Heading back but nervous!

[lisatx04]

Just booked our June trip last night. Staying 8 night at OKW, our home resort. I am so nervous about this trip! This trip will be me, DD 17, DS 15 and DD best friend 18.

What is making me nervous is everything I am reading about the magic bands!!
I called MS to make my reservation and am so glad I did. The lady I spoke to was so nice! She helped me link my DVC account to MDE (I had no idea I had to do that!) and went above and beyond when my passwords did not match up. What complicated things is that I am currently going through a divorce, and up until last night, everything was in his name, so that all had to be changed. The nice lady at MS also helped me get that all taken care of as well. I wish I could remember her name because she was just wonderful!!

So should the magic bands make me nervous? I am starting to stress!!
Now the girls are saying they want to go to Universal as well. I am a Disney person! I don't go to that other park!!

Calgon, take me away....

 

[daisygirl902]

We have a rule in our family...you want to see anything outside of Disney, find a new family to travel with

Good luck, this next trip will be our first with magic bands too...I'm not usually one to embrace change, but for some reason I'm a little bit excited about this one!

Hope it all works out super smooth for you!

 

[Micca]

In our experience (last Fall when the MB/FP+ were in the initial rollout stage) the system was pretty darned good.

Try it out and form your opinion.

 

[jillgunter]

We used them last October, and never had a problem. They are great. Try to relax and enjoy your trip.

 

[DisneyDiana]

I agree. Magic bands and FP+ worked great for us. Don't stress over vacation! Relax, you will have a great time.

 

[Belle091507]

I'm at akv using them now and I have to say that the magic bands are pretty awesome! I also use the app for my Disney experience to manage it while we are I. The parks an make any changes that we want have a great trip!

 

[dreaming4disney]

Try not to stress. We went in Jan and had the new bands. I had a problem getting into the gates entering the parks but I was the only one in the party of 5. It was the finger part that kept giving me trouble.

The card itself worked fine. All of our fast past + times were on it for everyone and we used it with our TIW card for dining. Worked fine at restaurants too. No problems getting into room with it either

If you experience any problems, there were a lot of CMs' with iPads helping people though out the parks.

Hope you have a great trip!!!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Don't be nervous we used the new bands in Dec and they worked great. Just like the KTTW card just on your wrist. We loved them so convenient to not have to dig your card out when you needed it. The only thing that has me anxious about our upcoming May trip is that there are no more paper fast passes. Just the 3 per day FP+. I'm having panic attacks about being in line all day for rides.

 

[MouseMomx2]

We absolutely love the Magic Bands so, IMO, there's absolutely nothing to worry about there. Some people like FP+ and others don't so you'll have to see what you think. We really liked the new system.

As for Universal...while I am most definitely a Disney person, we find a day up at Universal is a lot of fun. Islands of Adventure, in particular, is well worth a visit. I say go and enjoy!

 

[DebbieB]

I used it in November and loved it. The problem is the haters on the theme parks board tend to be vocal about their opinion and are trying to scare people off. Some of them I have doubts if they have ever used it, they never posted any personal experiences. They just "know" they are going to hate it.

 

[edk35]

In our experience (last Fall when the MB/FP+ were in the initial rollout stage) the system was pretty darned good.

Try it out and form your opinion.

The difference NOW....there were still legacy fastpasses to use up until mid Jan. this year. Now it is JUST MB.

 

[edk35]

Don't be nervous we used the new bands in Dec and they worked great. Just like the KTTW card just on your wrist. We loved them so convenient to not have to dig your card out when you needed it. The only thing that has me anxious about our upcoming May trip is that there are no more paper fast passes. Just the 3 per day FP+. I'm having panic attacks about being in line all day for rides.

That is what freaks me out...the 3 a day. I like the fact that you can book certain rides like Soarin and Toy Story and the new roller coaster when it opens up in May but the fact that we get 3 makes me want to . I had two sets of friends that were there in Jan. and the standby lines were much longer and you pretty much have to get there at rope drop to be able to ride stuff. I hope that they tweak the system by the time we go in Aug. I don't like the tiers either. I think the time people go will play a huge factor in how well they like this new system. I think if you go an OFF PEAK time...it will be nice but more crowded times...not so nice.

 

[com_op_2000]

Now the girls are saying they want to go to Universal as well. I am a Disney person! I don't go to that other park!!

I would cancel a night or two at OKW and book an on-site hotel room at Universal for their front-of-the-line passes. Anyone staying at one of Universal's hotels get free front-of-the-line passes in both parks for the length of stay. With the teens in your traveling party it will get them on more rides/attractions.

 

[lucyem]

I would cancel a night or two at OKW and book an on-site hotel room at Universal for their front-of-the-line passes. Anyone staying at one of Universal's hotels get free front-of-the-line passes in both parks for the length of stay. With the teens in your traveling party it will get them on more rides/attractions.

This is what I would do. Spend half the trip at WDW, see how FP+ works and then spend half the trip at Universal with the front of the line passes.

Personally I do not like FP+. We used it in December and it was very frustrating. We missed out on rides because times could not be changed even on not so popular rides. We lost all spontaneity. CM's were clueless and some gave us misinformation. That being said - It seems like it is becoming easier, now that it is all FP+, to change times etc. It will be very interesting to see how our next trip goes. I am still sad at the loss of spontaneity. I am still frustrated with scheduling.

 

[Chuck S]

MagicBand and FP+ worked fine for me in November. The only real advice I have is to try making your FP+ times in the afternoon. I had made mine early, as I am a rope drop kind of person, and the only place I really needed an early FP+ was Soarin' and Toy Story Mania, everything else was pretty much a walk on for a couple hours after rope drop.

 

[dbs1228]

We were there presidents week in Feb. and I was so nervous! It all worked out great. We used to get up for rope drop so we could get FP's and always be out of the park by 2. When I got around to doing my FP+ all the return times were after noon. I was not happy until I realized how NICE it was to sleep in, sip my coffee on the balcony and NOT have to rush into the parks. There are only 3 or 4 rides in each park that are musts for us the rest we go on if there is little to no wait. Being a busy week there was NOTHING we did not do even with getting to the parks after 11:00AM. What I LOVED was 1 day we had FP+ for Space Mtn at 1:30 -2:30 and at 2:15 we went to go on the FP line seemed really long so we decided to leave the park for awhile. While we were on the monorail back to the GVF I hopped on the app and changed the FP time to 8:00PM since we were going back for fireworks anyway.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

We had a totally great MB experience. We loved using them, in fact--and our toddlers loved them.

 

[3happydancers]

Just booked our June trip last night. Staying 8 night at OKW, our home resort. I am so nervous about this trip! This trip will be me, DD 17, DS 15 and DD best friend 18.

What is making me nervous is everything I am reading about the magic bands!!
I called MS to make my reservation and am so glad I did. The lady I spoke to was so nice! She helped me link my DVC account to MDE (I had no idea I had to do that!) and went above and beyond when my passwords did not match up. What complicated things is that I am currently going through a divorce, and up until last night, everything was in his name, so that all had to be changed. The nice lady at MS also helped me get that all taken care of as well. I wish I could remember her name because she was just wonderful!!

So should the magic bands make me nervous? I am starting to stress!!
Now the girls are saying they want to go to Universal as well. I am a Disney person! I don't go to that other park!!

Calgon, take me away....

OP, can't really comment on the new system. I know as much as you from what I've read. Some had great experiences, others not so much but I am not going with worries in my head!

We go in August. I can say this, I am going with 2 teenage girls (celebrating their "sweet 16th" bday. We are splitting our time; a few days at Disney and then for the first time, a few days at US and staying on property. I like the idea that the girls will be able to enjoy whatever rides they want without worrying about the 3 fast pass limit and schedules. If you can swing it, I'd say enjoy both!

 

[mkarizona]

We used FP+ in September. I am not thrilled with it because I hate planning ahead but it is certainly nothing to stress about. It is really nice to come back to your room at night and just touch your magic band to the door.

 

[jimim]

It will all be good! We have used it twice now and have had no problems with the system. i think as DVC owners we are a bit more of a laid back slower moving group since we are there pretty often, maybe that's why we didn't have any issues with the layout of the system.

Oh and about the universal thing. . . they want to go. . . find a ride!

have a great time!