How to prepare for tech glitches?

[grossmansr]

First off, I'm super excited to be heading to Disney in 3 weeks. It will be DH, DD (2.5) and myself. We're staying onsite for the first time ever, as we wanted to try out the Magic Bands and book FP+ in advance. I'm a huge Disney fan and even though I have reservations about FP+, I'm more than willing to try this out with a positive attitude.

Here's the thing. I've been reading some of the threads where the MBs don't work, and I'm starting to get concerned. I'm a pretty patient person and it wouldn't freak me out to have to fix an issue or two at Guest Services, however, my husband is not the most patient person in he world and he most certainly will freak out if things don't go smoothly. I'm still trying to sell him on the "Disney magic" thing and I really want this trip to go well.

So here's my question - how can I prepare for the inevitable tech glitches? I'm already planning on printing out copies of our FP+ and ADRs. We won't be using the Magic Bands to pay for anything. What else? Can I request hard copies of out tickets and room keys when we get there?

 

[flicx]

First off, I'm super excited to be heading to Disney in 3 weeks. It will be DH, DD (2.5) and myself. We're staying onsite for the first time ever, as we wanted to try out the Magic Bands and book FP+ in advance. I'm a huge Disney fan and even though I have reservations about FP+, I'm more than willing to try this out with a positive attitude.

Here's the thing. I've been reading some of the threads where the MBs don't work, and I'm starting to get concerned. I'm a pretty patient person and it wouldn't freak me out to have to fix an issue or two at Guest Services, however, my husband is not the most patient person in he world and he most certainly will freak out if things don't go smoothly. I'm still trying to sell him on the "Disney magic" thing and I really want this trip to go well.

So here's my question - how can I prepare for the inevitable tech glitches? I'm already planning on printing out copies of our FP+ and ADRs. We won't be using the Magic Bands to pay for anything. What else? Can I request hard copies of out tickets and room keys when we get there?

At this point I would. There have been an awful lot of issues on here lately. Hopefully nothing goes wrong ,but I would do it for peace of mind.

 

[mickeyonasticky]

As long as you have a hard copy of your times for things (for your own reference, in case you can't pull them up on the app), you should be fine. My best advice would be if you find an issue with your MagicBand (not scanning in properly somewhere, or whatever), go to Guest Relations or the MyMagic+ Service Center at your earliest convenience to get it fixed, rather than going on the way out of the park in the evening after having your whole day be messed up.

 

[grossmansr]

So I can get paper park tickets and room keys?

 

[mickeyonasticky]

So I can get paper park tickets and room keys?

Honestly I don't know that it would make any difference, since the same RF chip that's in the MagicBands is also in the "paper" tickets and room keys. Everything is "touch" RF now.

 

[wrighter]

My recommendation: Go into it prepared for glitches. Just say to yourself, "I wonder what glitches we'll encounter?" And wear your patient hat. That way, when the inevitable glitches do occur, you aren't upset about it. Prepare your husband for the same thing. And your children, too. Tell them all that Disney is making some changes and that things are a bit wonky right now.

This was the approach I took on our trip this past december, and it's the only thing that saved me. When we checked it in took over an hour to address MB issues. And then at our first park we hit even more issues and had to go to Guest Services. I tried to keep a sense of humor about it, and it was clear that the CMs helping me were grateful for it. I can't even imagine the beatings they take these days.

Getting upset about it will only put a dark mark on your trip. Prepare yourself for it, and then maybe you'll get lucky and have minimal issues! Good luck!

 

[Hoodie]

I wouldn't say "inevitable" tech glitches. We were just there for a week (family of 4) and had no issues with anything. Magic bands worked great, FP+ worked well, even the buses were pretty timely (a great improvement from our last trip).

We did see a couple of people with problems but honestly most were trying to scam the FP line. The minute Mickey turned blue, they walked away. Had they had actual FPs, I'm guessing they would have stuck around and argued. Sadly, we saw several people attempt it.

I'd keep a hard copy of reservations and FP selections as back up, but really, we didn't experience any issues at all.