MyMagic+ Details

Originally Posted By HokieSkipper

This is from our old friend Spirit over at WDWMagic.

<<

From an inside source at WDW:

FP+ in a Nutshell:
-60 days from arrival, plus 10 days with resort reservation like dining. Guest selects park. Then their three preferred experiences (attractions, food, spectaculars, activities) and then the MyDisneyExperience (MDX) gives up to four groups (early, mid, late, all day) of their choices and/or substitutions. There will be activities that are FP+ only - no standby option. The immediate party then has the same set of FPs and from there the Guest can modify individuals if they want different experiences/times. You can also then copy with friends not traveling in the same reservation or under control of/created by the primary.
-One park per day.
-No paper (legacy) FP.
-Same FP return policies. Must return within time window, five minute early and fifteen minute late grace period.
-Guests can modify their park up until their first FP+ is used in park. Then they can only modify within that park.
-No MDX account or valid park tickets? No FP+. MDX allows legacy ticket conversion for some tickets by keyed in information and now barcode via camera. Partially redeemed tickets must have at least one day. Once converted, cannot be transferred. (This attaches demographics to tickets that wouldn't and encourages buying tickets directly from Disney. This won't completely devistate the 192 scalpers, but is aimed at them.)
-Special event tickets do not count at this time (nomenclature change from 'hard ticket' since most tickets are now hard...)
-FP+ downtimes are still being hammered out.

Low tech or no tech? Reservation Center can help, but they are being instructed to actively teach the Guest how to do this on their own by accessing the account via proxy. Front line cast actively encouraged to ask Guest to use their device (iDevices and Android) to show Guests how to do it themselves.

MagicBands:
-Nine Colors (Red, Blue, Green, Pink, Yellow, Orange, Iconic Gray, and NEW Purple...)
-Shipped to Guest's address (WORLDWIDE) within thirty to ten days of arrival.
-Shipped to resort if within nine days of arrival.
-Guest gets Iconic Gray if within five days of resort reservation arrival.
-MagicBands for non-resort or year long passes being determined.
-Replacement MagicBands will be Iconic Gray.
-MagicBands costs Disney roughly $4.50 each to produce, there's a world-wide shortage of RFID due to the 20k being produced daily.
-Waterproof, doesn't float.
-Three year battery, can be disabled.
-Multiple ticket entitlements can be loaded onto the MagicBand. No Tables in Wonderland or Cirque du Soleil at the moment.

Annual Passholders:
-First replacement MagicBand is free, $50 afterwards or RF plastic card alternative.
-Same FP+ rules (can book FP+ sixty days out, one park only, three selections, etc.)
-Benefits and discounts will be on a separate RF enabled card.
-Will have the ability to add a credit card to their MagicBand similar to Key to the World currently.

Parking/Toll Plaza:
-Touch Points have been added to verify resort and year long passes.

In Park Kiosks:
-Guest Relations in parks will have terminals for same day, same park FP+ and MDX registration.
-Sid's is likely closing and converting over for this.
-Old WorldKey booths by Epcot's lobby will be one location.
-MK is already open at Town Square Theater (Old Disney Visa location.)
-Downtown will be indoors adjacent to their Marketplace location.
-AK still being formalized.
-Other in-park regional locations being tested. >>

WDW is making it really easy for me to spend my money at UOR and DLR.

 

Originally Posted By sjhym333

Lots of information there that I am trying to make sense of. A day guest who isn't staying on property can get a FP when and how?

I am curious as a previous AP holder what my chances will be to get a FP the day of a visit for say Soarin or Test Track. I don't think most AP holders who are local are planning their day trip to the park 60 days out.

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

I'm really interested to see how this will be implemented for guests staying off site or with "special event tickets". My recent visits have been for the runDisney races, and I've gotten discounted tickets through one of the official travel agents; presumably these would be considered special event tickets and would preclude me from using FP+, as said above. This would also impact the huge numbers of children's athletics teams that use WWOS throughout the year

Interesting that there's a worldwide shortage of the RFID elements. They've been included in the keycards for a long time (not to mention in tickets for transit systems worldwide), and presumably have been used by WDW at roughly the same rate as they will be in the future. Perhaps there's more to the technology in the wristbands than in the cards

The $50 wristband replacement fee for APs seems pretty steep, when the only party benefiting from the wristbands is Disney themselves. Since all of the technology that a guest would use (excluding any potential tracking features in the wristband) can fit in a card that comfortably fits in a wallet (good for spur-of-the-moment trips when you may not have time to fetch the wristband), there's very little incentive to pay for the 'upgrade'. There's also been suspiciously no information given about whether regular vacation packages will need to pay extra for the wristbands; I suspect they will be fairly expensive, and Disney is waiting until the last minute to announce the cost to guests

Adding a credit card is listed under APs, but I had assumed that it would be available to all guests. They've been doing it for years with the old keys/paper tickets, so I had assumed that all the existing functionality would carry over to the new system

And while the 60 day window is much more reasonable than the dining window, it's still pretty crazy to expect someone to plan the minute details of their vacation that far in advance. I'm sure the system will continue to evolve as it goes live, but this seems like a real headache. And once you consider that certain things (presumably attractions like TSMM and Soarin') will only be available to FP+ users, it becomes even more of a headache

 

Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub

I thought I had read that WDW has a built-in fee of $3.50 for resort reservations (probably hidden fee in room rate), and i am wondering if they had this built in fee already implemented even through repeat delays with technology. Have we been charged for something that has not been delivered over the past year? Not to mention being charged for something we do not want.

Looking at all those instructions to simplify our visit looks difficult and painful. Enjoy DL while you can!

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

I'm more interested in knowing how long it will be before other theme parks and resort destinations adopt something similar. Assuming it's ultimately deemed a success this will be a major game changer in how these types of places are marketed and sold. Just imagine how a system like this might work in a place like Las Vegas or on a vacation package.

 

Originally Posted By sjhym333

I think it is just a matter of time before other parks offer a similar thing, though probably not at the level that Disney does...how many companies can drop that kind of money for it.

This, like FP did, will change the theme park experience throughout the country. Still not sure it is going to be for the better.

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

If it's successful at increasing reveues i wouldn't be too surprised if Disney sold the technology or made it available to other entities.

 

Originally Posted By Mr X

I wonder how many of these carefully crafted, two-months in the making battle plans will be thwarted by an all-too-common middle of the day Florida squall.

And I wonder if I'll have the pleasure of being there to witness it.

 

Originally Posted By Disney Joy

WOW ! I got a lot to figure out before Dec... hopefully

 

Originally Posted By tashajilek

This whole thing is stupid, hopefully it doesnt work out. Why does everything have to be planned and controlled? There better be something offered for non resort guests too.

 

Originally Posted By plpeters70

<<I wonder how many of these carefully crafted, two-months in the making battle plans will be thwarted by an all-too-common middle of the day Florida squall.>>

Or by a ride breaking down at the time you planned to ride it. That would throw off the schedule for the entire day!

 

Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub

Has anybody seen the fine print that we will probably sign away all our rights for reimbursement due to weather, mechanical, technical, nervous breakdowns.

I wish somebody would explain how much this is going to cost the future guest. We are already complaining about ticket price increases and lodging and food hikes. I also can't believe we are naively or desperately in need of this wow so cool factor: especially since it involves using my smart phone to retrieve the information. I don't know about you but my monthly cell phone bill does not include free usage on behalf of Disney. I usually do not carry a phone around with me and will not. I guess my future trip will be wandering around the property without entering any of the parks.
WDW already has a problem with that and offered big discounts to the DVC members for annual passes to lure their visitng members in to the parks to spend money.

I sure hope Disney knows what they are doing...

 

Originally Posted By TP2000

Just posted this in the "official" thread, but it looks like the real party is over here, so...

My head is spinning trying to figure out how this is better, or what Disney has to gain by doing this.

And you only get 3 Fastpasses per day, and only one park per day? And you have to log on 60 days prior to your visit to snap up all the best E Tickets quickly lest you are left with Fastpasses for Teacups, Speedway and Winnie The Pooh?

I had imagined that this MyMagic+ thing could work reasonably well in WDW with their heavy tourist demographic and pre-planners, but even with that group this seems to be a huge headache filled with rules for very little payout.

And if they tried this at Disneyland? There'd be riots on Main Street USA that would make the Yippie invasion of Disneyland in 1969 seem quaint.

What is the point over regular Fastpass? Why so restrictive? Where is the fun?

And who on earth actually thought this was a good idea worth investing in?!? How the heck does Disney spin this into a reasonably good idea?

So many questions for this, even though technically the questions are all now answered. Yikes. This could be a PR disaster for Disney on a truly global scale.

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

>>I wish somebody would explain how much this is going to cost the future guest.<<

While I don't know the exact figure, the latest number I've read was well over $1billion to get the project off the ground. For those of you keeping track, that's roughly the same price as DCA's Carsland, yet it doesn't provide any new experiences or additional capacity to the parks. If regular FP has been an indicator, this system will cause extra wear and tear on the parks (less time in queues = more time walking around = more time to use stuff up) and will cause some not-insignificant maintenance routines.

Somehow Disney thinks that this program will be able to offset its cost and become a financially viable solution. I could definitely see them charging non-resort guests to use it; I'm already assuming we'll get charged extra to 'upgrade' to one of the wristbands. Furthermore, I'm sure there will be plenty of 'suggestions' in the booking process to try and upsell you to a more expensive restaurant, add a tour, park hopping (despite this system actively discouraging it), or any number of extra cost add-ons. With how well the system will 'know' your preferences, it could easily find something you'll be interested in.

On the one hand, I completely understand how and why they're interested in turning their them parks into a cruise-like experience, with lots of activities planned ahead of time. However, what I don't think they fully understand is that cruises aren't what everybody considers fun. Personally, I'd much rather be able to explore a port city at my own pace, but with the official tours and ship's itinerary, there's seldom time to do that; it seems like a trip to the theme park will become quite similar. I'm sure some people will love being able to turn their brains off, and just follow their pre-set itinerary, but that's just not my idea of fun in any location (theme park or otherwise).

I think there will probably be some benefits to the system that we can't comprehend yet; however, I think that there will be a lot of negative impacts too, and I'm quite fearful that the negatives will outweigh the positives. Significantly.

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

"However, what I don't think they fully understand is that cruises aren't what everybody considers fun."

The same could be said for Disney theme parks.

It's certainly worth questioning Disney's motives with this program and being suspicious of how this whole thing will be executed, especially for regular WDW visitors, but I am willing to let the dust settle a bit before declaring that this is a completely dumb idea.

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

"I think there will probably be some benefits to the system that we can't comprehend yet; however, I think that there will be a lot of negative impacts too, and I'm quite fearful that the negatives will outweigh the positives."

Ferret, I think this may be where Disney is perhaps making its biggest misstep. Perception is everything when it comes to selling an idea. If they don't do something soon to engage the public on MyMagic+, particularly the hardcore fans, they are going to end up with another DCA-sized marketing disaster, or worse.

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

I agree, Hans. Taking the "wait and see" approach, you have one of the most positive outlooks on the program that I've seen, which really says something about how it is being percieved at the moment. I could end up being great, but a lot of people are going into it extremely skeptical, so it will be very tough to win them over

Additionally, the very slow release of any real information regarding the project is also somewhat troubling for people who don't trust the motives. We've known about it for at least 3 years now, and it was supposed to have fully rolled out by last Christmas, yet we're just now beginning to see some hard details about it (from a secondhand source, no less). I understand that Disney is waiting to see the system's full capabilities before announcing its purpose, but that strategy seems a questionable-at-best when there's already so much information (and misinformation) and discussion going on.

I think it has the potential to really revolutionize how the parks work, and distribute crowds evenly throughout the resort, which would be great. It also has the potential to really screw up people's hard-earned vacations all for the sake of Iger cramming interactivity and new technology into places where it doesn't nessecarily belong. I'm fascinated by the potential that it has, but based on many previous efforts, I'm quite skeptical that Disney will be able to truly pull it off

And just one last think that I've been pondering: what happens if you want to 'go rogue' during your vacation? Is there a penalty for missing your FP reservation times, other than not getting on that attraction? What if you try to enter the 'wrong' park just before your FPs come up? Or get to your designated park 'too early'? The amount of on-the-fly control that Disney can build into the system is one of the most exciting and terrifying things about it

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

You raise good points. I think the best thing that Disney can do is to not unleash the full potential of the system right off the bat. Limiting reservations to only 3 advance FPs and a single park per day is practical and wise, as doing so will limit guest confusion. There's no question that the program will have some bugs and kinks that need to be worked out, so I expect the initial launch to be pretty straightforward, with additional features released when the operation is running smoothly.

 

Originally Posted By Yookeroo

"And you only get 3 Fastpasses per day, and only one park per day?"

Isn't this a good thing? Besides, how many Fastpasses does anyone use in a day?

 

Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub

So far everything I have read worries me about the " keeping the distribution of park crowding tamed" ...
Many guests are excited about sleeping late and utilizing their FP later OR they reason they can enter parks for early morns and get a lot done and then go back to resort for pool-time or naps and then use those 3 Magic FP's in the evening. So if everybody plans to outsmart the new system in the same way I see problems.