Recently the better half and I spent the weekend at the Disneyland and California Adventures resorts. Those who work with me know how anti-kiosk I am, being a full believer in the mobile app/mobile services model. When it comes to mobile technology, Disney is murdering the casino industry. Where the casino industry seems to fail is in the app world. We try to push our customers to use the Northside Casino app as much as possible but between janky operation and missing capabilities, casino apps are their own worst enemy. On the other hand, there is nothing one cannot do with the Disney app. Some might say, “Dr. Mike, you’re talking about two different things, one is a theme park and the other is a casino,” to which I say, are they really that different? Both deal with large quantities of people, casinos just do it 24/7 while Disney has set daily hours. Both provide entertainment, food and beverage sales, continuous guest interactions, reservations, lodging, and other wealth extraction zones.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY DR. MIKE ESSIG IN THE SPRING 2026 EDITION OF GAMING & LEISURE MAGAZINE.