Interesting comments from Iger...

[JanaDee]

Nope we are going the 18th to the 21st I wanna magic band too! It would make my trip so much easier.

I'm looking at another possible trip in Oct. I hope this has not been rolled out by then, as it will make my trip that much more complicated.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I want the bands for two reasons.

1. My boys will be 15 this next trip. They are old enough to go off on their own and young enough to lose their tickets, room key, ect...

2. We park hop, I would love to already have fast passes for the second park. In the mornings I don't need them. In the evenings it can be hard to get them.


That said, I am worried about them working right and I use more than three fast passes a day. I don't know why three is the magic number?

I feel the exact same way as you!! My girls are old enough to go on their own and I'll have no worries about them losing their KTTW. Plus we've aleady decided to still rope drop at park 1... and hop to park 2 where we'll have booked our fastpass+ after lunch maybe! 3 fastpass+ does seems like too few so hopefully once it's fully live and functioning maybe they'll up it to 4

 

[panthergirl]

My concern is how this will work with Military Salute tickets. We don't actually get tickets until we are at the park - only vouchers until then - so we can't link tickets ahead of time. We are staying at the GF in December. I have an AP already linked but the others will be using using Military Salute tickets. I wonder how all this will work.

 

[Angel Ariel]

My concern is how this will work with Military Salute tickets. We don't actually get tickets until we are at the park - only vouchers until then - so we can't link tickets ahead of time. We are staying at the GF in December. I have an AP already linked but the others will be using using Military Salute tickets. I wonder how all this will work.

I have the same concerns

 

[agavegirl1]

Always interested in "official" comments from the powers that be. I have always expected this to roll out shortly after the August testing because ... well...they have to. They have waited so long already. The number of people testing compared to the general population has been way too small from reports I've read. From all the MM+/FP+ info I have read, it seems the "worst" experiences are those experienced at home using the MDX website. Most in park experiences are positive. There have been issues at the gates and with the internet access in the parks.

I know that I will have to deal with this for 2014 and I am planning for it. It just makes going at non-busy times much more essential for my purposes.

I also know that I either won't wear the Magic band or I'll have to buy a cover for it. Plastic wrapped around my wrist really bugs me. Wonder it they will make a terry-cloth cover to make it a sweat band. Hmmm...

 

[angierae]

I want the bands, rather than the KTTW cards. I think that is a fabulous idea, and I am all for them.

I think FP+ is dreadful and awful and if it isn't voluntary (with regular FP working the same as it always has) I will seriously consider waiting longer until my next trip. I don't WANT to have to know exactly what park I will be in when - I buy hoppers for the flexibility, FP+ takes that away from me.

(Also, I'm one of the rubes that will buy all the little MB accessories. I think they're adorable. Heh. Still don't like the idea of FP+ as it is currently being implemented. If things change and it's just "these are preset, then you can get more", then that's okay.)

 

[andyman8]

At this point, they just have to rip the bandaid off if they want to have a prayer of the system working before the holidays.

Completely agree! At this point, if they roll it out in October, I anticipate if taking until late 2014/early 2015 to get the entire system fully up and running with few problems. Considering I'll be at WDW in both October and December this year, they should be two "interesting" trips.

But then again, I shouldn't doubt Walt Disney re-created...

 

[photo_chick]

Interesting that he referred to August as entering a "beta phase". If everything up until now was alpha testing then no wonder there have been so many issues. And if you don't know the difference, alpha testing is while you're building the product to see if it's functional. Beta testing is to find and fix the bugs. With that in mind I expect to hear a lot more about people having problems with the system in the next month as they find the bugs.

 

[Trentmom]

I'd probably check this thread out.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3106339

Thank you for the link

 

[mom2rtk]

I have been reading here and there about Magic Bands and I am not sure if I am understanding correctly.

Do you only get to pick 3 Fast Passes a day with the band at whatever park you may be at? So any other rides I ride after I use my 3 Fast Pass Times, I have to use standby lines rest of the day there?

Plus, if I were to park hop to another park, am I am out of luck and will have to do standby for all rides there as well with no option of FPs?

That is my big concern. Why are they limiting everyone to only 3 FPs with this band?

I don't get it.

Can someone explain please ?

They'll tell you the answer to that when they think you need and can handle the answer to that. Apparently we're not at that point yet.

 

[csclemons]

This is correct. I work at one of the test resorts, and my managers say that if things go well with this August test it will just simply continue and become the real roll-out. I've been hearing extremely positive feedback from guests!

Any chance SSR would be added in September? . I'd actually like to try it out if they would clue me in before the very last minute. Working with a party of 8 requires a little forethought...

 

[cigar95]

. . . . . . He said that they are still working the kinks out and that once that is done guests will be able to get more fast passes once they are on site and that the present limit will be only for booking ahead- you can get more once you are here just not ahead to be fair to everyone. He also said you will not be limited to one park per day for fp once system is fully implemented.

This is consistent with Boom's description from a couple weeks ago. If he agrees with Boom, the chances are that he's correct.

 

[LilyWDW]

If Disney does not follow the calendar year for their fiscal year, the first quarter of their 2014 fiscal year starts Oct 2013.

Each company sets their own fiscal year.

And as a business person myself, the use of the term "fiscal" year (which multiple people have reported as being the terminology) is done on purpose. If he thought it would be early 2014 calender year he would have said that instead. This will be out by the end of the year. It might not be a full 100% of the program that they want in the long run, but I would bet on MB and FP+ at least.

 

[Missyrose]

Completely agree! At this point, if they roll it out in October, I anticipate if taking until late 2014/early 2015 to get the entire system fully up and running with few problems. Considering I'll be at WDW in both October and December this year, they should be two "interesting" trips.

But then again, I shouldn't doubt Walt Disney re-created...

We're going in October for our Disneymoon and I've never been more happy to have a completely F&W/pool-relaxation trip planned. We'll try out the bands and FP+, but attractions won't be the focus of the trip, which seems like a blessing at this point.

 

[keishashadow]

And as a business person myself, the use of the term "fiscal" year (which multiple people have reported as being the terminology) is done on purpose. If he thought it would be early 2014 calender year he would have said that instead. This will be out by the end of the year. It might not be a full 100% of the program that they want in the long run, but I would bet on MB and FP+ at least.

I pulled up the last annual report, fiscal year ended 9/29/12

 

[ALee]

First post ever so bear with me! We are annual pass holders with a trip planned Oct. 5-12, 5 nights off-site and 2 nights at the Contemporary. Any word if AP holders will get magic bands? If not, will we get access to fp+ if it is rolled out? If no fp+, will regular fp still be available? So many questions!! Change is usually for the better but all this unknown is so frustrating especially when so much planning has already gone into making this trip successful!

 

[MaxsDad]

Can't wait to see all of this to be done. Maybe we will test it during our trip in November...

I believe Magic Band his a great addition to the offer and sure is a great technology but...

As I said on a few threads before, I just don't get the idea of choosing today what attraction you'll ride and what you'll eat in 7 months.

This is pretty much how my family feels. I have a hard time getting them to agree with planning meals, there is no way I will be able to get them to plan rides, and I really don't want to either, but I don't mind the magic band.




Posted from Disboards.com App for Android

 

[mesaboy2]

First post ever so bear with me! We are annual pass holders with a trip planned Oct. 5-12, 5 nights off-site and 2 nights at the Contemporary. Any word if AP holders will get magic bands? If not, will we get access to fp+ if it is rolled out? If no fp+, will regular fp still be available? So many questions!! Change is usually for the better but all this unknown is so frustrating especially when so much planning has already gone into making this trip successful!

Yes to all your questions, but no idea on when. Early October is probably pushing it for MBs and FP+, but what do I know? (Nothing.)

 

[Squidgyness]

This is pretty much how my family feels. I have a hard time getting them to agree with planning meals, there is no way I will be able to get them to plan rides, and I really don't want to either, but I don't mind the magic band.

Posted from Disboards.com App for Android

Honestly, I am not prebooking fastpasses (well, further out than a couple of days anyway). I was planning a big stand, and a boycott of the parks but alas I am weak and want to go back even if it means no fastpasses like we used to get and riding standby (as the majority of people do the majority of the time of course)...

I'm not too averse to booking in advance (should we find the around 400 bucks extra it costs to get tickets here before we go) but my family said they wouldn't book in advance even if it meant they didn't get any FP on the day. I made sure they knew what we could be in for, and they still want to go back and not prebook any rides so...

Honestly I would rather factor in the likelihood of no FP at all than plan FP two months out or choose not go back for that matter. I would rather wait in a long standby line than argue with my family to pick fastpasses sixty days out... That way any same day fastpass they come up with for us would be something we weren't expecting, a sort of bonus per se.

As long as you spell out what could happen if they don't or do prebook I'm sure you'll be fine, whatever course you take.

 

[LilyWDW]

I pulled up the last annual report, fiscal year ended 9/29/12

Yep. The next fiscal year starts October 1, 2013. Which is why I said that the wording was chosen on purpose and we will see a roll out before the end of the calender year. Who knows if it will be October, November, or December though. "Early" to me would mean first quarter.