Darth Tater
Well-Known Member
Not at all excited.
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Anybody else excited about Magic Bands?
- Thread starter Tomi-Rocket
- Start date
PJean710
Active Member
whats up with the t -shirt?
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
The magic bands don't have a battery, just an RFID chip.
I have to agree. Part of the excitement of a day at a theme park is the spontaneity. Its a really great feeling when you have a very successful day. At the very least, I am glad that they are limited to three reservations per day.
Also agree. The only benefit I see from this is, if Fastpass eventually DOES get limited to three per person per day, and with the number of attractions with Fastpass being expanded to basically all of them, it might put an end to constantly full Fastpass lines at the major attractions causing extremely inflated standby waits. But we'll never know until we see this in action.
englanddg
One Little Spark...
I could be mistaken, but I've read the "bands have no battery" post from a lot of people, and I wanted to clarify. The bands most certainly DO have a battery.
Staggs stated they have Bluetooth and RFID. Only the cards have RFID alone.
The band uses RFID for short range applications, like room keys, tap to pay, tickets, etc. It uses Bluetooth (I'm assuming Bluetooth LE...but it doesn't matter, any Bluetooth application requires power) for long range applications like traffic shaping and location monitoring (and all of the features associated).
"The bands are adult and child-sized units with both Bluetooth and RF technology inside for long-range and short-range reading."
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/05/29/disney-goes-into-wearable-tech-with-the-magic-band/
"Local 6 has previously reported the Bluetooth and RF wristbands will primarily be used to store important guest information and allow guests to open hotel rooms, use FastPass and make purchases by scanning the bracelet."
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/di...ils/-/1637132/20355902/-/10imyjf/-/index.html
"There is no GPS in the MagicBand devices, but it does use short range RFID and long range Bluetooth technologies."
http://www./2013/05/mymagic-and-mag...ew-details-shared-at-all-things-digital-show/
Staggs Interview at D11, at 12:10 he says it is bluetooth enabled.
http://live.wsj.com/video/thomas-st...F1.html#!528B4FF7-C8CA-42B4-AF89-59DCE53C18F1
Now, whether or not the band itself utilizes Bluetooth (even though Staggs said it did) is up in the air to me, and outside my wheelhouse technically to assess (maybe someone else could chime in). It may not necessarily be Bluetooth, and Staggs could just be using that term as a "popular" term, not a technical one.
However, they most certainly have a battery powered 2.4 GHz ISM Radio Transmitter inside, powered by a small "coin cell" (a.k.a. a watch battery).
Searching for the FCC ID Number on the back of all the bands...
Reveals this, the FCC Application / Filing for the device:
https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/repo...e=N&application_id=427834&fcc_id='Q3E-MB-R1G1'
The Cover Letter states:
"The radio of the device, Model MB-R1G1, is a wrist worn arm band that transmits a 2.4 GHz
signal to an indoor wireless infrastructure. The PCB assembly is potted in plastic and
completely overmolded with thermal plastic polyurethane. The band has no on off switch
and is powered with a non-replaceable coin cell. The PCB assembly also includes a passive
UHF RFID tag radio and a passive HF RFID tag radio. Please note that passive tags only
require FCC 15B verification whereas active tags require certification under 15C."
Now, looking at the details listed on the Test Results page, you will note the functional test of a 2.4 GHz ISM Radio. This certainly requires power, and may be used for Bluetooth applications.
As a side note, if you look at the "Test Setup Photos" you'll get a glimpse of the interior workings of the band, which is sortof neat.
Bluetooth or not, the underlying tech wasn't my point. The bands do, most certainly, have a battery for long range monitoring.
englanddg
One Little Spark...
Also, found this excellent article which basically summarizes what I wrote above, and confirms it.
http://www.outpostorlando.com/how-the-magicband-and-mymagic-works/
http://www.outpostorlando.com/how-the-magicband-and-mymagic-works/
crispy
Well-Known Member
wogwog
Well-Known Member
Not a fan.
Needs a lot of improvement. In fairness I have not tried one and can't imagine I will. The idea of wearing anything extra on my wrist in 95 degree heat in a Florida summer gives visions of sweat running down my arm. Just had friends visiting WDW tell me they did not like the whole concept after trying it. One of them is a travel agent who sells a lot of Disney vacations so she wanted to try it to better explain it to clients. She did not like it at all.
I live not far from WDW and know cast members working merchandise, food and beverage, attractions and the touch entry at the front of the park. A very small minority of the cast I have asked are nuetral. Almost all do not like them. I have been told a recent full week test with everything possible "turned on" had a high percentage fail rate with the bands.
The touch point park entrance is way behind of where it was supposed to be by now while only using the touch cards. So if the same people are working on the wrist band technology that are responsible for the poor performance of the entry points you can expect the full operation of the bands is not going to be on schedule either.
Needs a lot of improvement. In fairness I have not tried one and can't imagine I will. The idea of wearing anything extra on my wrist in 95 degree heat in a Florida summer gives visions of sweat running down my arm. Just had friends visiting WDW tell me they did not like the whole concept after trying it. One of them is a travel agent who sells a lot of Disney vacations so she wanted to try it to better explain it to clients. She did not like it at all.
I live not far from WDW and know cast members working merchandise, food and beverage, attractions and the touch entry at the front of the park. A very small minority of the cast I have asked are nuetral. Almost all do not like them. I have been told a recent full week test with everything possible "turned on" had a high percentage fail rate with the bands.
The touch point park entrance is way behind of where it was supposed to be by now while only using the touch cards. So if the same people are working on the wrist band technology that are responsible for the poor performance of the entry points you can expect the full operation of the bands is not going to be on schedule either.
JiminyandTink
Well-Known Member
^ This ^
Marc Gil
Well-Known Member
The idea is alright. But reserving rides 180 days in advance is just plain ridiculous. But for example, if you want to pick up a FastPass for Splash Mountain, and you're in Tomorrowland, that'll be convenient. Heck, now I can even go on Soarin by just reserving my FastPass on the day before I go. There's some good and some bad. The Magic Bands seem kind of cool too. I'm not jumping out of my chair for it, but it'll be a nice little perk.
Mammymouse
Well-Known Member
We were at Disneyworld last Saturday through Monday and I did NOT see anyone wearing a band. Not even one! We were mostly in Epcot for Parks and then all around the Boardwalk/Beach Club area (stayed at Beach Club)and monorail. I didn't look at a guest's wrist every second I was there but I did make it a point one day to specifically look at everyone to see if anyone had them on, because I hadn't seen them other than in a picture here, and I still haven't seen one in real life! Actually I rarely saw anything on guests' wrists, even like watches and jewelry.
wogwog
Well-Known Member
The test was only offered to "selected" guests staying at two on property resorts. Other guests could not sign up after arrival and no volunteers were recruited according to friends that were partof the test group and travel agents. So a very small percentage would have been wearing the bands while you were in attendance. I would imagine WDW is keeping the test group fairly small on purpose since all reports indicate it is not doing well at all. Exclusive to Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Contemporary resorts for the test. The number my travel agent friend heard was 5000 test subjects.
MissM
Well-Known Member
And again, that's NOT the case. FP+ will REPLACE FastPass. Not co-exist. When it goes fully live, FP+ will be the ONLY option.
We have been twice this year and saw people wearing magic bands on both trips but they were always accompanied by a well dressed Disney employee (CM) who was holding a clipboard and a radio/walkie talkie. I figured they did this in case there was a problem with the bands they could fix it easily to make it seem less problematic than it has been reported. Have there been any families who have tried the bands and not been escorted around by a CM?
JiminyandTink
Well-Known Member
Absolutely that's precisely the plan, but as long as you can still make fastpass reservations onsite (whether it be at a kiosk or outside of the attraction with your MagicBand) as well as the 3 options per day ahead of time, as you could with the old fastpass system, then I think there is nothing but positive with Fastpass+.
AndyS2992
Well-Known Member
Oh god no. I hope they become available, they fail miserably, problems everywhere, guests complain in their millions, attendance drops as a result and Disney scrap them.
My problems with it are:
-They are cheap and look like they will fall easily, not fashionable.
-Only 3 rides a day AND have to be prebooked in advance or you miss out. This has me ticked off the most.
-Have personal data stored such as credit cards, personal address etc and if in the wrong hands can cause damage.
-Tracks your every movement and purchase
And several other things
My problems with it are:
-They are cheap and look like they will fall easily, not fashionable.
-Only 3 rides a day AND have to be prebooked in advance or you miss out. This has me ticked off the most.
-Have personal data stored such as credit cards, personal address etc and if in the wrong hands can cause damage.
-Tracks your every movement and purchase
And several other things
G00fyDad
Well-Known Member
They're more durable than you think.
This one irritates me the most as well, but it is going to happen whether you use the band or not, so we'll just have to deal with it.
For what feels like the billionth time...... they DO NOT have your personal information on them. Unless your name looks something like 1j3b4j5n667my99987ffht then I think you're safe.
Who cares?? Why is everyone so bent out of shape about ANYONE tracking your movements and spending habits? Why does it matter? What could Disney possibly do with that information that would infringe on your basic human rights? "Oh my God! Disney knows that I bought a Mickey Bar at 3:05PM on July 4th, 2013. I'm doomed!" Really?
I will wear one of these bands, it will stay on and not fall off, I may only get 3 FPs per day but that is just life, none of my personal info will be on the band, and Disney can track my movements all day long.
It would be nice if people would stop doom and glooming about these bands just because Disney has not spent the $2 billion on what they assume it should have been spent on. I don't give others a ton of BS because they don't like the bands. I just don't like it when the bands are portrayed as the end of free will and the death of Disney.
AndyS2992
Well-Known Member
They're more durable than you think.
This one irritates me the most as well, but it is going to happen whether you use the band or not, so we'll just have to deal with it.
For what feels like the billionth time...... they DO NOT have your personal information on them. Unless your name looks something like 1j3b4j5n667my99987ffht then I think you're safe.
Who cares?? Why is everyone so bent out of shape about ANYONE tracking your movements and spending habits? Why does it matter? What could Disney possibly do with that information that would infringe on your basic human rights? "Oh my God! Disney knows that I bought a Mickey Bar at 3:05PM on July 4th, 2013. I'm doomed!" Really?
I will wear one of these bands, it will stay on and not fall off, I may only get 3 FPs per day but that is just life, none of my personal info will be on the band, and Disney can track my movements all day long.
Thanks for the response but uh.. Not sure why you felt the need to be quite so harsh :/