Dreading Magic Bands. Are they more of a Nuisance than the old FP?

[Dionnemay]

From the limited info I've gathered on them, magic bands seem like they are going to be annoying and way less convenient than the fast pass. My last few trips to Disney have been WDL and I haven't been to WDW since 2012 so I haven't had a chance to use the Magic Bands.

We're going in March and though I'm usually psyched to go to WDW the whole confusing magic band thing is kinda harshing the high.

From what I've gathered, you now have to "reserve' all of the attractions you want to FP long before you even go on the trip. AND if you don't do it fast enough you wont get one for certain attractions.

This seems inconvenient to me for several reasons:

1. Having to select all your FP rides for a 9 day trip ahead of time really takes the spontaneity out of the trip (which is half the fun). Also it feels a lot like homework ...
When we go to Disney most of the time the rides we want to FP really depend on several things like the weather, how early/late we get to the park, which park we are at (which isn't always planned because lots of times the crowds/ a parade we missed/ or a place we want to eat at will modify what park we go to). Having all your FP's pre-scheduled forces you to stick to a certain park.

2. Makes the extra cost of a Park Hopper superfluous
The whole purpose of a Park Hopper is so you can bounce around to whatever park you want at a moments notice and just follow your whimsy. I always get PH because as I said above, lots of factors will determine what park we go to and how long we stay. Sometimes MK is too crowded so we'll decide to mosey over to AK, or there's a parade we missed or just found out about that we want to shoot over to see, or so and so wants to go to some shop in another park etc... that's the whole fun of PH. You aren't stuck in one park all day or for a certain period. The day gets to kind of plan itself. And yes, I know some planning is necessary to make the most of the trip but I never like being too rigid because you never know what the day will bring or where it will take you. It seems like if we HAVE to be at certain rides at certain times every day, the FP's are planning the day- not us. The spontaneity is what makes it a "vacation"

3. Form what I understand you have to have a smartphone. I do but what abut people who don't? What about people with crappy coverage or low data/ battery? Or leave their phone at home on accident or whatever? It doesn't seem convenient for your day to depend on a smartphone.

I don't know, I haven't used them yet, as I said, but it seems like they are more headache than the old FP system they still use at WDL. Plus, while I do acknowledge that one good aspect is that you don't have to run across the parks collecting FP's anymore, it seems fairer for whoever gets there first to get the worm. Online, its too easy to just sit and click a few buttons and all the FPs are gone before you have a chance.


Oh also, I heard that if you don't do it earlier enough before you leave, the FP's are gone. So what, that means once you're at WDW you have to do all the rides in standby because you didn't have the money to reserve our trip until 2 weeks prior? That doesn't seem s fair at all. At l;east with a normal FB your FP depended on how soon you got to the parks - not how soon you reserved your trip.

Anyway, I haven't even reserved mine yet - I cant until next week but I'm dreading having to sit down and KNOW what we are going to do everyday. I hope its not as bad as it feels like its gonna be...

 

[Maxpowers]

I understand your apprehension with the magic band / FP+, which I experienced for the first time February of 2015. Honestly, I didn't find it to be a cumbersome as other seem to find it. Yes you have to make you FP selections in advance, but I literally didn't need to do anything else with them after booking them. So, while I see your point about the smartphone, once its booked you don't really need it. You can always stop at the kiosk if you've forgotten what FPs you have. It does create a bit of a rigid time frame, as far as where you need to be at certain times, but it wasn't that big a deal. I figured out about 2/3rds of the way through the trip that it was fine it I missed a FP. It's not the end of the world. If you're doing something else and having fun and don't want to rush somewhere to get to you FP then don't. Stay and have fun what you are doing. That's kind of the whole point.

Also reark hoppers - we used our quite a bit. I booked all my FPs for the morning and then would either stay at the same park, head back to the resort for some downtime before heading to a different park, or just go to a different park as our mood fit. Long story short, we used our park hopper and would/will get them in the future.

 

[PlutoFan10]

While it is convenient to have a smart phone, there are kiosks on the park where you can make or change your FP reservation. Unfortunately, you to snag a FP for some of the "big" rides, even 30-60 days in advance. I have generally been able to get all or most of what I want. Also very convenient when someone decides to join our party just a few weeks in advance. I was able to add them to all of our existing FPs.

 

[pigletliz]

Magic Bands were fine. I kind of like knowing that I can ride my favorite ride without standing in an insane line, unless I choose to. It also kept us from doing the "what do you want to ride next" dance that we played every trip. I don't make changes on my phone. I didn't find that it had any negative effect on our trip at all. I hope you have a great trip!

 

[loves to dive]

First, magic bands are your room key, your park pass, you means of charging to your room if you wish and you ID for getting into the FP line. They are not FPs, they take the place of you keys to world card they used to issue. Now on to FP, you don't have to book it 60 or 30 days in advance. There are only one or two attractions that tend to be a little hard to get (Anna and Elise and the new mine train) otherwise you can probably book what you want the night before, we do. Having MDE on your cell phone is not necessary, it's just nice to be able to check your FP and ADRs or to change your FP on the fly. I do that all the time, I've been known to be in line for something I had a FP for but didn't need it so I hop on MDE and change it to something else. To be honest, other than a few attractions, our FP tend to either be changed or ignored. As far as PHs, you can still us them and make good use of them. Start in park 1 at rope drop, ride what you want, book your FP for park 2 and hop on over. Or book your FP for early in the day, park 1 gets too crowded hop over to park 2. You'll read about lines being a hour wait, that is not the norm, keep in mind too that the wait times listed in the lines are not always accurate. It's still possible to be foot loose and fancy free, we do it all the time. We book FP the night before and if we want ADRs we book them the morning of at GS in the park. We are flexible though, we don't mind waiting in a line if we really want to ride something and we don't go to see how many rides we can hit in one day.