My Magic + details ...

[Nubs70]

Uh.. ok. please stay away from any planning sessions for the safety of all involved..

Where your gas analogy would matter is things like customer loyalty and attracting new customers - a new form of payment isn't going to make you need gas more frequently.

Compare this with the theme park example.. where guests are ennandated with opportunistic, discretionary purchases all the time. Customer spending is largely by choice, with virtually unlimited upside. Increasing per guest spend is a closely watched metric.. for which how someone completes a transaction (pay now, pay later, charge, cash vs credit, incremental vs bundle, bulk vs metered, etc) can have direct INFLUENCES on guest behavior. Influences that are tracked and evaluated. The Magic Band is just another in that line...

Let me simplify/clarify my argument. Using the humble Dole Whip and Staggs justification of the "fun" factor, buying a single Dole Whip with cash, credit/debit card, or KTTW is so ho-hum. Buying with a MagicBand is "fun", so instead of buying one, I buy two.

 

[wogwog]

Evidently the recent test of the system was not satisfactory with guests from select resorts. So another test will start July 22 evidently restricted to Bay Lake Tower guests. Talk about a control group. Most all DVC folks I am sure. Wonder if they will all buy a lot of plastic souvenirs to justify a glowing after test report again.
I received this from a cast member. It was posted on the company employee only web page.

"As part of the test and adjust process for MyMagic+, a test involving Disney Vacation Club Members and renters staying onsite at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort will begin July 22. Selected Guests will be contacted and invited to participate in the test beginning July 12.
Test participants will be able to touch to enter their rooms, touch to enter the park and touch to pay at eligible locations starting upon check-in and continuing through their departure. They also will make and redeem FastPass+ selections at all four theme parks during their stay."

Full disclosure. I do not like any part of the My Magic Minus.

 

[J061112C]

Despite the option to reserve passes 60 days out, I'm still thinking there will be reserved passes for people to select the same day of their visit. After all, there will be kiosks to make such selections.

I'm also wondering what will happen to unused, reserved FPs. Perhaps they'll be freed up for others to use later in the day.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

Despite the option to reserve passes 60 days out, I'm still thinking there will be reserved passes for people to select the same day of their visit. After all, there will be kiosks to make such selections.

I'm also wondering what will happen to unused, reserved FPs. Perhaps they'll be freed up for others to use later in the day.

Yes, there will still be FP available for guests who, I believe, choose not to utilize a MM+ account. But they won't be in paper form and its unclear how many of those will be set aside on a daily basis.

Based On what I have read from our insiders about the system regarding unused passes, this is where the ability to change FP reservations day-of comes into play. Additionally, I would imagine that alerts could be sent to guests via the smartphone app letting them know about availability for attractions where there are unused FP, allowing these guests to add a reservation or switch their reservation to a different attraction.

If anyone else can confirm that, feel free...

 

[RSoxNo1]

Evidently the recent test of the system was not satisfactory with guests from select resorts. So another test will start July 22 evidently restricted to Bay Lake Tower guests. Talk about a control group. Most all DVC folks I am sure. Wonder if they will all buy a lot of plastic souvenirs to justify a glowing after test report again.
I received this from a cast member. It was posted on the company employee only web page.

"As part of the test and adjust process for MyMagic+, a test involving Disney Vacation Club Members and renters staying onsite at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort will begin July 22. Selected Guests will be contacted and invited to participate in the test beginning July 12.
Test participants will be able to touch to enter their rooms, touch to enter the park and touch to pay at eligible locations starting upon check-in and continuing through their departure. They also will make and redeem FastPass+ selections at all four theme parks during their stay."

Full disclosure. I do not like any part of the My Magic Minus.

The biggest hurdle they're going to have is issuing the passes with a guest's name already on it and already linked to everyone else they want to be linked to. The amount of manual intervention required if you have an AP, are staying offsite, or bought your tickets from an authorized 3rd party is going to be very prohibitive from a guest education standpoint.

They haven't managed to simplify this yet. They've had to build in too many fail safes in the mobile app, and the support line simply isn't capable of making necessary changes yet. This is all coming from someone that has a reasonable enough grasp on how this is all working. Someone planning their once every 3 years trip is going to be totally baffled by these changes.

I applaud things like designing your own small world doll, and other similar components that would enhance your trip. Perhaps these are things that will encourage guests to utilize My Disney Experience, but right now it's a chore. It's not fun, it doesn't build up excitement for a trip, it's just tedious. The more I think about it, the more I think they can't do away with the current Fastpass system as a result. They need to link the legacy machines with the Fastpass+ system with the only benefit of Fastpass+ being that you can book them from your phone and avoid back tracking. Smart phones may have a much larger usage amongst guests then they did 5 years ago, but there is a substantial group of guests that would not be able to understand how to utilize My Disney Experience without a lengthy tutorial.

Look at Monster's Inc Laugh Floor, there's a line in the pre show that says if you don't know how to text, ask the nearest teenager. That's still a problem, and those guests that aren't tech savy, but still like Disney should not be at a substantial disadvantage. Sure, you can upgrade the Fastpass machines so they're all RFID enabled and no longer use teh mag strip, but guests need to be able to access them day of, and day of only. They need to be able to access it without having to go through the process of linking their passes to an online ID.

 

[doctornick]

Youknow, I wouldn't mind so much if I had any confidence that Disney site / app would function in a speedy and convenient manner...

This. I'm actually not that anti towards MM+ and FP+ and such. I actually see the potential for interesting things and thing there has to be some infrastructure upgrades as part of the big price tag that will be beneficial down the road.

But I basically have no faith in Disney's IT in making it functional and user friendly. Disney just seems to never do any tech stuff well and it's pretty pathetic. I mean, I can't link my freaking Pirate & Pals reservation to my resort stay.... never mind how slow it is and how counterintuitive the system is.

Maybe Disney will wow us with some massive upgrades and simplification in all of this, but I don't see it.

 

[Longhairbear]

Evidently the recent test of the system was not satisfactory with guests from select resorts. So another test will start July 22 evidently restricted to Bay Lake Tower guests. Talk about a control group. Most all DVC folks I am sure. Wonder if they will all buy a lot of plastic souvenirs to justify a glowing after test report again.
I received this from a cast member. It was posted on the company employee only web page.

"As part of the test and adjust process for MyMagic+, a test involving Disney Vacation Club Members and renters staying onsite at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort will begin July 22. Selected Guests will be contacted and invited to participate in the test beginning July 12.
Test participants will be able to touch to enter their rooms, touch to enter the park and touch to pay at eligible locations starting upon check-in and continuing through their departure. They also will make and redeem FastPass+ selections at all four theme parks during their stay."

Full disclosure. I do not like any part of the My Magic Minus.

I am a DVC member, and have not been to WDW in 3 years. They are desperate to keep us on property. Did you hear the great deal we got on Annual Passes? Hundreds of dollars off. As far as getting us to purchase the junk they have been pushing in the resort gift shops, they'll have to bring back DVC resort specific items that they took away. From the blogs, Facebook, and DVC specific forums I read, DVC members aren't ones to be herded like sheep, some perhaps, but not all.
Most readers on here may not know about the battle we members won against the DVC decision to replace ceramic mugs with styrofoam in studio villas. DVC members won another battle at Bay Lake Towers over the room designs, and they were rebuilt as a result, after members hated the placement of sinks etc. From all the comments I read online Bay Lake Towers has the cheapest pieces of crap furniture of all the DVC resorts, that are already falling apart. I've never stayed myself, so I can't say. DVC members complain, very vocally when things are wrong. Thinking that DVC members are a control group might be the worst thing TDO ever came up with since, well, NGE.
The jury is still out on MM+, and NGE, and all the rest of it as far as the opinions I read online, and those opinions are not skewing positive at the moment, and remaining more neutral.
I for one could care less about a magic band. It's a friggin' room key, who cares? It's more crap to carry in my pocket. It is certainly easier to whip out my credit card than to fish that damn thing out of my pocket. It's gonna get tangled up with the Glad bag I got to keep my camera, cell phone, and wallet from getting wet on Splash. I'm not leaving my wallet in my room! I'm not going to wear the band if I only use it to open my door, and as we never, and I mean never use Fastpass. We are DVC! We can go back anytime we have enough points for, if we miss an attraction because it is too busy, we'll see it next time. Well, it seems the next time is now 3 years and counting. The Magic Minus (which I love the way you renamed it) is not getting us back to WDW.

 

[MaxsDad]

Evidently the recent test of the system was not satisfactory with guests from select resorts. So another test will start July 22 evidently restricted to Bay Lake Tower guests. Talk about a control group. Most all DVC folks I am sure. Wonder if they will all buy a lot of plastic souvenirs to justify a glowing after test report again.
I received this from a cast member. It was posted on the company employee only web page.

"As part of the test and adjust process for MyMagic+, a test involving Disney Vacation Club Members and renters staying onsite at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort will begin July 22. Selected Guests will be contacted and invited to participate in the test beginning July 12.
Test participants will be able to touch to enter their rooms, touch to enter the park and touch to pay at eligible locations starting upon check-in and continuing through their departure. They also will make and redeem FastPass+ selections at all four theme parks during their stay."

Full disclosure. I do not like any part of the My Magic Minus.

This may explain why on July 13 we noticed the addition of FastPass+ links on the MyDisEx website, but we are excluded from using them.

 

[wogwog]

I am a DVC member, and have not been to WDW in 3 years. They are desperate to keep us on property. Did you hear the great deal we got on Annual Passes? Hundreds of dollars off. As far as getting us to purchase the junk they have been pushing in the resort gift shops, they'll have to bring back DVC resort specific items that they took away. From the blogs, Facebook, and DVC specific forums I read, DVC members aren't ones to be herded like sheep, some perhaps, but not all.
Most readers on here may not know about the battle we members won against the DVC decision to replace ceramic mugs with styrofoam in studio villas. DVC members won another battle at Bay Lake Towers over the room designs, and they were rebuilt as a result, after members hated the placement of sinks etc. From all the comments I read online Bay Lake Towers has the cheapest pieces of crap furniture of all the DVC resorts, that are already falling apart. I've never stayed myself, so I can't say. DVC members complain, very vocally when things are wrong. Thinking that DVC members are a control group might be the worst thing TDO ever came up with since, well, NGE.
The jury is still out on MM+, and NGE, and all the rest of it as far as the opinions I read online, and those opinions are not skewing positive at the moment, and remaining more neutral.
I for one could care less about a magic band. It's a friggin' room key, who cares? It's more crap to carry in my pocket. It is certainly easier to whip out my credit card than to fish that damn thing out of my pocket. It's gonna get tangled up with the Glad bag I got to keep my camera, cell phone, and wallet from getting wet on Splash. I'm not leaving my wallet in my room! I'm not going to wear the band if I only use it to open my door, and as we never, and I mean never use Fastpass. We are DVC! We can go back anytime we have enough points for, if we miss an attraction because it is too busy, we'll see it next time. Well, it seems the next time is now 3 years and counting. The Magic Minus (which I love the way you renamed it) is not getting us back to WDW.

Well put. I am not a DVC member myself but have heard similar issues discussed by friends who are members from all over the country and some from other countries. Many of them have migrated to using their points for Disney cruises instead of resorts. I love the cruises and sincerely hope I do not have to reserve an Aqua Duck ride 60 days out from a cruise. I hope Disney does not infect the ships with the My Magic Minus.

 

[TurboCaroline]

For me the fast pass+ really isn't an issue. I never paid extra to park hop anyway. Never saw the point to do two different parks in one day. Just make your ADR for the park you are in that day.

A lot of people are complaining that they will have to plan out every detail of their trip. From what I've read it seems like you will only get to "reserve" 1 good ride per day if they do the tiered options. How is that planning every detail? To me it's similar to an ADR. You can be spontaneous all day except for the 1-3 times you have a scheduled time to ride something. Not a big deal to me.

 

[miles1]

I've been away from here for a while, but now that some major family issues are past I'm just catching up on goings-on at WDW. We're also discussing a vacation for late this year or early spring. Not only does this whole thing make my head hurt, but when I described it to my family of four, they thought we should go somewhere else for vacation. I think Disney may have shot themselves in the foot with this.

 

[Cardinals314]

Hopefully Disney can explain more of My Magic+ during D23. There are a lot of people who are confused about the entire function of My Magic+

 

[lazyboy97o]

Hopefully Disney can explain more of My Magic+ during D23. There are a lot of people who are confused about the entire function of My Magic+

Disney still seems plenty confused.

 

[wogwog]

Hopefully Disney can explain more of My Magic+ during D23. There are a lot of people who are confused about the entire function of My Magic+

Instead of a cheap tacky band to wear D23 members will be offered a platinum band for a nominal upcharge that will include an extra Fast Pass good for a bench seat to rest on once per day for 30 minutes. Unlike Disneyland, benches to rest on have become an endangered specie at the MK. But you will have to reserve the seat 60 days in advance on a Disney ap.

 

[Skippy's Pal]

Instead of a cheap tacky band to wear D23 members will be offered a platinum band for a nominal upcharge that will include an extra Fast Pass good for a bench seat to rest on once per day for 30 minutes. Unlike Disneyland, benches to rest on have become an endangered specie at the MK. But you will have to reserve the seat 60 days in advance on a Disney ap.

And if you go to a second park on the same day, you don't get to sit at all.

 

[J061112C]

For me the fast pass+ really isn't an issue. I never paid extra to park hop anyway. Never saw the point to do two different parks in one day. Just make your ADR for the park you are in that day.

A lot of people are complaining that they will have to plan out every detail of their trip. From what I've read it seems like you will only get to "reserve" 1 good ride per day if they do the tiered options. How is that planning every detail? To me it's similar to an ADR. You can be spontaneous all day except for the 1-3 times you have a scheduled time to ride something. Not a big deal to me.

I tend to agree here. We rarely use fastpass because they are always out by the time we get to the parks. So, we're hoping that this will have the effect of spreading fast passes out a little. That way we won't have to be part of any morning fastpass rush. They probably should allow you to spread the passes over multiple parks, but if not, we'll wait in standby lines in our next park, as we always do.

I think this actually streamlines the FP process. No longer do we have to mess with pieces of paper, we just hit a touchscreen, either on a phone or kiosk, and we're good to go. It was confirmed by one tester that the tiered system has been ditched, which is probably best.

My only concern, until more information becomes available, is in regard to the reserving up to 60 days ahead. I hope we see more details about the procedure for those wanting to select FPs closer, or on the day of, their trip.

 

[Longhairbear]

Well put. I am not a DVC member myself but have heard similar issues discussed by friends who are members from all over the country and some from other countries. Many of them have migrated to using their points for Disney cruises instead of resorts. I love the cruises and sincerely hope I do not have to reserve an Aqua Duck ride 60 days out from a cruise. I hope Disney does not infect the ships with the My Magic Minus.

It's all gonna get interesting among the DVC crowd as to whether they love it, or hate it. The fansite DVC 'ers tend to be Pixiedusted into submission. The Facebook crowd less so. The Facebook ones I follow are personal friends, or friends of friends.

 

[stevehousse]

I have a question hopefully someone can answer. You are able to reserve FP+ 60 days in advance, however they usually send out all your vacation package info 30 days out? How would I be able to link my tickets to the app if I don't have tickets yet? A little confused...

Do I just plug in my reservation confirmation number and they will appear?

I understand that FP+ probably won't be in affect when we go but I am just confused on how to do this.

Even more confusing is that if the app already had all my reservations linked, why do I have to separately add my tickets? U would think they would already be linked and good to go?

 

[pjammer]

I have a question hopefully someone can answer. You are able to reserve FP+ 60 days in advance, however they usually send out all your vacation package info 30 days out? How would I be able to link my tickets to the app if I don't have tickets yet? A little confused...

Do I just plug in my reservation confirmation number and they will appear?

I understand that FP+ probably won't be in affect when we go but I am just confused on how to do this.

Even more confusing is that if the app already had all my reservations linked, why do I have to separately add my tickets? U would think they would already be linked and good to go?

Your tickets will be your magic bands which will be mailed to you. No need to link the tickets if they are part of a package.

 

[stevehousse]

But what I was asking if you can reserve FP+, am that's 60 days out. They usually don't send all your package info until only 30 days out or so. Won't I need tickets to reserve the FP online or will I be able to do it automatically at 60 days out without te tickets?