Take A Backup Payment Method - Do NOT assume your Magic Band will work

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

A few weeks ago on Friday evening I was in Epcot watching "melt down" after 'melt down' because people could not buy anything using the Tragic Band. Get to the hotel and people were lined up very deep to complain about Tragic Bands....

The payment system just "Died" You had to pay out of pocket for meals and go get reimbursed at the front desk if you were on DDP. You couldn't buy anything with the Tragic Band etc..

I was fine, I always have cash and a credit card. But lots of people were pretty upset.

Disney's IT is a disaster. Don't trust it!

(And it goes without saying you should have an ID on you. First Responders can't read Tragic Bands!)

 

[Suzanne74]

There are also kiosks and carts that do not accept the band - even ones inside the park. I was a little surprised about that.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I always carry ID and a back up CC and a $20 bill

 

[mom2rtk]

I continue to be amazed at how many people would leave the room without ID or a backup payment option. It's not like those things will weigh you down. I just don't get it.

 

[kj2mom]

The other day I read a post that said, I didn't have my license with me of course, and I thought to myself of course? I guess I understand because people can take Disney transportation as opposed to having to drive and therefore no need for their license but I will have my license with me (and most likely my health card just because) whether I drive or not. Definitely a good idea to have some id, back up cash and credit just in case. Expect the unexpected !

 

[Ress76]

A few weeks ago the system went down while I was in MK, in line at Casey's. I always use cash, so it didn't bother me, but the guy in front of me was beyond furious. He had a whole tray of food and was positively livid that the band wouldn't work. I think that was near the start of the outage, because I only heard about it an hour or two later while reading twitter.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We haven't had a trip yet where we haven't had to use a backup method of payment at least once because the system was having issues.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

If the bands are down, how does one gain entry into the park? I'm the kind of person who never goes anywhere without ID and a debit/CC, but I could see not having a physical park ticket.

 

[bumbershoot]

If the bands are down, how does one gain entry into the park? I'm the kind of person who never goes anywhere without ID and a debit/CC, but I could see not having a physical park ticket.

There are different levels of "down". In this case it was the payment side.

 

[loves to dive]

I've actually seen the same thing happen with the old way of using your KTW card so I always carry a little cash, my ID and a CC. Sometimes I don't want things in the park charged back to my room anyway.

 

[TagsMissy]

This can happen on any electronic system. CC's, Debit Cards etc. A few hours outage on payments when all in all the system while not perfect has been working pretty good is not Armageddon. We always carry a backup $20 for each person and bring 1cc for 'just in case' reasons. People need a little perspective sometimes.

 

[JanaDee]

A few weeks ago on Friday evening I was in Epcot watching "melt down" after 'melt down' because people could not buy anything using the Tragic Band. Get to the hotel and people were lined up very deep to complain about Tragic Bands....

The payment system just "Died" You had to pay out of pocket for meals and go get reimbursed at the front desk if you were on DDP. You couldn't buy anything with the Tragic Band etc..

I was fine, I always have cash and a credit card. But lots of people were pretty upset.

Disney's IT is a disaster. Don't trust it!

(And it goes without saying you should have an ID on you. First Responders can't read Tragic Bands!)

Yup, which is why I *always* carry a $20 bill with me and a credit card, just for those instances. And I've never once not needed them.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yup, which is why I *always* carry a $20 bill with me and a credit card, just for those instances. And I've never once not needed them.

It's Disney. Better make it a $50.

 

[gwynne]

Yup, which is why I *always* carry a $20 bill with me and a credit card, just for those instances. And I've never once not needed them.

It's happened to us just about every trip, too. I never leave the room without both cash and a CC. When the system goes down, it's really no big deal. The CM announces that folks with cash may step to the front to order and pay. Works for me.

 

[ArwenMarie]

That happened to us last summer at DHS. Right as I was about to buy Mickey bars, crisis! Thank goodness I had my CC with me because she was not about to comp them for us LOL. I always carry a bit of cash too.

 

[Cormoran]

I saw this post the other day form someone who was talking about how nice it was to enter the parks with nothing but her MB. then later on she mentions that she was in Epcot to celebrate her 21st birthday, but they wouldn't serve her because she didn't have ID! I thought that was pretty funny. Just because Disney tells you all you need is the MB doesn't mean you should do it.

 

[supersnoop]

Was the entire payment system down, or were they still accepting credit cards?

 

[hsmamato2]

tragic band

 

[Fastpassminus]

Awww man.... Now I wanna change me SN to " Tragic Band" LOLOLOL!

 

[PA Princess 1988]

We also had this happen last October at Teppan Edo in Epcot. We were unable to use our DDP credits for dinner because the system was down, so we used a credit card (thank goodness we brought one along.) When we got back to Coronado Springs later that night, the front desk was unable to help us. We had to wait until the next day and go to the Concierge desk.

We realized we had also been billed for someone else's meals instead of ours. What a mess trying to straighten this out and get the table service credits removed. It took several people and about 45 minutes of our time. It wouldn't have been so bad had it not been our last day. We had to board the ME bus at 11:00 am.