Hey, Disney! is bringing a famous mouse to your Alexa next year

Amazon is giving Alexa a new personality, the first since the first version of its voice assistant launched eight years ago. Starting in 2022 guests at Walt Disney World Resort hotels will find a mouse-themed Alexa waiting for them. Instead of the traditional Alexa, they’ll be able to say Hey, Disney and be greeted by some of their favourite Disney characters. 

While there’s no hint yet who will be able to speak, via Alexa, it’s a fair guess that anthropomorphic animals will feature heavily. It seems ludicrous that the world’s most famous mouse won’t be involved, in some way. Amazon says there are as many as 1,000 custom interactions to discover using this new wake phrase. 

Amazon is promising a varied selection of stories and immersive experiences to make a stay at Disney even more special. Some of those will feature characters like Dory the fish and Olaf the snowman but details about what these experiences might involve is a bit thin on the ground. 

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There’s also a practical use too, with Amazon explaining that guests will be able to say Hey, Disney bring me more towels and the assistant will get in touch with some humans to have them brought to your room. This is part of Amazon’s wider service, called Alexa for Hospitality, which allows hotels and venues to make extensive use of Alexa to offer guests assistance during their stay. 

Hey, Disney will also be available in homes too, on compatible Alexa devices. There’s no set launch date yet, but it’s likely that it will launch some time after the hotels get access to the new assistant. We also don’t yet know if the service will be available outside the US. We do, however, know that it’s a paid option although pricing hasn’t been specified yet. 

Also available is an all-new Alexa stand, with Mickey Mouse styling. The OtterBox Den Series will give your Alexa a new look and can be pre-ordered today in the US for the Echo Show 5 and it costs $24.99.