Maybe my initial thoughts on Magicbands were prematurely negative

[Magpie]

Unfortunately there are people that are this afraid, the least of their problems is having your name and where you are from displayed on a screen at Disney, I'm sorry, but there are tons of other ways people can find out your name and where you're from right in your own backyard.
As for me I was super excited when I saw my name displayed at IASW, you see my name is Yulady and that's a sort of name you can't find on a key chain so it was pretty neat seeing that.

I know what you mean! My name is spelled in an unusual way - I always get SUPER excited when I see it spelled "correctly".

 

[Ser Arthur Dayne]

I think the easiest way to "opt out" would be to keep your magic bands in a shielded purse or bag. I know I've seen people discussing this as a way of preventing Disney from "tracking" them around the park.

As long as your magic bands aren't readable, you aren't going to get any magical extras. Or ride photos, or anything like that. The only "risk" is when you tap in for a fastpass, the castmember will see your name pop up and might decide to address you by it. But you could dodge even that, and do Disney almost completely "off the grid", if you chose not to make any fastpasses.

I guess I am accustomed to the days of Disney bending over backwards to provide top-notch customer service and that such a burden should not fall on the consumer, but perhaps I am being naive and those days are truly over.

 

[MainMom]

Do the people who worry about privacy use Facebook? Instagram? Any social media? Yes, you can limit people, but it takes one friend sharing your post, one tag, one anything. It's out there.

 

[Jennasis]

That explains the car next to us on Haunted Mansion this past weekend. Final scene with hitchhiking ghosts and up pops one holding a tombstone that says PENNY. The girl in the car squeals "thats ME!"

We also got to see our names at the end of Small World.

 

[Gillyrose779]

I guess I am accustomed to the days of Disney bending over backwards to provide top-notch customer service and that such a burden should not fall on the consumer, but perhaps I am being naive and those days are truly over.

Placing your magic band in a shielded bag or purse doesn't really sound like much of a burden.

 

[Gillyrose779]

Do the people who worry about privacy use Facebook? Instagram? Any social media? Yes, you can limit people, but it takes one friend sharing your post, one tag, one anything. It's out there.

It's so true- how many people complain about privacy and someone can probably go into their posts on this board alone and find vast amounts of info. about them.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I cannot say it is something I worry about, but I can understand why someone may not be comfortable with their children's information being made public or may be concerned for the precedent it may set. Privacy is not the sacred cow it once was, but to some it is still very valuable. It seems like it would be easy enough to allow guests to opt out of this extra bit of "magic" if they so choose.

You could use something like this.

http://www.ebags.com/product/pacsaf...blocking-neck-pouch/306261?productid=10396408

 

[scrapquitler]

I cannot say it is something I worry about, but I can understand why someone may not be comfortable with their children's information being made public or may be concerned for the precedent it may set. Privacy is not the sacred cow it once was, but to some it is still very valuable. It seems like it would be easy enough to allow guests to opt out of this extra bit of "magic" if they so choose.

Anyone who is worried about their child's name being said by the CM or ride magic thingy probably uses the child's name in public dozens of times a day, so whats the issue?? More often than not, if I've been waiting in line behind a family for 10 minutes, I know EVERY one of the children's names because I head "Josie, get down from that railing. Ben, take your fingers out of your mouth", etc. etc. ad nauseum

 

[ajwolfe]

Anyone who is worried about their child's name being said by the CM or ride magic thingy probably uses the child's name in public dozens of times a day, so whats the issue?? More often than not, if I've been waiting in line behind a family for 10 minutes, I know EVERY one of the children's names because I head "Josie, get down from that railing. Ben, take your fingers out of your mouth", etc. etc. ad nauseum

I was just getting ready to say the exact same thing!!! Heck even in line at Walmart I normally hear a name of someone in the group in front of me. To me these enhancements are magically awesome and will delight my kids. I would hate to live in such a world of fear that I was afraid someone might learn my child's name. Plus depending on where you are from you may wear something during your trip that gives that away too - we are from Missouri and some routinely wears a St Louis Cardinals shirt or a Mizzou shirt at some point while we are out and about.

 

[Magpie]

I guess I am accustomed to the days of Disney bending over backwards to provide top-notch customer service and that such a burden should not fall on the consumer, but perhaps I am being naive and those days are truly over.

Yes, of course. A practically-free (as in, a few inches of tinfoil will do the job), guaranteed not to fail, simple solution, is in no way preferable to a programming solution that's absolutely going to fail at least some of the time, opting people in and out of the "magic" against their will, and it's all definitely symptomatic of the shocking decline in customer service at Disney.


(Believe it or not, I decided to edit this to remove excess snark... )

 

[Planogirl]

Well true but why is Universal Orlando still have an outdated ancient ET ride that few kids would know a thing about the movie its based on? Universal Hollywood closed their ET in 2003 and Universal Japan closed in 2009.

The comment was originally about the technology but maybe UNI still has ET because it was a classic movie and they have a close relationship with Spielberg?

Back to the topic, I think that Disney should offer an opt out for those who worry about this type of thing. I'm surprised that they haven't.

 

[scrapquitler]

The comment was originally about the technology but maybe UNI still has ET because it was a classic movie and they have a close relationship with Spielberg?

Back to the topic, I think that Disney should offer an opt out for those who worry about this type of thing. I'm surprised that they haven't.

There is an out. When you personalize your band, put a nickname or some other name instead of your actual name. If you customize your band to say "Cinderella" the CM at the fast pass kiosk will greet you as Cinderella instead of Mary or whatever your name actually is.

 

[Planogirl]

Thre is an out. WHen you personalize your bad, put a nickname or some other name instead of your actual name. If you customize your band to say "Cinderella" the CM at the fast pass kiosk will greet you as Cinderella instead of Mary or whatever your name actually is.

That's a great idea but I think that most people won't be aware that the names will pop up so they won't think to do that. I don't understand the concern personally but it's clearly there.

 

[SureAsLiz]

Thre is an out. WHen you personalize your bad, put a nickname or some other name instead of your actual name. If you customize your band to say "Cinderella" the CM at the fast pass kiosk will greet you as Cinderella instead of Mary or whatever your name actually is.

It does not use the personalized name printed on the band, but the name assigned in MDX to the profile. If you want Cinderella to show up on the screen, you have to make your name Cinderella online

 

[Magpie]

The comment was originally about the technology but maybe UNI still has ET because it was a classic movie and they have a close relationship with Spielberg?

Back to the topic, I think that Disney should offer an opt out for those who worry about this type of thing. I'm surprised that they haven't.

If anyone put any thought into it during the planning stages, I would expect they decided not to have an "opt out" option because of the massive likelihood of failure. Meaning, some people will get opted in against their will and get very upset that Disney is putting them and their children at risk (and I do acknowledge that even if it's a non-existent risk, it's still real to them). While other folk will get opted out by accident, and feel that their vacation experience has been tarnished (if not actually ruined) by the missing magical extras. They'll likely want some kind of compensation, because they only got part of the experience they paid for.

Basically, I think the "opt out" idea is a huge can of worms, leading to nothing but headaches and unhappiness for the folks on the front line.

When there's an easy non-technical solution (ie, a tiny bit of tinfoil), it's always better to use that, than it is to try to engineer a technology fix. That's just creating problems where none currently exist. (If anyone was actually being put at real risk, versus people just feeling uncomfortable, then I'd be a lot more open to the "opt out" idea.)

I think this is one of those cases where each individual needs to be responsible for their own comfort.

 

[scrapquitler]

It does not use the personalized name printed on the band, but the name assigned in MDX to the profile. If you want Cinderella to show up on the screen, you have to make your name Cinderella online

Really? When my husbands band said Bob they greeted him with Bob instead of Robert, which is his name in the MDX profile.

 

[jsutherin1]

I have to ask this.....if a parent does not want anyone to know their children's name then does that mean they are not allowed to have a birthday button with their name on it? That is one of the best parts of my trip when I put on my button

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

What if you don't want the association though? Not everyone is a fan of a sport, etc. I'm guessing they didn't think it through.

If they put up any crap about the longhorns, I'm going to kick some butt. I didn't work hard in STEM classes to be mistaken for a longhorn.

This is a real thing?

I feel sorry for anyone who lives in so much fear.

(That said, I do know people who like to give silly names at restaurants, just to hear the server call out, "Gandalf!" or some such thing. Yes, I know nerdy people.)

Not nerdy! Back when I was in college, I told them my name was Gidget and made my friend tell them he was Moondoggy. Sadly, I don't think anyone else in the restaurant got it. Should have just been Frankie and Annette.

 

[nilla]

If my kids were on a ride and suddenly saw a Vikings thing it would be very special to them.

You kids sound awesome!

Unfortunately, I live in Pennsylvania, and don't think the system is smart enough to know exactly WHY I selected a purple Magic Band this year

 

[mindeola]

We got a kick out of it last week. WE had our names on Tombstones at HM, a goodbye sign at IASW, A Happy Birthday Helena sign at TSMM ( for my son's girlfriend. She was thrilled!) and some sign said something about where we lived-Louisiana. I can't remember which on though.