What Disney's Magic app can teach us about consumer experience

By Summer Goralik

This article was originally published by Inman News on May 28, 2025 and can be read here.

I hadn’t planned to write another piece about the ongoing tug-of-war over transparency in real estate or where the industry is headed next. Truthfully, I thought I’d said enough.

But then Errol Samuelson took the stage.

As Zillow’s Chief Industry Development Officer, Samuelson recently gave a timely presentation to a room full of industry leaders in Seattle, one that delivered a memorable shake-up I couldn’t ignore. He walked us through a series of “invent moments,” real-world examples of how disruption and innovation don’t just happen; they reshape the world because consumers demand better.

Samuelson’s message was nothing short of magical. That felt fitting, given where my mind went next. It reminded me how profoundly technology and innovation can elevate what we thought was already working.

Afterward, I found myself racking my brain for a similarly powerful illustration of change. Then, at 2 a.m., it hit me: Disneyland. Of all places, it’s one of the clearest, most relatable examples of how innovation can reshape expectations entirely. It also underscores something important: The real estate industry better not drop the ball.

From insomnia to insight — let’s go.

Disneyland’s joy and nightmare

The smell of churros and waffle cones. The hum of familiar music drifting through the air like sweet nostalgia for the adults roaming the park. The adrenaline of Space Mountain, the swashbuckling charm of Pirates of the Caribbean, the whimsical fan-favorite Peter Pan, and capping it all off, a Mickey-shaped ice cream at the end of a packed, unforgettable day. That’s the Disneyland magic — and what most people picture.

If you’d asked my husband a few years ago, though, he’d have given you a very different version: long lines, sweltering crowds, chaos. “Not the happiest place on Earth,” he once declared. “More like an absolute nightmare.”

Yet last year, our family went to Disneyland three times. Nothing stopped us — not holidays, not crowds, not even the long lines we used to dread.

So, what changed?

Tech as the game-changer

Enter the Disneyland app.

It might sound like a small update, but it completely transformed our experience. With live wait times, GPS-enabled maps, virtual queues, mobile food ordering and Lightning Lane access all at our fingertips, we didn’t just survive a day at Disneyland — we optimized it from beginning to end.

We strategized. We reserved. We customized. We enjoyed every moment.

The app didn’t just make Disneyland tolerable. It reimagined the day, almost effortlessly, into something magical, just as the Disney brand promises.

And of course, there’s a long legacy of innovation when it comes to Disneyland and its visionary creator, Walt Disney. If you’ve watched The Imagineering Story, then you know this article could easily go in many directions. The innovation behind Disneyland isn’t just about technology. It’s also about design, access, storytelling and constant reinvention.

But what struck me most was how this particular tech — the app — created equal access to visibility and efficiency. Everyone with it could participate fully, move smarter and make their day exceptional.

Increasingly, artificial intelligence is also part of this story. From personalized property recommendations to predictive pricing tools and smart fraud detection systems, AI is reshaping how information is processed and presented in real estate. 

Just as Disney uses algorithms to predict crowd flow and improve park logistics, the real estate industry has an opportunity to harness AI in ways that serve consumers better. That means not obscuring or gatekeeping data, but making the experience clearer, faster and more efficient.

Now imagine this: What if Disney executives decided to go backward, unplugging the very innovations that completely revamped the guest experience?

No more app. No more digital wait times or online ride reservations. Just paper maps and physical FastPass kiosks. (Remember those? You had to crisscross the park just to snag one.) 

Or worse, what if only some guests were allowed to use the app, while others were shut out of key features?

It sounds absolutely absurd, right? Because it is.

Technology and innovation are linear concepts. They move forward. They aim higher. They’re meant to level up the experience, not tear it down, divide it or drag us back to the past.

In real estate, they’re designed not just for convenience and ease of use, but to promote transparency, support fairness and meet — if not exceed — consumer demand. When properly applied, tech doesn’t just streamline the process; it opens doors, removes barriers and helps ensure more people can participate in the market on equal footing.

That’s exactly what the future of real estate ought to require.

Advocacy and compliance: The Seattle takeaway

At the event, I had the opportunity to sit on a legal and compliance panel, where I emphasized my hope that the voice of state regulators will play a stronger role in shaping this evolving real estate landscape, especially amid the ongoing debate over private listings and transparency.

Along the way, something hit me: Regulators and brokers often forget what they have in common. They’re both, at least in theory, in the consumer protection business (and yes, I can practically hear Rob Hahn shaking his head in disagreement at that statement).

This, truly, is what I believe should be the case. Brokers, like regulators, have a duty to protect consumers. They do it through unwavering fiduciary responsibility and ethical, sound business practices.

That’s the “consumer is your north star” argument everyone’s talking about — but here’s the thing: A north star doesn’t just shine. It points the way forward. If brokers are serious about that direction and what consumers have grown to expect, then going backward should be forever prohibited.

Another standout panel featured none other than James Dwiggins, CEO of NextHome, whom I half-jokingly call real estate’s new sweetheart. But the title fits: His mix of candor and credibility has made him one of the industry’s most trusted messengers. 

Dwiggins’ advocacy against the use of private listings as a business strategy is both contagious and compelling, especially given that he comes from a lineage that once benefited from the very dynamics he’s now challenging.

I bring this up not just to highlight his position, but to spotlight leadership in action. It’s a reminder that industry change often begins with those willing to speak up — even when it challenges their own history. Understanding the problems isn’t enough. We need voices pushing for real solutions, and Dwiggins is one of them.

The keynote from Mark King, an award-winning CEO, former head of Taco Bell, Adidas North America and TaylorMade, was equally compelling. Now a global speaker on innovation and culture, he shared stories from his leadership journey and posed a powerful question: Why does it take a crisis to evoke change?

It shouldn’t. 

I urged the brokers in that room to get ahead of the curve. Let’s not repeat the past. Our industry has been ransacked by issues that have chipped away at public trust and the perceived value of our profession. 

Don’t wait for private litigation or a federal enforcement action. Be proactive. As I often tell my clients, clean your house now. That means reviewing your policies, tightening your oversight and resetting the standards from the top. 

Return to fundamentals. Reinforce fiduciary duties, and make sure they trickle down through your entire salesforce.

Because if they don’t, it’s not just a compliance issue. It’s a credibility problem — and a failure to future-proof your business.

Portals and progress: Don’t shut the gates on transparency

Innovation and technology don’t just reshape industries. They reinvent them. That’s as true for real estate as it is for travel, retail or entertainment.

Just as Disneyland revolutionized its guest experience with an app that puts the park in your pocket, today’s real estate portals have transformed how consumers interact with the home search process. Platforms like Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com haven’t just made listings easier to browse. They’ve brought the open market directly into our hands, layering the experience with tools that make home searching smarter, faster and more intuitive.

According to a January 2025 survey by Zillow, 81 percent of consumers said they want their home listed publicly and for free on widely accessible platforms like Zillow, Realtor.com or Redfin. That figure doesn’t just speak for itself — it says volumes about where consumer preferences are headed: toward visibility, convenience and empowered participation.

Let’s be clear. Everyone has skin in the Clear Cooperation Policy debate, and for that reason, all sides deserve scrutiny. But when major portals like Zillow and Redfin decide to stop displaying listings that are publicly marketed before being shared through the MLS, those are policy decisions that directly impact consumers. In my view, they lean in the direction of transparency.

Put simply, I’m for transparency through and through. But I also want it to mean something, not diluted by industry bluff or buried beneath systems that obscure the consumer’s view. Transparency should be treated as a substantive, real-world response to what buyers and sellers actually want.

Sure, it’s fair to note that these platforms also have a business interest in strong listing coverage. But it’s equally true that when portals lose market data due to strategic shifts in brokerage activity, the consumer experience suffers.

Transparency and a fair marketplace shouldn’t be casualties of internal industry disputes — they should be shared goals.

And let’s be clear: Transparency isn’t just about whether a listing appears. It’s also about what appears.

When brokerages, often through private listing networks, start removing key data points like days on market or price change history, they aren’t simplifying the interface — they’re stripping away context. Strip away context, and you lose consumer trust. Manipulate visibility, and you compromise the entire experience.

If I haven’t moved any new needles here, I’ll just say this: Debates and data aside, I’m a consumer. I want all the bells and whistles the future can offer. Whether it’s Amazon delivering my groceries, Disneyland curating a highly personalized park experience (which wasn’t always the case) or real estate portals providing a full view of the market in real time, that’s the experience I expect. And I know I’m not alone.

Downgrading the experience: A ride we shouldn’t take

Let’s go back to The Happiest Place on Earth for a moment.

If you’ve experienced Rise of the Resistance in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, you know it’s more than a ride. It’s a masterpiece. By combining four cutting-edge technologies — trackless systems, motion simulators, drop towers and projection mapping — Disney creates an immersive journey that leaves guests in awe.

Now imagine Disney announcing they’re shutting it down. Or limiting it to a select few. Or replacing it with a one-dimensional, 1980s-era carousel.

Unthinkable, right? And yet, that’s the direction some brokerages are nudging real estate: dialing back innovation, restricting access and downgrading the consumer experience.

Some advocates, who are more blunt than I am, have called it what they believe it is: a prioritization of profit over people, in plain view.

Full circle: From paper maps to the future

"When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires will come to you"

That timeless Disney lyric, written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Pinocchio, has since become the company’s unofficial anthem. And it resonates far beyond theme parks. Isn’t that, at its core, what buyers want from real estate, too?

Not to be judged by who they are, who they know or who they work with. But to be given a fair shot. To access opportunity. To have their dreams of ownership, stability and a better life recognized and respected.

Sound familiar? That’s also the promise of fair housing. The power of visibility. And the reason transparency will always matter.

Technology, innovation and equal access have brought us to a better place, both in theme parks and in real estate. Consumers know it. They expect it. That’s exactly why we can’t go backward.

We can’t afford to fragment the housing market by retreating into outdated models or embracing full-blown off-MLS brokerage strategies. To put it another way: If someone opposes transparency, they may also be opposing convenience, efficiency and public trust.

So why are we asking buyers to navigate real estate in the dark? Why are we limiting their options, demanding loyalty to a single broker, and removing the very visibility they’ve come to rely on?

If Disney suddenly tore down the immersive, interactive system they’ve built — the real-time maps, mobile reservations and virtual wait lines — and told guests to rely on paper maps and guesswork, they wouldn’t just be inconveniencing people. They’d be gutting the experience.

My family wouldn’t go to Disneyland without the app. And buyers shouldn’t be expected to navigate one of the biggest decisions of their lives without full transparency either.

Technology, innovation and transparency didn’t just make Disneyland easier. They made it fairer, smarter, more enjoyable and more accessible. Real estate should be no different.

We’re not going back to paper maps.

Consumers have already moved forward. So let’s stop pretending that selective transparency, or anything less than smart and efficient innovation, has any place in the future of this industry.

NOTE: The opinions, suggestions, and recommendations contained in this discussion are based on Summer Goralik’s experience working for the California Department of Real Estate and as a real estate compliance consultant. They should not be considered legal advice or relied upon as such. You should consult with your brokerage and/or appropriate legal counsel in your jurisdiction for further clarification.

About the Author

Summer Goralik is a Real Estate Compliance Consultant and licensed Real Estate Broker (#02022805). Summer offers real estate brokers a variety of consulting services including assistance with California Department of Real Estate investigations and audit preparation, mock audits, brokerage compliance guidance, advertising review, and training. She helps licensees evaluate their regulatory compliance and correct any non-compliant activities. Summer has an extensive background in real estate which includes private sector, regulatory and law enforcement experience. Prior to opening her consulting business in 2016, she worked for the Orange County District Attorney's Office as a Civilian Economic Crimes Investigator in their Real Estate Fraud Unit. Before that, Summer was employed as a Special Investigator for the DRE for six years. Among many achievements, she wrote several articles for the DRE, four of which were co-authored with former Real Estate Commissioner Wayne Bell. Prior to her career in government and law enforcement, Summer also worked in the escrow industry for nearly five years. For more information about Summer's background and services, please visit her website.