Uni Locks Away Patent for Rainy Day

[ABQ]

I was not anti-Disney until August where out of a 4 day vacation I spent 8+ hours of time with GR and MDE tech support trying to get Premier Passports and AP's linked to MDE, Amazing how a few miserable hours out of a too-short vacation can re-align one's view of Disney.

Was nice of you to give it the ol' college try by putting up with it for 8 hours of work, but were you not unable to opt out? Was that involuntary testing in August?

 

[WDWDad13]

I was not anti-Disney until August where out of a 4 day vacation I spent 8+ hours of time with GR and MDE tech support trying to get Premier Passports and AP's linked to MDE, Amazing how a few miserable hours out of a too-short vacation can re-align one's view of Disney. Especially as I flew in to meet family and flew back to a customer directly from Disney so their gross incompetence denied me a big chunk of time with my family.

And no I did not get any freebies out of Disney for all that time wasted trying to fix issues Disney created. I did write a scathing letter to the drones at Celebration Place.

if you spent 8+ hours trying to solve problems that could have been eliminated by just using a card instead of your band during the testing phase then who's the sucker

 

[ford91exploder]

Was nice of you to give it the ol' college try by putting up with it for 8 hours of work, but were you not unable to opt out? Was that involuntary testing in August?

It was not described as optional at the time of the test, That was when they implemented tiering as well - knew it was there but never got to try it for obvious reasons. Also the ergonomics suck, DW is a lefty and well Mickey to Mickey is almost impossible at some stations especially for purchase.

DW has prevailed in giving this beast one more try, I'm against it but 'Happy Wife, happy life" I'm more the fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on ME type.

 

[awilliams4]

I was not anti-Disney until August where out of a 4 day vacation I spent 8+ hours of time with GR and MDE tech support trying to get Premier Passports and AP's linked to MDE

800+ points though. Because of a bug in a new software app. That will be fixed if it isn't already.

It seems just a bit extreme. If this approach was spread consistently, then someone would trade in their car and never buy that brand again the first time the battery dies on it. Or sell the house the first time some water runs under the door to the garage.

Either money to burn or tough to believe. One or the other.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Was nice of you to give it the ol' college try by putting up with it for 8 hours of work, but were you not unable to opt out? Was that involuntary testing in August?

The notion of voluntary testing was not entirely truthful. Integrating the systems put people into the test regardless of whether or not they agreed. I spent probably an hour total waiting to get my tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party because they had already been linked to the MagicBands I did not have.

 

[ABQ]

Also the ergonomics suck, DW is a lefty and well Mickey to Mickey is almost impossible at some stations especially for purchase.

I agree with you there, I wear a wrist watch on my left arm, and feel naked without it, but couldn't deal with the band and the watch on the same side. Ended up pocketing the band and just using it hand held quite a bit. For convenience and security, I see the benefit in wearing it, but in real world work, where it need to be so perfectly placed to function, it's not quite there yet. One day, I hope.
Have to say, I'm hopeful your next experience goes swimmingly and you're able to put some of the horrors behind you and reconsider your current outlook on the park.

 

[ford91exploder]

if you spent 8+ hours trying to solve problems that could have been eliminated by just using a card instead of your band during the testing people then who's the sucker

Bzzt wrong card would not/did not fix issues as they were all in computer system specifically entitlement links, The bands actually worked as designed, In fact the MB's themselves were one of the few things that worked as expected with the ergonomic issue for lefties as the only fault - re-positioning readers will fix that issue though.
The software behind the bands, well that did not work well at all.

As you are aware the data format has changed several times for the AP/Passports I have one which has been renewed many times so it's in the 'old' format. Some have reported that linking Passports DOES work I anticipate those are recent passports which have been created using the latest data format.

 

[WDWDad13]

The notion of voluntary testing was not entirely truthful. Integrating the systems put people into the test regardless of whether or not they agreed. I spent probably an hour total waiting to get my tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party because they had already been linked to the MagicBands I did not have.

sure it was.. it was all over these message boards it wasn't until recently they did away with giving cards out in addition to magic bands so he should have had both.

I guess you could have had your MCSCHP tickets mailed to your house or picked them up a will call. mine weren't auto-linked to my magic band...I had to add them myself

 

[WDWDad13]

Bzzt wrong card would not/did not fix issues as they were all in computer system specifically entitlement links, The bands actually worked as designed, In fact the MB's themselves were one of the few things that worked as expected with the ergonomic issue for lefties as the only fault - re-positioning readers will fix that issue though.
The software behind the bands, well that did not work well at all.

As you are aware the data format has changed several times for the AP/Passports I have one which has been renewed many times so it's in the 'old' format. Some have reported that linking Passports DOES work I anticipate those are recent passports which have been created using the latest data format.

lefties and ergonomic complaints now? pft...I'm a leftie and I had no problems. Some readers are on the right and some are on the left... and if all else fails they don't restrict you from turning your body around

next will be complaints about how pecos bills only hand drinks out to the right of the pickup line and how trader sam is only to the left of the jungle cruise boat...

 

[ford91exploder]

The notion of voluntary testing was not entirely truthful. Integrating the systems put people into the test regardless of whether or not they agreed. I spent probably an hour total waiting to get my tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party because they had already been linked to the MagicBands I did not have.

Yes "Voluntary" as in the military version. CO picks someone at random - you are now the "Volunteer"

 

[danlb_2000]

After doing a little more digging I found this patent which Universal files back in June of 2008. The new patent appears to be an expansion of this ones. Looks like Uni has been working on this sort of thing for a while.

System and method for theme park line queue management

 

[ford91exploder]

The RFID technology already is fully deployed for room keys and at park entrances.

At this point, nearly everyone is participating in "testing" the new system to at least some degree.

It's great use your PAYING customers as Alpha testers... Fun!

 

[lazyboy97o]

sure it was.. it was all over these message boards it wasn't until recently they did away with giving cards out in addition to magic bands so he should have had both.

plus you could have had your MCSCHP tickets mailed to your house or picked them up a will call. mine weren't auto-linked to my magic band...

Will Call is what I selected. That is why it was an issue. I was not a Resort guest so I never had MagicBands to begin with. So I got sucked into the problems of the testing without ever opting into the test.

 

[WDWDad13]

Will Call is what I selected. That is why is why it was an issue. I was not a Resort guest so I never had MagicBands to begin with. So I got sucked into the problems of the testing without ever opting into the test.

interesting... I had hard tickets mailed to my house so I wasn't in that situation.

 

[ford91exploder]

After doing a little more digging I found this patent which Universal files back in June of 2008. The new patent appears to be an expansion of this ones. Looks like Uni has been working on this sort of thing for a while.

System and method for theme park line queue management

Let's face it RFID media is the ticket of the future for the simple reason that you replace mechanical readers with non-contact readers which will probably last the entire depreciation cycle without needing maintenance or routine replacement/refurbishing after N tickets, The only maintenance needed is cleaning reader housing with damp cloth periodically.

 

[WDWDad13]

Let's face it RFID media is the ticket of the future for the simple reason that you replace mechanical readers with non-contact readers which will probably last the entire depreciation cycle without needing maintenance or routine replacement/refurbishing after N tickets, The only maintenance needed is cleaning reader housing with damp cloth periodically.

wait... now you're for it?

 

[ford91exploder]

Will Call is what I selected. That is why is why it was an issue. I was not a Resort guest so I never had MagicBands to begin with. So I got sucked into the problems of the testing without ever opting into the test.

Somewhere is a MB with your name on it, For the record in both cases we got the grey bands at the resort.

 

[NowInc]

wait... now you're for it?

I dont read it as anyone being FOR it..more of a "accepting the inevitable"

 

[jakeman]

800+ points though. Because of a bug in a new software app. That will be fixed if it isn't already.

It seems just a bit extreme. If this approach was spread consistently, then someone would trade in their car and never buy that brand again the first time the battery dies on it. Or sell the house the first time some water runs under the door to the garage.

Either money to burn or tough to believe. One or the other.

It's the internet.

We should just feel lucky no Hitler references have been made in here yet..

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

It's the internet.

We should just feel lucky no Hitler references have been made in here yet..

I bet hed be a big fan of MM+. though he wouldnt like the look of wDW magic right now, too many baubles