“Trying to recruit guests to try out these DS units right after they came through the turnstiles was a bad idea. After riding over to the park on a crowded Monorail or a packed Ferry, people don’t want someone coming at them with a clipboard and then giving them a sales pitch. They just want to get inside and ride some rides.

And that $300 security deposit, asking people for an imprint of their credit card right after they’ve paid for their admission … That was a mistake too. A lot of people just turned and walked away as soon as we mentioned that security deposit.

Next time, we’ll do better. We’ll be smarter about where we try & recruit people. We’re now talking about putting cast members in the lobbies of the Grand Flo and the Poly. Do our pre-screening there.

After all, people who stay in our high end resorts aren’t going to squawk if we ask them for a $300 security deposit. Particularly if we tell them that it’s only a precaution. That if they actually return the unit before they leave the park, they’ll never ever be charged.

Plus by recruiting test subjects in a much more relaxed setting, we’ll then be able to get guests who are genuinely interesting in testing a device like this. Rather than getting people who make some spur-of-the-moment decision as they enter the Magic Kingdom and then don’t even use the unit while they’re wandering around that park. Which is what a couple of families that we recruited last week actually did. They just used the device once or twice, then stuffed in a bag.” – Disney Imagineering insider

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