No Pixie Dust Yesterday!! I Hate Magic Bands!

[bumbershoot]

Anyway, I digress, these things will happen, at Universal Studios I always have issues with the finger recognition, every bloody time, I have an AP for there and it refused to recognise my finger print at both parks, if I heard someone ask one more time 'are you sure you used that finger before?' I will scream! Luckily I had my ID with me...

Always bring your ID and have it out and ready. I rarely have problems with my fingerscan, but sometimes I do, and every time I enter the park I have my ID out and ready, just in case. I generally have no issues if, right before I put my finger on the scanner, I rub my finger a few times on my pants or shorts, to get any sweat or oils off of my finger. Seems to work nicely, and if you haven't tried it, well there's an idea. Otherwise, just have that ID out.

Also, recognize how many people they see every day who are NOT using the correct finger. You're just one person who happened to do it right the first time and therefore are doing it right now. But I would bet that the majority of those with problems did NOT do it right the first time, and/or are doing it wrong this time. It's their first troubleshooting question. It's not an insult against you. Most of the time, that question solves the problem.

We were sent the KTTW cards ahead of the MBs. We were a little confused as to why they sent those, and a CM said they just do, and when we get the MBs we can decide which ones to use--cards or bands.

What? You were sent KTTWs? In the mail? What CM said they just do that? I haven't heard of this yet. Please tell us more.

...so I called member services, who told me that she can see my reservations behind the scenes, but they are having some major computer problems this weekend.

I have never seen a place have more computer IT problems than Disney

Yikes.

 

[JanaDee]

How on earth could thousands of MBs stop working at once??

Disney IT, that is how.

 

[luvthemouse71]

Very true. But suspicions aside, there is no reason for people to say "This isn't Disney's fault." Of course it is. If one were to go to their bank only to be told that the computer was showing that their account was closed and they had no money there, would that person shrug it off or proclaim that the bank was at fault?


Absurd. When someone here complains about something, we are quickly informed about how small and insignificant this board is compared to the bigger picture. Now, all of a sudden, something like this happens and we are supposed to believe that everyone affected should have posted on a chat board.....in the middle of their vacation? The OP could not have waited 2 hours for a resolution with only a dozen people in front of them.

In the end, the most egregious part of all of this may have been the selling of the water. Though, the old saying: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" was clearly ignored.

Well, we routinely have people posting here in the middle of vacations to ask silly questions. So, not so unreasonable to expect that if "thousands" of people were affected, at least one or two besides the OP would have mentioned something. But no.

This isn't the only board out there. Lots of other WDW internet sites. Yet, no one else has posted about the Thousandfold MB Glitch of 2014 but here...

Hmmmm....

 

[PlutoMars]

Thousands...really?

And did you hear about the little girl that got thrown out of KFC for scars on her face...oh wait, that wasnt right either.

The reason people believe this story of THOUSANDS of people being denied entry is because of their narrative of how awful MM+ is and how incompetent Disney IT is.

However, it IS completely Disney's fault if something is not working especially as crucial as entry into the park. An integral part of IT is a backup system and plan to implement if the tech fails at any point.

And IF Disney rolled out a cart of bottled water to sell then shame on them.

 

[JanaDee]

Maybe it's the new promotion -- "Magic No Way."

*snort*

 

[luvthemouse71]

How on earth could thousands of MBs stop working at once??

DISboards hysteria, that's how.

 

[eeyorepixie]

My BFF is there now has been to Disney 30+ times. She was part of the test group for online check in, she posted how much she was a fan...next day she was in the park and became NOT a fan, and the next day and the next day. I have not heard anything further but, three times she had to wait at guest relations and BIG Deal she got a fast pass for her time.

Time is money in Disney, she paid for her time and she lost quite a bit of it due to MB malfunctions.

I love how it is so predictable that the Disney cult members of the DIS are so quick to dismiss anything negative, but you can not quiet the truth. MB's are not great...as someone stated earlier
When they work they are great, but when they do not they are HORRID! Never mind the tiering, never mind the overscheduling, never mind the price hikes, never mind the constant reports of the castmembers being annoyed and anything but magical with guests when dealing with "glitches" or now the layoff of cast members at resorts due to the bands...but, they are wonderful

 

[Angel Ariel]

Well, we routinely have people posting here in the middle of vacations to ask silly questions. So, not so unreasonable to expect that if "thousands" of people were affected, at least one or two besides the OP would have mentioned something. But no.

This isn't the only board out there. Lots of other WDW internet sites. Yet, no one else has posted about the Thousandfold MB Glitch of 2014 but here...

Hmmmm....

Yep, I am totally lying about the turnstiles being down. It affected everyone entering at epcot at rope drop, but because there is no other post about it here, I must be making it up.

Please note, I know the quoted post isn't about me or the situation I referred to. I'm merely applying the same logic to a different experience. I was at epcot that day, experienced it, was on the DIS for other things that trip, but I didn't post about the turnstiles either. Doesn't mean it didn't happen.

 

[JanaDee]

DISboards hysteria, that's how.

I'm sorry, I must have missed the hysteria in this thread. Care to point it out for those of us that missed it?

 

[keaster]

My BFF is there now has been to Disney 30+ times. She was part of the test group for online check in, she posted how much she was a fan...next day she was in the park and became NOT a fan, and the next day and the next day. I have not heard anything further but, three times she had to wait at guest relations and BIG Deal she got a fast pass for her time. Time is money in Disney, she paid for her time and she lost quite a bit of it due to MB malfunctions. I love how it is so predictable that the Disney cult members of the DIS are so quick to dismiss anything negative, but you can not quiet the truth. MB's are not great...as someone stated earlier When they work they are great, but when they do not they are HORRID! Never mind the tiering, never mind the overscheduling, never mind the price hikes, never mind the constant reports of the castmembers being annoyed and anything but magical with guests when dealing with "glitches" or now the layoff of cast members at resorts due to the bands...but, they are wonderful

Maybe the issues are stemming from this self check in test? Maybe magic bands are not registering as they should.

 

[JanaDee]

Yep, I am totally lying about the turnstiles being down. It affected everyone entering at epcot at rope drop, but because there is no other post about it here, I must be making it up.

Please note, I know the quoted post isn't about me or the situation I referred to. I'm merely applying the same logic to a different experience. I was at epcot that day, experienced it, was on the DIS for other things that trip, but I didn't post about the turnstiles either. Doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Yes, the logic seems to be since it wasn't reported here, it didn't happen.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Okay, they brought in water to sell--which is crazy! But if your MBs weren't working could you even buy it if you wanted? A lot of people don't carry cash and since EVERYTHING is linked to your MB to make life easy, that might be all they had.

So here's super-overpriced water you can buy while you wait in the hot sun to fix your MB that we insist you use but the only way to pay for it is with your MB...which isn't working.

 

[PlutoMars]

I love how it is so predictable that the Disney cult members of the DIS are so quick to dismiss anything negative, but you can not quiet the truth. MB's are not great...as someone stated earlier
When they work they are great, but when they do not they are HORRID! Never mind the tiering, never mind the overscheduling, never mind the price hikes, never mind the constant reports of the castmembers being annoyed and anything but magical with guests when dealing with "glitches" or now the layoff of cast members at resorts due to the bands...but, they are wonderful

I also love how predictable it is that any time someone will merely question the veracity and accuracy or these anecdotal stories, that people will call them Disney apologist, kool-aid drinkers, rose colored glasses wearers, and now Disney Cult Members.

Do i think there are problems with the MBs? Yes.
Do i think that people are having problems getting into the parks with them at time? Yes
Do i think they should have worked out these types of glitches by now? Yes

Do I believe that THOUSANDS of guests had the same issues as the OP that day? Not so much.

 

[PlutoMars]

Yes, the logic seems to be since it wasn't reported here, it didn't happen.

vs If it was reported here, it must be 100% accurate?

 

[bumbershoot]

Do I believe that THOUSANDS of guests had the same issues as the OP that day? Not so much.

Who knows how many people are generally waiting to get in at rope drop? I don't. I missed the "estimate the number of people in a crowd" class in school. But whatever the number, it's quite a lot. And if we can see that the DVC rep said they were having major problems, someone else reported problems, and we KNOW that they continue to tweak the system which can cause big huge outages, why is it so impossible to believe that everyone at the gates with MBs (or MBs gotten in a certain way) ended up with issues at the gates?

Isn't outside of my imagination at all. If a website goes down, it generally goes down for everyone, after all. (though sometimes it goes down and comes up intermittently, so a person's experience is dependent on exactly when they tried to go to the website, and that can also be a factor in something like this)

 

[MelissathePooh]

What we have figured out with the whole MDE and MBs is that if they work - its fine and sometimes really convenient, but when they don't it can ruin a very expensive vacation and there is no way to recover that lost time. For some people though, as long as it worked for them the whole system seems perfect and vice versa. Both groups of guests are accurate.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Okay, they brought in water to sell--which is crazy! But if your MBs weren't working could you even buy it if you wanted? A lot of people don't carry cash and since EVERYTHING is linked to your MB to make life easy, that might be all they had. So here's super-overpriced water you can buy while you wait in the hot sun to fix your MB that we insist you use but the only way to pay for it is with your MB...which isn't working.

Good point!

I will always bring some cash from now on...at DHS last Nov all of the MB readers went down for a bit and they were not giving any food or drinks away in the meantime lol.

 

[ArwenMarie]

What we have figured out with the whole MDE and MBs is that if they work - its fine and sometimes really convenient, but when they don't it can ruin a very expensive vacation and there is no way to recover that lost time. For some people though, as long as it worked for them the whole system seems perfect and vice versa. Both groups of guests are accurate.

This is it. When everything works, great.

When it doesn't, good luck. It might take hours of precious and expensive vacation time to get things fixed. And you won't be compensated for that lost time most likely.

 

[Angel Ariel]

vs If it was reported here, it must be 100% accurate?

No one said that either. But, after having personally experienced *all* of the Epcot turnstiles going down (after they were all RFID), and seeing the vast number of people that affected, I can absolutely see some kind of computer/server issue that affected everyone trying to enter a park. It really isn't that far-fetched.

I think it's a bit out of line to say that a poster (or posters) are exaggerating or lying about something simply because there's no other online report of what they experienced.

Like I said, I experienced it myself. I didn't report it online, even though I was on the DIS at various points during the trip. A search of the DIS doesn't bring up any posts about the epcot turnstiles going down when I was there, nor does a google search. But I can assure you, it happened. It was my first opportunity to ride the revamped TT, and I didn't get to. 1/2 of our party arrived at Epcot before we did, and they managed to get in before the turnstiles went down. By the time we got in, they'd already ridden TT, and were at Soarin' getting FPs. I didn't get to ride TT at all on that trip, and I was annoyed .

You don't easily forget being stuck outside the park because the turnstiles are down while the rest of your family is inside having a good time without you.

 

[cgattis]

DISboards hysteria, that's how.

Yes, that's the problem. Certainly not Disney's craptastic IT department. The bottom line is their current guest recovery posture is just unacceptable. One FP for hours of waiting to have your tickets proven to be accurate, or NOTHING for hours of waiting at check-in, or "lost" FPs, or missed ADRs is absolutely inadequate. Disney rolled out this system to make themselves more money; they need to suck up the recovery costs until it's working properly.