Originally Posted By FerretAfros Dalmatians!!! >>Disney says that it takes 10 days to arrive to your house.<< That's probably the worst-case length, but most of the people I've heard from received the MagicBands at home within 2 days of personalizing them online. I know one person who's been waiting for at least 10 days at this point, so they're probably still working the bugs out of everything
Originally Posted By TheRedhead I got the email asking me to participate 30 days before departure (next Friday!). I personalized the bands that night. Had the bands in my hands two days later.
Originally Posted By andyll I'm currently sitting in my Port Orleans hotel room on my last day of a 7 day trip. Our Magic Bands with FP+ worked flawlessly. Zero issues using them and the website/Apps are nicely done. Our issues were: 1) FP+ and park hopping. They have to support this. Tonight we had FP for Illuminations but spent most of the day in AK. Without getting FPs in AK using our APs we would not have been able to ride much. 2) 3 FP are not enough. I believe they are going to increase this when paper FP go away. 3) Flexibility. You have to be able to adjust when you are actually there on vacation. In theory you can change FPs anytime but in reality for the popular rides they are all gone by the time you are there. All in all I do think this is a game changer.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 It may be that one of the things that Disney wants you to do is stay in one park for a good portion of the day. It looks like it is set up to control guest movement.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 It now looks like all of the WDW resorts are on the MagicBand System with FP+ at their disposal. Beginning on Monday Nov 4 the Swan and Dolphin guests will be able to use the kiosks in the parks to make FP reservations. They will not receive MagicBands and they will not be given access to the FP+ system for FP reservations before they arrive like the other resort guests at the moment. It looks like Disney is right on schedule with FP+. I would expect that Annual Pass Holders should be receiving emails soon about getting their MagicBands. They are currently scheduled to go on line in 2 weeks if the time line holds true.
Originally Posted By dizneed This is good news. After experiencing the Magic Band and FP+ program in September, I have to say that I was really impressed. I found it very user friendly. The only hiccup at the time, were the options available for the FP+ choice. The order of the attraction return times tended to make you lose time in the park. << Beginning on Monday Nov 4 the Swan and Dolphin guests will be able to use the kiosks in the parks to make FP reservations. They will not receive MagicBands and they will not be given access to the FP+ system for FP reservations before they arrive like the other resort guests at the moment. >> Any idea of when Disney will roll out the program for ALL offsite guests? Or, will this be another "perk" for resort guests.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>It looks like Disney is right on schedule with FP+.<< Which schedule? Originally, the system was supposed to be fully rolled out by the beginning of 2012, and here we are just getting it nearly 2 years later, still without any official word on what the schedule might look like That said, I'm interested to give it a try for myself in January. This will be my 3rd trip in a row that time of year, and we've tended to not use FP, due to the extra walking and needing to be in the parks early (running the Marathon Weekend races makes you realize each step you take, and occupies your early morning time). I'll enjoy having FPs to use, but I'm not sure I'm looking forward to planning that far in advance
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Which schedule? Originally, the system was supposed to be fully rolled out by the beginning of 2012, and here we are just getting it nearly 2 years later, still without any official word on what the schedule might look like." The one from post 92 (dated 10/6): 1) Testing is over and has been since late summer. There will not be an "official" rollout. Currently 70-75% of the resort hotels are now completely on the new system with the remaining 25% slated to be online before the beginning of November, barring any problems. There are no plans to take a break at the resorts and roll it out later, they said the system is online and the rollout continues daily. 2) Barring any issues with the remaining resorts going live with MyMagic+, AP holders will begin hearing from Disney in early November with AP holders getting My Magic+ access and wristbands starting Nov 18. Again, as long as there are no unforeseen problems. 3) Once AP Holders are online then they system will basically be in a holding pattern until after the Christmas holiday. Beginning in early January non-resort guests who purchase tickets will begin getting access to the system. There are questions on how that rollout will begin (park hoppers first perhaps) but by the end of January or the beginning of February every guest will have access to the system. 4) Once all guests are on the system, Cast Members will be the final group of people to gain access to the system.
Originally Posted By Disney Joy I receive an invitation from Disney today to "help test MyMagic + ". So interesting they still calling it a test. I arrive Dec 8. I have to pick everything online by Nov 27. Wish me Well.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Just got back tonight and it was great... I had my magicband with my pre reserved 3 FP's per day and just for the fun of it tried my AP and both my room keys from BLT for 2 guests even tho my guest was not with me and never checked in and I had to check out after3 days and check back in for one night and then check out and check back in one final night receiving all those room key cards that could be used for FPs non-stop. Including on Halloween when I only entered at 4 p.m. with special ticket event because my AP expired on Oct 30th but I could use all those at the machines to get FPs as I walked from Jungle Cruise to Big Thunder and to Winnie the Pooh. So I technically had 6 FP's within the same hour with ineligible expired entry. Unfortunately I had a dinner reservation and did not use any of the FPs but ... the question to ponder is obvious. The system testing is a joke. And FastPass Hack has been discussed on many other boards and many are taking advantage of all their fun... until they rip out the machines and eliminate extra magic hours. But hey you should see all the construction for more DVC and more bus stops galore ...
Originally Posted By TheRedhead I used the Magic Bands on our trip last weekend. Absolutely loved it. It is definitely a game changer. It's clearly not really some exclusive test anymore, since just about every person I saw had the bands. But it did give them the opportunity to say, "well, it's a test" whenever something went wrong. I had trouble getting into the park on our first day, though my family had no problem, so it was easy for them to write off my problem as a pesky glitch with a new system. I did notice something...Fastpass has made me spoiled. I've worked the system so many years that my family hasn't waited on a line longer than ten minutes. Fastpass+ meant that my kids actually had to stand on some lines, since we didn't have that option. It was kinda nice. Another thing...Epcot used to be my arrival-day park. A great half day in the afternoon. But now with Soarin and Test Track if you show up after 2, you're waiting an 90 minutes with no hope at all of getting a FP. FP+ meant that we could actually reserve it ahead of time. Pretty neat. Also, we showed up about ten minutes late for a FP and still got through so clearly it's not a hard window.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt So all of the alarmed predictions of doom and gloom turned out to be for nothing. What a shock.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros They also haven't fully switched over to the new system. I don't dismiss any doom and gloom until we see how the system works without the paper FPs/in-park kiosks for day guests. People are calling it a success as an addition to regular FP, not a replacement to it. I'll wait to judge its success until guests are actually using it as it's intended
Originally Posted By TheRedhead "People are calling it a success as an addition to regular FP, not a replacement to it." I'm not sure what you mean by that. Anyone using the wristbands could only use Fastpass+. I did not get them in addition to regular Fastpass (I tried). It was a true replacement of what has always been the regular Fastpass system. And it worked really really well.
Originally Posted By leobloom It sounds like guests who aren't staying on property have next to no chance to get FPs for the big E-tickets. I guess the question is how slowly the standby lines are moving. If they're moving as slowly as they have since FP came along, then this could be a game changer...in a bad way.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Some have been reporting that they could use both though i am not sure how that is possible since you have to have a ticket that wss used for entry to get a paper FP. But if you had a plastic AP that is connected to s MagicBand you may be able to use both. I have only heard good things about FP+ i do wonder what it will look like when evrry guest is on the new system
Originally Posted By hopemax > Some have been reporting that they could use both though i am not sure how that is possible since you have to have a ticket that wss used for entry to get a paper FP < From what I was reading, it seems like if you have a Key to the World card that never had a ticket attached (ex: if you had an AP) they will work in the standard machines. I saw one person say they took all their old KTTW cards they could find and ended up with about 10 FP. Someone else said that resorts were giving people KTTW cards to use as a "backup" just in case their Magic Band failed, and those would work for regular fastpass.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Kevin Yee has an interesting article on MagicBands and FP+ today. Mostly it talks about hypothetical ways Disney can make money on the new system. But more interesting is the fact that Disney has reduced the EPCOT FP+ choices to only 1 what we would call E-Ticket experiences Illuminations: Reflections of Earth (Only select dates available) Maelstrom Meet the Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot Soarin’ Test Track presented by Chevrolet and 2 for everything else. This is compared to 3 choices from everything available I gather.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think it's interesting that they're testing this system (makes a lot of sense, since I'd certainly try to get a FP for Soarin' and TestTrack well above anything else), but isn't it really similar to the original FP+ tests? I think those had guests pick 2 each from 2 different lists of attractions, but they weren't as clearly delineated as "E-tickets vs others". That approach makes a lot more sense for the crowd manipulation aspects of NextGen (the whole purpose of it, no?), so I'm surprised they ever strayed away from it
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios now have changed the mix and number of FP+ selections you can make starting next week. They are for EPCOT: Group 1 (One selection can be made) IllumiNations Maelstrom Character Spot Soarin' Test Track Group 2 (Two selections can be made) Captain EO Journey into Imagination Living with the Land Mission: SPACE Spaceship Earth The Seas with Nemo and Friends Turtle Talk with Crush and the Hollywood Studios: Group 1 (One selection can be made) Toy Story Mania Rock 'n' RollerCoaster Fantasmic! Beauty and the Beast Group 2 (Two selections can be made) Great Movie Ride Tower of Terror Star Tours Indiana Jones Lights, Motors, Action! MuppetVision 3D Disney Jr Live on Stage This of course means that you will only be able to get one FP for a popular attraction and will have to use the Standby Line for any other popular attraction...like if you get a FP for Soarin you won't be able to get one for Test Track. I understand that both the AK and MK will soon follow suit. Also beginning this week you must have a MagicBand to utilize Extra Magic Hours to get into the park (with the exception being Swan and Dolphin). I am still waiting for info on AP Holders and their receiving MagicBands and FP+. My understanding was that distribution was to begin next week but I have heard nothing. I am going to check some of my sources and let you know.
