Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Clapping hands for you. I will count them down , looking at calendar Does that mean you leave on a Thursday? I guess Food and Wine has begun! Is the California Grill open during your trip?
Originally Posted By danyoung I leave Thursday and come home the following Tuesday. Food & Wine will be going strong - I'm gonna wait till Monday night when things have settled down a bit. And I eat at the CG on my birthday, the 29th!!!
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Thats the way to celebrate...and when you return we expect a trip report with all the fun details cause some of us are curious about your friend accompanying you...
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Since nobody else is visiting this topic I should tell you there are some reports about crazy FP machines...that any magnetic strip is working so if you have old passes or room keys try your luck.
Originally Posted By danyoung >and when you return we expect a trip report with all the fun details cause some of us are curious about your friend accompanying you...< I'm not exactly sure what this means . . .
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub I thought you were going with a friend who has never been to WDW. SO I was just teasing you.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Have you seen the recent pics on the disneyfoodblog of the new windows at the California grill? Looks like really incredible views. If you happen to meet anybody that is a DVC member try to get friendly and ask if you can go up to the Top of the World Lounge for DVC members only. Just giving you a drinking challenge for your next trip.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 No, they are talking about the lounge on top of the Bay Lake Towers which is a DVC resort and only open to DVC members
Originally Posted By danyoung >I thought you were going with a friend who has never been to WDW. SO I was just teasing you.< I think you have me confoozed with someone else. I park storm alone - not exactly by choice, but that's the way it's worked out.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "We were talking about FP+ and that rascally Hans changed acronyms and confused me!" Don't you mean wascally? Just to be clear, when I talk about FP+ I'm speaking specifically about the FPs that are a part of the larger MM+ program (or NextGen as some people call it).
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub So is danyoung all pre-reservationsand pre-FPassed and magic banded up for his trip? I think only a few resorts have not been converted. So far my reservation for halloween does not offer that Magic. I will have to make my own damn magic!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>I think only a few resorts have not been converted. So far my reservation for halloween does not offer that Magic.<< I've heard that they will be concluding the current round of testing durin early October. I haven't if/when they'll resume testing (or presumably roll it out 'full scale'), but that could explain why you haven't been selected yet. I've also heard that they're telling guests about a month in advance, so you still might need to wait another week or two before getting your notification
Originally Posted By danyoung >So is danyoung all pre-reservationsand pre-FPassed and magic banded up for his trip?< Well, I'm trying hard, but Disney is making it difficult. They don't seem to know yet how to process Premier passes (the AP for both WDW and DL), which I have. A week ago they promised to have my pass linked to my DME account, but so far no go. And without that link I can't book any FP+ tickets. I guess I'll call them again tomorrow.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 They are having problems getting all the AP renewals and stuff uploaded with the new system. I spent an hour on the phone trying to get my pass loaded onto the Magic My Way site. As for the Magic Bands, I have a friend who works for Disney and just did a second weekend stay at the Grand Floridian as part of the testing of the system. They are required to use the bands for everything they do. The band was uploaded with a one day, one park ticket and they got to use the FP+ system. They loved it the first time and loved it the second time. They did say some people seemed to be having trouble with the bands and the system but for them it worked perfectly. Disney is giving CM's an opportunity to test the system. I hear some hourly CM's are just being given the bands with the ticket attached and the FP+ reservations before they go, while others are being given resort stays. This is the second resort stay for this friend. Some of the other people they work with are doing the same thing throughout the month at several different resorts.
Originally Posted By kennect all this testing. afterall this money spent is Disney still wondering how well this going to work out? I am beginning to see a huge fail on Disney's part and if so what do they do then?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Everyone has reported that testers have had positive experiences. Why then are you sensing a fail?
Originally Posted By sjhym333 The tests have been very positive. I think Disney is being smart about how they are rolling this out. I expect little by little there will be less testing and more bringing hotel guest online followed by AP holders. I am not sure you are going to see a big announcement about the Magic Bands. It will probably just happen gradually over time.
Originally Posted By danyoung >all this testing. afterall this money spent is Disney still wondering how well this going to work out?< I think you underestimate how complicated computer programs can be. There isn't a system on earth that isn't deployed with long periods of beta testing, both to work out bugs in the system and to make adjustments based on input from testing customers. I'm really encouraged by these tests - it's increasing the chances that the final system will work both for Disney and for the customers.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I was chatting with a friend last night who shared that the current string of Magic Band/FF+ testing will be coming to an end very soon. They have been involved in the current group of testing and said that while many of the Magic Bands worked perfectly, there were also a lot or problems and a lot of unhappy resort guests whose bands would not allow them into the park or to use their FastPass option while in the park. The person said that their understanding is that this may be the last group of testing before a wider release of the system. They were unsure of the time frame but seemed to think that it would fairly quickly. My gut tells me that there will be no more testing this year. That they will tweek the system and prepare for a general release at the beginning of 2014. I have no real info on that, just a hunch.
