We had the early scoop on the new system Walt Disney World would be implementing into the Magic Kingdom (and likely others to follow). Take a gander at the article to familiarize yourself with the cool new uses for the Nintendo DS that they plan on implementing in the park. After running their tests with families, the reports are in and people really love the way the Nintendo DS has been implemented.

However, not everything went smoothly. Particularly, Disney had an awful time convincing families to try out the new Disney Magic Connection. The problems actually had nothing to do with the technology, but all to do with convincing guests as they walked in the park to leave a credit card imprint in case they ran off with the device.

Overall, Disney Imagineers are very satisfied with the way the system ran, and since its based off of the same technology that powered the talking Mickey’s (a doll that would speak to you as you moved around the park, using sensors) it was relatively easy to implement. Officially the software is currently just for the Magic Kingdom, but I fully expect this will come to the entire park. Watch for the device to hit in 2009, although it will only initially be for rent (so you can’t bring your own DS for use), but that could very likely change in the future. Looks like I have a new excuse to go to Florida in 2009… apart from Harry Potter hitting Universal that is!