Gadgetwise: With Disney Infinity, a Virtual Toy Box

When the executives at Disney conceived of Infinity, they imagined a video game that resembled a toy box: random toys could be pulled out for any adventure.

The Disney Infinity game, which was released last week, embraces that “anything goes” attitude with vigor. Initial properties include “The Lone Ranger,” “The Incredibles,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Monsters University” and “Cars 2,” and more are scheduled to follow. Disney has said that anything from its vault, including movies, TV shows, theme parks and animated shorts, could eventually show up in the evolving platform.

But Disney Infinity is more than just a video game. Like Skylanders from Activision, Disney Infinity incorporates physical toys, which unlock characters, powers, vehicles and other features when the toys are placed on the Infinity base, which is connected to a game console (Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii).

Once a figure is on the base, its digital doppelgänger appears in a “play set,” a virtual realm based on each character’s respective world. Changing characters and play sets is as easy as swapping the toys on the base. Or characters can come together in the “toy box” mode, in which players create worlds and adventures of their own.

The game itself is simple but engaging. The characters inhabit their worlds and can go on missions, collect objects, build energy and earn points, pretty much as in any video game. But the toy box mode offers the opportunity for real creativity, giving players the ability to design a 3-D world from scratch using landscapes, buildings, vehicles, characters and other objects from the Disney universe.

The Disney Infinity starter pack, which includes the game, three figures and three play sets, costs $75. Add-ons include single figures at $13 apiece, sets of three figures for $30 and a pack that includes two figures and a play set for $35. In addition, power discs, which provide special abilities, toys and themes, are sold in packs of two for $5 (but they are in blind packaging, which means you don’t know which discs you will get.)

Paying extra for additional characters and content is nothing new to video games. But Disney is starting with five play sets, 17 figures and 20 power discs, with much more to come. This game has the potential to fill up your toy box as quickly as it empties your wallet.

Media Decoder Blog: Disney Delays Release of Video Game and Toy Initiative

LOS ANGELES — The introduction of Disney Infinity, an ambitious video game and toy initiative, has been pushed from June to late August, a retail window that Disney said on Wednesday was more favorable.

But the delay also shifts Infinity from Disney’s fiscal third quarter to its fourth, meaning that any chance of a turnaround at the company’s video game unit will occur later than some investors expected.

Infinity will now reach stores on Aug. 18 in North America and on Aug. 20 overseas, said John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive, in a telephone interview. A June rollout had been planned, pegged to the release of Pixar’s “Monsters University.”

Mr. Pleasants said retailers, impressed with the public reaction to Disney’s demonstration of Infinity in January, pushed for an introduction closer to the all-important holiday season, which starts in October. “The date became an issue in terms of them asking, ‘Is there a better opportunity here?’ ” Mr. Pleasants said.

There may also be competitive reasons for the August date. Disney hopes that Infinity will be its version of Skylanders, a popular product from Activision Blizzard in which players collect action figures and then transfer them into the game’s action by plugging them into a sensor base. Skylanders has generated more than $1 billion in sales since its 2011 arrival; about 100 million of its toys have been sold.

The next edition of Skylanders is scheduled to arrive in stores this fall. Mr. Pleasants downplayed comparisons, but said, “We think it’s good to be first and really lean into the most important selling season of the year.”

August is traditionally a quiet time for video games as families spend money on vacations and back-to-school clothes. But Mr. Pleasants said retailers were willing to devote significant shelf space to the Infinity product line. Disney also hopes that children will return to school with the Infinity action figures in their backpacks, leading to trading.

It is not unusual for video game studios to push back release dates, but the reason usually involves glitches and missed deadlines. Mr. Pleasants insisted that was not the case here.

“We could deliver in June if we wanted to,” he said, adding: “Will a two-month timing change help us? Sure, of course. It gives us a little more time to add bells and whistles and make sure it really sings and pops.”

Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive and chairman, told Wall Street analysts and investors in May that “we’re targeting 2013 as a year of profitability” for Disney Interactive. He technically fulfilled that pledge in the last quarter; Disney’s video game and Web business turned an operating profit of $9 million after 16 consecutive quarters of losses.

But most people interpreted Mr. Iger’s remark to mean that the unit, Disney’s smallest by far, would make money for the fiscal year, which ends in mid-September. There is now little chance of that, as revenue from Infinity will be mostly pushed into 2014. “This will definitely impact our goal of achieving profitability for the year,” Mr. Pleasants said.

At Disney Parks, a Bracelet Meant to Build Loyalty (and Sales)

Fantasyland? Hardly. It happens starting this spring.

Disney in the coming months plans to begin introducing a vacation management system called MyMagic+ that will drastically change the way Disney World visitors — some 30 million people a year — do just about everything.

The initiative is part of a broader effort, estimated by analysts to cost between $800 million and $1 billion, to make visiting Disney parks less daunting and more amenable to modern consumer behavior. Disney is betting that happier guests will spend more money.

“If we can enhance the experience, more people will spend more of their leisure time with us,” said Thomas O. Staggs, chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts.

The ambitious plan moves Disney deeper into the hotly debated terrain of personal data collection. Like most major companies, Disney wants to have as much information about its customers’ preferences as it can get, so it can appeal to them more efficiently. The company already collects data to use in future sales campaigns, but parts of MyMagic+ will allow Disney for the first time to track guest behavior in minute detail.

Did you buy a balloon? What attractions did you ride and when? Did you shake Goofy’s hand, but snub Snow White? If you fully use MyMagic+, databases will be watching, allowing Disney to refine its offerings and customize its marketing messages.

Disney is aware of potential privacy concerns, especially regarding children. The plan, which comes as the federal government is trying to strengthen online privacy protections, could be troublesome for a company that some consumers worry is already too controlling.

But Disney has decided that MyMagic+ is essential. The company must aggressively weave new technology into its parks — without damaging the sense of nostalgia on which the experience depends — or risk becoming irrelevant to future generations, Mr. Staggs said. From a business perspective, he added, MyMagic+ could be “transformational.”

Aside from benefiting Disney’s bottom line, the initiative could alter the global theme parks business. Disney is not the first vacation company to use wristbands equipped with radio frequency identification, or RFID, chips. Great Wolf Resorts, an operator of 11 water parks in North America, has been using them since 2006. But Disney’s global parks operation, which has an estimated 121.4 million admissions a year and generates $12.9 billion in revenue, is so huge that it can greatly influence consumer behavior.

“When Disney makes a move, it moves the culture,” said Steve Brown, chief operating officer for Lo-Q, a British company that provides line management and ticketing systems for theme parks and zoos.

Disney World guests currently plod through entrance turnstiles, redeeming paper tickets, and then decide what to ride; food and merchandise are bought with cash or credit cards. (Disney hotel key cards can also be used to charge items.) People race to FastPass kiosks, which dispense a limited number of free line-skipping tickets. But gridlock quickly sets in and most people wait. And wait.

In contrast, MyMagic+ will allow users of a new Web site and app — called My Disney Experience — to preselect three FastPasses before they leave home for rides or V.I.P. seating for parades, fireworks and character meet-and-greets. Orlando-bound guests can also preregister for RFID bracelets. These so-called MagicBands will function as room key, park ticket, FastPass and credit card.

MagicBands can also be encoded with all sorts of personal details, allowing for more personalized interaction with Disney employees. Before, the employee playing Cinderella could say hello only in a general way. Now — if parents opt in — hidden sensors will read MagicBand data, providing information needed for a personalized greeting: “Hi, Angie,” the character might say without prompting. “I understand it’s your birthday.”

Media Decoder Blog: Netflix Reaches Deal to Show New Disney Films in 2016

Evan Agostini/Associated Press Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, called the deal with Disney “a bold leap forward for Internet television.”

LOS ANGELES — Walt Disney Studios said on Tuesday that it had completed a deal to show films from its Disney, Pixar and Marvel banners on Netflix, replacing a less lucrative pact with Starz.

The agreement is the first time one of Hollywood’s big studios has chosen Web streaming over pay television. Netflix has made similar “output” deals with smaller movie suppliers like DreamWorks Animation and the Weinstein Company. But all of the majors — Disney, Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers, Sony and 20th Century Fox — have stayed with Starz, HBO or Showtime until now.

Library titles like “Dumbo,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Pocahontas” will become available on Netflix immediately, Disney said. Netflix will begin streaming new release Disney films starting in late 2016, when the current accord with Starz expires. The deal announced on Tuesday includes direct-to-DVD movies.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but analysts estimated that the deal could be worth about $300 million annually for Disney. The deal does not include films from DreamWorks Studios, which has a theatrical distribution arrangement with Disney but relies on Showtime as a pay-TV partner. Nevertheless, the deal will include movies from Lucasfilm, which Disney is acquiring.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, called the deal “a bold leap forward for Internet television.” Janice Marinelli, president of Disney-ABC Domestic Television, said in a statement, “Netflix continues to meet the demands of its subscribers in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape.”

The so-called pay TV window is one of the entertainment industry’s most important business tools. In the past, Starz, HBO and Showtime paid about $20 million a picture for exclusive rights a few months after films arrive on DVD. But Netflix — capitalizing on a consumer shift to streaming content on computers, tablets and Internet-connected televisions — has been aggressively going after the business by offering more lucrative terms.

With the Disney deal, Netflix will be able to offer customers exclusive access to a pipeline of films that are reliably some of the year’s biggest box-office successes. Netflix has also made it a priority to strengthen its children’s and family offerings.

As for Starz, anything that increases the marketplace clout of Netflix is damaging. Moreover, Starz does not have the original programming strength of HBO or Showtime to fall back on.

Starz will continue to have films from Sony, but the absence of Disney movies will be a hole in its offerings. In a statement on Tuesday, however, Starz said that it had decided to part ways with Disney, not the other way around.

“Our decision not to extend the agreement for Disney output past that time allows us the opportunity to implement our plan to dramatically ramp up our investment in exclusive, premium-quality original series, which will best meet the needs of our distributors and subscribers,” the company said in the statement.

Wreck-It Ralph Headed to Disney Theme Parks

The video game-inspired characters from the upcoming animated movie Wreck-It Ralph will soon appear in Disney theme parks.

The Disney Parks Blog at the company's official site has details on Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweetz coming to Disney parks this November: "At The Magic of Disney Animation attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you’ll step through Game Central Station, catching glimpses of the various game worlds from the film on your way to Sugar Rush, where Vanellope and Ralph are waiting to meet you at the finish line. At Disneyland park, the arcade world of Wreck-It Ralph comes to life within the Tomorrowland Starcade. When Ralph and Vanellope are there, you’ll have an opportunity to meet them at the portal to Sugar Rush and can even play a round on the classic arcade game Fix-It Felix, Jr.”

App Smart: Guides to Legoland, Disney, Madame Tussauds and More - App Smart

In the digital era, your smartphone is the solution to theme park woes. If you are a habitual theme-parkgoer and based in the United States or Britain, you will probably love the Thrill Seeker app for iOS ($4.99). It offers detailed information on numerous parks in Florida, including Adventure Island in Tampa and Walt Disney World and Wet ’n Wild in Orlando, as well as major British parks.

The app is simple and list-based. You start by picking a theme park; some of the bigger parks have subsections showing their different services. Tapping one of these takes you to a list of the park’s features and services, like roller coasters, sideshow stalls and restrooms. To make it easier to navigate, you can filter this list so you see, for example, only rides or bathrooms. Each feature has its own page with a brief description, and sometimes a photo to help you identify it. There are also written histories for some rides, which may help you while away the minutes in line.

Coaster fans will appreciate the detailed specifications, like height, speed and cost, given for some rides. There is even information about the engineers who built the rides. One section shows restrictions like those on rider height, and another offers some details, like whether the ride takes a photo of you or lacks disabled access. The app includes written directions and maps to help you get to your chosen ride or service, and you can use the “nearby” button to get a full list of what is close to your current position.

Thrill Seeker is a powerful app. For some parks, it even has alerts for long wait times at individual rides, and you can command your iPhone to tell you when the wait time drops.

The one criticism you could make of this app is that it is a little unexciting — too list-based to enthrall the younger members of your group.If you prefer a more visual and, perhaps, theme-parklike experience in an app, the numerous apps for Merlin Entertainments are all similar and fun. Merlin, the world’s second-largest theme park operator after Disney, contracted a small company to create the official apps for many of its parks, including Legoland in Florida and Germany, Alton Towers in Britain and various Madame Tussauds locations.

These apps are much more graphical than Thrill Seeker. Their home pages are filled with icons for sections that tell you about rides, park services, special events and offers, and local weather conditions. There are also some simple games, which should keep your children amused if you have to wait.

For navigation, the apps have satellite-style maps with pinned points of interest and cute, graphical maps from the theme parks’ own printed material. These are easier to use than paper copies because you can reveal the locations of destinations like cafes or stores at the push of a button. Some of the apps offer an augmented-reality view, which may help you identify the direction and distance to the rides or services you are looking for.

The apps are free and available on both iPhones and phones running the Android operating system (although the list of parks is more restricted on Android), and your children may find them more fun to use than the sober Thrill Seeker.

There are many more theme parks than are listed here, and more roller coasters than can fit in this column. If you are a coaster fan and simply want detailed information, check out the free Rides! app for the iPhone, which claims to have details on over 4,000 coasters around the world, including 32 in Africa. Organized by nation, the app provides many detailed specifications, including user-submitted photos, and can help you find information on rides in your vicinity.

The company behind Rides! also makes a roller-coaster diary app, CoasterCounter ($1.99). It includes the same information but also lets you log and rate every ride you take, and it connects to an online community where you can share your stats and photos.

Quick Call

The Weather Channel bestowed special attention on Nokia’s Lumia Windows phones this week with the newest version of its app, which will be available exclusively on Lumia phones for a while. The app has more languages and features, like personalized lifestyle-sensitive alerts and augmented reality. There is even a dash of social media: you can see what weather your friends are experiencing and chat with them. You can also submit your photos of the weather to appear in the augmented-reality section.

App Smart: Guides to Legoland, Disney, Madame Tussauds and More - App Smart

In the digital era, your smartphone is the solution to theme park woes. If you are a habitual theme-parkgoer and based in the United States or Britain, you will probably love the Thrill Seeker app for iOS ($4.99). It offers detailed information on numerous parks in Florida, including Adventure Island in Tampa and Walt Disney World and Wet ’n Wild in Orlando, as well as major British parks.

The app is simple and list-based. You start by picking a theme park; some of the bigger parks have subsections showing their different services. Tapping one of these takes you to a list of the park’s features and services, like roller coasters, sideshow stalls and restrooms. To make it easier to navigate, you can filter this list so you see, for example, only rides or bathrooms. Each feature has its own page with a brief description, and sometimes a photo to help you identify it. There are also written histories for some rides, which may help you while away the minutes in line.

Coaster fans will appreciate the detailed specifications, like height, speed and cost, given for some rides. There is even information about the engineers who built the rides. One section shows restrictions like those on rider height, and another offers some details, like whether the ride takes a photo of you or lacks disabled access. The app includes written directions and maps to help you get to your chosen ride or service, and you can use the “nearby” button to get a full list of what is close to your current position.

Thrill Seeker is a powerful app. For some parks, it even has alerts for long wait times at individual rides, and you can command your iPhone to tell you when the wait time drops.

The one criticism you could make of this app is that it is a little unexciting — too list-based to enthrall the younger members of your group.If you prefer a more visual and, perhaps, theme-parklike experience in an app, the numerous apps for Merlin Entertainments are all similar and fun. Merlin, the world’s second-largest theme park operator after Disney, contracted a small company to create the official apps for many of its parks, including Legoland in Florida and Germany, Alton Towers in Britain and various Madame Tussauds locations.

These apps are much more graphical than Thrill Seeker. Their home pages are filled with icons for sections that tell you about rides, park services, special events and offers, and local weather conditions. There are also some simple games, which should keep your children amused if you have to wait.

For navigation, the apps have satellite-style maps with pinned points of interest and cute, graphical maps from the theme parks’ own printed material. These are easier to use than paper copies because you can reveal the locations of destinations like cafes or stores at the push of a button. Some of the apps offer an augmented-reality view, which may help you identify the direction and distance to the rides or services you are looking for.

The apps are free and available on both iPhones and phones running the Android operating system (although the list of parks is more restricted on Android), and your children may find them more fun to use than the sober Thrill Seeker.

There are many more theme parks than are listed here, and more roller coasters than can fit in this column. If you are a coaster fan and simply want detailed information, check out the free Rides! app for the iPhone, which claims to have details on over 4,000 coasters around the world, including 32 in Africa. Organized by nation, the app provides many detailed specifications, including user-submitted photos, and can help you find information on rides in your vicinity.

The company behind Rides! also makes a roller-coaster diary app, CoasterCounter ($1.99). It includes the same information but also lets you log and rate every ride you take, and it connects to an online community where you can share your stats and photos.

Quick Call

The Weather Channel bestowed special attention on Nokia’s Lumia Windows phones this week with the newest version of its app, which will be available exclusively on Lumia phones for a while. The app has more languages and features, like personalized lifestyle-sensitive alerts and augmented reality. There is even a dash of social media: you can see what weather your friends are experiencing and chat with them. You can also submit your photos of the weather to appear in the augmented-reality section.