There is a failure in the rollout of MB

[WDW-BWV]

For what it's worth... And that isn't very much I'm pretty sick and tired of the entire magic band rollout process!

Today I received our third set of bands in plain gray. They were for only two of the four members of our parties names. Why received these I don't know and neither does Disney! We've already received two other sets of customized magic bands in different arrangement of colors. Possibly I should ask Sherwin-Williams!

I've called member services and forwarded the emails letting me know that I am entitled to sign up for the magic bands magical mystical trials. My problem is I already signed up! If I received my magic bands why my still being invited why am I getting special invitations inquiring minds want to know.

No I understand with any massive technology rollout there's a few glitches. To be honest I've considered sending all of my collection of magic bands directly to California to uncle Bob in the chairman's office. Maybe he can figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do with them all.

At this point nothing is exuding confidence in this process to me and I've yet to arrive!!!!

 

[erionm]

I've called member services and forwarded the emails letting me know that I am entitled to sign up for the magic bands magical mystical trials. My problem is I already signed up! If I received my magic bands why my still being invited why am I getting special invitations inquiring minds want to know.

There are many different Disney divisions and even outside companies involved with the MyMagic+ program. It's not surprising that there is little to no communication between the groups involved.

 

[Deanie1]

But what a complete waste of money spent on the bands themselves plus the shipping. Disney could perhaps save that money and maybe shave a few dollars off the admission (haha). But seriously, I think when this whole thing rolls out, there needs to be some communication to say if you have a MB already that you can re-use or if you need a new set. I have heard numerous times of families with 3 sets of bands.

 

[erionm]

But what a complete waste of money spent on the bands themselves plus the shipping.

The cost of the MagicBands and shipping is built into the room rates. For DVC, it's probably in our dues possibly as part of the admin/front desk costs.

 

[bumbershoot]

But seriously, I think when this whole thing rolls out, there needs to be some communication to say if you have a MB already that you can re-use or if you need a new set. I have heard numerous times of families with 3 sets of bands.

I'm sure there will be a way to tell them you don't need another.

We have 5 sets. One from October, and one each for each of our checkins coming up in January. Oh and I have a grey band because I thought I forgot to pack mine from October.

I'm loving it. All but one color; I can coordinate like crazy!

 

[Sammie]

Actually I would not worry about it. They will all work and at some point they will charge you to replace a lost one.

 

[disneydenisel]

I am still wondering why they are even doing this whole Magic Band thing, but we will give it a try. We received ours in November, but I keep receiving emails reminding me to order my bands. Then I got another email yesterday saying that they were just shipped. Makes me wonder if ours will work when we get there !

 

[dgaston]

In October we experienced far more glitches than we did on our current trip. I am starting to like the magic bands which my family dubbed the magic hassle bands in October. We'll get two more sets on a split stay in March -- that does seem wasteful. Plus my pin from October still works!

 

[NoleFan]

We had a great experience in October. Last visit was last weekend & had constant issues with mine. Day 1 did not work for park entrance & was reset. Worked for fp. Did not work for room key or charges. Others in my party had no issues. Day 2&3- worked for room & charges but did not work for park entry or fp. Ugh! Had resorts look at it & town hall @ mk look into it. None could find the issue. Still a mystery!

I overheard a cm at artist point saying the Mb is part of a big 10 year plan for Disney

 

[LindaBabe]

"Magic Hassle" Is the perfect name for them.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Yes, we have more sets of MB than we need or want. I have received 4 boxes with the flash drives, but I love the idea of magic bands and FP+! Disney will get it right I am sure, it is a work in progress!

Bobbi

 

[twinsouvenirs]

call me pollyanna but the positive reviews i have heard got me excited. Between this and the Starbucks they've added, I'm thrilled. The KTTW with charging privileges card always seemed too easy to steal; and a huge test like this was bound to have bugs. I just hope they have a crack team looking into the instances where the mbs don't work. I also think FP+ will be a real boon to visitors that aren't commando tourists (ie most visitors) and well all be offering up new strategies as we acclimate. Finally, I think it will really help wdw accurately read their traffic patterns and plan resources like staffing, maintenance, and custodial services which will ideally enhance our experience.

 

[nickspace]

Sadly I am finding magic bands to be a large hassle. I like the idea of preplanned fast passes to a certain degree but not fully. It is all just too much of a pain in the neck.

 

[wdwlover25]

Received two sets for our current December trip which is split stay. Thanks to info provided on the DIS I felt very comfortable taking only one set as the bands are simply a conduit between you and MDE. So far they have worked great - and no need to bring multiple sets.

Just a couple positive observations so far:

- No need to pull out admission tickets at park enterances. This is by far the biggest positive for me. As the designated ticket holder - I love not having to stop, pull them out of the purse, pass them out, gather them back, and put them back. Once linked to MDE... Everyone can freely enter the parks without dependence from me. Very nice.

- No need to pull out admission tickets for FASTPASS. I know this benefit will vary widely by family and touring style. Preplanning FASTPASS via MDE has actually worked great for us so far. We have not raced to a single attraction. We are already planning dining reservations so I typically know what park on what day.

- No need to carry room keys, etc in lanyards. Thought I'd miss the lanyard as it's always been my symbolic way of knowing I was on my Disney trip... No, actually enjoy not having to wear the lanyard.

- Ability to pay without pulling out credit card / room key. Very easy to just tap the MB for popcorn, water, etc, etc... I think I've spent more because it's so easy!

I too was hesitant about the bands and the slowness of MDE. No issues with either.

 

[DMKEDM]

Count me as a hater of the new My Disney Experience/Magic Bands/FP+ "plan"...

We got and used magic bands for a trip in November...took an hour on the phone w/Disney to work thru all the glitches and get them set up...when we arrived, SSR CMs said sometimes the Magic Bands worked on room doors and sometimes they didn't, so they gave us KTTW cards, too...sure enough, some days the MB worked to open the room door and some days it didn't. The MBs mostly didn't (but occasionally did) work for charging, especially in restaurants where they were using a hand-held device. Not a huge big deal--I always had my credit card & room key w/me...but why bother w/MBs if you're gonna be using your CC (or KTTW card) anyway?

Fast forward to yesterday, when I tried to set up for our Feb trip. Another almost full hour on the phone w/MS...this time (when I couldn't get in to DVC Member.com), the "reason" is they're "merging their family of websites" and before I could get in/do anything, I had to link DVCMember.com with Disney.com...ugh and argh...ultimately, with the help of a supervisor and after 45 minutes of failed attempts, the CM got me back into dvcmember.com and I got our magic bands ordered (different people going on this trip than on the November trip, so I actually needed new MBs...I suggested I could just use mine from November--but the CM, bless his heart, told me that while I could, it would add difficulty and complexity to setting up the Feb trip so I just went ahead and got a new one for me, too)...

My guest on this trip just ordered her park tickets from Undercover Tourist and it hasn't yet arrived, so couldn't link her ticket (my AP seems to have remained linked), so can't choose FP+ yet...haven't done dining yet (and probably won't bother w/putting dining reservations on the MBs)...

I totally despise MBs and all that goes with them...I'm gonna "glump" the whole sorry mess into a "my disney experience" reference...there's NOTHING easy about setting it up...it's gotten now to the point where I dread putting together a Disney trip...not a good thing!

There are good things--getting a FP+ for Toy Story for 2 in the afternoon is nice (if it turns out that we're up for going to the Studios on that particular afternoon, anyway)...and I don't mind blowing off FP's...and w/this system, blowing off FP's will surely happen...if there's no reason not to I don't mind scheduling my day around FP's, but if something comes up, bye-bye FP plan as far as I'm concerned!

I also found wearing the MB comfortable and I did like being able to use it to open my door (when it worked) rather than having to dig out my KTTW card...so I do see some positives, but the negatives MORE than outweigh those positives, at least for me.

Disney, are you listening? I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE "my disney experience" -- I don't want to do that much pre-planning. And if I have to, I surely don't want it to have to take an hour on the phone to make it happen!

Happy holidays, all..

 

[Pirate Granny]

I have spent 45 minutes x 3 calls EACH with the technical department. Finally have all but ONE ticket linked...they can't seem to link it...told me to wait and get the ticket activated at the park...right...9 FP+ and none for me. I should wait in a line of bizzion people (in June) to see if they can add my FP+ to the other 9 in our party. Not likely...just what I want to do on my vacation, have CM try to figure out why it won't link and oh yea, need to add you to FP+, cause someone over the phone said you would do it... and oh my, don't have more than one I let linked to your name. We have non-expiring for long weekends and are trying to add a 10 day...they told ME to check each time to ensure what ticket is being read by the magic band. More standing in lines...can't unactivate the non-expiring as it will void out the remaining 6 days...REALLY. I'm tired before our 14 night, three resort trip with ten of us...

On a happier note, I did manage to get all our dinner reservations linked and made, the elusive BOG required one ADR for 8 (highest number they had) and a call back for one for 1 person. Phone ADR refused to make an ADR for 5 and then 4. SIGH. Working with the system is becoming harder and harder.

 

[wdwlover25]

I'm fairly tech challenged and had absolutely no issues linking tickets, dining, resort reservations, and credit card (must be done at resort). No time wasted at all. I've saved a ton of time not messing with tickets and paper FASTPASS.

Was I just lucky or do the issues far outweigh those with positive experiences? I really hope Disney can resolve the issues for everyone because the new system when working correctly has been great.

 

[erionm]

I'm fairly tech challenged and had absolutely no issues linking tickets, dining, resort reservations, and credit card (must be done at resort). No time wasted at all. I've saved a ton of time not messing with tickets and paper FASTPASS.

A CC can be added during on-line check-in. If added during on-line check-in, the resort should not need to touch your CC.

 

[holula]

We had a great stay with MB at the Poly in October and it was downhill from there. The second half of the October split stay, at BLT, FP+ did not work for two days. Then in November, the magic band wouldn't link to my AP despite it being on MDE and having no issues before. December, AK the MB wouldn't open our room door. BCV, my BFs band wouldn't open the door and mine didn't work at all and I had to get another from the front desk. We have spent so much more time at the front desk since Magic Bands than pre Magic Bands. The stay in November took an hour to resolve. Headache.

When they work they are awesome. But they are currently not reliable enough to only rely on magic bands.

 

[Pirate Granny]

I was able to Link most of the tickets...not two of them...still have one outstanding