[ADVISORY] WDW - MagicBand-Only Testing Begins at Disney's Pop Century Resort

[Kaelorian]

I wonder if those MVMCP plastic cards (I got the plastic cards in the mail) will work for you all week at the FP- machines? Similar to how room-only KTTW are able to pull FP- all week in the parks.

I'd like to know this as well. My inlaws have the package, and we have UT tickets, so I'd hate to be able to pull fp- and they couldn't. If we could pull fp- all week with the mvmcp tickets, that would be awesome. Our Christmas party isn't until the last day of our trip though. Would it have to be activated beforehand by entering the park with them?

 

[My3Princez]

you've never been in th efastpass line and heard people in the standby line talking about how "it's some pay thing" or something like that?

People will see FP- and the CM's say "but you have the new and improved FP+ where you get all 3 of your FP's before the park even opens- if you dont have them get all 3 of yours hear at this touchscreen FP machine right now. You dont have to bother schleping to those old style machines all day long to get your second and thrid fp" How is the "normal person going to have a clue that the other resorts are getting BOTH FP+ and FP-? How many people that never heard of FP (- or + version) will even know that FP- people can get MOR ethan 3 a day?

Dont you have friends that know you as "the disney guru?"- I suspect many of us here do. I know everyone of my friends, family, and co workers seems to know to ask me for advince how to handle their upcoming trips. The numbers of them that are clueless is amazing. My kids soccer coach is leaving for a trip with his family THIS WEEK- and knew NOTHING- not a thing about MB's or FP+. My kid told his kid and so the coach asked me. I had to explain it all- I know they've been before. I dont even know if they used FP- in the past.

WE ARE NOT NORMAL guests.

Love this post. And the part there at the end I put in bold - Tag Fairy, Where Are You??

 

[BigAlsGal]

I haven't finished reading the thread yet, but just to be sure everyone understands: You ARE completely able now and forever to opt out of the *magic bands*. The problem is you are going to get a RIFD KTTW card which will not pull legacy FP. Opting out of FP+ means opting out of FP altogether.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I understand. I asked this "manager" twice to confirm that I could in fact have access to the old system with the KTTW card I would receive and she said yes. So this manager is either completely clueless (which I'm sure she's not) or she is lying. If she lied to me she's going to hear about it and so will disney.

 

[The Hub]

There have been a lot of posts from people saying they talked to someone in the know (CM's, TA's, people at AAA who are Disney trained) that said yes they would get a KTTW card for FP- when they checked in, but didn't get it due to the policy card.

But I too am wondering how you talked to a manager? If you call and ask to be connected the hotel's front desk you get a call center that may not even be in Florida.

Even dialing the front desk from your hotel room's phone will transfer you to one of our call centers, who will act as the front desk.

The call center made a 3rd party call to a manager at pop and she personally assured me we could still do the old card. I made sure she knew I took her name. She knows my arrival date and my name. I have already attempted to make reservations at another hotel but there are none available. I'm kind of stuck either way. This just sucks!!

You will still be issued a Key to the World card if you choose to opt out of the MagicBands, but you will be unable to get paper FastPasses. Are you sure the leader you spoke to was from the Pop Century? Considering the only way to be transferred to the resort is for an emergency purpose or for high valued or prescription lost/found items, it doesn't seem likely that they would transfer you for a MyMagic+ related inquiry. This makes me assume they transferred you to another Cast Member in one of our call centers who acted as a Pop Century leader. A leader physically at the Pop Century would have more information regarding this test. You would get a better response from our Guest Communications Team.

 

[BigAlsGal]

Even dialing the front desk from your hotel room's phone will transfer you to one of our call centers, who will act as the front desk.



You will still be issued a Key to the World card if you choose to opt out of the MagicBands, but you will be unable to get paper FastPasses. Are you sure the leader you spoke to was from the Pop Century? Considering the only way to be transferred to the resort is for an emergency purpose or for high valued or prescription lost/found items, it doesn't seem likely that they would transfer you for a MyMagic+ related inquiry. This makes me assume they transferred you to another Cast Member in one of our call centers who acted as a Pop Century leader. A leader physically at the Pop Century would have more information regarding this test. You would get a better response from our Guest Communications Team.

I only know what they told me. I can't imagine them putting on such a charade. I could be wrong though. I've been wrong before. Lol.

 

[BigAlsGal]

Even dialing the front desk from your hotel room's phone will transfer you to one of our call centers, who will act as the front desk.



You will still be issued a Key to the World card if you choose to opt out of the MagicBands, but you will be unable to get paper FastPasses. Are you sure the leader you spoke to was from the Pop Century? Considering the only way to be transferred to the resort is for an emergency purpose or for high valued or prescription lost/found items, it doesn't seem likely that they would transfer you for a MyMagic+ related inquiry. This makes me assume they transferred you to another Cast Member in one of our call centers who acted as a Pop Century leader. A leader physically at the Pop Century would have more information regarding this test. You would get a better response from our Guest Communications Team.

I only know what they told me. I can't imagine them putting on such a charade. I could be wrong though. I've been wrong before. Lol.

If you know any of the higher ups at pop I have a name. I could give it to you in a private message and you can tell me if she really exists.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

I only know what they told me. I can't imagine them putting on such a charade. I could be wrong though. I've been wrong before. Lol.

Everything is pointing to the info that "The Hub" is giving to be very accurate. (as in 100%) I would highly recommend listening and taking it seriously.

As others have stated info EVEN coming from POP itself is been given out false. I myself was given information that I would be able to get an KTTW card and use it for only 3 FB- a day. Can not even imagine where that misinformation came from. You really should go into this with a backup plan in mind. A good trick used is have to call back and if you get the same answer about being able to opt out and use KTTW card, have them note those facts in your Ressie. this way you can use this to help you when you get there.
PS it didn't get another guest to be able to use FB but it helped with a resort transfer Might be an option for if another resort is available. I would think that they would wave the DDP issue to make you happy (or hope)

Either way I hope you have a great trip

 

[rt2dz]

I understand. I asked this "manager" twice to confirm that I could in fact have access to the old system with the KTTW card I would receive and she said yes. So this manager is either completely clueless (which I'm sure she's not) or she is lying. If she lied to me she's going to hear about it and so will disney.

First, I didn't really mean that at you specifically. I only quoted you because you had made the statement regarding being able to opt out of the magic band test. I've heard many people say that.

When they are telling you that, the CMs are 100% correct. You can absolutely opt out of the MAGIC BAND test. You can absolutely opt out of FP+; you just also opt out of FP when you do.

I'm thinking the "manager" (at the call center...?) is neither clueless nor lying. She is misinformed and lacking training--something Disney cut back on a decade or so again in a massive way. At anywhere but the POP she would be correct. She probably hasn't gotten the new memo--if it even goes out to the call centers. They are not at Disney.

I don't necessarily blame you for being upset about the situation, but you do know the real deal from here. Be prepared. Also, know that most call center CMs use stage names. Or at least they used to. Haven't called in years.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[DVC4US]

I only know what they told me. I can't imagine them putting on such a charade. I could be wrong though. I've been wrong before. Lol.

If you know any of the higher ups at pop I have a name. I could give it to you in a private message and you can tell me if she really exists.

Did you happen to read the following posts from earlier in this thread? I hope everything works out for you, but I would be prepared to be told differently when you check-in.

I'm checking into Pop Century and the employee I spoke to at guest services said tonight I will absolutely get the KTTW card as backup for my magic band when I check-in tomorrow (11/19). I had her make a note on my reservation. She told me that she recently stayed at Pop and got to use both the legacy fastpasses and magic bands. Keeping my fingers crossed.

She said I'd get a KTTW card and it would work in the paper fast pass machines. I've read all the posts in this thread and I wasn't anticipating the cheery, reassuring nature of the woman I spoke with saying I'm for certain going to have no issue getting the key to the world card for getting legacy fast passes. Hopefully the folks at the check in desk tomorrow are of a similar nature. Thanks to everyone on this thread because maybe I can circumvent what would have been very disappointing news at check-in. Anyway, back to last minute packing!

Ok, so here's what happened upon check in at Pop tonight... They do not have KTTW cards just like you all expected and we spoke to a supervisor and their hands are completely tied. They are doing this test to see how the MB system works "on its own" without any legacy support. We spoke at length with the CMs and the only way to gain use of the paper FP- is to stay at a participating resort. There was a couple next to us with the same frustration. It was suggested to ask for assistance at the parks but the resort cannot anymore give out KTTW cards. Because we had no prior notice (other than Disboards) and because I had called gust services last night and was told I could "absolutely" get a KTTW card to obtain legacy FP- (and I had it noted on my reservation), they were very helpful in transferring my family to another resort. Pop is our favorite yet we feel like this is an acceptable compromise. Its too bad the front line Pop CMs can only offer to transfer folks -- we were fortunate there was availability. And really all we wanted was to use the same paper fast passes everyone else could obtain. Best of luck to everyone, wish I could have reported something more promising in regards to the testing at Pop being reverted or something.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

By the way, if any of you are thinking about changing resorts to POR for the first week of December (or after) to get around the "New and Improved" POP test. I would not recommend it. I have already switched our ressie to there for that week and knowing how my luck usually turns out. I am pretty sure any second now, Disney will be announcing that POR will be the second resort to start the "New and Improved" testing for MB.

Don't say I didn't warn you!!!!

 

[The Hub]

I only know what they told me. I can't imagine them putting on such a charade. I could be wrong though. I've been wrong before. Lol.

If you know any of the higher ups at pop I have a name. I could give it to you in a private message and you can tell me if she really exists.

While I do have the ability to search based on a name, I would prefer not to do that as it could leave traces, as to who I am and I would prefer to be anonymous. Our RostR provides direct contact information to anyone employed by The Walt Disney Company and our Operating Participants so I would hope they have the ability to know who is looking for this information.

First, I didn't really mean that at you specifically. I only quoted you because you had made the statement regarding being able to opt out of the magic band test. I've heard many people say that.

When they are telling you that, the CMs are 100% correct. You can absolutely opt out of the MAGIC BAND test. You can absolutely opt out of FP+; you just also opt out of FP when you do.

I'm thinking the "manager" (at the call center...?) is neither clueless nor lying. She is misinformed and lacking training--something Disney cut back on a decade or so again in a massive way. At anywhere but the POP she would be correct. She probably hasn't gotten the new memo--if it even goes out to the call centers. They are not at Disney.

I don't necessarily blame you for being upset about the situation, but you do know the real deal from here. Be prepared. Also, know that most call center CMs use stage names. Or at least they used to. Haven't called in years.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

We are still using stage names for all phone related Guest Relations. This way, if you present a name and what department/time, they will know exactly who you spoke to. Just like in the parks, if you ever see someone with a nametag that says Chris from Orlando, they are not Chris from Orlando. They just forgot their nametag. We have other nametag variations, but they are all very generic and from Orlando, FL.

You are also correct that training has been cut back, by a lot recently. After spending some time with our Operations Learning & Development Cast Members, I am disappointed. Many of our newer Cast Members don't have any enthusiasm for this company and only applied because of the College Program and to get free theme park admission.

By the way, if any of you are thinking about changing resorts to POR for the first week of December (or after) to get around the "New and Improved" POP test. I would not recommend it. I have already switched our ressie to there for that week and knowing how my luck usually turns out. I am pretty sure any second now, Disney will be announcing that POR will be the second resort to start the "New and Improved" testing for MB.

Don't say I didn't warn you!!!!

As this is not official and I have no connection to the team with the rollout, please do not take my word for this part. I do not think we will be adding other resorts to our test-and-adjust phase until at least after Thanksgiving. Our Leaders already know that we will have a lot of MyMagic+ problems, Guest Experience problems, and general crowding issues that escalate all of our normal problems substantially. I believe they will add them after our Thanksgiving rush when we start to be slower and get at least a couple more resorts implemented before our Christmas rush, giving them some time to get adjusted before our parks will close for capacity. After that, I would hope they would try to have all resorts this way before Spring Break season starts and start expanding our offsite and Annual Passholder testing phases around that time and begin the removal of legacy FastPass shortly after.

The above is just how I would think is the logical way for Disney to do this, after seeing how they operate from being a Cast Member for a few years, now. None of that is official and please don't take my word for it. It is just an opinion.

 

[book_junkie]

So for those who are cancelling their resort reservations because of the issue with the lack of FP- and POP, so close and had the FP+ reserved, do you still see your FP+? Or did they disappear with the reservation?

 

[wn01aa]

While I do have the ability to search based on a name, I would prefer not to do that as it could leave traces, as to who I am and I would prefer to be anonymous. Our RostR provides direct contact information to anyone employed by The Walt Disney Company and our Operating Participants so I would hope they have the ability to know who is looking for this information.



We are still using stage names for all phone related Guest Relations. This way, if you present a name and what department/time, they will know exactly who you spoke to. Just like in the parks, if you ever see someone with a nametag that says Chris from Orlando, they are not Chris from Orlando. They just forgot their nametag. We have other nametag variations, but they are all very generic and from Orlando, FL.

You are also correct that training has been cut back, by a lot recently. After spending some time with our Operations Learning & Development Cast Members, I am disappointed. Many of our newer Cast Members don't have any enthusiasm for this company and only applied because of the College Program and to get free theme park admission.



As this is not official and I have no connection to the team with the rollout, please do not take my word for this part. I do not think we will be adding other resorts to our test-and-adjust phase until at least after Thanksgiving. Our Leaders already know that we will have a lot of MyMagic+ problems, Guest Experience problems, and general crowding issues that escalate all of our normal problems substantially. I believe they will add them after our Thanksgiving rush when we start to be slower and get at least a couple more resorts implemented before our Christmas rush, giving them some time to get adjusted before our parks will close for capacity. After that, I would hope they would try to have all resorts this way before Spring Break season starts and start expanding our offsite and Annual Passholder testing phases around that time and begin the removal of legacy FastPass shortly after.

The above is just how I would think is the logical way for Disney to do this, after seeing how they operate from being a Cast Member for a few years, now. None of that is official and please don't take my word for it. It is just an opinion.

Thanks again Hub. Do you know if the FP- machines have finally been fixed so they no longer allow room-only KTTW to pull passes? Or does it have to remain as it is, even though some will abuse the system with old medium, because it has to take those back-up KTTW given, which might not be used for park entry if you have a MagicBand.

 

[BigAlsGal]

Ok. Got all the answers I needed. Finally got a CM who gave a crap. Everything on this thread is true. Fortunately I got changed over to ASMu so I'm steering clear of this stuff. Thank you guys so much for all the info. Being a test dummy the week of thanksgiving is my ultimate nightmare. Especially with bringing extra family members. I'm very hopeful for the new system to be a success but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

As this is not official and I have no connection to the team with the rollout, please do not take my word for this part. I do not think we will be adding other resorts to our test-and-adjust phase until at least after Thanksgiving. Our Leaders already know that we will have a lot of MyMagic+ problems, Guest Experience problems, and general crowding issues that escalate all of our normal problems substantially. I believe they will add them after our Thanksgiving rush when we start to be slower and get at least a couple more resorts implemented before our Christmas rush, giving them some time to get adjusted before our parks will close for capacity. After that, I would hope they would try to have all resorts this way before Spring Break season starts and start expanding our offsite and Annual Passholder testing phases around that time and begin the removal of legacy FastPass shortly after.

The above is just how I would think is the logical way for Disney to do this, after seeing how they operate from being a Cast Member for a few years, now. None of that is official and please don't take my word for it. It is just an opinion.

I know I have thanked you a few times already on this thread, but thank you again. Even your "Just your Opinion" will help sleep better at night. that is the same logic I used, I also figured they will do all the value resorts first due to pricing levels; "Stick it to the people who pay less!!!"

But I do still warn people of the power of my luck...
As just one example... Monday night I Was at the doctors with a 103 fever, turns out I have strep throat, Tuesday my wife ended up at the doctors, with a double ear infection and strep throat (so of course it is all my fault she is sick!!) and today my son came hope from the doctors on an antibiotic for a skin infection from his eczema (who knew dry skin could mean antibiotics!) and yes we leave 8 days from now on Thanksgiving night for our first family drive to the world. (Which we will be driving 16 hours straight thru)

My family, we are like the Great Disney world attractions: as they say "What could possibly go wrong???

 

[myhouseofmouse]

So for those who are cancelling their resort reservations because of the issue with the lack of FP- and POP, so close and had the FP+ reserved, do you still see your FP+? Or did they disappear with the reservation?

No, they will stay the same.. (mine did!!!)

 

[myhouseofmouse]

Ok. Got all the answers I needed. Finally got a CM who gave a crap. Everything on this thread is true. Fortunately I got changed over to ASMu so I'm steering clear of this stuff. Thank you guys so much for all the info. Being a test dummy the week of thanksgiving is my ultimate nightmare. Especially with bringing extra family members. I'm very hopeful for the new system to be a success but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Good for you, hope you have a great trip.

 

[BigAlsGal]

Good for you, hope you have a great trip.

Thanks . And thank you for being so persuasive!! I probably wouldn't have called if you hadn't convinced me.

 

[wn01aa]

Got to love the poor POP resort. First in August and September people are switching from their resort to POP for their stay, staying there first night there, or making a ghost reservation there in order to get MagicBands. Now the resort is like the plague with people moving their reservation to another resort.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

Thanks . And thank you for being so persuasive!! I probably wouldn't have called if you hadn't convinced me.

Hi AlsGal! There is another thread with someone saying they were told many times they could get a KTTW card they can use for paper FP even though they are checking into POP. It might be a nice to post what you find out there for that OP. I'm glad you kept checking and wasn't caught off guard with your up coming trip. I hope you and your family have a great trip!!