One Trip - THREE sets of Magic Bands! Maybe this is why Disney prices keep going up!

[WelcomeHome]

We're going to Disneyworld in mid-May and like good little Disney fans we linked all our dining reservations, hotel reservations (a few days at BCV and a few days at VWL) and even included our Fastpass plus choices.

I hit the "Send Magic Bands" button ONCE and then anxiously awaited for our fabulous little new wristbands to arrive. Sure enough, about 2 weeks later we got this beautifully decorated "Tiffany's Quality" box with our wristbands that even included a little "Passholder Tab" which allows us to announce to everyone in the parks that we are "Special People!" Good job Disney!

About 10 days later we receive a SECOND box from Disney and much to our surprise a SECOND fabulous "Tiffany's Quality" box was enclosed with 2 more Magic Bands - this time no special "Passholder Display Tab" was included. Goofy job Disney!

Last night, a THIRD familiar looking Disney box arrived at our doorstep and guess what was inside? Yes, a THIRD set of magic bands but this time it included a little "DVC Member" tab to let everyone at Disney know we are EXTRA special people. Very expensive job Disney!

So the next time you wonder why prices keep going up at Disney, just image me walking through the parks with a Magic Band on each wrist and a third one on my ankle.

Best wishes,
Dave

 

[keaster]

It is kind on wonky!

We had our first Magic Band trip in March, 1 week at AKL. We customized and ordered them on line, and since we are from Canada, we received our bands at the front desk.

Turns out a snow storm cancelled our flight, so we ended up staying 2 extra nights. We had to change rooms (understandable.) So when we checked out/checked in, they gave us the generic grey bands for the next two days. We asked if we could just use our customized ones, but apparently no, those are tied to the old reservation.

Fast forward...we are also annual passholders so guess what? We see online we get special passholder magic bands. But again, since we are in Canada, we had to have those shipped to a friend in the U.S. who has brought them home for us.

And now...DH and I are heading to VGF for our anniversary trip in June. Guess what? Yes, we will have 2 more magic bands waiting at our resort when we get there

So yes, at the end of all this we will have 4 sets of magic bands. Maybe they will look nice on the Christmas tree?

 

[disneynutz]

Maybe they are flooding the market to drive down the magic band ebay prices?

Bill

 

[Betty X]

How about 7 for a week in June that I have just pieced together this week? I had to do it night by night because there was no availability. What does the annual passholder band look like and will it be waiting for me when I get there? So far we chose grey. Anyone have a picture of the AP magicband?

 

[Cobern]

How about 7 for a week in June that I have just pieced together this week? I had to do it night by night because there was no availability. What does the annual passholder band look like and will it be waiting for me when I get there? So far we chose grey. Anyone have a picture of the AP magicband?

Same bands, just a passholder slider

 

[MouseMomx2]

I have no doubt that the MBs are a relatively inexpensive item to manufacture ship and that Disney is losing absolutely no money because of them. The increase in revenue that they generate is significant so sending one band per person, per reservation is still a worthwhile expense to them. In addition, I am sure the shipping rates have been negotiated at a bulk rate and are far less than you or I would spend to send the same package.

We now have all 7 colors of MBs. We now skip the customization process and ask the front desk to recycle the gray, non-personalized bands they try to give us at check in. We simply tell them that we have a full set of bands and don't need them. Because they do not have our names on them, and they have not yet been linked to our account, the CMs are able to just put them back and use them for someone else.

 

[ljcrochet]

We have our bands from out last trip, AP bands. We have a split stay so 2 more sets of bands.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

Right now, we have MB's last months trip, our AP bands, and we're expecting 2 sets for June's trip.

Sent from my IPad using DisBoards.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I, personally have 15 MB and have deactivated all but 2. I have refused to take ones that have been waiting for me when I failed to state what I wanted ahead of time. I am not counting those in the 15! I foolishly thought if I did not customize, I would not get!

 

[WelcomeHome]

Here's what the special AP & DVC "sliders"look like. I borrowed this image from another thread:

 

[WilsonFlyer]

It is kind on wonky!

We had our first Magic Band trip in March, 1 week at AKL. We customized and ordered them on line, and since we are from Canada, we received our bands at the front desk.

Turns out a snow storm cancelled our flight, so we ended up staying 2 extra nights. We had to change rooms (understandable.) So when we checked out/checked in, they gave us the generic grey bands for the next two days. We asked if we could just use our customized ones, but apparently no, those are tied to the old reservation.

Fast forward...we are also annual passholders so guess what? We see online we get special passholder magic bands. But again, since we are in Canada, we had to have those shipped to a friend in the U.S. who has brought them home for us.

And now...DH and I are heading to VGF for our anniversary trip in June. Guess what? Yes, we will have 2 more magic bands waiting at our resort when we get there

So yes, at the end of all this we will have 4 sets of magic bands. Maybe they will look nice on the Christmas tree?

They could have changed your bands in 30 seconds. They either didn't know how or didn't want to be bothered. Sorry. That's the answer. And that leads to part of my response in the paragraph below. Maybe they didn't know how yet (training is tiered). That was thought of.

As to the rest of your comments, I probably best not. All I will say is that everyone isn't as dumb as you seem to believe. Believe it or not, some very smart people designed this system and every single thing you are seeing happen is by design.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

It's interesting to watch threads like this mature.

On the one hand, some folks would be mad if they didn't get MBs for every trip. "I spent the money. I deserve NEW bands." Then people complain if they get more than one set. Unbelievable.

The cost of mailing multiple bands is built into the costs associated with the early stages of the roll-out. It was calculated and budgeted almost 5 years ago.

Eventually, and not so long from now, the mailings of multiple MBs to select guests based on some pre-determined criterias which I cannot disclose (Think about it. It's very logical. You can figure it out.) will cease. It will be interesting to watch the fall-out then. What do you want to bet?

 

[keaster]

They could have changed your bands in 30 seconds. They either didn't know how or didn't want to be bothered. Sorry. That's the answer. And that leads to part of my response in the paragraph below. Maybe they didn't know how yet (training is tiered). That was thought of.

As to the rest of your comments, I probably best not. All I will say is that everyone isn't as dumb as you seem to believe. Believe it or not, some very smart people designed this system and every single thing you are seeing happen is by design.

Ok this irks me...and if you look at my post history, I am not one to get into arguments on these boards...

Where in my post did a say anyone or anything was dumb? I was merely pointing out, along with the OP, that we are receiving a myriad of Magic Bands much to my amusement. I am neither for or against them, just adding to the topic of the original post.

 

[MarlaSingersLaundry]

It's interesting to watch threads like this mature.

On the one hand, some folks would be mad if they didn't get MBs for every trip. "I spent the money. I deserve NEW bands." Then people complain if they get more than one set. Unbelievable.

The cost of mailing multiple bands is built into the costs associated with the early stages of the roll-out. It was calculated and budgeted almost 5 years ago.

Eventually, and not so long from now, the mailings of multiple MBs to select guests based on some pre-determined criterias which I cannot disclose (Think about it. It's very logical. You can figure it out.) will cease. It will be interesting to watch the fall-out then. What do you want to bet?

You are absolutely right. I'm part of the "wanting new bands, in all the colors!" population segment. I'm sure we will see lots of comments when Disney stops multiple shipments.

One CM told us Disney will eventually start charging for the color bands. He advised we get the bands in every color and keep them. Likely conjecture on the CM's part.

 

[SpaceMountain77]

Soon, I will need to purchase a storage container for my numerous resort refillable mugs and magic bands

We have 4 magic bands and, believe it or not, another 14 are on the way! Our two upcoming trips this year are split-stays.

 

[SuperRob]

This is easy to explain. You got one set of magic bands for each resort stay, plus one set for your APs. They're identical as far as the system is concerned. While it may seem wasteful (and arguably is) the reasoning behind it is simple ... You can't assume someone hadn't lost bands or that the battery still works, so ship new bands to be sure. Normally, these things would happen months or years apart, buts since the system is new, we're getting stuff all at once.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Ok this irks me...and if you look at my post history, I am not one to get into arguments on these boards...

Where in my post did a say anyone or anything was dumb? I was merely pointing out, along with the OP, that we are receiving a myriad of Magic Bands much to my amusement. I am neither for or against them, just adding to the topic of the original post.

Please accept my apology. When answering your question in the prior post, I remembered a collective inference from the ORIGINAL post in the thread and referenced yours mistakenly. It was NOT your post that implied this. I am sorry.

-bob

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Soon, I will need to purchase a storage container for my numerous resort refillable mugs and magic bands

We have 4 magic bands and, believe it or not, another 14 are on the way! Our two upcoming trips this year are split-stays.

It's a conspiracy with the Purple Van people.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

You are absolutely right. I'm part of the "wanting new bands, in all the colors!" population segment. I'm sure we will see lots of comments when Disney stops multiple shipments.

One CM told us Disney will eventually start charging for the color bands. He advised we get the bands in every color and keep them. Likely conjecture on the CM's part.

More importantly, get one in every color and personalized for free while you can.

 

[bonrea]

This is easy to explain. You got one set of magic bands for each resort stay, plus one set for your APs. They're identical as far as the system is concerned. While it may seem wasteful (and arguably is) the reasoning behind it is simple ... You can't assume someone hadn't lost bands or that the battery still works, so ship new bands to be sure. Normally, these things would happen months or years apart, buts since the system is new, we're getting stuff all at once.

Hmmm... Battery? I don't think these things have a battery. They work much like the secure RF ID card badges big corporations use to access buildings and special rooms. The older KTW Cards that they used to give out are the same technology. One simply holds the band or the card (both RF technology) up to the transmitter, the RF device in the band or the card reacts to the radiation and sends out its own signal of some sort to show it is there and its ID number. Then the transmitter receives it and confirms with the computer that the ID number is correct and processes the proper transaction.

I cut one of the bands open and didn't find a battery. I may be in correct.

The RFID technology has two components – the reader and the tag. The reader has two parts – a transceiver and an antenna. The transceiver generates a weak radio signal that may have a range from a few feet to a few yards. The signal is necessary to wake or activate the tag and is transmitted through the antenna. The signal itself is a form of energy that can be used to power the tag. In this case the tag is the MB or RFID cards.