The new vacation planning experience introduces flexible search with more personalized results, a new pricing and availability calendar, as well as the ability to compare options, find the best available rate, ask questions and get answers based on your vacation plans, schedule and budget, with AI-powered summaries that pull information from official Disney sources.
Disney Rolling Out New AI-Guided Vacation Planning Experience
Redesigned Website
The Walt Disney World website launched a new look on Thursday, August 20. The new website, optimized for computer browsers and mobile, streamlined and simplified navigation, and Disney reports this has cut down navigation by 40%, with overall positive guest feedback so far. However, Disney research has found that guests, particularly first-time visitors, are easily overwhelmed with the current booking system that has been in place for some time.
The next rollout is a beta test of a new AI-guided experience being served to random traffic on the Walt Disney World website, in an effort to improve the booking process. This new experience is not simply an AI chatbot, it is a structured booking interface with AI capabilities to help relieve the number of decisions involved in planning a Walt Disney World vacation.
Simplifying the Planning Process
With there being so much to the planning process, and a large amount of information guests have to absorb, many guests visit the website multiple times before booking.
Disney realized the significant amount of effort required to book a Disney vacation, particularly when looking for the lowest available rates for tickets or resorts, along with the current lack of an easy way to compare options. Special offers also require additional steps to check what’s available.
AI Functions Allow Guests to Describe What They Want in Their Own Words
Disney has partnered with Google Cloud and Gemini in an effort to solve these issues and make it simpler to plan a Disney World vacation.
The new tools guide the guest along: booking a resort, purchasing tickets, and leveraging AI where appropriate in order to simplify the experience for guests and transform how they plan their vacation.
The guest will input their information: a timeframe for when they want to visit, how many people are in their party, any resort preferences, etc. This will not be in the form of filters or boxes to select. They will get to say it in their own words. For example, “I want to visit during Food & Wine Festival” or “I want to stay at a resort with a nice pool.”
Disney will pull up options, and the tool will even automatically provide the best possible rate. It enables more flexible searches and double-checks all offers for the guest, and the AI summaries will show guests why the options provided are a good match.
It’s important to note that guests don’t need to use this AI tool to plan their vacation. They can still search for resorts and dates as normal, and they will still get to see the lowest rates available. This will be helpful for guests who aren’t first-time visitors and don’t need the same level of guidance that a first-time visitor would. Guests will also still be able to call in to speak with a Cast Member to help them plan their vacation.
Finding the Best Offers and Pricing
The new website will automatically find and apply the best offer, even if there are differences at the room type level. For example, maybe the standard room is available with the Florida resident offer, and the water view room is available with a room-only offer. It will apply both of those independently, so the guest does not have to do different searches.
Disney has also simplified the way guests toggle back and forth between offers, and there is a new pricing and availability calendar to help guests search for the best rates if they have flexibility in their arrival and departure windows. Overall, the interface provides more contextualized information to help with decision-making.
New Interactive Map Shows Resort Locations Relative to the Parks
Another new component of this simplified planning tool is a map of the resort. Because Disney World is so large, it can be hard for guests to comprehend the size of it and where everything is located in relation to each other. The map shows where the resort they are looking at is located in relation to other resorts and the parks while the guest is comparing their options.
In addition to the map, guests will also be able to clearly see the transportation options available at the resort they are currently viewing. A big part of choosing the right resort is knowing what kind of transportation that resort uses. Disney is presenting all the information up front to help the guest make a better-informed decision that will suit their needs.
Another feature that will help make the decision process easier is displaying videos instead of photos when guests view more information about the resort. Disney shares that this will help the guest make a more confident decision because the guest is seeing more than just a generic description or a couple of photos.
Disney’s goal is to provide all of the available options to give guests better control over their decision-making.
Guests Can Compare Resorts Side-by-Side
Guests will be able to learn more about the resort in comparison to nearby resorts. It will look at transportation, dining, recreation, and more to lay out everything the guest needs to make their decision.
The AI function will allow guests to type questions, like “Can I walk from Caribbean Beach to EPCOT?” or “Which resort has more dining options?” This is intended to eliminate the need for guests to open multiple tabs or leave Disney’s website to research the resorts.
Other Important Things to Know
- As long as a user is logged into the Disney website, the technology will store that user’s vacation preferences to save for later use.
- In addition, a shareable link will be created that allows the user to share the curated vacation plan with others, making it easy for guests planning together to view options and make decisions.
- Don’t worry if rates change! Disney will share if a better rate is available if you have to come back to the planning process at a later time.
- Disney also shared that as long as the user is logged in, the website will be able to see that there is a vacation planned and will share information that is pertinent, like scheduled refurbishments during vacation dates or annual passholder deals.
Future Plans for This Technology
This will first start in limited beta testing for randomly selected guests in the United States and Canada, and guests who are chosen to participate will see a tab labeled “guided search beta.” Guest feedback will help shape future updates as Disney expands availability in phases and continues refining the experience over time.
One thing to note for beta testing is that multiple rooms cannot be booked together at the moment. Guests will still need to call in for those requests.
Over time, the goal is to move beyond the basics of vacation planning with the resorts, tickets, and packages component and further into more advanced planning tools such as dining reservations and Lightning Lanes.
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The post BREAKING: Disney Rolls Out AI-Guided Website Experience to Simplify Vacation Planning and Find Best Available Rates appeared first on WDW News Today.
