Just finishing up a 7-day/6-night trip, staying at SSR...we did use FP+ and magic bands and while there was a glitch or two w/the magic bands, mostly they worked really well. FP+ also worked really well -- we mostly stuck to the schedule we'd put together before leaving home, and that was a change for us...we like to be more spontaneous...by yesterday (2 days left), we wound up cancelling/rescheduling just because we were chafing at being so scheduled...
Day-before and day-of FP+ scheduling wasn't too bad...of course, this is a low-crowds week, but we had lots of choices...not everything and not at every time we wanted, but mostly just fine...
The magic bands are a mite tricky...you have to put your mickey head icon on the reader...waving it over or near or off center and it won't work...but doesn't take long to move it around to make it work...
Disney has gotten quite rigid, too...I like to do early morning swims and/or early morning hikes (exercise nut that I am)...I got kicked out of Downtown Disney at 7 a.m.--the guard told me it wasn't open yet and I'd have to leave (even after I explained that I was just out walking)...when I got back to SSR, the guard at the gate asked for my room key or magic band (no problem)...he was nice, but commented on all my day's plans...felt a little weird, like I was being stalked...got kicked out of the Paddock Pool twice when I tried swimming in it prior to its official opening...but the Congress Park pool was ok to use "before hours"...but both times I went over there to swim (at around 6 a.m.) a Disney Security Guard showed up and circled the pool the whole time (an hour) I was swimming...also felt a bit weird...
It was a really good trip--first for my DS in two years (he graduated law school and started working in "the real world," making Disney vacation time at a premium!)...but I didn't like the getting kicked out (first time ever I've been asked to leave a pool or an area--including one time, several years ago, when I got turned around and "lost" and found myself behind-scenes near the International Gateway at Epcot...that time the CMs were sympathetic and one actually gave us a ride out...no sense of "you can't be here; get out" as there was three separate times this trip)...
Anyway, this trip makes it seem like if you're going to go during crowded times, you'd probably better pre-plan, and stick to your plans...and don't go where Disney doesn't want you to go...altho none of the guards/CMs who kicked me out were "mean"...but it sure feels weird to be kicked out at Disney! Didn't and don't like it at all..I've been doing 6 a.m.-ish swims at Disney for years and years (maybe even decades)...it's a change I will have trouble adapting to...and I still don't understand why I couldn't walk through Downtown Disney...
Oh, well...it was a good trip and I'm not gonna let those "glitches" spoil the memories we made...next trip hopefully I'll know the new rules and won't feel so "unwelcome"...I'm a rule-following sort of person; I'm unlikely to break the rules once I know what they are...
