Here now - The Most Annoying Thing

[allymouse]

We are having a terrific time!

One thing is really annoying me. When I'm paying with the Magic Band at a store or one of many Food and Wine kiosks, and it's not working right away. A cast member looks at you and says, "What you need to do is line up the Mickey heads."

No kidding! I'm well aware! Sometimes my band slides around or it just doesn't work. Everyone in my party has had his happen and we are laughing about it. We know how it works, thanks for explaining though.

Just wanted to share

We are seriously having a blast, weather is warm and crowds are low!

 

[wdw4rfam]

We are having a terrific time!

One thing is really annoying me. When I'm paying with the Magic Band at a store or one of many Food and Wine kiosks, and it's not working right away. A cast member looks at you and says, "What you need to do is line up the Mickey heads."

No kidding! I'm well aware! Sometimes my band slides around or it just doesn't work. Everyone in my party has had his happen and we are laughing about it. We know how it works, thanks for explaining though.

Just wanted to share

We are seriously having a blast, weather is warm and crowds are low!

OMG, we were there last month and it got to be a standing joke with us too. Just like at the gate....." Are you sure that's the finger you used last time

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

OMG, we were there last month and it got to be a standing joke with us too. Just like at the gate....." Are you sure that's the finger you used last time

so true they are always asking DD this - we've been AP holders for a few years - multiple trips. She's always used the same finger (thumb in her case) since she turned 10 and thus had to do the finger scan. I'm sure they see a lot of people who don't line up the Mickey correctly or scan with the wrong finger - but when you're someone who knows what you are doing (and it is still not working) it is rather frustrating!

 

[Ellwood970]

Here this week everything is wonderful. I noticed some CM's are starting to joke and laugh when the Magic Bands don't work. A CM stopped me for a survey and said she needed to scan my MB, well it wouldn't scan. She tried numerous times. I said you are doing it wrong because I just paid for dinner at the Brown Derby and it worked fine. She looked perplexed. She said well I guess I don't need to scan it.

 

[11290]

To posters 1 thru 3, perhaps if you were a CM, working there every day and encountered what they see each day you would know why they ask what they do, and what they are trained to do.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

you also have to hold it down long enough for the mickey head to turn green, I tend to pick it up too soon and have to do it again.

 

[itchin2go]

To posters 1 thru 3, perhaps if you were a CM, working there every day and encountered what they see each day you would know why they ask what they do, and what they are trained to do.

And perhaps if the CMs were guests for a day, they would understand OP's frustration.

Not trying to be argumentative, but I don't think anyone is saying the CMs are doing anything wrong ... just that it gets annoying. It's just venting .....

There's nothing to be done about it really. It appears that the MB system is just not the best. Nothing for the CMs or guests to do except try to be helpful and patient, and laugh about it.

 

[nkereina]

To posters 1 thru 3, perhaps if you were a CM, working there every day and encountered what they see each day you would know why they ask what they do, and what they are trained to do.

lol. Must be a CM

 

[surferdave]

It's like calling your IT help line to resolve a problem; the first thing they will do is ask you to close everything, reboot and try again. I already know to try that for most problems, and I even recognize some problems that it won't help with, but I always do it before I call and I always tell them I've already tried it before they begin trying to help me.

This is one reason I'll probably request a card when I go again; the reports here that I have seen have indicated that they read more consistently than the bands

 

[kaytieeldr]

Looking at it from their point of view, though, guests encounter what, maybe 20 CMs in a day where Magic Bands are involved? CMs encounter hundreds and hundreds of guests each day. Could be training, could be habit, could be frustration, could just be the CM attempting to move things along as smoothly as possible. They can't reasonably be expected to know a specific guest's level of experience with the Magic Band.

Not a CM. Much customer service experience.

 

[flatlandcycle]

NFC - near field communication. This should have been designed to work without physical contact. Keep your sweaty MRSA/Ebola wrist to yourself.

 

[mesaboy2]

And perhaps if the CMs were guests for a day, they would understand OP's frustration.

Not trying to be argumentative, but I don't think anyone is saying the CMs are doing anything wrong ... just that it gets annoying. It's just venting .....

There's nothing to be done about it really. It appears that the MB system is just not the best. Nothing for the CMs or guests to do except try to be helpful and patient, and laugh about it.

Most CMs I know go to the parks as guests very frequently.

Looking at it from their point of view, though, guests encounter what, maybe 20 CMs in a day where Magic Bands are involved? CMs encounter hundreds and hundreds of guests each day. Could be training, could be habit, could be frustration, could just be the CM attempting to move things along as smoothly as possible. They can't reasonably be expected to know a specific guest's level of experience with the Magic Band.

Not a CM. Much customer service experience.

If the PP thinks it's annoying for guests, how fun can it be for the CMs that are probably trained to do it and must do so over and over and over? It's not like they had a hand in designing the system.

 

[surferdave]

If it's so common that CMs and guests alike get sick of it they need to change the way it works. Blaming it on the guests and expecting them to eventually learn and change behavior (like anything else Disney expects to improve over time because users gain experience) is not going to happen. The return rate of guests within a window to retain the learning is just too small; the parks will always be filled with too many inexperienced users.

NFC - near field communication. This should have been designed to work without physical contact. Keep your sweaty MRSA/Ebola wrist to yourself.

I don't know the hardware requirements very well, but maybe something like this is the answer. Could they fix it with a change to just the bands?

 

[kgoodb00]

I was there last week and had the same thing keep happening. There were not any rude CM's though. They either would help line up the Mickeys or would tell me to try again. I started taking off my band, especially when entering the park, because I thought it was awkward bending my wrist a certain way. It worked really well.

 

[JoeA]

OMG, we were there last month and it got to be a standing joke with us too. Just like at the gate....." Are you sure that's the finger you used last time

I always tell them I may have used somebody else's finger!

 

[asbyrneva]

So the threads are full of questions on left or right wrist for magic band (doesnt matter.)

But have we figured out if Mickey head up or head down works better??

Ive used the bands alot and always put mickey on just like a watch; if I look at my wrist like a watch he is right side up - which makes him upside down to the other mickey head.

If I turn him so he is upside down if he was a watch on my wrist does he work better - mickey head to mickey head both upright??

Guess this will be my scientific experiment for thanksgiving week...

 

[LaurenT]

I get this too - I reply "I know, I just get really nervous about mouse to mouse contact".

 

[surferdave]

So the threads are full of questions on left or right wrist for magic band (doesnt matter.)

But have we figured out if Mickey head up or head down works better??

Ive used the bands alot and always put mickey on just like a watch; if I look at my wrist like a watch he is right side up - which makes him upside down to the other mickey head.

If I turn him so he is upside down if he was a watch on my wrist does he work better - mickey head to mickey head both upright??

Guess this will be my scientific experiment for thanksgiving week...

It not only seems to vary person to person, but from application to application. What works at the attraction Mickey orbs may not be the best for opening resort room doors or in shops or restaurants.

 

[leebee]

NFC - near field communication. This should have been designed to work without physical contact. Keep your sweaty MRSA/Ebola wrist to yourself.

They already work this way. I NEVER purchase PhotoPass/MemoryMaker, yet there are all the photos of DD and DH on Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, ToT, Everest, 7DMT. How else would they have known these were "my" pictures if not for remotely sensing the MB? Ask riders to "line up the Mickey" as they swoop by the camera?

 

[itchin2go]

If the PP thinks it's annoying for guests, how fun can it be for the CMs that are probably trained to do it and must do so over and over and over? It's not like they had a hand in designing the system.

Yeah, but this is apples and oranges. The CMs are being paid to do a job, and the guests are customers that have shelled out money to be there. So, sure, it's not fun for anyone (thought I acknowledged that in my previous post), but it's still apples and oranges.

And in case I wasn't clear in my previous post, the only blame I can assign is with whoever designed the system. Certainly the CMs aren't to blame for things not working correctly ... but I can understand the guests' frustration.