MagicBand costs offsite guests $15

[Master Yoda]

So off-site guests get a Magic Band, but it's not tied to a resort, so they can't use it for charging privileges or to open their room door. It's only for admission and advance FPs, right? Plus of course the great thrill of customizing it and wearing it and buying Band-its and all that rot.

So you're paying $15 for access to advance FP picks. I guess if you're staying 3 or more days it's not a bad price.

No. You get that anyway. If you buy park tickets in advance you can book FP+ in advance just like an AP holder or a resort guest. Those FP+ reservations will be on your RFID ticket just like they would be on the band. All the $15 gets you in the band. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Master Yoda]

Please recall that hotel guests can book 60 days before arrival. Annual pass holders can book 30 days in advance.

What exactly does someone paying $15 for a MagicBand receive? 60 days? 30 days? Something else?

A silicone band that will work in place of their ticket. That is it.

 

[Redhawk]

No. You get that anyway. If you buy park tickets in advance you can book FP+ in advance just like an AP holder or a resort guest. Those FP+ reservations will be on your RFID ticket just like they would be on the band. All the $15 gets you in the band. Nothing more, nothing less.

I don't see any promise of advance FP selections for non-resort guests. The news article in the first post focuses on AP holders. It also has this quote " 'Daily guests will be using MyMagic+ soon,' " said Jim MacPhee, senior vice president of Walt Disney World Parks."

Right now, unless you are a resort guest or AP holder, you only get to choose your FPs once you are in the park and you can't buy the Magic Bands. At some point in the future ("soon" being the magical word we've heard for a while now) if you are a non-resort guest, you will have the privilege of paying $15 for a Magic Band -- which will do nothing your RFID ticket won't do for free, except perhaps entice you to spend more money on band-its and who knows what other future customizations Disney marketing will think of.

So far I don't see any clear statement that non-resort guests will be able to make advance FP selections. Perhaps it's implied in the "MyMagic+" part of the quote, because now non-resort guests can use FP+ on a same-day basis. Possibly "MM+" basically means advance FP selections (and the ability to make changes to those FPs using the MDE app), maybe in a shorter window than 60 days or 30 days out.

 

[Master Yoda]

I don't see any promise of advance FP selections for non-resort guests. The news article in the first post focuses on AP holders. It also has this quote " 'Daily guests will be using MyMagic+ soon,' " said Jim MacPhee, senior vice president of Walt Disney World Parks."

Right now, unless you are a resort guest or AP holder, you only get to choose your FPs once you are in the park and you can't buy the Magic Bands. At some point in the future ("soon" being the magical word we've heard for a while now) if you are a non-resort guest, you will have the privilege of paying $15 for a Magic Band -- which will do nothing your RFID ticket won't do for free, except perhaps entice you to spend more money on band-its and who knows what other future customizations Disney marketing will think of.

So far I don't see any clear statement that non-resort guests will be able to make advance FP selections.

I will have to see if I can find the article, but I am 99% sure that it was reported that you will be able to make FP+ reservations with an advance ticket purchase.

 

[Rob562]

I will have to see if I can find the article, but I am 99% sure that it was reported that you will be able to make FP+ reservations with an advance ticket purchase.

There's another thread that also mentioned the same thing being given to travel agents. No definitive date yet, just "in the near future".

-Rob

 

[Rob562]

Well I can see the MagicBand black market opening any minute. AP holders and past onsite guests will be selling them on some site and people will be scooping them up left and right. I am pretty sure that once they are deactivated from one persons MM+ account they can then use the band number to update on a new account. Kind of like a hotel key card if/when you return it to the front desk. Could be wrong, but the technology sounds the same just on a band. Even better (or worse), I can see people buying multiple used bands and loading FP+ with fictitious accounts to them and reselling them to people who don't want to plan out their day but will pay for someone else to get FP+ time slots. Kinda sounds like the people who were paid to be "tour guides" using the guest assistance card might have another opportunity to scam the system. Just sayin.

A couple problems with your presumptions:

-It doesn't appear that you can re-assign a Band from one person to another once it's been used.

-FP+ aren't "loaded onto the Band". Nothing at all is saved on the Band. In order to make advance FP+ reservations, a ticket must be associated with a MDE profile. The FP+ choices are then saved onto that specific profile. The Band simply points the in-park tap-points on where to look in the database to find the MDE profile. So unless someone is buying tickets, creating said dummy profiles, making FP+ reservations and then selling and relinquishing control over them, your scenario can't happen.


-Rob

 

[alissafalco]

They can keep it!

 

[xdan0920]

Nice. This will make it easier to identify and subsequently avoid the riff raff. No band = riff raff.

 

[Master Yoda]

There's another thread that also mentioned the same thing being given to travel agents. No definitive date yet, just "in the near future".

-Rob

That was it. Good to know that someone here has a better memory than me.

 

[71jason]

A silicone band that will work in place of their ticket. That is it.

This is what I find hard to believe. The Sentinel article is vague. But $15 seems a lot for a piece of plastic jewelry, somewhat reasonable for three advance FPs. Until we see terms and conditions for a $15 band in writing somewhere, I remain unconvinced of your argument.

 

[Master Yoda]

This is what I find hard to believe. The Sentinel article is vague. But $15 seems a lot for a piece of plastic jewelry, somewhat reasonable for three advance FPs. Until we see terms and conditions for a $15 band in writing somewhere, I remain unconvinced of your argument.

Disney charges $25 for a T-shirt and more than $40 for a buffet. Why is $15 for a bracelet is out of line? The article even states that FP+ reservations will be free.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Disney charges $25 for a T-shirt and more than $40 for a buffet. Why is $15 for a bracelet is out of line? The article even states that FP+ reservations will be free.

And here I thought I had to spend at least $6,000 to get a set for my family!

 

[MeandMickey]

A couple problems with your presumptions:

-It doesn't appear that you can re-assign a Band from one person to another once it's been used.

-FP+ aren't "loaded onto the Band". Nothing at all is saved on the Band. In order to make advance FP+ reservations, a ticket must be associated with a MDE profile. The FP+ choices are then saved onto that specific profile. The Band simply points the in-park tap-points on where to look in the database to find the MDE profile. So unless someone is buying tickets, creating said dummy profiles, making FP+ reservations and then selling and relinquishing control over them, your scenario can't happen.


-Rob

Yes my statements were presumptions, but also based on the theory that when something new is being tested and implemented, especially along the lines of this scope and based on unparalled information technology,there is always room for error, hackers and those preying on the system.

While the bands may not "appear" to be re-assigned to another person once used who can say for sure they cannot. There is a place in MM+ to put a band number in and attach it to your profile. Theoretically a person selling FP+ spots could be a passholder, get a band and attach it to their profile for every day of the year and sell them. Now I am not sure how many bands a day would be allowed but just one a day might be enough to make good $$ and would be underminig the system and fill it with FP+ that others may not have taken the time to do. As an example, it "appears" that my family cannot use each others ticket/band to gain entry into the parks because of the biometrics system, but we try to see if this works and we can always get in with a ticket other than our own. It just doesn't work all the time as it "appears" it should.

Why can't a person secure unused ticket media and attach them to a band or profile and re-sell? It is not right, but it is happening all the time around Orlando now with the regular tickets. It will make it more difficult, but if it is lucrative crooks and scammers won't think twice about the extra effort to make some $$ and mess with the system and extend wait times. I think that ghost reservations to secure bands, and dummy profiles will be a big problem for MM+. Things that can be traced, yes, but still a wrench in the system for Disney and very costly, which costs the endline consumers in the long run.

I guess what I am saying is that where there is a will, there will always be a way to try to scam the system. It sucks, but it is true.

 

[Rob562]

Yes my statements were presumptions, but also based on the theory that when something new is being tested and implemented, especially along the lines of this scope and based on unparalled information technology,there is always room for error, hackers and those preying on the system.

While the bands may not "appear" to be re-assigned to another person once used who can say for sure they cannot. There is a place in MM+ to put a band number in and attach it to your profile. Theoretically a person selling FP+ spots could be a passholder, get a band and attach it to their profile for every day of the year and sell them. Now I am not sure how many bands a day would be allowed but just one a day might be enough to make good $$ and would be underminig the system and fill it with FP+ that others may not have taken the time to do. As an example, it "appears" that my family cannot use each others ticket/band to gain entry into the parks because of the biometrics system, but we try to see if this works and we can always get in with a ticket other than our own. It just doesn't work all the time as it "appears" it should.

Why can't a person secure unused ticket media and attach them to a band or profile and re-sell? It is not right, but it is happening all the time around Orlando now with the regular tickets. It will make it more difficult, but if it is lucrative crooks and scammers won't think twice about the extra effort to make some $$ and mess with the system and extend wait times. I think that ghost reservations to secure bands, and dummy profiles will be a big problem for MM+. Things that can be traced, yes, but still a wrench in the system for Disney and very costly, which costs the endline consumers in the long run.

I guess what I am saying is that where there is a will, there will always be a way to try to scam the system. It sucks, but it is true.

Question about your comment about a family using each others' tickets to enter the parks: Did you purchase all of said tickets direct from Disney at the same time (or were part of the same package reservation)? The system allows for tickets to be "connected" in the way you describe. Presumably all people buying a ticket in a single transaction are one family. As long as the biometrics of someone matches ONE of the tickets from that purchase, the system allows entry. It does this to reduce problems associated with Mom being the ticket-carrier and "dealing" cards out to the family at the gate at random without matching people to tickets. Imagine if every 10th family was held up at the gate to sort out which ticket goes with which person...

Getting back to your FP+ arguement... (And I'll presume we're talking in terms of post-complete-roll-out)

In order to make FP+ reservations in advance, you must have a) a MDE profile, and b) a valid park admission ticket associated with that profile. Once you have both of those, you're limited to the number of days of FP+ reservations being equal to the number of days on the ticket.

Yes, you can get multiple Bands and all point them toward the same profile and its associated ticket, but that *profile* is limited to a max of 3 per day for as many days as there are on the ticket. It's not 3 FP+ per Band.

Now, I'll admit that it won't stop an unscrupulous scammer from selling Bands while *telling* people they'll get them admission to the park and use previously-made FP+ reservations, but any troubles the Guest will encounter trying to use that Band won't be Disney's problem. They'll treat them the same as they do now with people buying bogus tickets in a parking lot out on 192. It won't take up any more FP+ reservations than what could theoretically be used that day anyway.

Let's say someone buys one 7-day park ticket. They buy 10 Bands. They set up a single dummy MDE profile, link ticket and all Bands. They make 7 days of FP+ reservations. They sell all 10 Bands. Now, the first person trying to use it probably won't have any problems. they'll gain park admission, they'll use the FP+. The trouble will be for Guests #2-10. They'll probably get rejected for a biometric mis-match. Even if they get into the park, they'll find that the FP+ reservations have already been used by Guest #1.

None of that is Disney's problem, and it only uses 21 FP+ reservations across 7 days.

-Rob

 

[WDWFantasmicFan]

Ooooooh - Magic Bands! Yay

Are there any other benefits to magic bands apart from ease of use (i.e. you don't have to get your ticket out) - such as long-range RFID interactions when walking about/on rides etc.??

Also, any confirmation to how far in advance off-site guests can book FP+ reservations - 60 days, 30 days or something else??

 

[Rob562]

Ooooooh - Magic Bands! Yay

Are there any other benefits to magic bands apart from ease of use (i.e. you don't have to get your ticket out) - such as long-range RFID interactions when walking about/on rides etc.??

Also, any confirmation to how far in advance off-site guests can book FP+ reservations - 60 days, 30 days or something else??

There will eventually be added interactivity within the parks using the long-range capabilities of the Bands, but at this moment there's nothing working just yet. Right now it'll strictly be using it for park entrance, FP+ and a few other tap-RFID-card instances (Test Track, Pirates game in Advantureland, etc).

No word yet on the advance window timeframe, but my money would be on the same 30-day window as APs.

I'm also curious to see if it will be a pre-order-only (so that they can customize them and ship them from the facility that handles them now), or if they'll have some capability to sell them on-site (with or without custom names inside).

-Rob

 

[WDWFantasmicFan]

There will eventually be added interactivity within the parks using the long-range capabilities of the Bands, but at this moment there's nothing working just yet. Right now it'll strictly be using it for park entrance, FP+ and a few other tap-RFID-card instances (Test Track, Pirates game in Advantureland, etc).

No word yet on the advance window timeframe, but my money would be on the same 30-day window as APs.

I'm also curious to see if it will be a pre-order-only (so that they can customize them and ship them from the facility that handles them now), or if they'll have some capability to sell them on-site (with or without custom names inside).

-Rob

Thanks Rob! Any idea of when the long range RFID will be used? And how??

I was thinking that it would be 30 days too - seems fair

Would be nicer if the MBs were customised and shipped - do they ship them to the UK??

We're going in August - would you say that paying $15 each for MBs is worth it?

 

[DisLuver]

We're going in August - would you say that paying $15 each for MBs is worth it?

I wouldn't buy one. I don't find them comfortable and thought they were frequently a pain in the butt to use. I don't buy things just to buy them--and I heard over and over complaints on "how did you lose that? we just bought it!" when it came to the band bling. I only hand over money when there is something in it for me. I don't see the point in buying something Disney is pushing on me at a decreased value in my admission price. But that's MY opinion, and I'm cheap.

 

[BigTxEars]

Heck I already bought two packs of those little things your slide on your magic band and I am still 70 days out I agree $15 seem high but those plain jane rubber bracelets sell for $2-$3 bucks in stores. So thrown in say $4 for the RFID tech and it's around $6-$7 worth of merchandise not he "normal" market. Then add in Disney markup and $15 is right around the right price range. Ole WDW ain't cheap that's for sure.

 

[Redhawk]

I usually buy one trading pin per trip as my only souvenir. I don't think I'd see the value in spending $15 for a Magic Band that I couldn't reuse on future trips. An RFID card works just fine.

That said, I still wish I'd bought a set of the "Nightmare Before Christmas" band-its when I was in the parks in January, because Oogie Boogie and maybe Jack's dog were glow-in-the-dark, and none of the other band-its that I saw glowed. I'm a sucker for that. So, if they make the bands themselves glow...