Well... MagicBands and FP+, Our Experience

[eeyorepixie]

Thank you so much for posting, because this is what I suspected would be the case but, you gave a good "big picture" view.
I do not know how anyone could get excited about now being limited to 3 fast passes a day and ESPECIALLY tiered and scheduled FP's! I usually would get about 9+ FP's (and yes we used them all we are a "ride" family!)

I was not going this year...in part for personal reasons, but also not enchanted with this new system...was not feeling the magic!
I am going this year, because family is treating us to a DVC stay at a bucket list dream resort- AKL Savannah View, so we will be going but, I am sure if we do not have a great experience we are not going back for quite awhile because kids are already saying that we need to go to different places other than Disney...this new system I think will seal the deal for our family.

Thank you for posting, and I appreciate your honesty. Not an easy thing sometimes here

P.S. I also agree that all of the souvies are now the same and you can no longer find much that is unique and the quality is going down the tubes. I find I do not buy much anymore. disappointing to me...as I do love to shop

 

[emilymad]

I agree with OP 100%. Your post could have been written by me or my husband. We arrived Dec. 27th and checked out Jan. 4th. We both said, too much down time. We have never experienced that feeling before at Disney. 3 FP+ is not enough, at least have the choice of 4 and if you only want to book only one, let people only book 1. Park Hopping, why offer park hoppers if you won't let people use the FP+ for it? It does not make sense. And the App, you better hope it works when you need it otherwise you are out of luck. We too had to burn FP+. At least with the old system if we ended up with a conflict we handed off the FP to some other guests. We can't do that now so think of all the FP+ that hold a spot for a ride so it is out of the system and then they are not used! As my daughter would say, FAIL. At first my husband was on board of the whole idea of magic bands and FP+, now, yeah, not so much. He had trouble getting his magic band in the right position to use it. It should not take two hands! Mine did not work every time. When I entered the park it took two hands. When it was my RFID AP it was tap, finger touch and in but now it was slow. If you don't run into problems, all is well but we don't live in a perfect world and why does Disney think they need to have their guest preschedule their entire vacation? The ADR's are bad enough because I have a food allergy, but to schedule rides? then to tell guests only 3 preschedule rides and include rides that absolutely do not need FP in the first place? That is what caused the downtime. It was boring! I really disliked being in the parks this trip and I love Disney parks but I am losing my love fast with Disney being a control freak. Others may like it but not me and not my husband. Disney needs to remember one important thing, they are a theme park with rides! People go to the parks for the rides, If we can't ride the rides we want, why go and waste the money? They really didn't think this through. One last thing, we too have noticed that we are not spending in the stores as we did in the past. This past trip was no. 53 since 1999. Last year I bought 4 items, that is correct Disney people if you are reading this, 4 items. In trips from the past, that could be one day but not 2013. I just was not motivated to spend. This is far from being ready for prime time. Next trip, 3 weeks from today, we are suppose to spend 3 nights at Beach Club. My husband asked me on the flight home, do you still want to go? We have a house down there, 15 minutes SE of MK. He would rather stay at our house. That tells me a lot of what he now thinks of the who new program at WDW. We are going but to eat at the restaurants since they are scheduled and to enjoy the resort. As far as park time, I could care less. You don't have to enter the parks to watch the fireworks. Kathy

You hit the nail on the head! We were bored. Lines were too long to do stand by but it wasn't time yet for our next FP+. Or if we got in a stand by line we would miss our next FP+. I am hoping to learn how to schedule out FP+ better for our next trip. We also plan on more pool time and going to a water park so we don't have to deal with the parks.

 

[xie]

The Swan and Dolphin guests have been testing magic bands and FP+ for a brief period but they had to make their selections via the kiosks in the parks. Perhaps these are the lines you saw?

I wouldn't know - I didn't stop and ask any of them who they were or where they were staying. But all the parks had lines early in the day for FP+ kiosks near the park entrance. I simply recall the Epcot one in particular because for whatever reason, the people in that line didn't stay against the building out of traffic flow. They lined up across the entire walkway and the line ended right near the Spaceship Earth queue.

 

[crostorfer]

I wouldn't know - I didn't stop and ask any of them who they were or where they were staying. But all the parks had lines early in the day for FP+ kiosks near the park entrance. I simply recall the Epcot one in particular because for whatever reason, the people in that line didn't stay against the building out of traffic flow. They lined up across the entire walkway and the line ended right near the Spaceship Earth queue.

It's very good advice you offer, to keep walking deeper into the park. I think it's Robo who is wonderful with the maps, I wonder if someone could make a map pointing out the kiosks in each park. That would be a MASSIVE help.

 

[xie]

P.S. I also agree that all of the souvies are now the same and you can no longer find much that is unique and the quality is going down the tubes. I find I do not buy much anymore. disappointing to me...as I do love to shop

Me too! I always save some "pin money" to take with me. I brought more than 3/4 of it back home this time... yes, I actually came home from Disney with my spending money still in my pocket. Other than a couple of small necessaries (forgot to take an umbrella with us), all I really got was an iPhone case from Mitsukoshi...

 

[xie]

It's very good advice you offer, to keep walking deeper into the park. I think it's Robo who is wonderful with the maps, I wonder if someone could make a map pointing out the kiosks in each park. That would be a MASSIVE help.

Unfortunately, most of these places aren't really well marked, and they seem to pop up and disappear (especially the ones where CMs with iPads were using the paper FastPass areas). I found myself thinking at the time that they will need to make official locations and mark them on the park maps soon, especially once the paper FP machines are gone.

Also, there were what appeared to be touchscreen FP machines in a couple of odd places. For example, I remember one that is in the queue for Aladdin's Magic Carpet. We didn't click through it to see if you could actually make fast pass changes, or if it was just a promo video, or what. I am not sure. Maybe someone who actually played with it will speak up.

 

[think-like-tink]

I must say, I am nervous about our up coming trip in July. It's crowded, hot, crowded....hot. But, in the past doable with the awesome advice on how to make paper fastpasses work for us. With these new changes WDW sounds like a nightmare.

 

[Belle5]

We were off site guests in December and I felt like a second class citizen at Disney. We have done over 40 trips and the last 10 have been offsite. This December 2013 trip was the worse by far. Based on that trip we won't be coming back; unless, we do stay onsite. That said, your review is not making me thrilled about even doing that now. I'm sure I'll give it a try onsite when the dust all settles, but I know already I won't be coming back as often as we did in the past. I'm looking at a Disney trip every 5 years or so, now, if that.

In the past three years we have expanded our horizons on other vacations and we find ourselves much happier and spending less money than a Disney trip, whether we compare staying onsite or off at Disney.

I'm basically done with Disney World; unless, there are some great deals in the future.

What other kinds of vacations have you found that are making you happier than WDW? We have tried a few and while finding them educational and nice lack the mind-blowing, over-the-top vacation that WDW provides...I would love some ideas. Thanks!

 

[magicbob]

You hit the nail on the head! We were bored. Lines were too long to do stand by but it wasn't time yet for our next FP+.

By design... you were supposed to go shopping and spend money to pass the time.

 

[ucfknight]

I must say, I am nervous about our up coming trip in July. It's crowded, hot, crowded....hot. But, in the past doable with the awesome advice on how to make paper fastpasses work for us. With these new changes WDW sounds like a nightmare.

If everyone is still limited to 3 selections at that point and it isn't tiered in MK, the standby lines on the C and D-ticket rides might be shorter than they have been recently since very few people will use one of their 3 FP+ selections on them.

 

[larryz]

OP - good observations and a well written post.

Others - thanks for contributing! I was on the fence about a 2014 trip; now I'm on the fence for a 2015 trip.

I don't want to jeopardize my vacation money on a concept still in beta testing.

 

[patty57]

What other kinds of vacations have you found that are making you happier than WDW? We have tried a few and while finding them educational and nice lack the mind-blowing, over-the-top vacation that WDW provides...I would love some ideas. Thanks!

For us...Europe and the Caribbean. We would also like to see some National Parks because I'm the only one in my family who has been to any. We would like to see the Southwest because it's so different than where we live. There are hundreds more, but it depends on what you might like to see.

 

[patty57]

OP - good observations and a well written post.

Others - thanks for contributing! I was on the fence about a 2014 trip; now I'm on the fence for a 2015 trip.

I don't want to jeopardize my vacation money on a concept still in beta testing.

I hear you.

 

[evilqueenmindy]

Thanks for the detailed thoughts on the whole new world. It is helping me manage my expectations for our trip at the end of the month. I confess I liked the entire idea of magic bands, and as the trip nerd and planner in our group, I was even kind of excited about FP+. Then dealing with MDE more often happened, I can see how maybe for a family going on a trip where one person creates everyone's profile, and everyone is linked it wouldn't be too difficult. . .but I've got a group, in different houses, most quote far away, with varying degrees of tech savvy, and varying degrees of disney interest, and trying to get everyone to create a profile (or manage their husbands profile, which will not link to me so now we have one Jim that has a pass and a magic band and a room reservation, and another Jim that only has dining reservations, and we can't delete or merge because dear god, he's part of your plans. . .ack!) and link their AP to their magic band so we can make these extra magical fast pass plans. . .has been a big enough headache to make me dread the thing that I used to love. I'm sick of FP+ literally before I've even used it.

 

[Momtomouselover]

I must say, I am nervous about our up coming trip in July. It's crowded, hot, crowded....hot. But, in the past doable with the awesome advice on how to make paper fastpasses work for us. With these new changes WDW sounds like a nightmare.

I'm with ya on this one. We are considering March or July (or two shorter trips instead of one long). In July we were thinking of hitting parks for a couple rides in the morning then spending day swimming, watching a movie then coming back at night to use FP+ and ride any short standby rides. Alternatively we could ride a few things in the morning standby then us our FP's then leave. Only return at night if we wish to see fireworks or show. Basically since we don't like long lines (>30 mins or 40 at max if we REALLy want to do something) our park days will be shorter. We might do water parks in July though so that makes July appealing.

If Disney was our only vacation or if I as planning a "once in a lifetime trip" I wouldn't choose July and/or I would wait.

 

[wdwfreak]

I can see how maybe for a family going on a trip where one person creates everyone's profile, and everyone is linked it wouldn't be too difficult. . .

This is the one thing that we all agreed on before embarking on our latest trip. As the only "Type A" planner in our group of 8, I've been tasked with managing everyone's reservations, profiles, and FP+ selections. That has been the saving grace (so far). I can't imagine trying to organize everyone's trip together from three or four different MDE setups.

We are WDW veterans and normally have our trips down to a science. (I know, sounds kinda sterile, but there's only so much room for spontaneity during the busier times of the year.) We always have a great time. I've even helped several other families plan their trips with great success.

I'll admit though, despite the years of experience, I am somewhat concerned about the overplanning involved here. FP- was actually the best way to be spontaneous in the parks. How do I know how we'll feel or where exactly we'll be 2 months from now?

Luckily we are rope drop people, so that should eliminate some of the worry. Hit 3 or 4 headliners without FP in the morning, then go to the anytime attractions and shows, save FP+ for the evening park.

Sometimes, we wouldn't plan on what park we were going to until we woke up that morning...I guess that's out the window, unless we want to limit our options FP-wise. It seems like Disney is trying to manage the spontaneity out of our trips by putting more rigid controls on things. That's their prerogative I suppose and we can vote against it by withholding our dollars. Not that they will necessarily notice or care. I know we aren't owed FP but after 15 years of it, it is going to be hard to get used to FP+, MM+, and MDE.

 

[3happydancers]

What other kinds of vacations have you found that are making you happier than WDW? We have tried a few and while finding them educational and nice lack the mind-blowing, over-the-top vacation that WDW provides...I would love some ideas. Thanks!

Once upon a time a Disney vacation was a mind-blowing, over-the-top vacation. However, all the changes that have taken place plus adding this new FP+, has pushed many to question where the "magic" has gone. Quite frankly, Disney is just a small dot on the map of this wonderful country and world. Have you ever rafted down the rapids of the Delaware River while camping in the Catskill mountains; explore the Grand Canyon by donkey; visited Niagara Falls; climb a mountain; cruise Alaska? How about taking time to ride some of the most extreme roller coasters in theme parks across our country? Ever been to Europe, Asia, or Africa? Unless I can honestly say I have done it all, I cannot trust that Disney is the ONLY place to experience a mind-blowing, over-the-top vacation. But of course, this is just my opinion.

 

[Bete]

Once upon a time a Disney vacation was a mind-blowing, over-the-top vacation. However, all the changes that have taken place plus adding this new FP+, has pushed many to question where the "magic" has gone. Quite frankly, Disney is just a small dot on the map of this wonderful country and world. Have you ever rafted down the rapids of the Delaware River while camping in the Catskill mountains; explore the Grand Canyon by donkey; visited Niagara Falls; climb a mountain; cruise Alaska? How about taking time to ride some of the most extreme roller coasters in theme parks across our country? Ever been to Europe, Asia, or Africa? Unless I can honestly say I have done it all, I cannot trust that Disney is the ONLY place to experience a mind-blowing, over-the-top vacation. But of course, this is just my opinion.

I totally agree! What I think has hit me the most about Disney World recently is that it's artificial; it's fantasy. I enjoy the fantasy, but there is a real world out there to enjoy, as well.

Until the final product comes out on magic band I will reserve my final opinion. Honestly, I feel my trips will be less and less in the future to Disney World. We are Midwesterns and I have done Disney World over 40 times. I was a Disney diehard, but no more. I'm finding other vacations more enjoyable and most of them costing less money and getting good value and having more fun.

 

[xie]

Thank you all for the replies, I'm glad our post was helpful.

When my husband discovered this morning that Diagon Alley is opening at Universal Studios in summer, he decided he wants to go - so we are going to be at a Universal hotel for a week in September.

We're discussing whether we want to buy MNSSHP tickets one night that week solely for the purpose of riding rides in MK. Because most people hang out in the Castle forecourt for the shows, or stand in line for characters, or trick or treat, the ride lines have always been super short at the party for us. Plus we could try the Dwarf Train, should they finally get it open by then. So we *might* do that one night - otherwise we won't be on Disney property on this Orlando trip, which would be a first for us, ever.

In 2015 we're going to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone, so I would imagine the very soonest we might be back at WDW will be 2016. Hopefully Disney will have their stuff back together by then...

Tomorrow I have to call and cancel the 2 reservations we had at Disney for this year and NY 2015. That should be an interesting call.

 

[Princesspolly0110]

No, it isn't. And every time we ended up at a CM trying to get something fixed, we were extremely nice and polite (even my frustrated husband with the KTTW cards and bands). And apologetic for even needing help, which we shouldn't have been because it wasn't our fault. But what I saw was disengagement, fatigue, and a lot of CMs who appear to be just as frustrated by some of the broken tech as the guests are. Truth be told, the park and resort CMs might be more frustrated than the guests, because they can't escape dealing with it daily until IT finally gets it fixed. One of the reasons we abandoned that Everest fast pass that Tusker House delayed us on was that we didn't want to "be that guy". The "guys" we had seen all week giving stories to the FP CMs about how they should be let in with a blue flash on the band because "the bus was late", "the boat was late", "we have passes for this and WHY ISN'T IT WORKING YOUR STUFF IS BROKEN so let us on now", and then high fiving each other down the line afterwards. I considered rushing over there for about 10 seconds before deciding I simply could not have that conversation with a CM without feeling bad.[/QUOTE

In this case, tusker house should have made arrangements to help you get on Everest. Disney has to bite the bullet at some point and in this case, it was the staff of the restaurant who screwed up, not a blatant mistake or oversight by you. I believe there is a respectful and polite manner to handle all sorts of issues and this would be one of them.