying in Disney-owned hotels are now reserving ride times ahead of their trips, as are more than 25 percent of day visitors.
The company says that guests who plan more of their trip schedules in advance ultimately spend more time and money at Disney World, rather than visiting rival attractions. The project, which includes enhanced data collection, is also designed to make purchases easier and to give Disney more personal information about its guests, ultimately leading to more spending on food, souvenirs and other items.
Before moving to MyMagic+, Franklin led Disney’s market-entry strategy for China, a 13-year process that ultimately culminated in an agreement for Shanghai Disneyland, a $5 billion resort that will open late next year. Franklin also negotiated Disney’s $4 billion Hong Kong Disneyland joint venture.
He is the longest-serving member on the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts executive committee, the elite circle of executives overseeing Disney’s global vacation empire.
jrgarcia@tribune.com or 407-420-5414
