Well... MagicBands and FP+, Our Experience

[ScottOKW2K]

See, here is the deal. I don't think at WDW that we are their bread and butter. We may be somewhere in their cabinet, but unless you are a DVC owner, I think those of us that go once or twice a year are but a speck on their radar. If you own a DVC property, well, they've already got you locked down, don't they. Other than the upkeep on your property, they don't really owe you anything parks wise.

California is a different deal. Disneyland's bread and butter is absolutely their local day guests. They know this, and they cater to them. Considering that massive system wide changes at any corporation are often tested at the smallest site they own, it's interesting that Disneyland has not seen any of these "technological advancements", like WDW has.

I'm always amazed whenever I go how many people honestly have no idea what a FP even is. Every single time I've been at least 5 people in each park have asked me why I'm getting in the FP line, what that thing I'm getting is, what am I holding, etc. I think WDW's bread and butter is the first time visitors. We are all lucky to be able to vacation as often as we do, as there are a lot of people who go once in their lives. I'm the only person I know who has been to WDW as much as I have. I know lots of people in my daily life who have been once. I know very, very few who have been twice. I'm the only person I know who goes yearly. That is Disney's bottom line, those people that dream of taking their little ones to WDW, go once, and are done. Those one and done people, the South American tour groups, and the wealthy people from Europe and Asia who come and stay for two weeks to a month at a time, THAT is Disney's bread and butter. And, to be honest, if you are staying for two weeks to a month 3 FP's a day isn't that big of a deal. They will at some point during their stay be able to ride what they want, multiple times. People like me, who go for 5 days, are the ones who are truly distressed. But maybe therin lies the point? The longer you stay, the better your ride experience will be.

Bingo! This has been my impression of the FP+ / MM+ system. I believe that the question asked in the boardroom years ago was "How do we get this generation that is "always connected" to be our next generation of first-time and return visitors?" This system allows them to offer even the first time visitor at least certain minimum level of guaranteed experience(s). Many posting on these boards and others like this are the "veterans" and know all the tricks to make our trips the best possible. But everyone of us has had friends and family that came away from Disney saying "too crowded / always long lines / too expensive for what they were able to do." MM+ / FP+ allows them to plan a vacation where they are at least able to have some level of pleasure from their trip that we veterans do.

While I also lament the 3 FP+ / day and one park rule I can understand it. If you could do 3 per day across all parks what would you pick? Let me guess: MK - Space or Splash mountain ; Ep - Soarin' ; HS - Toy Story ; AK - Everest ? In other words, probably the same attractions everyone else would choose. There is simply not enough load capacity for everyone that wants to do this to be able to choose all their preferred attractions. What Disney is doing now is what any company would do in this situation.

Step one : Roll out new system in a limited way (selected resorts.)
Step two : Expand system, but keep legacy in place (now).
Step three : Remove legacy in steps (AK FP+ only)
Step four : Remove legacy in all areas.
Step five : Tweak system for best usage and experience after sufficient data has been gathered. (We are not there yet.)

My family and I were at WDW over the New Years holiday. For us the FP+ system worked pretty good. We would schedule our Tier 1 FP+ experience first, and then decide about the other experiences. I found myself several times changing an experience or a time based on our current plans or simply finding that the standby wait for that attraction did not make the usage of a FP+ necessary. Being able to "trade-in" that FP was a very pleasant experience.

One excellent example: the Illuminations FP+ guaranteed viewing area. I know most would pick Soarin' or Test Track over this. However was able to schedule this for 12/30 and 12/31. What this allowed me to do was this:

12/30/2013
8:30 - Magic Kingdom fireworks viewed from TTC area, monorail to Epcot.
10:30 - Holiday Illuminations from reserved area then monorail to Magic Kingdom.
12:00 - Pre-NYE fireworks Magic Kingdom.

12/31/2013
6:30 - reserved viewing of Holiday Illuminations, and were able to stay in this area. That's the important part.
12:00 - NYE fireworks. And a pretty good view of the Studios NYE fireworks after the Epcot celebration.

That is SIX fireworks shows in 2 nights, and both days were made much easier due to the guaranteed areas.

I say all this to illustrate that with any system you will have to find out what works best for you and your family. We don't want to have to be a "morning person" on vacation, and to be able to some of the headliners at our own schedule made for a more relaxing vacation. Our vacation was not problem free - having two separate room reservations on-site for NYE - one with a dining plan and one without - made for a few trips to guest services and the resort desk. But everything was resolved to our satisfaction. Did it make me not want to come back? Nope - already have another trip booked.

 

[magicbob]

While I also lament the 3 FP+ / day and one park rule I can understand it. If you could do 3 per day across all parks what would you pick? Let me guess: MK - Space or Splash mountain ; Ep - Soarin' ; HS - Toy Story ; AK - Everest ? In other words, probably the same attractions everyone else would choose. There is simply not enough load capacity for everyone that wants to do this to be able to choose all their preferred attractions. What Disney is doing now is what any company would do in this situation.

... rationing.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

The OP summed up perfectly our experience.

When we were there over Thanksgiving, the MB and FP+ worked fine, BUT I scheduled the FP+ before the tiering went into effect.

When we went back for a couple of days between Christmas and New Years it was a completely different experience.

Tiering and three FP+ with no legacy FP will cause us to take a break from WDW. No drama intended, just the way it is.

We stay on site and even with the 60 day scheduling of FP+ it is not worth it with the tiering in place. For example, we are not rope drop people and not being able to ride TT and Soarin without waiting 200+ minutes is not acceptable. Why WDW would think that Captain EO is a suitable alternative boggles my mind (5 minute wait even on the busiest days - what is that saying?).

WDW put a lot of money into DVC which I understand as a business - it pays for itself and then adds revenue when rented out for cash. I don't understand the $ put into MB yet, but I do believe it will evolve.

Now WDW needs to put $ into beefing up attractions (especially in EPCOT) and supporting the CMs (who I agree seemed unhappy).

The experience will be much different during non-busy times, but for the high occupancy times, thumbs down.

We will stay off site for a third of the price, check out Universal and spend a day or two at WDW now until things change.

 

[xie]

As I stated, we aren't the bread and butter. I think that is overwhelmingly obvious. We weren't taken into consideration in the bottom line, and as a DVC owner, they probably don't care if they tee you off. They've already got your buy in and your monthly payment. They have you where they want you.

I will say this about DVC. And I don't mean to make anyone feel uncomfortable about owning it. But the math went tets up for us and in 2009 and we sold our points. It was a good value in the late '90s and very early 2000's but we eventually realized it was costing us more to be DVC members than it would to just stay on property as a resort guest for the same number of nights our points would buy. In part, due to the fact that DVC members didn't get things like free dining back when it was handed out like candy- we were essentially paying full price for everything, length-of-stay park tickets, food, etc. There were never any promotions or sales for DVC people, the best you could do was a small AP discount.

We don't regret having sold those points.

 

[xie]

But being over scheduled and tied to cell phones that you pray don't run out of power makes me feel a bit like Chevy Chase in Vacation: Disney is a quest for fun that while good intentioned, can be maddening at the same time.

Yeah that's something I didn't mention, but there were people everywhere having phone power issues. At one point I went into a ladies restroom, I believe it was the one between Tomorrowland Terrace and the Plaza restaurant, and there were 6 women in line waiting to use the power outlet.

I am biting my tongue to keep from adding some snark about how WDW keeps finding new ways to put people in lines.

 

[xie]

Now WDW needs to put $ into beefing up attractions (especially in EPCOT) and supporting the CMs (who I agree seemed unhappy).

The experience will be much different during non-busy times, but for the high occupancy times, thumbs down.

We will stay off site for a third of the price, check out Universal and spend a day or two at WDW now until things change.

They do need to stop building resort rooms and start building new and updating existing attractions faster. They were beginning work in Avatarland when we were there - we could see them over the wall in the Tusker House waiting area. It will give AK a much-needed boost. I don't know what they are going to do about EPCOT but it definitely needs help, and they have the land to do something.

I keep hearing the "we aren't going to get into an arms race" comment. That sounds so defensive, and I'm sure it made Universal's execs laugh when they heard it, because Universal is kind of lapping them right now in the park expansion arena. It's a very "you're beating me at monopoly so fine I'm taking my dog and quitting the game" attitude.

Husband and I sat down and had the "what do we want to do about vacations during the next 5 years" brainstorm this morning. To sum up, we will only be going to Disney at most 2 times in the next 5 years, instead of the yearly (and sometimes twice yearly) we have been going. And one or both of those has a high chance to be cancelled if things we hear don't sound good to us. The only trip we KNOW we are going to take to Florida in the next 2 years is that we all agree we want to visit Harry Potter land after it's expanded. And to do that we'll stay at a Universal hotel for a couple days to get the park benefits.

Otherwise, we are updating (and applying for kids) passports and planning some real trips beginning in 2015.

 

[emilymad]

This was exactly our experience in October. OP, you have explained it better then I ever could.

We had zero success in ever changing a FP+ on the fly. It felt like we were spending all day on our phones instead of enjoying ourselves. Part of the issue was that we didn't schedule our FP+ as best as we could. I couldn't wrap my head around the changes. I am still not sure I have even having experienced it once.

We are planning a trip in September to use our AP's one more time. I feel more confused now than ever. It just doesn't feel like a vacation to look forward to. We will make FP+ with the assumption that we can't change them and hope for the best.

With all of these changes we are giving less of our money to Disney. We found almost nothing of interest to buy on our last trip. We had a few ADRs but I feel like we will do even less of them on our next trip. We usually end up moving our ADRs around and now that is not an option so we will eat more CS.

There is still a lot of time until September and I am hoping for some sort of positive change once FP- has gone away. Or at least we will know what we are dealing with in the new reality.

I would have been so mad if I had seen people cheating the FP lines. I don't blame the CM's but if Disney doesn't do something the parks will become a free for all. At that point just get rid of FP all together.

We had one weird incident on our trip. Both our bands lit up green at the first check. At the second check mine was green but DH's wasn't. I could see on the CM's screen it said DH's FP was for hours later. The CM seemed really confused when we told him it was green at the first check point. The CM let us through but I was ready to pull it up on my phone to show we really did have FP.

 

[MMitchell29]

Ok guys I'm so confused that its not even funny I been reading up on the Magic bands and how they suppose to work and I'm still out of the loop.
1. Are you guys saying that the only way to ride any Disney ride is to have a MB and or stay onsite?

2 Offsite guest cant just walk up to a ride and stand in line?

3. Are there not anymore places where you can just walk up and have a burger and fries without having a MB on or reservations?

4. Once again if I go during off peak time and a ride is only a 10 minute wait couldn't I just wait in line without a MB on and ride the ride.


Sorry for all the questions but I'm only a 9 hour drive from Disney and it really don't make sense for my family to stay onsite budget wise. We usually budget Disney for about 1000-1300.00 for my family of 4. I have family that work at a very nice hotel so we get his discount. We are not big food eaters and eat a nice breakfast at the hotel because its free and its a hot breakfast. Since we bring our own vehicle I usually use my coupons and purchase my snack food while I'm still here at home and pack them in the van. The only thing I buy once I get to Orlando is water bottles. Paying to park does not bother me because of the huge discount on the hotel stay. Oh and we usually have a quick lunch of burgers and fries and dinner is usually at Golden Corel, Manny's Chop House, Sweet tomatoes or maybe Chinese food. So are you guys telling this will not be the case if we go early in May like we usually do?

 

[Bete]

Ok guys I'm so confused that its not even funny I been reading up on the Magic bands and how they suppose to work and I'm still out of the loop.
1. Are you guys saying that the only way to ride any Disney ride is to have a MB and or stay onsite?

2 Offsite guest cant just walk up to a ride and stand in line?

3. Are there not anymore places where you can just walk up and have a burger and fries without having a MB on or reservations?

4. Once again if I go during off peak time and a ride is only a 10 minute wait couldn't I just wait in line without a MB on and ride the ride.


Sorry for all the questions but I'm only a 9 hour drive from Disney and it really don't make sense for my family to stay onsite budget wise. We usually budget Disney for about 1000-1300.00 for my family of 4. I have family that work at a very nice hotel so we get his discount. We are not big food eaters and eat a nice breakfast at the hotel because its free and its a hot breakfast. Since we bring our own vehicle I usually use my coupons and purchase my snack food while I'm still here at home and pack them in the van. The only thing I buy once I get to Orlando is water bottles. Paying to park does not bother me because of the huge discount on the hotel stay. Oh and we usually have a quick lunch of burgers and fries and dinner is usually at Golden Corel, Manny's Chop House, Sweet tomatoes or maybe Chinese food. So are you guys telling this will not be the case if we go early in May like we usually do?

We stayed offsite in December and I found the waits in standby to be longer than usual. I think it was because more people were using their fastpass plus and it made the standby lines longer.

You don't need a magic band to enjoy the park. You will be able to even get a fastpass plus as an offsite guest, but you will have to do it as you enter the park that day at kiosks. You will get what is leftover for return times. Onsite guests have the privilege of doing fastpass plus now 60 days out and they get to pick their times from what is available. That is a huge advantage for onsite vs. offsite for fastpass plus.

If you go during low season it may not be as bad, but just be prepared you may not accomplish as much as you did on other trip with the more popular rides. If you don't need to do every major attraction and you are satisfied with doing shows, parades, and fireworks it will be all right.

 

[MMitchell29]

We stayed offsite in December and I found the waits in standby to be longer than usual. I think it was because more people were using their fastpass plus and it made the standby lines longer.

You don't need a magic band to enjoy the park. You will be able to even get a fastpass plus as an offsite guest, but you will have to do it as you enter the park that day at kiosks. You will get what is leftover for return times. Onsite guests have the privilege of doing fastpass plus now 60 days out and they get to pick their times from what is available. That is a huge advantage for onsite vs. offsite for fastpass plus.

If you go during low season it may not be as bad, but just be prepared you may not accomplish as much as you did on other trip with the more popular rides. If you don't need to do every major attraction and you are satisfied with doing shows, parades, and fireworks it will be all right.

Thanks Bete we'll give it a go around the first of May and I'll see if its any better or worse than previous visits. I do understand it better now. Seems like the mb is for certain attractions and not for all.

 

[2Tiggies]

I sometimes wonder if so many of us would have disliked the new systems(s) to the extent we do now, if Disney had not implemented so many freaking changes at once!

Let's face it, people don't like change when they feel it is being imposed on them. We prefer to initiate our own changes, our way, in our time. Now guests feel they are not in control of their own vacation.

Taking the foregoing into account, I firmly believe that it has been a case of too many changes at one time - and all that, in a very short space of time.

MK increased its capacity with the opening of NFL. FP changed. The Magic Bands arrived. People without MB's were made to feel they were at a 'disadvantage' while those with them (and FP+ in testing) felt they had an advantage. Photopass+ changed. Now we have guests who, from when they took their last vacation less than a year ago and everything was pretty much as it has been for years and years, are now faced with so many changes that it feels like we have booked a completely different destination and one which we know nothing about.

I do wonder whether it would feel so bad if Disney had just simply used a couple of years to implement one change at a time and let guests get accustomed to it, ensure that it was working smoothly and then feed the next change into the system.

I'm quite transparent about this: I like to be in control. I do not feel in control of my vacation right now. I feel at the mercy of others, some of whom know less than I do and are trying to assure me that everything is just fine, when my instinct coupled with common sense, accumulated knowledge and past experience, tells me otherwise

 

[Laketravis]

I do wonder whether it would feel so bad if Disney had just simply used a couple of years to implement one change at a time and let guests get accustomed to it, ensure that it was working smoothly and then feed the next change into the system.

I agree. But when a company spends over a billion dollars on something, they tend to expect to see results pretty quickly.

 

[3happydancers]

Yep! And a lot of DVC owners feel that way!

True, but as a DVC owner, I also have the option to sell and will. Not that Disney will care. We've been owners since 2008 and have used our membership to the fullest. We were fortunate enough to have paid our membership in full within the first year. As far as we are concerned, we will break out even and that's ok with us. Honestly, even if we sold at a loss, I'd still be ok with that because that is how unhappy we truly are. Very sad!

 

[dmank]

We checked in last sat to SSr and went to the magic kingdom on Sunday.

Our experience:
1. Our personalized MBs that were supposed to be at ssr for pickup were not there. The cm helping us said that was the first time he'd seen a problem with this and that it looked like they had been sent to our home address (they had not). He literally spent an entire hour setting up our mbs!! And looking for a room that met our initial request which that too had been messed up. I couldn't believe the lines at checking at ssr and he spent an hour with us!!! Anyway we did get our new mbs and they did work fine for us. My ds5 didn't like wearing it though.

2. As for FPPlus.... I really don't like the limit of three. We would typically get around five per day so really hate this.

3. I also don't like that everyone in the party has to have the same fps. I have a ds10 and an infant daughter. Plus two others -5 and 8. Plus two grandparents with us. So interests vary of course. At the same time we were together all day and that was nice even if ds10 didn't get to go on his faves.

4. We aren't much of park hoppers unless we stay at boardwalk but I do see even less value in the ph upgrade now. Unless you rope drop one park and then get all fp for the second park.

5. I hope this system doesn't ruin going to the parks like the dining plan has ruined eating at wdw!!! Giordanos anyone??

 

[mariamouse]

We checked in last sat to SSr and went to the magic kingdom on Sunday.

Our experience:
1. Our personalized MBs that were supposed to be at ssr for pickup were not there. The cm helping us said that was the first time he'd seen a problem with this and that it looked like they had been sent to our home address (they had not). He literally spent an entire hour setting up our mbs!! And looking for a room that met our initial request which that too had been messed up. I couldn't believe the lines at checking at ssr and he spent an hour with us!!! Anyway we did get our new mbs and they did work fine for us. My ds5 didn't like wearing it though.

2. As for FPPlus.... I really don't like the limit of three. We would typically get around five per day so really hate this.

3. I also don't like that everyone in the party has to have the same fps. I have a ds10 and an infant daughter. Plus two others -5 and 8. Plus two grandparents with us. So interests vary of course. At the same time we were together all day and that was nice even if ds10 didn't get to go on his faves.

4. We aren't much of park hoppers unless we stay at boardwalk but I do see even less value in the ph upgrade now. Unless you rope drop one park and then get all fp for the second park.

5. I hope this system doesn't ruin going to the parks like the dining plan has ruined eating at wdw!!! Giordanos anyone??

With regard to your third point, I'm pretty sure that FP+ can be customized for different rides for each person. When I try to change a FP+ to a different ride or time, for example, the system prompts me to specify which ticket holders the change applies to. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but just wanted to let you know so that your DS10 can go on some more of his favorite rides.

Agree with you, though, about this disincentivizing guests from buying park hoppers. No reason, IMO, that the three FP+s (ideally more than that eventually!) shouldn't be able to be used wherever you please-- especially if you have paid for the perk of park hopping.

Sorry to hear that you had that experience at SSR. Seems to be all too common. We are checking in to the GF in 5 days and hoping for the best!

 

[recmouse]

as not everyone does... then you spend your day on line at a kiosk?

 

[recmouse]

I sometimes wonder if so many of us would have disliked the new systems(s) to the extent we do now, if Disney had not implemented so many freaking changes at once!

Let's face it, people don't like change when they feel it is being imposed on them. We prefer to initiate our own changes, our way, in our time. Now guests feel they are not in control of their own vacation.

Taking the foregoing into account, I firmly believe that it has been a case of too many changes at one time - and all that, in a very short space of time.

MK increased its capacity with the opening of NFL. FP changed. The Magic Bands arrived. People without MB's were made to feel they were at a 'disadvantage' while those with them (and FP+ in testing) felt they had an advantage. Photopass+ changed. Now we have guests who, from when they took their last vacation less than a year ago and everything was pretty much as it has been for years and years, are now faced with so many changes that it feels like we have booked a completely different destination and one which we know nothing about.

I do wonder whether it would feel so bad if Disney had just simply used a couple of years to implement one change at a time and let guests get accustomed to it, ensure that it was working smoothly and then feed the next change into the system.

I'm quite transparent about this: I like to be in control. I do not feel in control of my vacation right now. I feel at the mercy of others, some of whom know less than I do and are trying to assure me that everything is just fine, when my instinct coupled with common sense, accumulated knowledge and past experience, tells me otherwise

Sad but true... you summed it up perfectly!

 

[recmouse]

True, but as a DVC owner, I also have the option to sell and will. Not that Disney will care. We've been owners since 2008 and have used our membership to the fullest. We were fortunate enough to have paid our membership in full within the first year. As far as we are concerned, we will break out even and that's ok with us. Honestly, even if we sold at a loss, I'd still be ok with that because that is how unhappy we truly are. Very sad!

We bought in 2008 and paid in full too. We have used our points at WDW, Vero Beach Resort, the Cruise Line, and will be using them in Hilton Head in April. I'm going to WDW in February and hubby wants to plan a trip for April 2015... after that... selling could be an option. As another poster said... discounts, free dining, etc can be just as viable for a visit.

 

[3happydancers]

We bought in 2008 and paid in full too. We have used our points at WDW, Vero Beach Resort, the Cruise Line, and will be using them in Hilton Head in April. I'm going to WDW in February and hubby wants to plan a trip for April 2015... after that... selling could be an option. As another poster said... discounts, free dining, etc can be just as viable for a visit.

We are going in August for my daughter's sweet 16, reluctantly. After this, not sure but I am so glad that we are not the only DVC members who feel the same.

 

[xie]

Ok guys I'm so confused that its not even funny I been reading up on the Magic bands and how they suppose to work and I'm still out of the loop.
1. Are you guys saying that the only way to ride any Disney ride is to have a MB and or stay onsite?

2 Offsite guest cant just walk up to a ride and stand in line?

3. Are there not anymore places where you can just walk up and have a burger and fries without having a MB on or reservations?

4. Once again if I go during off peak time and a ride is only a 10 minute wait couldn't I just wait in line without a MB on and ride the ride.


Sorry for all the questions but I'm only a 9 hour drive from Disney and it really don't make sense for my family to stay onsite budget wise. We usually budget Disney for about 1000-1300.00 for my family of 4. I have family that work at a very nice hotel so we get his discount. We are not big food eaters and eat a nice breakfast at the hotel because its free and its a hot breakfast. Since we bring our own vehicle I usually use my coupons and purchase my snack food while I'm still here at home and pack them in the van. The only thing I buy once I get to Orlando is water bottles. Paying to park does not bother me because of the huge discount on the hotel stay. Oh and we usually have a quick lunch of burgers and fries and dinner is usually at Golden Corel, Manny's Chop House, Sweet tomatoes or maybe Chinese food. So are you guys telling this will not be the case if we go early in May like we usually do?

1. No, but this is the only way you can FAST PASS a ride if you are staying onsite. You can stand in the standby lines all you want. If you are staying offsite, the "paper tickets" have an RFID chip in them that works the same way the chip in the MagicBand works, but upon entering the park for the day you must find a FastPass+ kiosk to make your fast pass reservations for the day. Resort guests have the ability to do this via the website or the app a couple of months in advance, instead of the day of. (I hear rumors that "day guests", otherwise known as offsite guests, can get magic bands sometimes instead of the ticket, but I don't know how far along that testing is. Offsite people were still using regular RFID cards when we were there 2 weeks ago.)

2. Any guest, offsite or onsite, can walk up and join the standby line for any ride at any time (provided the ride's open of course).

3. All the counter service places are still here yes. You don't need a MagicBand to use them. As an offsite guest you would pay cash/credit as you always have done. Onsite guests can use the MagicBand to "room charge" the bill.

4. Again, you can join any standby line for an open ride anytime you want.

Hope that helps. Basically, as an offsite guest, nothing about MagicBands affects you yet. The only thing that DOES affect you now is that they are currently in the process of removing the old "paper fastpass" machines from the parks, and you will only be able to register for 3 fast passes per park per day. As an offsite guest you will do this after you enter your chosen park for the day, by going to a kiosk.