• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, October 27, 2022

Disney CEO Bob Chapek wants to combine personal consumer data from the Disney+ streaming service and Disney parks to give customers a unique experience.

Chapek, speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference, said the company is working on ways to combine two main businesses consisting of parks, experiences and products division and its media, content and streaming division — using the Disney+ app.

It means combining the physical and virtual. “If you’re on Disney Plus, we should be aware, assuming you give us the permission, of what happened, what you experienced, what you liked, the last time you visited a park, and vice versa,” Chapek said. “When you’re in a park, we should know what your viewing habits are on Disney Plus.”

The company is trying to unify the brands of the company by building a toolbox of utilities that can be used by creators at Pixar, Disney, Lucas and others, using them to tell stories in a more custom and personalized way.

Disney’s next-generation storytelling is a spin on the metaverse. For example, when someone rode the Pirates of the Caribbean they would find Pirates-themed titles highlighted on their home page of Disney+ on log-in.

Disney, which turns 100 years old in 2023, has its roots and heart in storytelling and content, he said.

The plan to improve on the app is to “steer content to customers based on what theme park rides a visitor prefers, for example, rather than trying to predict what a customer will like based on past viewing or personal information,” will give customers a “better experience in the park,” because the company will know individual consumer preferences.

In addition to knowing individual consumer preferences, the company will have the ability to link digital with real-world experiences — all based on consumer opt-in data.

Chapek did say customers can choose not to share data with Disney and skip the personalized experiences. In that case they would keep data from Disney+ and park experiences separate.