Could AppleWatch & ApplePay replace a MagicBand?

[TisBit]

While I think it is possible, I dont' think Disney will be jumping the gun on it. Look at it this way, the apple pay means that customers at disney resorts have the option to charge to room or directly to their card with apple pay. What you might see is less people doing room charging privileges because this will be more secure (in theory).

You also have to look at the fact that while one member of the family or maybe two might have these watches, not everyone in the family (kids, grandparents, etc) will. So the need for magic bands will still exist. Not to mention, as is already happening, magic bands are becoming a souvenier or fashion statement for park guest. Disney is MAKING money on selling limited edition magic bands and will continue to push them.

Finally, the biggest reason not to push this tech over magic bands is that magic bands are used to track the crowds at disney with long range sensors and allow disney to help manipulate crowd movements, etc. Unless apple opens their devices up for Disney to fully use them for their own data tracking purposes, Disney will continue to push their Magic Bands as their park entry media. And we know that apple will not open their devices up to Walt Disney in the fashion that they would need.

So you will see some integration I am sure, but you aren't going to see this replace magic bands. The purpose of magic bands is far beyond opening a room door or being your park entry device.

 

[tjkraz]

We're a long way off from smart watches replacing--or working in tandem with--MagicBands. But Disney has already confirmed that theme park payment locations will be equipped to accept Apple Pay by the end of the year.

 

[Lewisc]

Actually some hotel chains are already implementing the watch to open guest rooms. They mentioned a brand of hotel in the Keynote but I don't remember which one. So, we can mark payments and room keys off the list. I think park tickets and Fastpass+ reservations could work via a sync with the My Disney app.

All things are possible and I fully expect this to be an option.

-Tyler

Starwood is the chain.

 

[dpotts]

Yes and no, the credit card numbers have to be on the phone to some degree otherwise ApplePay doesn't know where to send the charge to. Chances are this is done by storing and encrypting the card number and using tokens between the stores systems and ApplePay to authorize the payment.

The card number is NOT stored on the device after setup. It works with the credit card companies to setup a payment "token" that is used. From what I understand this transmits a different number each time which is then linked back to your card by the credit card company.

 

[dpotts]

I don't know, I've seen some pretty good arguments against using an an Apple Watch as a Magic Band (being locked out of a room by a dead battery, different chips). But at the same time, I just don't think the possibility can be ignored.

Apple and Disney have very close ties. When Disney went to build their online movie locker, look who they partnered up with. And iTunes seems to have given them access that other companies don't have to do it.

If Disney is willing to commit to upgrading their point-of-sale terminals to support Apple Pay, I don't think it's all that far fetched that they'll go the extra mile and upgrade rooms, gates, and rides if the watch takes off. I don't think Magic Bands would ever go away, but I could see a scenario where people are allowed to link their tickets through an Apple Watch MDE app to enable it to function as a extra Magic Band with a more advanced experience (alerts for upcoming Fastpasses, wait times, etc...).

And if your battery dies and your party doesn't have another means of entry, there's always the front desk.

 

[Cold71]

The card number is NOT stored on the device after setup. It works with the credit card companies to setup a payment "token" that is used. From what I understand this transmits a different number each time which is then linked back to your card by the credit card company.

There isn't some number on my card that would link my credit card to ApplePay outside of the actual credit card number on the front of the card. They have to have a way of identifying your account. As for tokens, this isn't anything new. Tokens are the basis of how encryption works. The way I see it there are two ways of doing this..

1) Input the card number into the ApplePay app on your phone, have the the app encrypt that number. Everytime you make try and buy something your phone passes a token to the stores systems, the store systems goes out and verifys with an apple server the token is valid and authorizes the payments.

2) Attach your credit card to an ApplePay account, log in to the ApplePay app. The rest of the process would be the same as number 1.

The difference is encrypting your card number either on Apples end or locally on the phone. I have a feeling this is going to work a lot like Androids system which is already in place. It's piggy backing off the same NFC payment systems you already find in some stores. In which case there is a good chance they just encrypt it on their servers as this is how Google does it and how Apple does it already with Apple ID's that have an associated credit card.

Either way I'm excited to start using NFC more and more. It's already pretty big in Europe. Hopefully now that Apple is going forward with it all these stores will convince themselves it's a new technology and their store needs to support it.

 

[etherealcaitiff]

To everyone saying that Disney has no reason to want to make the Apple watches and devices substitute a Magicband, I gotta say, yes they do.


A lot of people don't realize it, but Disney's CEO Bob Iger is on the Board of Directors for Apple. He definitely wants to integrate as much as possible because he has an interest in both companies. NFC techonology has existed in android devices for the better part of the last decade, but now that Apple has caught up I'm sure that Disney will start working with it too.

 

[MichaelaF]

If I were a betting person, I'd put money on the Apple Watches being able to be used entirely as MBs eventually. (Not in the first gen, maybe not in the second gen, but eventually.)

 

[TylerBarnett]

I'm pretty sure Disney is ALL over NFC. I mean, you're already putting your MB directly ON the devices needed to read it (Ride entrances, Food stations, Room locks, Park gate, etc.) and I don't think Disney is "tracking" you throughout the park from a remote location that's possibly to far away for the RFID to transmit. It's my understanding that the tracking feature Disney utilizes is the data collected only when you use it for something.

Gotta say...NFC is coming to Disney!

-Tyler

 

[TylerBarnett]

Sorry for any confusion...I'm referencing the NFC vs. RFID topic. RFID can only transmit up to a couple of feet away while NFC up to a couple of inches.

-Tyler

 

[TylerBarnett]

I found this article...it explains a lot about the differences and similarities between RFID and NFC.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/difference-between-rfid-and-nfc1.htm

-Tyler

 

[lockedoutlogic]

The answer is no...
Ease of pay is a big goal of magic bands...

But just as important is crowd monitoring/control and resort operations to reduce staffing

No apple product will accomplish that

 

[circus4u]

Not everyone owns an Apple phone and I don't think everyone will have the apple watch, so don't see how they could do away with the magic bands. Personally, I refuse to own anything that Apple produces as they are overpriced. Do not use iTunes either.

Then again, I refuse to go on Facebook and Twitter too.

 

[PuppyJonathan]

Don't ask me why but I don't see the iWatch making that big of a splash. I know it's been the most anticipated thing for a long time but I was thinking to myself sales wise it may fall into obscurity

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Don't ask me why but I don't see the iWatch making that big of a splash. I know it's been the most anticipated thing for a long time but I was thinking to myself sales wise it may fall into obscurity

Me too...

For me it's mostly a child's toy...in my case, the cellphone eliminated the need for a watch...so my cellphone is being out back on one?

We don't really need to go there...my take.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Watching Apple's major event today with the company announcing (finally) AppleWatch and ApplePay...it got me thinking. Could AppleWatch be a viable substitute for a MagicBand?

Let's think about this for a moment...

The new iPhone 6 and AppleWatch will have NFC technology in them, allowing for non-contact data to be transferred; like a MagicBand. Once Apple releases the DevKit for AppleWatch, and if I were a betting person, I'd bet that Disney would start working (if they're not already) on a way to sync an AppleWatch to the MyDisney Experience app...syncing all the data for that user(s). This means...park tickets, FastPass+ reservations, meal plans and dinner reservations, etc.

It's not to far fetched to assume that AppleWatch would be able to access this info and use its NFC tech to transfer this data to Disney's MagicBand system and readers. To me, this would be great! Not only could I NOT wear two different bands on my wrist, but I could sync my social accounts to my adventures in the Magic Kingdom. BTW, Disney...if you're reading this, I have great ideas for this tech! Email me...nightgoretb@gmail.com Haha.

Think about it...not only could Disney save MAJOR dollars in cost savings from not having to send out MagicBands but they could MAKE money by selling custom Disney branded watch straps for AppleWatch.

I do hope Disney looks into this. It only seems like the next possible step for the MagicBand system!

Thoughts?

-Tyler

Maybe not a great idea to publish your email address in a public forum.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Me too...

For me it's mostly a child's toy...in my case, the cellphone eliminated the need for a watch...so my cellphone is being out back on one?

We don't really need to go there...my take.

Watches now have become a fashion thing rather than functionality thing...although the extension of the tech could be useful. Millennials actually do have a large growing segment of the watch market.

It's not going to be iphone big at $349, but could be ipad big. It should do decent early adopter sale... I'm interested but would wait for v2