***MyMagic+ & FastPass+ Official Information & FAQ Thread***

[starwarsmomma81]

Not in my opinion. He's there all day, and waits are generally short. See the link in my signature for my suggested priorities.

Thanks! That list is awesome! It's kinda stressful only picking THREE passes, especially when you're park hopping! I hope they change that for others in the future!

Do you think Princess Fairytale Hall will move up to the "A" group once it opens? I'd like to see them (my son could of course care less) but I'd hate to waste hours waiting in line for them!

 

[mesaboy2]

Thanks! That list is awesome! It's kinda stressful only picking THREE passes, especially when you're park hopping! I hope they change that for others in the future!

Do you think Princess Fairytale Hall will move up to the "A" group once it opens? I'd like to see them (my son could of course care less) but I'd hate to waste hours waiting in line for them!

Probably not, but I'll be watching reports once it opens to see if it warrants any change. If anything, Rapunzel is more likely to be the priority over Cinderella.

 

[maiapapaya]

I haven't been following what's going on with MB/FP+ since we weren't going to be at WDW until March. Now we're probably changing our plans and will be going Thanksgiving weekend/the 1st week of December instead for a surprise holiday trip. Suddenly I'm scrambling to catch up on MB/FP+!

I've been trying to wade through the thread, but at this point I think I'll just ask as it's hard finding answers to specific questions. Sorry for asking something that's probably been asked a hundred times before.

I realize at this point CM's have been saying testing ends Oct. 31. On the other hand, people with November arrivals have said CM's have told them to watch for the MB stuff on the MDE site. So I'm being optimistic and trying to be prepared!

We have resort reservations (for the Poly) with tickets included in our package. The tickets are showing up under our reservations. If we are able to get MBs/use FP+ is there anything else we need to do wrt our tickets or setting things up or will the MB customizing & FP+ access just automatically appear/open up when it's time?

If you plan on using your KTTW card to pull extra FP's from the old machines do you need to use your card to enter the park instead of the MB or does it matter?

 

[gismo1554]

We have resort reservations (for the Poly) with tickets included in our package. The tickets are showing up under our reservations. If we are able to get MBs/use FP+ is there anything else we need to do wrt our tickets or setting things up or will the MB customizing & FP+ access just automatically appear/open up when it's time?

Not sure on the answer to the second question but on the first it will just appear at the 60 day mark if they are including the resort in the testing. Has anyone arriving on the 1st November had the passes appear yet as I assume this would be under 60 days now?

 

[andrewilley]

That's my point. Even if the app were active in the background, and continuously sending GPS information to Disney (it really shouldn't when running in the background), the reservations CM should NOT have access to that info, even if accessing the profile.

Out of interest, I've just had a look at some of the low-level logs on my phone (Android, sorry I can't speak for iPeople) and the app - which is named com.disney.mdx.wdw.google by the way, as Disney internally abbreviate to MDX rather than MDE - has not been active on my phone since the last reboot, and it has consumed no network data at all. In short, it is not doing anything while not actively running. Also, as far as I can tell, there is no background service present which could be accessed remotely when the main app is not running.

The device permissions that the app has been given (which are only used while the app is active) are as follows:

• Read phone status and identity
• Take pictures and videos [I assume because the camera is needed for the ticket barcode scanning feature]
• Approx (cell-tower based) and precise (GPS-based) location gathering [it can find where you are when app is running, whether GPS is active or not - but to be fair, that's one of its main functions]
• Full network access; View network connections; View wi-fi connections [pretty obviously needed for the app to work at all, and it can check whether it is using mobile data or wi-fi]
• Prevent phone from sleeping

To be honest, that's a pretty small permissions list for what the app does, especially compared to some other apps I use.


And for Magic Bands, my understanding is that there are two types of chip inside:

1. A simple, non-powered, RFID/NFC chip which cannot do anything unless it is placed very close to an NFC tag reader (the reader emits a local field that momentarily powers the chip). It will be powered by any such field, so any unit that is designed to read NFC data will trigger it; if you've got a decent high-spec smart phone, enable NFC mode on it and tap your Magic Band against it and the phone will register the data (although it can't do anything with it of course, it's just a code number).
2. A battery-powered chip which regularly transmits at a very low level, and can be detected by any sensor field into which your Magic Band passes (Tom Staggs mentioned in an interview that this was Bluetooth-based, but Bluetooth uses quite a bit of power so I wonder if something else picks up the local field first, and turns on the bluetooth system for a brief time? Or maybe it's something Disney developed? See www.wirelessgoodness.com/2012/10/03...reless-access-to-the-happiest-place-on-earth/). This covers a much larger range than the inch or so for NFC anyway, and Disney could conceivably use it to track your movements in and out of areas of the parks and resorts - basically anywhere that Disney has installed its own network of sensors, they can detect the band's location. But the range for that would probably be in feet/yards, nothing much beyond that. They can't find your band at home!

Andre

 

[sunset7132]

Was it used?

No brand new

 

[doconeill]

Out of interest, I've just had a look at some of the low-level logs on my phone (Android, sorry I can't speak for iPeople) and the app - which is named com.disney.mdx.wdw.google by the way, as Disney internally abbreviate to MDX rather than MDE - has not been active on my phone since the last reboot, and it has consumed no network data at all. In short, it is not doing anything while not actively running. Also, as far as I can tell, there is no background service present which could be accessed remotely when the main app is not running.

But does a component remain running after you've exited the app, and what does it do?

And for Magic Bands, my understanding is that there are two types of chip inside:

1. A simple, non-powered, RFID/NFC chip which cannot do anything unless it is placed very close to an NFC tag reader (the reader emits a local field that momentarily powers the chip). It will be powered by any such field, so any unit that is designed to read NFC data will trigger it; if you've got a decent high-spec smart phone, enable NFC mode on it and tap your Magic Band against it and the phone will register the data (although it can't do anything with it of course, it's just a code number).

There are some differences in various NFC and RFID chips, including frequencies, and NFC is sort of a superset of older RFID. Have you tried it? I haven't thought to try, as I didn't think they'd operate at the same frequency. Although the band DOES have two passive chips for two different frequencies.


It is possible to read them at a greater distance, but you need a much larger magnetic field and antenna on the receiver.

1. A battery-powered chip which regularly transmits at a very low level, and can be detected by any sensor field into which your Magic Band passes (Tom Staggs mentioned in an interview that this was Bluetooth-based, but Bluetooth uses quite a bit of power so I wonder if something else picks up the local field first, and turns on the bluetooth system for a brief time? Or maybe it's something Disney developed? See www.wirelessgoodness.com/2012/10/03/disneys-magic-band-arrives-on-the-fcc-offers-wireless-access-to-the-happiest-place-on-earth/). This covers a much larger range than the inch or so for NFC anyway, and Disney could conceivably use it to track your movements in and out of areas of the parks and resorts - basically anywhere that Disney has installed its own network of sensors, they can detect the band's location. But the range for that would probably be in feet/yards, nothing much beyond that. They can't find your band at home!

Andre

Yes, the expected range based on power and configuration is about 9-15 feet.

 

[Nicnic]

H there.


I just wanted to give an update on the issues I had with MDE and how great my experience with tech support was.

Like I say, I had many issues with missing people, tickets, dining reservations and not being able to select everyone for FP+.
So I called tech support on Wednesday and got through to a an agent, I explained all my problems and she could see I was calling from the UK so offered to take a look and email me back. She said she would probably have to unlink every thing and link back up as DH was missing and the FP+ I had for me was under a duplicate profile so would never had worked!

So she emailed back to say she had linked everything back and everyone was now showing and on the current FP selections i had and I could log in and personalise the magic bands.
Great I thought.
When I logged in I was able to do the bands but could not view my hotel reservation and the FP+ was now only in DD's name and I was not able to add anyone! Plus I could still not link the dining reservations.
So I emailed her back and waited. Unfortunately I waited and waited, eventually i sent another email on Friday stating the problems I was still having, they promptly emailed back saying everything was working and they could see all reservations and FP+. They even offered to call me at a time suitable to me and help me link the dining.

I logged in again but still nothing! Before I had chance to reply to this person, the first person I was dealing with emailed and apologised for the delay as she was out of office. She too could see everything on my account was there, but I could not see it! Was I going mad!!
She had looked into everything and it appears I had 2 accounts created with the same email, I have only ever created 1.
She said an email will be coming for me to validate my account, when I had done this I could log in and should see my character as Minnie Mouse, I had Alice on my account. I did this and No, it was Alice! A quick email back to ask how I get into the Minnie Mouse account and she promptly replied explaining another email will be coming from noreply@starware.com and I am to re-set the password on the account next to my email address, this page was interesting as It had all the accounts that had been created(not by me) I selected my email address and changed passwords, logged in and YES it worked, there was Minnie Mouse!!!

I was soooo happy and excited to see everything and all my dining reservations I had made back in April, they were all there, my own little Itinerary!

So it may have taken a few days, but she was very patient with me and discovered the problem and fixed it.
I have been able to swap a few FP+ around and noticed that for the MK the princess meet and greet was now on. Still no parades or fireworks but I will keep checking.

Long winded I know but I just wanted to pass my experience on and let you guys know that tech support can sort your problems out, just keep on at them!

Thanks

Nic

 

[HLAuburn]

Checked into POP this weekend and received our Magic Bands. The CM was able to link our APs to the bands and we were able to use them for park entry - quick and easy, no problems at all.

I had set up FP+ ahead of time and everything worked just as planned. I loved having some rides already planned, but I could see how it wouldn't appeal to some people - it does put you on a schedule- and since I booked mine back to back, the family was a little annoyed by the lack of flexibility.

Very easy to use as a room key and for making purchases.

To my questions:
Since our APs are now linked with the bands (and they said the bands are "good" for 2 years) - will we be able to use our bands to get into the parks on future (non-resort stay) visits?

But if we just go for a day and don't stay at a resort, we won't be able to use FP+, right? Is that just going to be reserved for resort guests (something like Universal does for its onsite guests)?

Thanks!

 

[erionm]

To my questions:
Since our APs are now linked with the bands (and they said the bands are "good" for 2 years) - will we be able to use our bands to get into the parks on future (non-resort stay) visits?

Yes

But if we just go for a day and don't stay at a resort, we won't be able to use FP+, right? Is that just going to be reserved for resort guests (something like Universal does for its onsite guests)?

Since you now have MagicBands with APs associated to your MDX account, you should be able to make FP+ selections without staying on property.

 

[MickeyMinnie1971]

I just noticed something while looking at my FP+ selections for my trip in October. When it first opened up for me to make selections it was only for the length of the ticket in my package, and based on the dates of my resort reservation. I have an 8 day PH in free dining package I plan to upgrade to an AP. When I was first able to make FP+ selections (Aug 22nd) it was only for 8 days. I notice that now I can make selections up until Nov. 7 even though my trip ends on Oct. 27th. Every day it opens up an additional day that I can make selections that is up to 60 days in advance. So basically, today I could make selections for 20 days even though I only have an 8 day PH. It just seems odd. I had an AP, but it expired in January.

 

[g-dad66]

I'm not sure what the original question was but if you miss you FP+ time you can change it to a later time or move to another attraction. They have recently fixed the error loop that I came across when doing this and there were no other times for my selected attraction but it also wouldn't allow me to select another attraction because the time period had passed so of course there were no other attractions available. It was an endless loop of errors and really aggravating.

But if you were asking about using up say a Space Mountain FP+ And then being able to swap another FP+ for another go at SM, then that is a no. It doesn't even show up on the list of attractions to pick from. Now I haven't tried to change it using all formats, just the mobile app and my iPad so I have no idea if there is anything different using the kiosks but it is doubtful that this would work. I'll write myself a note to try this tomorrow at MK. LOL

I haven't read anyone reporting that they could do that either. Plus a lot that I've read, like being able to change your FP times to immediate entry after using the first FP, so moving the 2nd FP time up, do not work. Now either it was never supposed to work like that and IT focused on fixing it after it was reported or they were not giving accurate reports of how they tested. I don't know which.

Ack, so if the system stays this way, it guarantees that one cannot ever get a second FP+ for the same attraction (during the same day).

Of course, once FP- is gone, that may free up enough potential FP slots to allow guests to book two FP+s for the same attraction.

But if not, then I think this may be an even worse limitation than the 3 FP+ limit per day. As our grandkids get older, they are more and more interested in riding their favorite attractions (generally the headliners) over and over.

Anyway, thanks once again for the great reports on how the system is working during this testing period.

 

[HelenParr]

To my questions:
Since our APs are now linked with the bands (and they said the bands are "good" for 2 years) - will we be able to use our bands to get into the parks on future (non-resort stay) visits?

QUOTE]

I agree with response that the MB should work with your AP whether or not you have a reservation (i.e., onsite or offsite), but I am curious if the MDX/MBs will affect how Disney handles AP renewals in the future.

Right now, when I renew online, I get a voucher that I use to activate a new pass when I am next onsite. My old pass is kaput after the year runs out.

Seems that without a change in the system, AP holders would need to refresh, reconnect, re-something their MBs to attach the new numbers for the pass certificate. I would love it if Disney instead switched to the way Universal does it: you pay during renewal period (online or on phone), and the AP is continuously live. And it would make more sense with the whole MDE/MDX profile theory.

Have we heard anything about this?

 

[doconeill]

Just to clarify things...if you already have a MagicBand, and have a valid AP or other tickets linked, it appears in general that you can continue to use the MagicBand/FP+ even if you are not staying in a test resort on a future trip. You are already a "tester". How much support you might get with problems, however, remains to be seen. Reports are that non-test resorts are still able to link MagicBands for use in the resort, as long as the CM is up on the procedure. But at a minimum they will get you in the park and redeem Fastpass+.

I agree with response that the MB should work with your AP whether or not you have a reservation (i.e., onsite or offsite), but I am curious if the MDX/MBs will affect how Disney handles AP renewals in the future.

Right now, when I renew online, I get a voucher that I use to activate a new pass when I am next onsite. My old pass is kaput after the year runs out.

Seems that without a change in the system, AP holders would need to refresh, reconnect, re-something their MBs to attach the new numbers for the pass certificate. I would love it if Disney instead switched to the way Universal does it: you pay during renewal period (online or on phone), and the AP is continuously live. And it would make more sense with the whole MDE/MDX profile theory.

Have we heard anything about this?

I don't think they are worrying about it just yet - they are dealing with APs on a case basis as part of the test.

However, I don't think any immediate changes might be necessary, beyond some fixes to handling. Vouchers can be treated like tickets in general, but without an expiration. If you can get it linked (some have), then it should work just like there was an active AP there. The difference is that you can't get into the park directly - you still have to go to the ticket booth/guest relations to activate the AP. Then in your profile the voucher would be replaced with the AP, and you can enter.

In the future, they can probably streamline this...

 

[sjs314]

Is the a list anywhere that shows what resorts have been included in the testing of MB?

TIA

 

[doconeill]

Is the a list anywhere that shows what resorts have been included in the testing of MB?

TIA

Current resorts: AKL/AKV (Jambo House only), BC/BCV, YC, Poly, CR (not BLT), POR, POP, AOA.

 

[sjs314]

Current resorts: AKL/AKV (Jambo House only), BC/BCV, YC, Poly, CR (not BLT), POR, POP, AOA.

Thanks we just switched resorts and I had not paid attention whether AKL was one of the test resorts or not and it just occurred to me that maybe it was.

 

[delmar411]

I have no clue which thread someone was asking about rider swap and how it is handled with FP+....it became some big argument over how rider swap works and I told the person with the question that I would go and verify it with the CMs at the rides.

Well I've now asked at every single ride that could possibly have a rider swap. It is handled the same way the current FP rider swap is. Everyone who will be riding first round needs a FP+, the person sitting out does not. They will get a paper rider swap pass for now and in the future there will be something added to their MB but they have no idea how that works right now.

Also to whomever was asking about changing a FP+ to gain a duplicate ride on one attraction, I tried it on all platforms today and it does not work on any platform.

And finally, MK has removed the Splash Mountain kiosk and they are directing people to the Adventureland breezeway (the bathroom corridor between adventure and frontier lands. BUT there is no kiosk there either. They are now located only in fantasy faire (philharmagic), storybook circus (in the tent where you get dumbo and barnstormer FPs) and at the front of the park (city hall - left as you enter the park and the town hall? Not sure of its name- right as you enter the park). I have no idea what is going on with that but it really sucked to have to take a lap around the park just to find one.

 

[suzyqqq27]

We are magic band testers in October. My children have Disney gift cards that they use for purchases. Currently, only my husband and I have room charging privileges on our cards/bands and the children do not. Do you think they can add the amount of the gift card on to the children's magic bands? Does anybody know anything about this? I was hoping that they could use their gift cards without having to carry them around (and risk losing them).

Let me know if anybody knows anything about this,
Suzanne

 

[doconeill]

We are magic band testers in October. My children have Disney gift cards that they use for purchases. Currently, only my husband and I have room charging privileges on our cards/bands and the children do not. Do you think they can add the amount of the gift card on to the children's magic bands? Does anybody know anything about this? I was hoping that they could use their gift cards without having to carry them around (and risk losing them).

Let me know if anybody knows anything about this,
Suzanne

I have not heard anything about being able to add gift cards at this time. I know they plan to allow non-resort guests to have chargebacks to a credit card on file...if they'll do debit cards as well, they should be able to do gift cards...