MAGIC BANDS--- Honest opinions?

[VolcomPaul]

Hello Everyone, I have been hear alot of MIXED reviews online about the Magic Bands, especially as the summer busy season is approaching, and was wondering what were your experiences so far?

I can tell you that my personal experiece is very positive! I was kinda weary of the whole thing, until I got to try it out. My first experience completely changed my outlook on it. I think the Magic Bands are an incredible aspect to the parks and guest interaction; with more positve than negative. First off, It is wonderful that you dont have to juggle between a park ticket, a room ticket, credit cards, etc; fanny packs are a thing of the past, so it is very convienent to have everything on one device that attaches to your wrist for easy access. Ive heard some people say its nice when it works but all 3 times I never had any issues with any part of the bands, so hopefully they are getting all the kinks out. I will say that the My Disney Experience App can be a little buggy at times, but once you learn to navigate through it and sometimes restart the app it is extremely convienent aswell. For example, My wife and me have a toddler which can make planning extremely difficult. Anyways like most guests, we like to "try" and plan out our attractions and meals. With that being said, sometimes we couldnt make our fast passes or ADR. With just a few swipes of the App we were able to change everything around to accomodate our schedule. One down fall I will say is that Fast Pass+ do fill up quickly as do ADR, but I found out quickly, that if you keep checking back frequently on the App, things do become available! I was able to get ADR one day in advance for BOG for Dinner; Amazing, I know! All I am saying is that everyone keep a postive open mind with this new roll out, because its only gonna get better! Good luck to everyone and please leave your comments, questions, and experiences for everyone to enjoy!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

In a nutshell, magic bands are great.... If they work.


My boyfriends sister's band never worked for FP+ or park entry. She was at the front desk at the hotel every morning wasting time trying to get it fixed.

She received 3 different band during the trip.

So yeah. If they work they're convenient and fine. If they don't work they're the devil and it's completely random if yours will work or not.

 

[VolcomPaul]

In a nutshell, magic bands are great.... If they work.


My boyfriends sister's band never worked for FP+ or park entry. She was at the front desk at the hotel every morning wasting time trying to get it fixed.

She received 3 different band during the trip.

So yeah. If they work they're convenient and fine. If they don't work they're the devil and it's completely random if yours will work or not.

AHHH Man! Thats horrible!!! Yea I can see where the fustration would come in there! Hope your next experience with it is as good as ours!

 

[5Hfan]

Spending time on vacation glued to an app to check for availability doesn't sound positive to me.

Also when you were able to make someday changes was that before off site guests had the chance to prebook? How is it same day now??

 

[5dizneynutz]

LOVED them!

 

[MolonLabe]

Magic bands or FP+ ?

Magic bands are "meh". They do nothing an rfid card has/can do and did on prior trips. The card was water proof too so no big advantage there.

Last two trips for us were at CR so using a MB compared to the KTTW card was no different for entering the room. likewise charging to the card or band was the same, no advantage either.

FP+ is good for some, bad for others. Based on my previous FP+ experiences and some current reports, I dislike it so much I cancelled our May trip for this year and may cancel my bounce back at Poly in September as well if they don't have it worked out by then.

YMMV of course, reviews from people actually using it are all over the place.

 

[JimmyV]

Honest opinion? (And this has nothing whatsoever to do with FP+). Using a hard plastic card to get into my hotel room is/was never that difficult a task for me and not one from which I need relief. I log about 75 nights a year in hotels, and none of them (except those at WDW) use a plastic wristband to get in to the rooms. So I am fine with the plastic card. People who stay at Bonnet Creek and the Swan/Dolphin use plastic cards to get into their rooms and they don't seem to need extra help. So the "ease of use in accessing the hotel room" is a non-factor.

As for park entry and FP+ return? Same thing. My hard plastic RFID pass works just fine. I have never found myself "fumbling around for it" or stressing to find it. It is in my right front pocket, right where I left it.

As for its use as a form of payment? Same thing. My credit card works just fine. I don't find that it is an inconvenience or hardship to pull a CC out of my wallet one or two times a day for larger purchases. Since smaller purchases are done with cash, I am still going to carry a wallet, and my CC will be in my wallet.

I am not suggesting that the "all in one" device is not a simplification, but I am saying that it is a simplification that, in my world, didn't need to be simplified. 358 days of the year I use car keys, a house key, cash, credit cards, etc. and I do just fine. The 7 days of the year that I am at WDW don't need to be materially different, especially when the trade-off is having to wear a plastic wristband.