JustSayin
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2006
- Messages
- 98
We just returned from a wonderful Disney vacation and I wanted to share our familys experience with all things Magic Band, Fastpass+, and My Disney Experience.
First a bit about us, I am the vacations guru in our family and, although I have graduated from Excel spreadsheets and binders to Tripit and now My Disney Experience, I am more than a bit of a planner. The goal is not to be rigidly regimented. It is more about making sure that everyone gets to do the things are important to them on their vacation. God know you arent getting Anna and Elsa Fastpasses without a little work and foresight. My DW is more than happy to do research and contribute her preferences and desires, but I generally do the heavy lifting of putting it all together. DS(10) is a Disney fan who, as of yet, still believes that a Disney vacation is about as good as it gets (except for maybe a Disney Cruise vacations). We have about a dozen Disney vacations under our belts averaging about 10 days each.
We tend to be Rope Drop People even though none of us are Morning People. It is just the easiest/only way to make sure you get the headliner attractions done particularly if you are traveling during busier times. We almost never wait more than 15-20 minutes for a ride, and we were regular users of the old FastPass system.
Now onto our trip: July 1 11, 2014. Our first time using the complete My Disney Experience system and our first summer Disney trip in years, (we tend to go in October/November). After reading up on the system here and other places, I was more than a bit nervous. I was envisioning long lines for normally quick attractions, botched ticket assignments and other unspeakable horrors. I decided to just do the best I could and trust that it would all work out.
Now, lets get onto our experiences.
Magic Bands: These things are awesome! No, they are not perfect, but, lets be honest here, neither were the magnetic strip cards they replaced. We had fewer technical issues with the bands that we generally had with the cards. Ticket lines to get into the park seemed to go faster than they have in the past even on high volume days. Anyone who did have an issue with the bands was efficiently shuttled off to another Cast Member with an iPad who quickly took care of the issue. Purchasing with the bands was easy (too easy). It was great to be able to go to Typhoon Lagoon or the pool without having to cart along a wallet. There is a technique to getting good quick reads on the band (when they say Mickey to Mickey, they mean Mickey to Mickey), but, after we figured that out, they were quick and easy in almost every situation. In my opinion, these are an upgrade to the old cards in every way.
FastPass+: Yet another resounding success! We rode the rides we wanted to and never waited in a line longer than 15 minutes. After 4 days of being at the park at open, I was able to reschedule any of the FastPasses that I wanted to and this meant that we didnt have to be there at opening again in order to get what we wanted. YEA! The lines for the normally quick attractions were generally about what we would have expected. Yes, at times certain rides had inappropriately long waits, in my opinion, but that was true before Fastpass+ as well. You could always get a short line for Nemo, Spaceship Earth, Figment, Star Tours, etc. as long as you were a little flexible as to when you rode them and monitoring the wait times from across the park was generally quick and easy (more on that in a minute). I could not change my Fastpass time for Anna and Elsa or Mine Train, but other than that I had really good flexibility even when changing Fastpasses for that day. If you want to ride a lot of rides without lines, FastPass+ will make this easier than in the past as long as you plan a bit ahead. Example: July 3 was a Magic Kingdom day for us. We got there a half an hour before rope drop. In that one day we rode 15 rides (including Mine train and all the other Fantasy Land rides, staked out a great parade spot (2.5 hours of sitting in the Florida sun), had lunch at Be Our Guest, left the park for dinner at 1900 Park Faire (2 hours away from the park), and staked out our spot for the fireworks (2 hours of waiting for the best firework display I had ever seen). We took our time and were never rushing back and forth. You dont get all that done if you are waiting in lines. I cant comment on what happens when the system doesnt work as it should because we never had any problem. On one day our Fastpass for Test Track got rained out and we were given a Fastpass good for any ride in the park at any time. We went back to Test Track later in the day when it reopened and got right on without issue. I do think I would be much less a fan of the system if I did not have a smart phone. Kiosk lines were long. They seemed to move at a good pace, but I would personally not enjoy waiting in a line to avoid waiting in a line.
My Disney Experience: This was the only less than stellar part of the new system. The iOS app worked .most of the time. There were more than a few occasions when it crashed or could not bring up the data I wanted. I had slightly better luck using the mobile version of the website from my Windows phone. There were no terrible issues, but at times it did take a couple of minute s before I was able to bring up the info I was looking for. Nothing was so terrible as to be truly upsetting, but there were probably a couple of times a day where it didnt just work. On most occasions closing the app and re-launching it fixed the issue, but occasionally we just had to wait until it decided to give us the info we were looking for (or use the website).
Miscellaneous: At no point in our stay was there ever a line for the concierge at our resort (Saratoga Springs). This has definitely not been our experience in the past. I believe this is due to being able to do so much for yourself both before the trip and on the go.
Final Thoughts: We had a great time, and had no real issues. I would strongly recommend that you book Mine Train ahead of time. The lines were CRAZY. We would not have waited if that was the only option. If you do rope drop I would book your Fastpasses for later in the morning/afternoon. The lines at Rope Drop are totally manageable. Fastpasses are totally unnecessary early in the morning for the vast majority of rides. This was even true during the very busy holiday week. This also gives you the luxury of sleeping in if you so choose. We have never been able to ride Toy Story Mania without either getting there very early or choosing to wait in a ridiculously long line. With the new system we could sleep till 9 (or 10) and still ride with very little wait! That is a change for the better. Mostly I would say, relax and enjoy yourself! Are there issues? I have certainly read enough to know there can be, but it also seems that the list of happy people is growing. The system will continue to improve. Even in its current state, I would say that it improved our vacation tremendously over the old way of doing things. They took a good thing and made it generally easier, more flexible, and more convenient.
First a bit about us, I am the vacations guru in our family and, although I have graduated from Excel spreadsheets and binders to Tripit and now My Disney Experience, I am more than a bit of a planner. The goal is not to be rigidly regimented. It is more about making sure that everyone gets to do the things are important to them on their vacation. God know you arent getting Anna and Elsa Fastpasses without a little work and foresight. My DW is more than happy to do research and contribute her preferences and desires, but I generally do the heavy lifting of putting it all together. DS(10) is a Disney fan who, as of yet, still believes that a Disney vacation is about as good as it gets (except for maybe a Disney Cruise vacations). We have about a dozen Disney vacations under our belts averaging about 10 days each.
We tend to be Rope Drop People even though none of us are Morning People. It is just the easiest/only way to make sure you get the headliner attractions done particularly if you are traveling during busier times. We almost never wait more than 15-20 minutes for a ride, and we were regular users of the old FastPass system.
Now onto our trip: July 1 11, 2014. Our first time using the complete My Disney Experience system and our first summer Disney trip in years, (we tend to go in October/November). After reading up on the system here and other places, I was more than a bit nervous. I was envisioning long lines for normally quick attractions, botched ticket assignments and other unspeakable horrors. I decided to just do the best I could and trust that it would all work out.
Now, lets get onto our experiences.
Magic Bands: These things are awesome! No, they are not perfect, but, lets be honest here, neither were the magnetic strip cards they replaced. We had fewer technical issues with the bands that we generally had with the cards. Ticket lines to get into the park seemed to go faster than they have in the past even on high volume days. Anyone who did have an issue with the bands was efficiently shuttled off to another Cast Member with an iPad who quickly took care of the issue. Purchasing with the bands was easy (too easy). It was great to be able to go to Typhoon Lagoon or the pool without having to cart along a wallet. There is a technique to getting good quick reads on the band (when they say Mickey to Mickey, they mean Mickey to Mickey), but, after we figured that out, they were quick and easy in almost every situation. In my opinion, these are an upgrade to the old cards in every way.
FastPass+: Yet another resounding success! We rode the rides we wanted to and never waited in a line longer than 15 minutes. After 4 days of being at the park at open, I was able to reschedule any of the FastPasses that I wanted to and this meant that we didnt have to be there at opening again in order to get what we wanted. YEA! The lines for the normally quick attractions were generally about what we would have expected. Yes, at times certain rides had inappropriately long waits, in my opinion, but that was true before Fastpass+ as well. You could always get a short line for Nemo, Spaceship Earth, Figment, Star Tours, etc. as long as you were a little flexible as to when you rode them and monitoring the wait times from across the park was generally quick and easy (more on that in a minute). I could not change my Fastpass time for Anna and Elsa or Mine Train, but other than that I had really good flexibility even when changing Fastpasses for that day. If you want to ride a lot of rides without lines, FastPass+ will make this easier than in the past as long as you plan a bit ahead. Example: July 3 was a Magic Kingdom day for us. We got there a half an hour before rope drop. In that one day we rode 15 rides (including Mine train and all the other Fantasy Land rides, staked out a great parade spot (2.5 hours of sitting in the Florida sun), had lunch at Be Our Guest, left the park for dinner at 1900 Park Faire (2 hours away from the park), and staked out our spot for the fireworks (2 hours of waiting for the best firework display I had ever seen). We took our time and were never rushing back and forth. You dont get all that done if you are waiting in lines. I cant comment on what happens when the system doesnt work as it should because we never had any problem. On one day our Fastpass for Test Track got rained out and we were given a Fastpass good for any ride in the park at any time. We went back to Test Track later in the day when it reopened and got right on without issue. I do think I would be much less a fan of the system if I did not have a smart phone. Kiosk lines were long. They seemed to move at a good pace, but I would personally not enjoy waiting in a line to avoid waiting in a line.
My Disney Experience: This was the only less than stellar part of the new system. The iOS app worked .most of the time. There were more than a few occasions when it crashed or could not bring up the data I wanted. I had slightly better luck using the mobile version of the website from my Windows phone. There were no terrible issues, but at times it did take a couple of minute s before I was able to bring up the info I was looking for. Nothing was so terrible as to be truly upsetting, but there were probably a couple of times a day where it didnt just work. On most occasions closing the app and re-launching it fixed the issue, but occasionally we just had to wait until it decided to give us the info we were looking for (or use the website).
Miscellaneous: At no point in our stay was there ever a line for the concierge at our resort (Saratoga Springs). This has definitely not been our experience in the past. I believe this is due to being able to do so much for yourself both before the trip and on the go.
Final Thoughts: We had a great time, and had no real issues. I would strongly recommend that you book Mine Train ahead of time. The lines were CRAZY. We would not have waited if that was the only option. If you do rope drop I would book your Fastpasses for later in the morning/afternoon. The lines at Rope Drop are totally manageable. Fastpasses are totally unnecessary early in the morning for the vast majority of rides. This was even true during the very busy holiday week. This also gives you the luxury of sleeping in if you so choose. We have never been able to ride Toy Story Mania without either getting there very early or choosing to wait in a ridiculously long line. With the new system we could sleep till 9 (or 10) and still ride with very little wait! That is a change for the better. Mostly I would say, relax and enjoy yourself! Are there issues? I have certainly read enough to know there can be, but it also seems that the list of happy people is growing. The system will continue to improve. Even in its current state, I would say that it improved our vacation tremendously over the old way of doing things. They took a good thing and made it generally easier, more flexible, and more convenient.
, complaining, and whining going on the boards lately regarding primarily FP+, its great to hear that it works! In fact it worked so much that you were able to adjust your trip a bit based on its use.
