Magic band DVC'er review

[luckyman_apd]

Actually upon arrival she was annoyed that I had linked the pass to MDE first. If I hadn't I would have gotten an RFID card. Who knows if that would have worked after linking to the band or not. I do have to say that there was a relaxing non stressed period where I didn't have to run to toy story mania upon entering the park. We had a pass for 9:30 am and we went to starring rolls to get a bite to eat first.but as I type this in my room getting ready to go to Epcot, I wish I could have had the option to get one for soarin tonight as its showing a 2 hour wait time as of right now.

Also my DVC membership is not linked so I still need the member card for purchase discounts and ID for anything else. It would be nice if they incorporated stuff like DVC and APs to your band so the discount was automatic when you scanned the banned. Still have to speak up for the discount.

 

[granmanh603]

It's quite possible that Disney will add park hopping and increase the number of FP+ you can select after the program is fully operational.

I have said this before not only do we like to park hop we often go to bus stop and do not know where we are going that day, wait for bus and get on. We go early and do not like to plan and have no smart phone and do not want one. And will not wait on any line more than 20-30 min.

 

[paults]

when all this takes effect do you mean that we can't just leave our home at BWV, go to a park and get in line without a FP but will have to wait more then an hour a on any rides. We don't do FP's if we walk by a ride and want to do it we just get in line but only for short waits.

 

[lazer]

We usually hop once a day so I don't think the 3 fastpass+ will be a huge issue. We are hardcore rope droppers! Park 1 early in the morning means short or no lines anyway.. park 2 will be where we book our fastpass+

Same here. We're actually more likely to hop each day now. Hit a park early, then go to another in the afternoons with our FP+.

All accounts I've read have said, for this testing they are still handing out kttw cards, and people are having success double-dipping.

 

[preemiemama]

Did they not give you a KTTW card to use as a back up in case the MB does not work as expected? If you only want the paper FP, the KTTW cards were able to function like a ticket in the machines. It was active up to a couple days ago. for the discounts, though, it would be necessary to have the actual AP.

 

[cfw213]

I guess when most people see that the FP will only work in one park per day, that will drop the number of park hopper passes Disney will end up selling.

I don't agree. We love to hop already, but I could see us hopping everyday with FP+. We always make RD, stay until lunch and then go back to the resort or to another park. If we RD MK, we don't really need FP. But it will be nice to have FP+ reserved for TSM, TOT and RNRC if we want to hop to DHS that afternoon!

 

[keishashadow]

We'll be 'home' in October & January but have absolutely no interest in testing/utilizing the system. Put me in the anti-magic band, card-carrying camp, as I am not eager to jump through this new set of hoops.

All the money expended into this new system had better produce once it goes park-wide or it'll be a massive fail for Disney.

 

[MDsMomma]

So when I just recently renewed my DVC AP I shouldn't of linked the Will Call Voucher to MDE? This is going to cause problems.

Will I not get a green AP card anymore? We are staying at Kidani which is a non test MB resort as far as I know only Jambo is.

 

[tjkraz]

I have said this before not only do we like to park hop we often go to bus stop and do not know where we are going that day, wait for bus and get on. We go early and do not like to plan and have no smart phone and do not want one. And will not wait on any line more than 20-30 min.

As with any change, individuals will have to decide how they wish to respond. If you want to wait until you arrive at the park and use the FastPass+ touchscreen terminals to book whatever ride times remain, that's certainly your prerogative.

Personally, I will probably create a baseline plan weeks before I leave home and then tweak things on the fly. We know how many days a trip will last and can make some reasonable guesses as to when we want to visit each park. I'll book FP+ based upon those assumptions. Then if we decide to depart from that schedule, I'll log onto my account and make changes.

when all this takes effect do you mean that we can't just leave our home at BWV, go to a park and get in line without a FP but will have to wait more then an hour a on any rides. We don't do FP's if we walk by a ride and want to do it we just get in line but only for short waits.

The bolded statement remains to be seen. Personally I don't envision this changing Standby wait times to any significant degree.

In-park FastPass will still be available. But instead of running from attraction-to-attraction grabbing paper tickets listing ride times, you'll visit a touch screen terminal to make your 3 selections for the day.

I don't see any reason to believe that Standby wait times will increase.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I don't see any reason to believe that Standby wait times will increase.

That should only happen if they are increasing the number of FP's they are distributing shouldn't it? And I've not heard anything indicating that - it would also increase the wait in the FP lines so they become the "just a little Faster passes".

 

[tjkraz]

That should only happen if they are increasing the number of FP's they are distributing shouldn't it?

That's my thinking as well. When you are holding a FastPass, you're essentially occupying space in two queues at once--the queue for which you have a FP and the one you're actually standing in. Every FP issued means a Standby rider has to wait longer for his/her opportunity.

Assume an attraction can handle 2000 riders per hour. If they grant 1000 FastPasses, then another 1000 people will board via Standby.

But if they raise FP to 1500, only 500 are getting on via Standby. That makes for longer, slower-moving lines.

And it's probably a big part of the reason they are limiting FP+ to just 3 per person. FP+ may increase USAGE of attraction Standby lines...but if all works out, those lines will be moving faster.

IMO, one of Disney's biggest challenges with FP+ will be fighting the PERCEPTION that it's not as generous as the current system. 3 FPs per day sounds a little stingy...but if Standby lines are positively impacted, it could be a net win for guests.

On a related note, I also suspect that Disney increasing FastPass allocations over the years has contributed to the perception that the theme parks are far more crowded. Think about it--many Disney attractions have massive Standby queues which are only used during the busiest days of the year.

Honestly I have never spent any noteworthy amount of time in line at attractions like Kali River Rapids, Everest, Soarin, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror and many others. During non-peak times, you breeze through the FP lines in just a couple minutes time, then are back out clogging up public walkways.

Over the last 5 years, attendance at all WDW parks is only up 2.5%. But everywhere you turn, people claim "crowds are worse than ever!" It's not too far-fetched to think that FastPass is to blame. Disney is probably using FP+ to try an fix many of the evils that have crept into FastPass over the years.

 

[wdrl]

I figure I'll deal with the changes brought about by FastPass+ when I actually encounter them. With the current system of FastPass, I know that if I want to get a FP for Toy Story Mania with a <2 hour return time I need to get to Hollywood Studios very near rope drop; otherwise, my FP return time with be very late in the day (if I'm lucky). And if I arrive at Hollywood Studios at lunch time I've come to expect that all the Toy Story Mania FPs will be gone for the day.

Once FP+ rolls out, I'm hoping I can delay the start of my day at Hollywood Studios to mid-afternoon and still get a Toy Story Mania FP.

I have yet to see anything that indicates whether the total number of Fastpasses will increase or decrease once FastPass+ is fully operational. It appears that there will be more events and attractions that will have FastPasses, such as Parades and lunchtime at the popular Be Our Guest Restaurant. Every time a guest uses a FastPass for one of these new events or attractions, then there might be one less guest competing for a FP to Toy Story Mania, Big Thunder, Expedition Everest, or Soarin'.

Bottom-line: Once FastPass+ rolls out, I'll adjust my Park strategy accordingly. It might take me a couple of trips to figure out how to best utilize the new system, but I'll work it out eventually.

 

[PKWallaby]

To the OP: thanks for sharing your MagicBand experiences live from your trip. I'm interested in knowing how they were able to work around the issue you mentioned about not linking a voucher. We were invited to take part in the MyMagic testing for a last minute trip I planned at POP next week.

My problem is this: 2 of the 3 of us in my party have PAPs which the system recognized immediately and we were able to select FPs for. Unfortunately one of the passes (DS 4-day PH pass that was purchased thru UT) shows on the Magicband page but did not effectively link up and we are not able to select FPs for my son. I have been in contact with MB cust serv and made it thru to IT tech who promised to clear this up - but so far nothing. Wondering how you were able to get everything straightened out? We arrive on Sat and I am starting to think we are going to have FPs for only 2 of the 3 of us?

Oddly enough, the email asking us to participate in the testing specifically mentioned we were being invited as DVC members (even tho were are staying at POP?) but nothing in MyMagic reflects we are members (that I have been able to see, anyway).

Hope you are having fun. If you can share where/how you were able to get your problems addressed I would be grateful!

 

[luckyman_apd]

WDRL.....it was definitely awesome NOT running to the fast pass machine this morning at Hollywood. Our FP+ was prearranged for 9:15-10:15 am. I hated running from ride to ride to get the pass, but hated waiting in line for an hour or more even longer. Most rides we like as a family do not require the pass, and rides like Everest, rockin roller coaster single rider is great so I don't need a pass....but I would love a future option to select toy story mania, soarin, and thunder mountain all for the same day....morning noon night.

I do believe in the end the results will be beneficial to everyone....but the rollout (its not a test....it is coming as almost every ride has the Mickey lights for the bands) will have growing pains.

There is FP+ for things like turtle talk and nemo.......things that you never wait more than 10 minutes for on a normal day.

 

[luckyman_apd]

To the OP: thanks for sharing your MagicBand experiences live from your trip. I'm interested in knowing how they were able to work around the issue you mentioned about not linking a voucher. We were invited to take part in the MyMagic testing for a last minute trip I planned at POP next week.

My problem is this: 2 of the 3 of us in my party have PAPs which the system recognized immediately and we were able to select FPs for. Unfortunately one of the passes (DS 4-day PH pass that was purchased thru UT) shows on the Magicband page but did not effectively link up and we are not able to select FPs for my son. I have been in contact with MB cust serv and made it thru to IT tech who promised to clear this up - but so far nothing. Wondering how you were able to get everything straightened out? We arrive on Sat and I am starting to think we are going to have FPs for only 2 of the 3 of us?

Oddly enough, the email asking us to participate in the testing specifically mentioned we were being invited as DVC members (even tho were are staying at POP?) but nothing in MyMagic reflects we are members (that I have been able to see, anyway).

Hope you are having fun. If you can share where/how you were able to get your problems addressed I would be grateful!

We arrived on Sunday night very late ($96 flight Sunday was better than $178 Monday morning) and we stayed at pop for the night. Monday we had luggage sent to SSR and we went to MK. We only have the bands because of the night at Pop. So at the MK on Monday, I had to have our PAP activated. It took a bit longer than normal for her to get it working, but we've had no problems. She just needed the bands we had to get the pass activated. I have NOT gone back to guest services yet about a backup AP card.....and I haven't thought of using my KTTW card. Even though we have the bands, they still give you a room key....for now. Plus we were told (officially) that the bands won't work at SSR but (unofficially) we were told if the reservation is linked on MDE then they would work at SSR and they do. At this point I'm accepting what it is and enjoying the trip regardless. Actually today the bartender at the pool used me to demonstrate the bands to other members who had been asking about them but had not seen them yet.

 

[butsy113]

I'm going to have to stop at guest relations tomorrow to see if I can get a AP ticket so I can use fast pass in the park sometime.

I haven't read the whole thread yet, so sorry if this is already said. When we were there in June there was a scanner behind the fastpass machines at Splash. The CM by the scanner said it was for people testing the magic bands.

 

[MinnieLee]

I have read alot of info on the Magic Band but have not seen an answer to this. Are special event tickets (MNSSHP or MCMCP) also linked to the band?

If you have an AP and it is linked to the Magic Band, I assume you cannot misplace your band after your trip otherwise you might have a problem. Is this the case?

Personally, I do not like the idea of being limited to the amount of FPs you can get in day. We may not always use more than the limit, but we also park hop and it may make a difference here and there.

We are arriving 10/31 and there is a possbility that the MagicBands will be available at BCV at that time. When can I start looking at FP+?

 

[luckyman_apd]

I have read alot of info on the Magic Band but have not seen an answer to this. Are special event tickets (MNSSHP or MCMCP) also linked to the band?

If you have an AP and it is linked to the Magic Band, I assume you cannot misplace your band after your trip otherwise you might have a problem. Is this the case?

Personally, I do not like the idea of being limited to the amount of FPs you can get in day. We may not always use more than the limit, but we also park hop and it may make a difference here and there.

We are arriving 10/31 and there is a possbility that the MagicBands will be available at BCV at that time. When can I start looking at FP+?

Ap is linked. MVMCP? Good question. I guess we'll find out in December. If you don't link it to MDE then it won't be on the band

 

[erionm]

Are special event tickets (MNSSHP or MCMCP) also linked to the band?

I seen posts where people have linked their MNSSHP and MVMCP tickets to MDE. There's no official word from Disney if MagicBands will work for party admission with the appropriate party ticket linked to MDE.

If you have an AP and it is linked to the Magic Band, I assume you cannot misplace your band after your trip otherwise you might have a problem. Is this the case?

AP MagicBands can be replaced. Reportedly, the first replacement is free, additional replacements will be $50.

The MagicBand only has a unique id number stored on it. That id number links the band to the appropriate entitlements that are stored securely on Disney's servers.

 

[OneMoreTry]

.... she said our names were 8n tue system and we would only need iD if there was a problem.

....

So we need to carry an ID with us to the parks also?

Just one more thing