Before there was NextGen there was and is Pal Mickey

NextGen is the new buzzword around the Disneysphere and Disney is sinking major amounts of money into this project. The entire scope of the project is only known to those  directly involved in the research and implementation,  but pieces of information have found their way into blogs and guesses have been made to what it will entail.We have begun to see some testing of some of the features the NextGen project will have like  FastPass+ and the new phone App My Disney Experience but there really hasn't been a time table set for a complete roll out of the project yet. There are rumors and some facts presented that NextGen will run on the newly installed WIFI in the parks & resorts and that it will also use RFID technology. RFID technology is in full use at the new Arts of Animation Resort and RFID locks are starting to make their way into other resorts. The NextGen project has been heralded as something that will make guest experiences much more entertaining and save them time; increasing their satisfaction and overall experience at the Walt Disney Resort.While this project has been in the works for a number of years, I would argue the first piece of NextGen was tested and still can be found in use today at Walt Disney World in the form of Pal Mickey.

Pal Mickey 1.0 We have the first version. He is a small guy.

So what is this Pal Mickey? It was a neat little souvenir I picked up for my daughter back on one of trips in 2003…. It is a small plush Mickey Mouse that contains a microprocessor, a speaker, is powered by three AA batteries, and has an infrared receiver in its nose. This infrared receiver would allow it to communicate with a few hundred infrared transmitters around the parks and resorts on the Disney Property. When certain transmitters were in range Mickey would start to laugh and vibrate. You would then have to press his belly or squeeze his hand  so he could tell you  information about the immediate area, a parade, showtime reminders, tips on what costumed walkaround characters may be nearby, and attractions with short queue times. Kind of like a phone app without the phone.

 Pal Mickey was discontinued in October of 2008 and can still be found on eBay for purchase. Why is that important? There were three version released of Pal Mickey, all are said to still be able to work in the parks to this day. So in theory, if you bring a Pal Mickey into any of the Disney World Parks in Orlando, he should still work. Once you leave the park and are at home, Pal Mickey doesn’t become a mute useless souvenir. If you squeeze his hand or push his belly, he will tell jokes and play a few programmed games. He is supposed to have several hundred pre-recorded phrases, ours just keeps telling the same joke over and over.

His clip was just like a Cell phone belt clip, just with a Mouse hanging from it. 

Pal Mickey is a really cool idea and pricey souvenir. He looked stylish on your belt or hanging form a lanyard but the clip that allowed you to do this was not the most comfortable  He  provided some nice entertainment in the lines and through out the resorts. In my opinion, Pal Mickey could easily be considered NextGen 1.0. Why do you ask? Pal Mickey has been rumored to be able to track each individual device so it wouldn't play the same phrases over and over again also in theory tracking where you were in the park. This tracking is something that some people are  worried about the with use of RFID technology by Disney, because they could be able to track where you are on the resort and see what your spending your vacation dollars on. Practice for NextGen? Probably not, but a cool feature.If Disney is tracking me on property, more power to them. Maybe it could be used to track lost child? I am cool with that type of use.
Our Pal Mickey won't be joining us on our Adult trip this fall but may become a stowaway in one of our kids' suitcases for our spring break trip. Do you have a Pal Mickey? Have you brought him back to the park recently?