I have tried and I don't really hate nor do I love. I like Magic Bands. I really do. They are extremely convenient. I wish that when I was paying for something to get my AP discount they could have me scan my MB instead of forcing me to pull out my AP. I like the app. I like being able to view dining reservations on my iTouch. I needed to change one for later in the week and did it from the app. It was simple. I also like being able to view wait times.
My biggest pet peeve is FP+. It was nice when we went because we could double dip everywhere except for AK. But that is a thing of the past. I hate how limiting it is. With the old system, we used to get a FP, and when our time rolled around, get another for that same attraction. Now you are restricted. I don't need 3 FPs at Epcot, and the attractions which I would get a FP for are all Tier 1 attractions
. MBs take a long time to scan at attractions, and each member of your party must scan their MB individually, creating huge lines in front of the attraction and leaving us wondering where the line ends. Restricting FPs to one park a day is also ridiculous, especially when you have an AP or park hopper. Also, we have friends who live in FL. They cannot make FP+ reservations in advance. They will have to go to a kiosk. Hoping that when they come if we go with them to the kiosk we can copy our FP+ selections for the day to them, but I don't have a lot of hope
I think you hit a nail on the head. A very fair review. A lot of the positive reviews coming in are from people who didn't have a limited experience as they were able to double dip with the old system. In addition, I'm seeing a lot of the things that were available before MM+ (linked resort key/tickets/charging/dining plan) touted as "new", when the KTTW card did that prior just fine. The focus shouldn't be on that, as it's not "new", and shouldn't be sold as "new". Rather, the reviews should focus on what has changed or is truly "new".
But, they don't. Over and over again I've read "I thought it was so convenient that I could use it as a my room key and my park ticket", or comments like that. Well, you could do that before as well.
I used both FP+ and legacy FP on my trip, and I thought that was awesome...but, had I been limited to just FP+, I suspect I would have felt differently.
While MDE is MUCH better than the old website, it's still wonky.
I don't like the tiers, I don't like the one park limit, I don't like the 3 a day limit. The first two just need to be done away with, but with the latter, I could see a compromise of allowing 3 pre-made choices (even if tiered) combined with day of visit "bonus FP", like, being able to choose 2 or 3 more with no tier or no limit once you are on the park.
Magicbands I liked. Those are pretty cool. I did enjoy the front gate experience with them.
FP+ was ok, but I was able to use legacy FP as well.
I like integration with MDE/Magicbands and Memory Maker (Photopass).
There are pros, there are cons. But overall, to me, a big MEH!