Does the U.S. Mail provide Disney free postage to mail the magic bands all around the world to the guests prior to them arriving at WDW? I doubt it. Disney is saving $$ by doing away with magicbands.
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News Disney will be ending complimentary MagicBand distribution to Disney Resort hotel guests and moving to smart devices
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
The best I can figure is that this means a big shift back toward KTTW cards.
There have been multiple suggestions that everyone has draws full of magic bands at home anyway, but they really don't. My suspicion is that international guests in particular are also going to be reticent about being so reliant on having a working, charged phone throughout their WDW stay. So at least for that demographic, they're just going to have to go back to cards.
Wouldn't everyone ask for a KTTW as a backup anyway?
There have been multiple suggestions that everyone has draws full of magic bands at home anyway, but they really don't. My suspicion is that international guests in particular are also going to be reticent about being so reliant on having a working, charged phone throughout their WDW stay. So at least for that demographic, they're just going to have to go back to cards.
Wouldn't everyone ask for a KTTW as a backup anyway?
Indy_UK
Well-Known Member
Do we think MME will support Apple Watch going forward. Im not totally against the idea
Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
they only mailed bands within the US, International guests picked them up at check in.
biggy H
Well-Known Member
Why are people going on and in about magicbands going away? They are not! People have been happy paying to upgrade the basic ones or just declining them when staying on site and the number of off site guests who buy them is considerable.
It's not a big issue that some people seems to make it out it is. Companies have always given things away for free when starting something up and then switch to a payment system once it has become widely accepted, no difference here in reality, just the timing.
It's not a big issue that some people seems to make it out it is. Companies have always given things away for free when starting something up and then switch to a payment system once it has become widely accepted, no difference here in reality, just the timing.
Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
Are they reducing the room price to make up for the removal of a free benefit?
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
Yea right--- just like they reduced the room rate when they started charging resort parking after 40+ years for a benefit for staying on site
biggy H
Well-Known Member
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
That is NOT what Disney said.
What they want has nothing to do with it. Guests ARE carrying their smartphones everywhere whether Disney likes it or not. The guest behavior they envisioned of people going to the parks or the pool with nothing but their band never came to fruition.
Kamikaze
Well-Known Member
That $3 a day really going to decide whether you go or not?
Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
Was it free, or included in the price you are already paying?
In my opinion I think the MagicBand was a free bonus and therefore the price doesn’t actually need to be reduced.
But the resort parking used to be included in the room rate and is now charged for and that does feel crappy.
Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
No but it is potentially yet another reason not to stay on site.
We’ve done five trips to WDW in the last 20 years and always stayed on site. It is definitely starting to feel like there is little benefit now when rooms are significantly cheaper elsewhere.
disney4life2008
Well-Known Member
Is it safe to say that all Disney hotels will have plexi glass between the cm and guest at the front desk? If there is a front desk anymore?
peter11435
Well-Known Member
Yes. Plexi glass has been/will be installed. It’s exactly the same as what was done at registers throughout Disney Springs
donsullivan
Premium Member
The rooms have always been significantly cheaper elsewhere.
Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
I would not be surprised If pretty much every customer service desk in every location in the entire world has them for the next year or two.
Whoever has a small business making custom order plexi glass and installation is doing a booming business.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
Are there any benefits left to staying onsite?
-Dining plan is a rip-off anyway.
-No Magic Bands.
-Extra Magic Hours are usually just one hour long and you end up being stuck in the most crowded park (or forced to park hop).
60 day Fastpass is still great, but you can stay at a Disney Springs Resort for that. I’m just having trouble figuring out why there’s so little additional benefit for those guests paying $500+ per night at Deluxe resorts.
-Dining plan is a rip-off anyway.
-No Magic Bands.
-Extra Magic Hours are usually just one hour long and you end up being stuck in the most crowded park (or forced to park hop).
60 day Fastpass is still great, but you can stay at a Disney Springs Resort for that. I’m just having trouble figuring out why there’s so little additional benefit for those guests paying $500+ per night at Deluxe resorts.
That is a big “if”. The main reason why Apple locks down NFC/RFID functionality as much as they do is due to their desire to avoid competition with Apple Pay (or anything close to it).
Mobile Keys have been a thing in the hospitality industry for years — Apple hasn’t allowed the use of NFC for this in the past and I wouldn’t expect them to do so any time soon.
Disney has been pushing DTR (Direct to Room), where people go directly to their room and enter for the first time using either the app or a MagicBand, for a while, and will continue to do so.
TDO’s plan is to push folks to use DTR (so fewer people need to stop at the front desk to check in / need to be staffed there), but instead of people using free MagicBands, they’d only use their phones.
Undoubtedly this will result in fewer people using DTR and/or more people stopping at the front desk to get KTTW cards.