The Disney Dog Collar (MagicBand)

[Ava83]

Reading this thread (and multiple others) the same "problems" and "issues" keep coming up with people.

1. "Big Brother Is Watching"

Yes, this technology is being used to track guests. Disney do not deny or dispute this, but do you REALLY think that is all about watching YOU and having some weird desire to know what YOU are doing? Of course it isn't! Will it be used in targeted marketing? Yes. Does it have a much bigger purpose than that? ABSOLUTELY!

As far as the security issue is concerned, the information on the card is already collected in other ways. The only difference here is it'll be in one place. You're on camera from the moment you step on property, you're watched by security guards, you use your ticket to get in which is recorded, you use your ticket to get fast passes and it is recorded, you use your KTTW card to redeem a meal on your dining plan, it's recorded. You make dining reservations, add a celebration, it's recorded. This is nothing new.

What this technology will be able to do for guest experience is endless. How many people complain about the buses? Well, knowing how many guests are waiting for a bus, will help Disney mobilize the right amount of buses. How many people complain about crowd control? This will enable Disney to mobilize the right number of cast members where they are needed. This is bigger than watching YOU, honestly, none of us are that important that Disney want to "spy" on our every move.

2. Wrist Bands are restrictive/uncomfortable/add your complaint here.

Solution: Don't wear it! Just because your ticket becomes a wristband rather than a card, I can't see Disney employing "wristband police" to make sure you have it on! The official information suggests that it is optional anyway!

Alternatively, As other posters have pointed out, WDW is private property, no one forces you to go, don't like the rules, don't like the wristband, etc. Don't go! Many other resorts and theme parks have been using wrist bands for years, it really shouldn't be such a huge problem.

3. It's "creepy" not good "stranger danger" practice

So you take your kids to meet Cinderella, that magic moment for a child. You're essentially, sending your child to a stranger. Imagine how special a child will feel when Cinderella knows their name and greets them personally. Imagine how special it will be for your child to have an interactive experience with Sculley or whatever. It is that kind of Magic that endears us all to Disney. That little bit of magic, that little moment of feeling special, that little surprise, that's what Disney does best!

I could go on and on here, but my point is this. If you think your information isn't recorded already, you're crazy! If you think Cinderella knowing your kids name is going to put them at risk of abduction, you're paranoid. If you think wearing a wrist band is the end of the world, then I hope you never have to deal with REAL problems in your life.

Like, a million likes.

 

[finbait]

I hope it works better then the website. If it works well, I can deal. I also like the cards, but I will work around the bands. My kids will keep them on, and I do think it will free me up from carrying more stuff around. (even though I seem to always have to carry a back pack for sweatshirts, phones, cameras....) I don't like the idea of them being in my pixs though.

 

[donaldlovesdaisy]

Reading this thread (and multiple others) the same "problems" and "issues" keep coming up with people.

1. "Big Brother Is Watching"

Yes, this technology is being used to track guests. Disney do not deny or dispute this, but do you REALLY think that is all about watching YOU and having some weird desire to know what YOU are doing? Of course it isn't! Will it be used in targeted marketing? Yes. Does it have a much bigger purpose than that? ABSOLUTELY!

As far as the security issue is concerned, the information on the card is already collected in other ways. The only difference here is it'll be in one place. You're on camera from the moment you step on property, you're watched by security guards, you use your ticket to get in which is recorded, you use your ticket to get fast passes and it is recorded, you use your KTTW card to redeem a meal on your dining plan, it's recorded. You make dining reservations, add a celebration, it's recorded. This is nothing new.

What this technology will be able to do for guest experience is endless. How many people complain about the buses? Well, knowing how many guests are waiting for a bus, will help Disney mobilize the right amount of buses. How many people complain about crowd control? This will enable Disney to mobilize the right number of cast members where they are needed. This is bigger than watching YOU, honestly, none of us are that important that Disney want to "spy" on our every move.

2. Wrist Bands are restrictive/uncomfortable/add your complaint here.

Solution: Don't wear it! Just because your ticket becomes a wristband rather than a card, I can't see Disney employing "wristband police" to make sure you have it on! The official information suggests that it is optional anyway!

Alternatively, As other posters have pointed out, WDW is private property, no one forces you to go, don't like the rules, don't like the wristband, etc. Don't go! Many other resorts and theme parks have been using wrist bands for years, it really shouldn't be such a huge problem.

3. It's "creepy" not good "stranger danger" practice

So you take your kids to meet Cinderella, that magic moment for a child. You're essentially, sending your child to a stranger. Imagine how special a child will feel when Cinderella knows their name and greets them personally. Imagine how special it will be for your child to have an interactive experience with Sculley or whatever. It is that kind of Magic that endears us all to Disney. That little bit of magic, that little moment of feeling special, that little surprise, that's what Disney does best!

I could go on and on here, but my point is this. If you think your information isn't recorded already, you're crazy! If you think Cinderella knowing your kids name is going to put them at risk of abduction, you're paranoid. If you think wearing a wrist band is the end of the world, then I hope you never have to deal with REAL problems in your life.

 

[froggy922]

Having a wristband transmit my childrens names to Cinderella frankly seems creepy and counterintuitve to good stranger safety practices you may teach your children. Generally, I think it is a good idea to teach your children to be wary of a strange adult who knows their name without asking.

Just a thought.....Couldn't this feature be adventagous in lost child situations. I, personally, would feel better knowing that if my child were to become seperated from me or lost, a CM could easily scan his bracelet and use the information to determine who he is and retrieve my cell phone number. Heck the bracelets might could even be linked up and perhaps my bracelet could be scanned and my son's location be determined (like GPS). I know that's a lot of "big brother", but if it were the case of a missing/lost child, I would be super happy to have the technology available. Just trying to look at it from another perspective.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

As I stated in other posts,I NEVER read all the posts if they are more than a couple pages long. So if its on this thread then forgive me. How would the free parking work? Are they now going to have to "scan" you when you get to the parking entrance?

 

[Superspectral]

Just a thought.....Couldn't this feature be adventagous in lost child situations. I, personally, would feel better knowing that if my child were to become seperated from me or lost, a CM could easily scan his bracelet and use the information to determine who he is and retrieve my cell phone number. Heck the bracelets might could even be linked up and perhaps my bracelet could be scanned and my son's location be determined (like GPS). I know that's a lot of "big brother", but if it were the case of a missing/lost child, I would be super happy to have the technology available. Just trying to look at it from another perspective.

I could definitely see this as an option that Disney would allow you to enable for your child's MagicBand.

While I have posted concerns about the marketing "spying" issues of RFID, really, my primary objection to the MagicBand is that I don't find a bracelet comfortable or attractive. RFID is used for child safety in other venues (notably DCL clubs) - although here they are non-removable. This seems a good tradeoff. So your child could remove them. FP+ seems to be a good fit if you are planning months in advance, and are staying a week, and maybe spend only 6-8 hours in the park. I usually tour that way. And maybe being able to do some touring not at rope drop will enhance that experience. I don't think either FP+ nor the MagicBand are aimed for the people who like to go for a day or 2 and go gonzo. Indeed, propbably will crowd them out a bit. So in fact, I'm kind of interested to try FP+, MyMagic+. I just don't want to have a bracelet.

 

[MarieA]

I hope they give the option of either a card or wristband. I really don't like wearing anything on my wrists especially when it is hot and humid. I am an AP holder and would prefer my pass be a card. I can see myself losing a bracelet if I take it off. My AP is taken out to enter the park and for fast passes and is always put back into my wallet.

As an AP holder - would you get one wristband for the year or would you have to get one every time you visit the park? RIght now I only go to Guest Services once a year to renew my AP. I don't want to have to wait on line at Guest Services daily to get a new wrist band.

 

[TDC Nala]

Nobody is going to be required to wear the bracelet. Even if you have one you do not have to wear it. Put it in a bag, put it in your pocket, etc.

 

[MarieA]

Nobody is going to be required to wear the bracelet. Even if you have one you do not have to wear it. Put it in a bag, put it in your pocket, etc.

I will most likely lose it that way. I carry a very small bag to the parks with me and it is usually packed. I hope they leave the us the option of getting a card instead.

 

[TDC Nala]

Everyone can come up with something about the bracelet even being told they don't have to wear it. I don't have pockets. It won't fit in my bag. I want a card like I've always had so I can put it in my wallet. I do know people who won't wear the bracelet, maybe they also believe they won't be able to put it anywhere else on their person.

There's also no indication that there won't be a card option also. I know I've read that the bracelets are NOT mandatory. At first if you're not staying onsite, if you want a bracelet you will have to purchase one. So they'll at least have cards available.

 

[mousermerf]

Everyone can come up with something about the bracelet even being told they don't have to wear it. I don't have pockets. It won't fit in my bag. I want a card like I've always had so I can put it in my wallet. I do know people who won't wear the bracelet, maybe they also believe they won't be able to put it anywhere else on their person.

There's also no indication that there won't be a card option also. I know I've read that the bracelets are NOT mandatory. At first if you're not staying onsite, if you want a bracelet you will have to purchase one. So they'll at least have cards available.

Probably stickers on old admission media and new admission media that "looks" like the old media but with the RFID already in it.

 

[MarieA]

Probably stickers on old admission media and new admission media that "looks" like the old media but with the RFID already in it.

We had the RFID cards for our BCV stay in November and I found them to be convenient. I hope they do the same for our APs. My DH and I have already decided that we probably will never use FP+. Neither of us wants to plan what parks we will be in a month in advance. We usually decide in the morning what park we will visit.

 

[Superspectral]

There's also no indication that there won't be a card option also. I know I've read that the bracelets are NOT mandatory. At first if you're not staying onsite, if you want a bracelet you will have to purchase one. So they'll at least have cards available.

Disney has not specifically stated that there will be a card option for MyMagic+/FP+. OTOH the terms and conditions to do state that if you get a MagicBand you are only onf MyMagic+/FP+.

It is quite likely that the card based RFID devices only have the less expensive passive RFID chips, which require you to remove the card from your wallet and "swipe" over a reader. The MagicBands have these chips plus a battery and a transmitter. Because the MagicBand is a bracelet, it is likely to be out in the open, and even if you do put it in your pocket, it is still much less likely to be fully shielded. A bracelet, on your arm or off, is much more likely to work at a distance for technical reasons than a card. To get a card to work, you are more likely to have to take it out of the case and swipe it.

Of course, for door locks and payment, you don't want long range RFID, so the MagicBand has those short range chips in them too.

So bands or cards, the "swipe to use" always should work. I think MyMagic+/FP+ would work fine with "swipe near the reader". BUT MagicBands, whether you put them in your pocket or wear them, are much better technically for tracking from a distance.

So for me *IF* Disney only gives out MagicBands for MyMagic+ and FP+; and yes, I probably do want to try that service - then I may have to either wear a band or put it in my pocket. If Disney gives no other option than the band, then logic is that they *really* want that long range data. The only benefits to the guests they have mentioned for long range data are a) face characters knowing your name (you could imagine others CMs knowing your name too); b) coupons being texted to you when you walk in the store. Basically I could take or leave those. Maybe more cool long range things will be announced. But, if I have to put the MagicBand in my pocket, right now I will roll my eyes knowing I wont have a card mostly for Disney's tracking convenience. Now if Disney explains the benefits of this long range tracking better to me as a Guest, I might change my mind. For example, previous poster mentioned lost parent (child) location. That might be OK.

Now as far as this "Face Character knows your name"; technically, knowing how RFID works, I'm not sure how RFID actually would enable that. The long range passive/active chips will basically allow a computer to know all the IDs of the RFID tags within 10 ft of a reader or so. So just exactly how does the character know which person in line with what MagicBand am I? If it sends a photo to their tablet - yes. They could have pictures of the 10 guests with MagicBands in the line. *But*, no photos, at least not yet, are being taken of each magicband wearer, at least not yet. This ambiguity of knowning that 10 RFID devices are in the line but not knowing exactly which people are wearing the devices is one of the reasons you will still need to use your fingerprint at the gate.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

wouldnt it be funny if after a big group (say Brazillians) they all play switch-a-roo with the bands and confuse alll the CMs

 

[Planogirl]

If I did this I would give Disney as little info as possible. I don't particularly want personalized experiences and I would never charge using a wristband. I would imagine that you wouldn't be forced to tell them everything. I probably wouldn't wear it but would put it away somewhere. I'm not comfortable with tight things on my wrist.

I'm wondering how would this thing track how many people are waiting for a bus? I noticed a PP stating that this would be an advantage.

 

[mousermerf]

Disney has not specifically stated that there will be a card option for MyMagic+/FP+. OTOH the terms and conditions to do state that if you get a MagicBand you are only onf MyMagic+/FP+.

It is quite likely that the card based RFID devices only have the less expensive passive RFID chips, which require you to remove the card from your wallet and "swipe" over a reader. The MagicBands have these chips plus a battery and a transmitter. Because the MagicBand is a bracelet, it is likely to be out in the open, and even if you do put it in your pocket, it is still much less likely to be fully shielded. A bracelet, on your arm or off, is much more likely to work at a distance for technical reasons than a card. To get a card to work, you are more likely to have to take it out of the case and swipe it.

Of course, for door locks and payment, you don't want long range RFID, so the MagicBand has those short range chips in them too.

So bands or cards, the "swipe to use" always should work. I think MyMagic+/FP+ would work fine with "swipe near the reader". BUT MagicBands, whether you put them in your pocket or wear them, are much better technically for tracking from a distance.

So for me *IF* Disney only gives out MagicBands for MyMagic+ and FP+; and yes, I probably do want to try that service - then I may have to either wear a band or put it in my pocket. If Disney gives no other option than the band, then logic is that they *really* want that long range data. The only benefits to the guests they have mentioned for long range data are a) face characters knowing your name (you could imagine others CMs knowing your name too); b) coupons being texted to you when you walk in the store. Basically I could take or leave those. Maybe more cool long range things will be announced. But, if I have to put the MagicBand in my pocket, right now I will roll my eyes knowing I wont have a card mostly for Disney's tracking convenience. Now if Disney explains the benefits of this long range tracking better to me as a Guest, I might change my mind. For example, previous poster mentioned lost parent (child) location. That might be OK.

Now as far as this "Face Character knows your name"; technically, knowing how RFID works, I'm not sure how RFID actually would enable that. The long range passive/active chips will basically allow a computer to know all the IDs of the RFID tags within 10 ft of a reader or so. So just exactly how does the character know which person in line with what MagicBand am I? If it sends a photo to their tablet - yes. They could have pictures of the 10 guests with MagicBands in the line. *But*, no photos, at least not yet, are being taken of each magicband wearer, at least not yet. This ambiguity of knowning that 10 RFID devices are in the line but not knowing exactly which people are wearing the devices is one of the reasons you will still need to use your fingerprint at the gate.

The new style meet/greets are housed in locations that have multiple rooms and subsequently the guests are divided into smaller and smaller groups until they're a single group waiting to be "next" with the character.

This is how Mickey on Main Street and Ariel in the Grotto both work.

At that point they simply either ask you to scan your band or passively do so. Ariel can look in her mirror and check her hair and see who the next guests are.. the Magic Band demographics do define adult/child... and Mickey can simply be done via the CM doing the puppeteer to control the voice in the first place (it's not the same one in the suit.)

 

[Superspectral]

If I did this I would give Disney as little info as possible. I don't particularly want personalized experiences and I would never charge using a wristband. I would imagine that you wouldn't be forced to tell them everything. I probably wouldn't wear it but would put it away somewhere. I'm not comfortable with tight things on my wrist.

I'm wondering how would this thing track how many people are waiting for a bus? I noticed a PP stating that this would be an advantage.

A long range RFID receiver would be installed at the bus stop. Every MagicBand within 25 ft would be detected. Simple job for a computer to track how many guests have been waiting, and for how long. As buses arrive, they can be directed to the stops with the most waiting/longest waiting guests. I think Disney may do this manually with spotters at the parks. But this could automate dispatch.

I do not recall any announcement that Disney is contimplating this.

 

[linzbear]

A long range RFID receiver would be installed at the bus stop. Every MagicBand within 25 ft would be detected. Simple job for a computer to track how many guests have been waiting, and for how long. As buses arrive, they can be directed to the stops with the most waiting/longest waiting guests. I think Disney may do this manually with spotters at the parks. But this could automate dispatch.

I do not recall any announcement that Disney is contimplating this.

The particular chip Disney is using (according to the FCC filling) has a max range of about 15 ft (and human bodies reduce that a bit), but otherwise spot on.

 

[linzbear]

Disney has not specifically stated that there will be a card option for MyMagic+/FP+. OTOH the terms and conditions to do state that if you get a MagicBand you are only onf MyMagic+/FP+.

It is quite likely that the card based RFID devices only have the less expensive passive RFID chips, which require you to remove the card from your wallet and "swipe" over a reader. The MagicBands have these chips plus a battery and a transmitter. Because the MagicBand is a bracelet, it is likely to be out in the open, and even if you do put it in your pocket, it is still much less likely to be fully shielded. A bracelet, on your arm or off, is much more likely to work at a distance for technical reasons than a card. To get a card to work, you are more likely to have to take it out of the case and swipe it.

Of course, for door locks and payment, you don't want long range RFID, so the MagicBand has those short range chips in them too.

So bands or cards, the "swipe to use" always should work. I think MyMagic+/FP+ would work fine with "swipe near the reader". BUT MagicBands, whether you put them in your pocket or wear them, are much better technically for tracking from a distance.

So for me *IF* Disney only gives out MagicBands for MyMagic+ and FP+; and yes, I probably do want to try that service - then I may have to either wear a band or put it in my pocket. If Disney gives no other option than the band, then logic is that they *really* want that long range data. The only benefits to the guests they have mentioned for long range data are a) face characters knowing your name (you could imagine others CMs knowing your name too); b) coupons being texted to you when you walk in the store. Basically I could take or leave those. Maybe more cool long range things will be announced. But, if I have to put the MagicBand in my pocket, right now I will roll my eyes knowing I wont have a card mostly for Disney's tracking convenience. Now if Disney explains the benefits of this long range tracking better to me as a Guest, I might change my mind. For example, previous poster mentioned lost parent (child) location. That might be OK.

Now as far as this "Face Character knows your name"; technically, knowing how RFID works, I'm not sure how RFID actually would enable that. The long range passive/active chips will basically allow a computer to know all the IDs of the RFID tags within 10 ft of a reader or so. So just exactly how does the character know which person in line with what MagicBand am I? If it sends a photo to their tablet - yes. They could have pictures of the 10 guests with MagicBands in the line. *But*, no photos, at least not yet, are being taken of each magicband wearer, at least not yet. This ambiguity of knowning that 10 RFID devices are in the line but not knowing exactly which people are wearing the devices is one of the reasons you will still need to use your fingerprint at the gate.

We actually do know exactly what chips are in the bands due to the required FCC filing. I linked to that post earlier in the thread. The long range data will certainly work from inside a pocket, there's no shielding there. Technically skin is a better shield

 

[wdw71]

As I stated in other posts,I NEVER read all the posts if they are more than a couple pages long. So if its on this thread then forgive me. How would the free parking work? Are they now going to have to "scan" you when you get to the parking entrance?

I would say that will work the way it does now with the paper in the window of your car.