EPCOT magic bands crashed

[KTR]

It is our last night in the parks and we saved a ton of snack credits for Epcot. We were planning to snack at all the food kiosks around the world and stock on treats from germany and France. The dining part of the magic bands completely crashed and they were unable to redeem any credits after about 7pm. We now have 43 snack credits and 9 quick service credits we weren't able to redeem. We had our kids crying that we couldn't get them any of the snacks we promised, and my husband and I never did get to eat dinner. The solution we were offered was to go to Disney Springs tonight and buy chocolate. Sorry, that does not cut it.

 

[Robo]

Another trip to Guest Relations is in order.

Be prepared for a line of other guests.

 

[Disney_traveler]

Ugh I'm so sorry for you! That's ridiculous! They make us so reliant on the technology and then it doesn't work. They really need a backup system for this. I'd be at guest services explaining the situation and begging for some kind of refund. It's not like you can do this another day.

 

[loves to dive]

Yep, you are going to have to go to GS, they can give you an old fashioned card which might work if it's just a MB issue. Unfortunately, often the machines in shops and booths don't work with the MBs, I never charge to mine for just that reason, I always carry a cc. I know that doesn't help you with the DP and it sucks. So sorry.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I'd ask for a credit card refund for the value of what you lost...and then see what Customer Service says (if you get a non-desired response, I would post to Facebook). If you assume 2 snacks are 1 CS and 2 CS and 2 snacks are 1 day of CS cost, (you'd have roughly 20 snacks and 20 CS to make even days), you should ask for 10 days of credit back. Assuming 1/2 are kid credits and 1/2 are adult credits, that should be about $330 back on your CC. That would be what I'd ask for...

Another paper napkin way to justify - $5 snack, $10 CS Meal - $300+ refund...

 

[Figmentmommy]

Although not ideal or convenient - another option would have been to purchase those snacks and meals out of pocket (charging the purchases to your resort folio) and then having Guest Relations credit your folio and deduct the credits from your dining plan accordingly. If purchased with cash or a credit card the amount could be applied as a credit to your folio and the dining credits could then be deducted as necessary.

Since you didn't purchase the snacks and meals because of the system problem, I would most certainly ask for an appropriate adjustment/credit from Guest Relations for your unused dining credits.

 

[supersnoop]

It is our last night in the parks and we saved a ton of snack credits for Epcot. We were planning to snack at all the food kiosks around the world and stock on treats from germany and France. The dining part of the magic bands completely crashed and they were unable to redeem any credits after about 7pm. We now have 43 snack credits and 9 quick service credits we weren't able to redeem. We had our kids crying that we couldn't get them any of the snacks we promised, and my husband and I never did get to eat dinner. The solution we were offered was to go to Disney Springs tonight and buy chocolate. Sorry, that does not cut it.

You should have been told to charge the items back to your room and keep the receipt. Then, they'd be able to credit everything off at the front desk.

 

[KTR]

You should have been told to charge the items back to your room and keep the receipt. Then, they'd be able to credit everything off at the front desk.

One place did tell us this, but the magic band scanner did not work so we could not charge with it and we did not carry credit cards into the park. Every other kiosk and restaurant didn't mention it though.

 

[cigar95]

Was it just your bands, or was it a system-wide thing? I couldn't tell for sure from your report. (I didn't charge a dinner tonight, so it wouldn't have affected me. Also, I was at MK in the evening.)

 

[Missyrose]

One place did tell us this, but the magic band scanner did not work so we could not charge with it and we did not carry credit cards into the park. Every other kiosk and restaurant didn't mention it though.

This is an excellent example of why people should carry another form of payment other than a Magic Band. Sorry this happened to you OP, I hope Disney makes it right.

 

[KTR]

Was it just your bands, or was it a system-wide thing? I couldn't tell for sure from your report. (I didn't charge a dinner tonight, so it wouldn't have affected me. Also, I was at MK in the evening.)

It was all of Epcot. No ones magic bands were working. It was quite a mess. They worked for fast passes but not for dining credits or payment.

 

[KTR]

We ended up getting a $60 credit on our room. I don't know how they came up with that number but that was what we were offered. Then we spent our huge number of snack credits on trail mix and rice crispy treats. The manager at the resort was very nice, but this sure put a big damper on our last night at Disney World.

 

[perditax]

Wow--Disney potentially lost a LOT of money if that many people really don't carry alternate forms of payment.

No way do I go anywhere without my ID and two types of cards, but I guess people have more faith in Disney and their IT dept than I do.

 

[TnTWalter]

the problem was that they prepaid for the food so they didn't want to spend more money so even if they had a credit card, wouldn't solve the OP's problem...they wanted to get snacks etc. for all the credits linked to their bands...sorry this happened OP.

The dining plan is a pain.

 

[ellie05]

Another reason why not to do the dinning plan. Op I would have not accepted just $60 that is a ridiculous amount of snacks to have in Rice Krispie bars and chocolate. Please write to Disney when you get home and let them know what happened.

 

[MrPTato]

I am just curious, as I have only done the dining plan twice, why wait until the end of the trip to redeem all these credits? Seem to be a lot of snacks/meals missed during the entire trip. I have seen other people in the parks do the same thing on the Main Street bake shop. This is NOT a dis to the OP...just wondering why a lot of people seem to wait until the night before checkout or the day of and stockpile.

Does stink that system wasn't working and it always good to have a backup method. Crashed once on us but just for a snack, so no big deal, but a large family tying to redeem QS credit...what a pain.

 

[mrzrich]

If someone has 43 snacks and 9 quick service meals left on their last day, then the Dining Plan is not a value for them. If I were OP, or anyone else with a plethora of credits left at the end of their trip, I would seriously reflect on what you paid for the plan vs how much you would have actually eaten and spent if you had just let your eaten what you wanted and paid out of pocket. Then decide if you want to use the plan again next time.

 

[Star Tourist]

I am just curious, as I have only done the dining plan twice, why wait until the end of the trip to redeem all these credits? Seem to be a lot of snacks/meals missed during the entire trip.

Sounds to me like they saved them for the kiosks at the Arts Fest which only happens Fri-Mon. So, if they weren't able to go to that until yesterday, they'd be saving up for those kiosks.

 

[Pkltm]

This is an excellent example of why people should carry another form of payment other than a Magic Band. Sorry this happened to you OP, I hope Disney makes it right.

I do agree that you should carry something else, but the average Disney visited would most likely never think of Disney having an outage. They aren't on the boards. My cousin was in Epcot last night, managed to get a bigger credit than OP,

We always carry some cash, a credit card and our id with us. I get id'ed to buy a drink so I ant got to Epcot without my passport, l armed that lesson!

 

[kitkat4622]

The solution we were offered was to go to Disney Springs tonight and buy chocolate. Sorry, that does not cut it.

this is not a solution, its a brush off..head to guest relations for sure