Our family of four just returned Sunday night from a week at WDW using the bands, FP+ and the iPhone App.
Anyone who's followed the conversation knows I've been very critical of NextGen, so it may surprise you that my reaction after actually using the new system is mostly positive.
With a few caveats.
Sorry, this is a very lengthy post, but I want to give a full account of our experience.
MagicBands, the Pros: After swearing I was never going to wear one, and letting the darn things sit unopened for weeks before the vacation, we brought them with us, and in the spirit of adventure, I decided we would give them a try. I found the band to actually be quite comfortable, even while swimming, and it certainly made getting into our room easier. After a few tries I could trigger the FP+ scanners with a minimum of effort. We did not include charging privileges on our bands so I can't comment on that. Using the bands instead of RFID passes was a roughly equal-- but not clearly superior-- experience IMHO. For on site stays it provided a few plusses but absolutely no "wow" factor. As an AP holder I don't see any benefit to using the bands, so for day trips we will stick to the passes.
MagicBands, the Cons: Having children use these is going to be quite a stumbling block and could be a deal breaker for the future of MagicBands unless changes are made. My 5 year old refused to wear his (smart move) and my 8 year old lost his within the first 24 hours. I had already guessed that this would happen, and we had his AP to use as a backup, so not a big deal for us, but families relying solely on the MagicBands should think twice before giving them to their kids! In addition, teaching kids to use the bands quickly at the FP+ entrances is not easy. In many cases, the scanners are too tall for younger kids to use without going through contortions, leading to frustration, and worst of all delays. More on that in a moment.
MagicBands and privacy: Didn't really cross my mind. Not sure if that's a good thing, but after seeing the logistical challenges WDW faces on a busy day, I think tracking individuals for any nefarious purpose is probably the last thing on their list.
FP+, the Pros: We used the app to book passes about a week out, and were able to get everything we wanted. By Wednesday the parks were PACKED (beyond almost anything I've seen in the last 20 years) so having our FPs in advance at least allowed us to see our "must dos" without waiting in insane lines. Changing FP+ selections "on the fly" worked fine except on one day when the system was overwhelmed with users. We were also able to "split" our party into different FP selections without trouble (big boys on Space Mountain, little guys on Buzz, etc).
As the head of the family, I REALLY enjoyed not having to race around the park to get paper FPs, and the best part of all? NOT HAVING TO GET UP EARLY ON VACATION! That meant only riding Toy Story Mania once instead of twice, but we got to sleep in and didn't have to participate in the mad dash. HUGE WIN and much more relaxing.
FP+, the Cons: And there are many. Lines at the FP+ entrances were an ugly, insane MESS. My wife and younger son spent 15 MINUTES in the Buzz line leading to the first FP+ scanner. At Space Mountain the FP+ line backed up past the TTA and popcorn cart-- a 10 minute wait. There were few or no CMs directing traffic, leading to crowded walkways, confused and stressed out/angry guests, and considerable chaos. Finding the end of the line was difficult and a good number of people thought they were in the standby line!
Why are these lines so long? Here's what we actually observed:
1) The usual crowd of folks standing right in front of the scanner waiting for their designated FP time to arrive (sorry, pet peeve).
2) Guests not knowing what line they were in-- CMs at the scanners had to take time to explain and even argue with surly guests.
3) People with hand-written FP cards (hadn't seen these before, day guests?) There was some sort of discussion and process involved with processing these, so again, more delays.
4) Guests whose MBs didn't work at all or who mistook their FP selections and/or return times. More conversations, more delays.
5) The MagicBands themselves. I can say from experience that scanning RFID passes is much easier than trying to properly line up the MB. Perhaps the RFID chip is embedded too deeply in the waterproof band vs the thinner RFID passes? In any case, scanning the band properly was a challenge for me-- and I am a pretty on-the-ball guest with 25 years of "type A" parkgoing experience who understands there are other guests waiting behind me, a guest who lives for, strives for, and thrives on efficiency! For my kids (who are also pretty theme park savvy) it was even more of a challenge. I saw first-hand how long the process took for families who had less of a clue and that is the vast majority of average guests on vacation. Folks, as it stands now, this is not a convenient transaction for most guests and a huge strike against the promised convenience of MagicBands.
To sum it up, take all of these little individual delays, 10 seconds here, 30 seconds there, add them up and you have a HUGE bottleneck of guests waiting to scan their bands or passes at the FP+ entrances. Will this improve over time? Maybe, but unless they get the bands to work with the scanners more easily, I'm afraid this could be another nail in the coffin for the future of the bands. It just may be too tedious and cumbersome for most guests to use efficiently.
The iPhone App: A huge and total win for our family! I was able to keep track of our plans and make changes without any problems. User-friendly and convenient. I LOVED being able to make dining reservations with the app (MUCH easier than over the phone) and loved having those reservations show up on the same screen with our FPs.
Thanks to this added convenience we ate more table-service meals than usual and that's more $$$ for DisCo.
In fact, I enjoyed using the app so much that on the last day of our vacation, even though we had already moved on to Cocoa Beach for two days (Kennedy Space Center-- LOVED it but that's another story) and were supposed to be heading home, I logged in on a whim at 7am, and for the fun of it I booked day-of FPs at Epcot, including Test Track (which already had a return time of 615pm) and a sit-down lunch at San Angel. So instead of heading home, we stopped off at WDW for a "bonus day" of fun, gladly spending more $$$ in the process. And that's where Disney may recoup their investment. The app is, IMHO, pure genius.
So there you have it.
As onsite guests and AP holders, we loved having access to FP+ and look forward to more trips on Test Track, Soarin and Toy Story Mania, three attractions we've been almost totally locked out of as passholders who usually arrive midday. My only fear is that as more guests get used to planning ahead, headliner attractions will become as difficult to book as Le Cellier. That would change my opinion completely.
I hear that WDW is considering expanding access beyond 3 FP+s per day and allowing for park hopping. IMHO, both would be a mistake. I am not in favor of charging for FP+ directly, but I could see WDW limiting access to onsite guests and APers and perhaps allowing day guests to participate for a fee, much like Universal Studios. For what onsite folks and passholders are paying now, they should get added benefits, and like it or not, FP+ is a benefit. The biggest mistake would be for Disney to radically expand the number of FPs available. It would make the entire system basically worthless.
FP+, MM+ and the MBs won't be a great thing for everyone. Without them, on a busy day, you're done for, as I heard numerous visibly upset and even livid guests lamenting during our visit. One guest, on seeing the chaos at Buzz Lightyear: "You mean I waited an hour in line to get FPs (at the kiosk) just to wait another hour in line (at the FP+ entrance)?!" Assuming you are a guest who has the ability to stay onsite or make repeat visits as a passholder, as it stands now, knowledge is still power. Color me (mostly) content for now.
