RFID Magicband in April?

[jelliott04]

Hi all.

Heading to WDW in beginning - mid of April and wondered if anyone knew if the bracelets would be out by then? We're staying on points at BLT.

Thanks.

Jen

 

[erionm]

No one knows.

Testing was reported supposed to start at the Contemporary (including BLT) and Animal Kingdom Lodge (including AKV), but has been delayed. We were at AKV this past weekend and our reservation was flagged for MagicBands, but because testing was delayed they would not issue them to us.

 

[luckyman_apd]

No one knows.

Testing was reported supposed to start at the Contemporary (including BLT) and Animal Kingdom Lodge (including AKV), but has been delayed. We were at AKV this past weekend and our reservation was flagged for MagicBands, but because testing was delayed they would not issue them to us.

Not sure i would want to be the guinie pig for that. I'd to have something go wrong and be locked out of my room, or take 30 minutes to get into the park while they figure it out. Do they compensate you with anything for being a guinie pig for them?

 

[jelliott04]

Not sure i would want to be the guinie pig for that. I'd to have something go wrong and be locked out of my room, or take 30 minutes to get into the park while they figure it out. Do they compensate you with anything for being a guinie pig for them?

Compensate? You would be among the first to test out a cool new gizmo for Disney! That's compensation enough.

Jen

 

[luckyman_apd]

Compensate? You would be among the first to test out a cool new gizmo for Disney! That's compensation enough.

Jen

Good one

 

[erionm]

Not sure i would want to be the guinie pig for that. I'd to have something go wrong and be locked out of my room, or take 30 minutes to get into the park while they figure it out. Do they compensate you with anything for being a guinie pig for them?

For us it would have been room only as we have APs and there is no way currently to link those to the MagicBands. They actually had to call someone to cancel and rebook the reservation so that the MagicBand flag would go away in order to get KTTW cards to be issued.

 

[tjkraz]

The wristbands contain the same RFID tech as the KTTW cards in use today. IMO, there's no reason to believe one would be more or less likely to fail than the other.

Like other posters have said, nobody knows for sure when the bands will be fully implemented. Pieces of the RFID tech are being rolled out. All theme parks now have RFID entry gates. Most shops have the payment terminals. Might be more by April.

But it's really just a question of whether you're tapping a rubber wrist band or a plastic ID card on the reader.

 

[jelliott04]

But it's really just a question of whether you're tapping a rubber wrist band or a plastic ID card on the reader.

We enjoyed the technology on the DCL recently. Also, my kids would have fun with the bracelets especially if they can customize them.

Jen

 

[luckyman_apd]

The wristbands contain the same RFID tech as the KTTW cards in use today. IMO, there's no reason to believe one would be more or less likely to fail than the other.

Like other posters have said, nobody knows for sure when the bands will be fully implemented. Pieces of the RFID tech are being rolled out. All theme parks now have RFID entry gates. Most shops have the payment terminals. Might be more by April.

But it's really just a question of whether you're tapping a rubber wrist band or a plastic ID card on the reader.

I really hope it truly is one or the other. I like the RFID but not a wristband. It's just a sensory thing for me. I don't like to wear a watch (thank god I live in the era of cellphones) for that same reason. A wristband will drive me crazy

 

[ninjagirl]

We were at the world in mid February and while we didn't have magic bands the transition was a pain!!! They had way more RFID ticket machines open at the parks than they did paper ticket lines resulting in the paper ticket lines being 15-20 people deep. (We have the DVC PAP paper tickets). Most of the people in the paper ticket line had the plastic cards that would work at the RFID stations but failed to understand that's what they needed to use. The cast members were extremely rude (another topic of itself but this was the first trip in 19 trips that I remember cast members screaming at guests) to those with paper tickets just trying to get through the line. Behind the RFID scanners, there were CMs with iphones specifically to scan paper tickets that could go through the RFID but they were yelling at people that they had to wait in the other line. okay awesome, so why are you paying someone to stand there and scan tickets if i can't go through this line??

Kidani was having a lot of hiccups with the room keys and apparently the RFID keys are not friendly to rekey. They had an issue with our first set. We got to the room and it kept flashing red so then had to hike back to the lobby and they couldn't just reissue our keys because of the new system. They had to cancel our reservation, rebook it and reassign our room to print new keys which took about 30 minutes. We had dinner reservations at BOG and couldn't wait on them so they said they'd have them ready when we got back. yeah, they weren't. This time they had to call the reservation center or some foolishness and finally at 10:30 pm (we checked in at 7:00 am) we were in our room. Since they were room keys only and not park tickets I wouldn't have imagined it would take that much but nevertheless I can assure you the RFID process is not fun or painless when something goes wrong and the transition was heartburn central when trying to get into the parks.

 

[Sammie]

I really hope it truly is one or the other. I like the RFID but not a wristband. It's just a sensory thing for me. I don't like to wear a watch (thank god I live in the era of cellphones) for that same reason. A wristband will drive me crazy

You will not be forced to wear the band, you can have the same access with a card.

Even if you decide to take the band, you don't have to wear it for it to work.

 

[Simba's Mom]

For us it would have been room only as we have APs and there is no way currently to link those to the MagicBands. They actually had to call someone to cancel and rebook the reservation so that the MagicBand flag would go away in order to get KTTW cards to be issued.

So does this new magic band and RFID technology impact us AP-holders in any way at the parks? I know that at the resorts, it means a new way to access your room ("tap" instead of room card in slot) but what about in the parks?

 

[erionm]

So does this new magic band and RFID technology impact us AP-holders in any way at the parks? I know that at the resorts, it means a new way to access your room ("tap" instead of room card in slot) but what about in the parks?

At some point we will be able to associate our APs to a MagicBand for use at the entrance of the parks. Reportedly, Disney is going to contact AP holders about getting them to us. Not sure if this will be postal mail or email. They are also supposed to be re-programmable for multiple resort stays. While waiting at the AKV front desk this past weekend, I overheard a CM tell another guest that the MagicBands are supposed to last about two years.