Reviews of MagicBand
Reviewed by dymondclay Review Date: 11/17/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We visited the World from 10/19-10/26 and stayed at BLT. We received the Magic Bands in the mail prior to the trip. I was able to secure Fastpass+ reservations on MDE before the trip. Other than the limitation of not being able to spread fast passes over multiple parks in one day(you had to pick 3 in one park), we liked the Fastpass+ system. Loved the easy room access, the Magical Express check-in, the dining charges, and the purchase usage. We loved making Fastpass+ reservations or modifying existing reservations on the fly.
We did have an instance where a member of our group lost their Magic Band in the pool at BLT. It was found and turned in before it was noticed missing. By the time our friend realized they had lost it, it was in the lost and found system. It may still be there to this day. Nobody could find out where it went and he was given a replacement. The replacement process was seamless and it worked just fine including charging to the room.
The app on the phone was very slow at times and it was not always clear how to get the results you wanted with the Fastpass+ reservation system. DH (a computer programmer) even accidentally deleted fastpasses when trying to change a fastpass time.
All in all, we really enjoyed the experience.
After our return home, I had "phantom Magic Band" feelings and my wrist felt naked without it.
Pros:
Not carrying key to the world card, easy charging, easy admission, and easy room access.Cons:
Fastpass+ limited to all fastpasses in one park, and lost and found still working on handling of "found" Magic BandsReviewed by cmusschoot Review Date: 11/15/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We were issued Magic Bands for our last stay at the Boardwalk hotel Nov. 8-11.
I had customized them on line weeks prior and they were delivered to my house about a month before our trip.
We used the bands to check-in for Magical Express and it was great.
At the hotel the system was down, but we were issued Key to the World cards while we were waiting for our room to be ready and for the system to assign us a room. These cards were not needed as we had purchased our tickets through the "sports" discount - Wine and Dine run, so we had paper cards as well .
We went right to Magic Kingdom from there and had no issues with the band itself.
Pros:
Ease of entering each themepark, ease of payment at vendors and shopsCons:
noneReviewed by tpetty Review Date: 11/13/2013
Rating: (4) Recommended
Sorry this is so long but it combines our experience with the MagicBands and FP+ since Disney is lumping that together.
We were asked to participate in the testing of the MagicBands for our trip from Sept. 3rd to Sept 12th while staying at Pop Century. I had been playing on WDW website when I noticed our reservations had the option for Magic Bands and making Fast Pass reservations. I clicked around a little bit but didn’t make any plans for us or confirm we wanted either. By that evening I had received an email to participate and then the next day which was a Saturday morning we had received a letter via UPS asking us to participate. We had read different things about it and it got us curious since we know overnight shipping isn’t cheap let alone a Sat. morning delivery. We were concerned about participating because we had heard we only get 3 Fast Pass+ a day and only at one park. We tend to park hop and use the Fast Pass system as much as possible to our advantage so 3 passes wouldn’t be enough with our normal touring habits. My DH called the number they gave us and asked the CM if we could opt out at any time if we decided it was no longer for us and he said yes. He even went on to say that the old Fast Pass system and new Fast Pass system didn’t talk to one another so we were free to schedule our FastPass+ on the new system but still use the old system with our Key to the World Card that they would give us as a backup to the MagicBands. After hearing this we agreed we wanted to try it out for ourselves.
Next up was ordering the MagicBands. Kind of fun because we got to pick what colors we wanted but from the beginning I have said I thought they were ugly and who wants pictures ruined with everyone wearing silly bracelet type things in them. I knew though that we could use the Key to the World card in the end. After we completed that we had to try to link to different reservations up so we could plan for both traveling parties. Originally it was my DH, DS (age 2) and myself in one room and my DMIL in her own room. Right away we had problems linking the two reservations up. We ended up calling the number again and they even had trouble. We were told it would take 30 minutes and my DH would receive an email letting him know the reservations were linked. After 45 minutes we decided to call back because their office hours had them there for only 15 more minutes. The CM we talked to said they were still working on it and they would have it fixed before they went home for the night. After about an hour we received an email that it was fixed. We logged back in and it wasn’t fixed so we gave up for the night. The next day my DH called back and they did something else and it made it better but not 100% perfect. The problem was I could see that everyone was eligible for FP+ but couldn’t make changes for my DMIL. I was supposed to be able to make changes for everyone since I was part of the reservation and authorization to do so. We figured if we were at the park and my DH cell phone went dead we needed a backup or maybe he wasn’t around and I was needing to make the changes I should be able to do so. We decided we would deal with that later if nothing else at the park with a CM there.
The next on our agenda was to schedule the FP+ for the rides we wanted to ride. We tend to not be planners unless we are on the free dining plan where you have to plan the sit down meals. Otherwise we tend to go with the flow and decide which park we will visit even the night before usually looking at who has morning hours (skipping that park since we aren’t morning people) and knowing we might want to do the extra magic hours in the evening. So we tried to apply this same strategy with make the reservation. 3 per park with the exception of the MK where they threw in a bonus FP+ for the Little Mermaid ride. Fantasmic and Illuminations were an option but Main Street Electrical Parade was not which we found interesting.
Within 2 or 3 days of picking out our MagicBands they were overnighted to us and I received a reminder email from Disney a day or two before our trip to remind us to bring these with us and have them available when we arrive.
Fast forward to our trip and my DMIL had to cancel at the last minute for another family members health issues so that took care of not being able to make FP+ changes for her. After checking in at PC we headed to the food court to get our free resort mug since we were on the free quick food service dining plan. At check out the CM asked my DH to use his Magic Band and then input his key/passcode. Problem was his pass code wasn’t validating the mugs for us so the CM used our Keys to the World card to complete this transaction. Back to the check-in area where they had my DH confirm his passcode again hoping this would fix the problem.
Off we went to the MK and the MagicBands got us into the gate with no problem but you still have to link a finger with the band so it that slowed it down a bit. The rest of the night we had no problem.
Our 2nd day there we were off to DHS. We decided we didn’t think we would make our first FP+ ride so DH rescheduled it on his phone for later in the day. Once at the park we realized we could make it so pulled our My Plans FP+ on our phones and we showed we still had our original ride time and also the one we rescheduled. So we went to the ride and were denied access b/c their system said it wasn’t until later. We were fine with that but he suggested we go to the FP+ kiosk that has CM there to answer questions or give feedback to. When we arrived there they pulled up our FP+ plans for the day to their surprise and ours I was scheduled to ride this ride 4 time for the day (when you are only allowed to have 1 FP+ for each ride per day). They had never seen that before and when we showed them what our cell phone displayed it was completely different from what their screen showed. They ended up fixing it so we could ride the ride right then like we originally had scheduled as well as later in the day like we rescheduled.
Another day we noticed that Main Street Electrical parade was an option but we weren’t going to MK that day so we switched all of our FP+ to the MK. After making the switch our old FP+ for the other park were still there. We are guessing they weren’t valid like what happened previously but didn’t park hop that day to test it out.
Finally, on our last day we thought we would go to DHS before leaving for the airport but our DS was really getting into the MK so we decided after checking out of Pop Century to head there instead. We decided to make the change at guest services on Main Street since half the time our phone took forever to pull up our plans and the other half of the time it wouldn’t pull it up at all. When we got to the kiosk it pulled up our plans for DHS but there wasn’t a way to change it. The CM there was puzzled so he enlisted the help of 2 of the tech CM for this initiative and they were stumped. They then decided you couldn’t switch parks at the kiosk so we had to do it by our phone. This was fine but again after making the changes it pulled up our old reservations and the new ones which completely confused them. We should have only seen our MK plans at this point. They said they would look into it and we went on our way to enjoy our last day at the park.
In the end it was very interesting to be a part of the test. We still aren’t convinced this is worth the money that we have heard Disney put into it. Like I mentioned before half the time our phones weren’t able to pull up our plans. Imagine when this rolls out and everyone is trying to use their phones to get their plans. My MagicBand came unsnapped at different times throughout our trip so they aren’t the most secure thing. They sent us one for our 2 year old even though he was free for everything but imagine asking a 3 year old to wear one and have nothing happen to it. I guess there is the option of not putting it on him/her and use the card but it is needed to show you have a FP+ ride time with the rest of the family.
We also ran into multiple CM that didn’t know anything about the system or didn’t know how to deal with it. One example being at the Emporium when we went to use a snack credit the CM told us we need our card to do it but we had just used our bands at another shop buying snacks. She went backstage and confirmed we could use our band. Another example was when we went to use the FP+ at Fantasmic they had us form a separate line but then we were lead in with the general crowd. When we asked a CM where the FP+ seating was she said she didn’t even know they had FP+ seating. We finally found the section but then there was no one to prevent any guest from hopping under the rope to get into that section which we did see people do.
The one positive thing I do have to say about preplanning the FP+ is that my DH didn’t have to run from ride to ride getting us FP when we had time available to have one. We were able to stroll down Main Street and take it all in as a family so that was really nice.
Pros:
DH wasn't rushing to get us FPCons:
system problems, too much preplanning, only 3 per day and at 1 parkReviewed by mmhcpa1 Review Date: 11/13/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
We spent a long weekend at Pop Century for our annual Food 'n Wine trip. While the magic band concept is phenomenal and once all the kinks are worked out it will be great, we encountered the following problems:
1. On-line check in failed 5 times. When it finally went through the day before we arrive, the credit card was not linked to the bands. We had to correct that on check-in.
2. My magic band would never unlock the room (everyone elses worked fine).
3. Ticket Media - NEVER put more than one ticket on the band at a time!! We had very old paper no expiration single park tickets, plus old no expirations hoppers. We put both on the bands because we wanted to hop on one day. That caused a major problem that took over two hours at guest services to correct (though they gave us 3 "super fast passes" on the bands with no set times or ride restrictions to make up for the time lost.)
Long story short, when multiple tickets are on the band you have to prioritize which ticket is active (and only guest services can do this) To avoid waiting in line at guest services again we tried to use the physical RFID park hopper tickets to access the park instead of using the magic bands - and the system knew the hoppers were linked to our magic bands - so it took 1 day from BOTH the hopper and the single day ticket for the same date. You wouldn't believe how long it took to fix that problem! We ended up having the multi day single park tickets removed and leaving the park hopper only on the bands. For visitors with annual passes or length of stay passes this won't be a problem but for those of us who accumulated passes through the years, you have to be very careful with the new system! Also, ONLY guest services at the parks can help with this problem. It cannot be resolved on the phone or at the hotels. So if you have multiple tickets loaded on the bands, make sure to check your usage on the "My Disney Experience" portal to make sure the right number of days were taken off the ticket.
4. The system says you can modify fast passes times easily if your schedule changes. One day we completely changed our schedule and so threw out the original selections, and that worked perfectly. But the next day we tried to change the time only of one attraction (Toy Story), and we completely lost the fast pass. After speaking with the manager of the attraction we were permitted to enter. They know this feature still has bugs.
In spite of the problems, I do like the Magic Bands and will use it on future trips.
Pros:
Convenient; easy to useCons:
Requires lining up at guest relations for assistance; only 3 fast passes per dayReviewed by Kathyb Review Date: 11/13/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
My husband and I usually are pretty unsure about making reservations at restaurants because we in the past have had difficult times getting the time we want, but with the new Magic Band and all the online options we had no problems getting reservations or fast passes. We really hope they continue doing this. We really, really liked it.
Pros:
User friendlinessCons:
noneReviewed by Kate27 Review Date: 11/13/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We loved using our magic bands on our Oct 31-Nov 7, 2013 trip! They are easy to use and it's great that it controls everything: room entry, park entry, fastpasses, dining credits. We had no problems at all with one small exception. On the first day my mom couldn't use it to "pay" with a dining credit for a meal. But in a 5-minute trip to the front desk it was resolved and they all worked flawlessly for the rest of the trip. No digging in your purse or wallet for cards to enter parks, enter hotel rooms, and no risk of losing paper fastpasses. We loved them!
Pros:
Easy, everything streamlinesCons:
nothingReviewed by LynnM Review Date: 11/13/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
The bands are easy to use for everything. We had some difficulties in the beginning of our trip but the issues were corrected and then it worked perfectly.
Pros:
easy to useCons:
uncomfortable when it is hotReviewed by AndrewAceKing Review Date: 11/13/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We were in the World for a 7 day stay back in September. We made the cutoff for the MyMagic+ testing by about 4 days at POR. I am so glad we did. The MagicBands themselves were very wearable, and we certainly tested them. We swam in them, sweat in them, and even showered in them. We never had any real issues at all. A couple of times it took a minute or two to get them to read (mostly at restaurants). As far as park entrance and shopping goes, it could not have been smoother.
Pros:
Easy to use, convenient, Stays onCons:
NoneReviewed by magoo22 Review Date: 11/13/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Overall the wrist band was GREAT! Our October vacation went quite smoothly using the bands.
Our only complaint was that it was not obvious on the My Disney Experience App that your 3 Fast Pass reservations needed to al be in the same park. We park hopped from MK to Epcot only to discover that our two Epcot fast passes had "disappeared" from my APP. Customer relations apologized and said that the staff at our resort (Boardwalk) should have explained that glitch to us when we checked in. The staff at Boardwalk did not tell us anything at all about the wrist band.
After pleading with the customer relations cast member, she gave us one fast pass (not two), so that we could ride Soarin - but we missed out on Test Track.
We are pretty savvy WDW annual pass holders, have been visiting WDW since 1983 and generally navigate each new WDW experience with enthusiasm! The wrist bands are no exception- the growing pains and glitches seem to be minimal and we look forward to wearing the wrist bands again in January!
Pros:
Having my "ticket" on my wrist was very convenient. Liked be ing able to have wrist band linked to My Disney Experience App.Cons:
Unclear information regarding getting Fast PassesReviewed by DuncanTaylor Review Date: 11/13/2013
Rating: (6) Recommended
Just returned after using the wristbands for 2 weeks. They were presented at check in as customised previously online. Sometimes a little difficult to press Mickey to Mickey depending on orientation of the reader. The main problem was that sometimes, if they catch on something, they fall off. Something we constantly had to watch with our 6 year old. I kept the wristband in the larger format for him so that I could wear it when we felt he was at risk of losing it. I lost mine briefly as it dropped off in a suitcase. It was good to have the back-up of a key to the world card while mine was missing. (Presumably these will be phased out though - a mistake!)
In general, they were better than a key to the world card or paper ticket, room key etc.
