Here now - The Most Annoying Thing

[over50visits]

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?

The MB has two separate circuits in it. The first is the NFC chip, extremely small, and requires nearness (on the order of inches). That is what needs to be close to the readers for admission, FP, and purchases.

The other circuit is active, battery powered, and has a large antenna. That is why Disney wants you to wear the entire band, for that tracking part of it. That is what Disney is using to track you, find your whereabouts, and use that information to try to sell you stuff (such as pictures). It's almost creepy to come home and find a spam email from Disney selling me pictures I never asked them to take or send unwanted emails to me.

If you don't believe you have given Disney permission to track you everywhere and send you spam, but want to use the NFC part, you can just cut off the "bump" of the band and hold it against any of the readers.

Disney has designed a tracking bracelet, wants us all to wear it, so had to dress it up as a "Magic Band" in colors and limited editions, and convince us we have to wear it for our convenience. Whatever.

 

[::Snow_White::]

Hah. I used to be a merch CM and this was a daily occurrence, they hardly ever work the first try (sometimes for unknown reasons). I used to tell people this all the time or tell them which way to move their wrist, we have a different view of the touchpad rather than a guest who has the mickey facing away from them. Perception can be off, many times guests don't have the Mickey touching at all or it's facing a tad too high. Also with the previous poster who said guests take their wrists away too fast to process.

I have this problem as a guest too, my perception of where the mickey is, is off. It's frustrating to both sides.

 

[maxiesmom]

Would it really be better for the CM to say nothing, and let a guest stand there, fumbling around trying to get Mickey to turn green?

What would you rather they say?

The things that annoy people.......

 

[flatlandcycle]

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

What finger do you want me to give?

 

[flatlandcycle]

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.

On our last trip, opening the resort room doors and entering MK was glitchy. The FP+ orbs worked flawlessly. My phone has no trouble identifying my MagicBands.

I imagine that the power level isn't consistent from orb to orb. The ability to capture change in magnetic field may vary from device to device.

It's not just the band technology. Every faucet in WDW has a different technique to wash your hands.

None of these things taken alone would be a problem. We all know that the money could have been spent in more productive ways. The restriction in FP could have been implemented with paper FP. Entering the park and having the orb turn blue is much like having the anti-theft device go off at Lowes because the item purchased wasn't deactivated at the point of sale. On some level it screams, "Thief, thief." Or maybe the blue Mickey is saying, "Stupid, stupid."

At any rate the former, "Welcome to the Magic Kingdom." Is supplanted with, "HOLD YOUR ARM RIGHT, HOLD YOUR ARM RIGHT, ARE YOU EYEBALLING ME BOY?"

 

[LimeGreenEd]

Most of the CM's just say "Mickey to Mickey" as you walk up. The bands are very finicky as to reading at tapstiles and paypoints, but seem to work flawlessly at FP's.

 

[ParkHoppers]

Don,t know if this will help anybody but after experimenting with different positions of the Mickey head on my MB I noticed a much higher success rate with the Mickey head on the outside of my wrist. Was just a much more natural motion/position to ensure the Mickey on my MB laid flush to the scanner. Example: MB on left wrist with Mickey head facing out to the left worked perfect for a scanner on my left. I wear the band loose enough so I can spin it around to another position for dealing with a scanner in a different position than to my left. With a little experimenting and practice your success rate will be close to 100% at any scanner.

 

[Ellwood970]

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

i started to use my plastic ticket after three days of ID request when light turned blue. Had no problem with the plastic ticket. The MB never failed with a payment or with a fastpass. But getting into the park was a problem. When the light turns blue the second time the CM puts their hand up to summon help. Many hands were up at the gates.

 

[allymouse]

Would it really be better for the CM to say nothing, and let a guest stand there, fumbling around trying to get Mickey to turn green?

What would you rather they say?

The things that annoy people.......

You clearly missed the tone of my post.

 

[Aerinha]

I had that issue getting into my room at AKL last visit so I wound up taking it off to enter room. Main issue this stay is CM missin it going green for FP

 

[ken2]

I always use my middle finger.One,its longer and two,if it doesnt work right im going to show you what finger i used!

 

[delmar411]

The MB has two separate circuits in it. The first is the NFC chip, extremely small, and requires nearness (on the order of inches). That is what needs to be close to the readers for admission, FP, and purchases. The other circuit is active, battery powered, and has a large antenna. That is why Disney wants you to wear the entire band, for that tracking part of it. That is what Disney is using to track you, find your whereabouts, and use that information to try to sell you stuff (such as pictures). It's almost creepy to come home and find a spam email from Disney selling me pictures I never asked them to take or send unwanted emails to me. If you don't believe you have given Disney permission to track you everywhere and send you spam, but want to use the NFC part, you can just cut off the "bump" of the band and hold it against any of the readers. Disney has designed a tracking bracelet, wants us all to wear it, so had to dress it up as a "Magic Band" in colors and limited editions, and convince us we have to wear it for our convenience. Whatever.

You don't need a band for all of that. The cards do the same thing. The only area of the bands that have anything in them is the hard center.

 

[flatlandcycle]

You don't need a band for all of that. The cards do the same thing. The only area of the bands that have anything in them is the hard center.

Do the cards trigger the Memory Maker cameras, the ones using the longer range readers?

 

[over50visits]

You don't need a band for all of that. The cards do the same thing. The only area of the bands that have anything in them is the hard center.

Wrong. The bands house the antenna for the extra circuitry for tracking. Cut open the band part and you'll see the antenna that is required for that device.

The cards do the same things as the tiny NFC chip in the bump (hard center) on the bands.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I always have trouble when I'm paying for something, not entering the park. I'ts hard for me to get at the right angle to get the Mickeys lined up. I found it to be especially bad at the food and wine booths where the scanner sat up higher. I felt like I had to get up on my tip-toes and turn my arm and wrist over at a very odd angle to get them to line up. Plus because my band was face down on the mickey I couldn't tell if I needed to up or down. I'm on the short side, about 5'4" max, so it could be because I am shorter. I think it would be easier if all the scanner were like they are at the park entrance where the Mickey is facing you and you simply raise your arm to line them up.

The CM would always say line up the MIckeys and I would always say I'm trying, I can't really see it to line them up.