Disney has officially started rolling out its new ‘Hey Disney!’ program, starting with select rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort at Disney World. ‘Hey Disney,’ a collaboration between Disney and Amazon, is a virtual assistant program that looks to provide both service and entertainment to Disney Resort guests.
Via newly installed in-room Amazon Echo Show 5s, guests will be able to use their voice to interact with the Disney-branded version of Alexa to set alarms, ask about the weather, ask for more towels or pillows, and even play games like Disney trivia and speak to various Disney characters. According to Amazon, the ‘Hey Disney!’ voice assistant was created from the ground up by Disney, and features “original character voice recordings and audio, with over 1,000 magical interactions to discover.”
‘Hey Disney!’ marks the first time an Alexa Custom Assistant will be available on Echo devices, and features an all-new original character (rather unimaginatively) named the Disney Magical Companion that acts as a guide. According to the Disney Parks Instagram, the initial ‘Hey Disney!’ rollout is taking place in limited rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and will expand to other resorts across Disney World.
Dave Limp, Senior Vice President, Amazon Devices and Services is quoted as saying, “We’re bringing the worlds of Disney directly to Echo devices with ‘Hey, Disney!’. By combining the strength of Alexa’s technology, with Disney’s unmatched storytelling expertise, we’re creating the next generation of immersive experiences to make guests’ vacations more memorable and giving our customers a way to make their homes a bit more magical too.”
See also: WATCH: Disney researchers create facial age altering program powered by machine learning
