My Magic + details ...

[MattC]

That will completely depend on how well guest will be at using the kiosks. so figure very long, but hey just use your smartphone.

It took over 15 minutes to get into EPCOT the other day. Why? It was busy, and people are to.....technologically challenged/dense to see that there are two RFID and finger print scanners, listen to CMs, and understand they have to scan the card and put a finger on the scanner. People act like it's rocket science. I hate to think what the MM+ kiosks will look like.

 

[Nemo14]

You have a point. I knew the figures were something like that. But like I said, having a smartphone does not necessarily equate to being able to use a smart phone well... Particularly in parks that have shaky wireless at best (Yes they are trying to improve it but they are no where near there) and on a website that continues to have many problems. If my parents went down by themselves, they would be sitting ducks. I can't imagine they would be the only ones.

My husband and I do not have smart phones. Not that I'm sure we couldn't figure them out - we might be dinosaurs, but we're not techno dummies either. We choose not to have them because we feel no need to have one, plain and simple. When we vacation, the last thing we want to do is have our lives revolve around our phones. We'll have a phone with us for emergencies or whatever, but very seldom do we even take them out of our pockets.
So, if enjoying my Disney time becomes dependent on a smart phone, sorry Disney, but I'll spend my vacation money elsewhere.

 

[PhotoDave219]

It took over 15 minutes to get into EPCOT the other day. Why? It was busy, and people are to.....technologically challenged/dense to see that there are two RFID and finger print scanners, listen to CMs, and understand they have to scan the card and put a finger on the scanner. People act like it's rocket science. I hate to think what the MM+ kiosks will look like.

Epcot is always a problem. Guests were unable to use the regular turnstyles in an efficient manner with paper tickets.

 

[rael ramone]

Just had a brain fart. Please excuse me if you've heard this before. Want people to not wait in long lines? Not be disgruntled by this new FP+ stuff? Want to make more money? Build new attractions.

Nah, they are above doing something so 'Universalish' like adding new attractions... That's what the peon competition does.... the kids at the 'big table' slash their hours, shrink their footprint, dumb down their food, datamine you to death, then sell that data to their 'partners'.....

 

[asianway]

It took over 15 minutes to get into EPCOT the other day. Why? It was busy, and people are to.....technologically challenged/dense to see that there are two RFID and finger print scanners, listen to CMs, and understand they have to scan the card and put a finger on the scanner. People act like it's rocket science. I hate to think what the MM+ kiosks will look like.

Ive seen a CM refuse to let guests use both kiosks, and insist on a single file line through one of the round ball thingees. Kind of like how all that labor savings was supposed to happen when they installed biometric and went to one CM per two turnstiles, until they softened that based on guest stupidity.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Well if everyone is supposed to be able to adjust/access plans through their smart device.... how on earth does Disney expect to do that when the wifi/cell data networks are woefully overloaded?

 

[asianway]

Well if everyone is supposed to be able to adjust/access plans through their smart device.... how on earth does Disney expect to do that when the wifi/cell data networks are woefully overloaded?

This was cooked up in conference rooms by IT guys and business analysts who never set foot in a theme park.

and to the person who asked why no one raised their hand in said room to say this is a bad idea, you have obviously never worked at a company where group think and executive bonuses rule all.

 

[lentesta]

So, magicbands. @WDW1974, @Lee, @lentesta.... one question I have that I haven't seen anywhere yet. What will these COST to the consumer? Obviously, a ticket price hike is in order (and goes without saying) but will that also include the price of the MagicBand itself?

I noticed it was stated it costs Disney $4.50 each to produce. So is Disney going to charge people (minimum) $5 for getting one of these, or will it be 'included' in the price of the ticket?

Disney's absorbing the cost of the first two (an original and a replacement if it's lost). Subsequent replacements are supposed to cost something like $50.

 

[Sue_Vongello]

I tried to read everything but I don't know if I missed this or not but to me a crucial component is if they are still doing tiered levels of FP+ to choose from ... @WDW1974

For example are they still going to make you choose 1 FP+ each from Group A, B, and C? Where Group A is all E-tickets, and Groups B and C are lesser attractions or entertainment ... essentially giving you only one worthwhile fastpass?

 

[PhotoDave219]

This was cooked up in conference rooms by IT guys and business analysts who never set foot in a theme park.

and to the person who asked why no one raised their hand in said room to say this is a bad idea, you have obviously never worked at a company where group think and executive bonuses rule all.

Clearly they havent tried to send a text message on an average evening while on MSUSA when you have 20-30k people there at once.

 

[maxairmike]

Forget the MK, I couldn't even use my phone at DAK on the tail end of spring break for crying out loud! I think I got all of two texts through in the 4 hours I was in the park before I left for dinner and Universal.

 

[englanddg]

This was cooked up in conference rooms by IT guys and business analysts who never set foot in a theme park.

and to the person who asked why no one raised their hand in said room to say this is a bad idea, you have obviously never worked at a company where group think and executive bonuses rule all.

That may have been me you are referring to.

And, no sir, I've worked in plenty of those places.

Still doesn't change my comment how no one said "hey, maybe this is a bad idea", but it's also why it smacks to me of what you just described. The worst was federal government contracting.

Though, I bet they have set foot in a theme park...as an anointed mgmt / corporate guest, not as a regular one. I've seen this many, many times before...though, nothing as boondogglish as MM+ is turning out. Mgmt thinks, "Wow, what we really need is more information!"...then, when they have the information...they ignore it.

I spent 15k the past 8 months or so installing advanced reporting and call recording for my unified phone system because sr. mgmt. wanted it...guess what, now that they have it, they don't use it.

 

[bubbles1812]

I haven't heard an answer to that yet, because I don't think Operations has quite figured that out themselves yet! From what I've heard during this latest testing period it has been very much flying by the seat of their pants regarding downtimes, and extended ones have really thrown things into chaos. I know we have some Ops CMs on here, and if they have any insight, I'd love to hear it (PM me if you'd like, instead of sharing it on here, and I'll digest it). If I were a betting man, I'd expect to continue seeing the "re-adds" in paper form for quite a while as their "temporary" fix, even though the analysts behind the system are likely screaming about the idea because it severely impacts forecasts and the desired predictability of the system. I certainly wouldn't want to be the poor ops CMs or even front line managers that have to deal with that. People get nuts enough as it is when rides break down without planning and expecting a particular experience for two months…yeah, I don't expect Guest Relations to be a very happy place.

I'm always reaching out to my friends, though, so as soon as I hear something more concrete, I will let on what I can (when it comes to park operations, a curious mind never stops learning). Looking in from the outside can kind of make things harder, especially when you don't have connections as high as Spirit and others.

Please do share when you here. . I think especially about Splash Mountain. Even with its refurb, it still goes down quite a bit but of all the rides that I think needs a FP, that one tops my list. But all rides have random shut downs, some just more than others. It just seems like a massive problem they didnt even think of. And you are right, telling people they are SOL with the current FP system isn't fun... I can't even imagine trying to tell people "Well yes you've had this particular experience reserved for 2 months straight, but no later Splash FP for you. Sorry. Our analysts wouldn't be happy because it would throw off their system. But here look! There are times for the Tiki Room you can switch to." The whole system screams disaster from that perspective.

 

[gostone23]

So, With a change I think these could make a positive impact.

- Booking 60+10 days out should go. I cannot see how booking rides that far out will help at all. It ruins spontaneous visits and trip spontonaiety. Its hard enough to get ADR's 180 days out. Now, we have to fight for rides... That sucks. I can see them selling extra FP+ slots which would really aggravate me... Walt would (probably is) rolling over in his grave... This is another step to turning the parks into an elitist vacation resort that most people can't(or won't) want to visit. I thought Walt wanted a place that all children were welcome?

However:
-Using nsame day FP in the park with the band could be quicker.
-Entering the park could be quicker.
-Having everything (room key, reservations, same day Fp's, CC access with pwd) all tied to the band is convenient (Until you lose it I guess).
-Customizing the ride experiences via detected Magic Bands sounds cool.

I think it could be beneficial. Will it be? I'm not convinced the profit hungry side of Disney will let it be.

-robert

 

[bubbles1812]

It took over 15 minutes to get into EPCOT the other day. Why? It was busy, and people are to.....technologically challenged/dense to see that there are two RFID and finger print scanners, listen to CMs, and understand they have to scan the card and put a finger on the scanner. People act like it's rocket science. I hate to think what the MM+ kiosks will look like.

It is seriously funny to watch that from the other side. When I was there in February, they had just put the Mickey balls out. People struggled. I laughed. And then there is the fun fun fun concept to contemplate that tons of cards were not working even when used properly (Mine worked 50% of the time on the new scanners). I wouldn't be surprised if sometimes the system won't read the Magic Bands right either. So then what? Do they just let them go thru? Lead them to a different line to see if their band works on that Mickey ball? There aren't exactly hand held band readers that can be used as back ups the way the hand held card readers are.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Disney's absorbing the cost of the first two (an original and a replacement if it's lost). Subsequent replacements are supposed to cost something like $50.

Well.... I'm sure the costs will be passed back on to the guests in other ways. Like $.10 more for a soda, etc....

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

Just had a brain fart. Please excuse me if you've heard this before. Want people to not wait in long lines? Not be disgruntled by this new FP+ stuff? Want to make more money? Build new attractions.

You. Take your logic and get out of here.

 

[asianway]

That may have been me you are referring to.

And, no sir, I've worked in plenty of those places.

Still doesn't change my comment how no one said "hey, maybe this is a bad idea", but it's also why it smacks to me of what you just described. The worst was federal government contracting.

Though, I bet they have set foot in a theme park...as an anointed mgmt / corporate guest, not as a regular one. I've seen this many, many times before...though, nothing as boondogglish as MM+ is turning out. Mgmt thinks, "Wow, what we really need is more information!"...then, when they have the information...they ignore it.

I spent 15k the past 8 months or so installing advanced reporting and call recording for my unified phone system because sr. mgmt. wanted it...guess what, now that they have it, they don't use it.

In the most toxic of organizations, you may actually have a majority of the people in said room who thinks its a bad idea, but will not speak up because they know they will be disciplined for not being "on board" or "embracing change". And Ive heard Disney is as toxic as they come.

 

[MissM]

This entire thing is asinine. ADR's being 180 (+10) mean we rarely if ever do sit-down dining anymore which translates into Disney making less money off of us. I have no clue 6 months out that I'm (a) going to be at a park that day, (b) what park (c) want a specific meal experience. So I just don't do it.

Now we're doing the same with FP+? I need to know 60 days out if I'm going to a park, which park and which rides I'd like to visit on my hypothetical day trip? Seriously??

Since AP's have, essentially, 365 day tickets, does that mean I can just get up every day and schedule FP+ for 60 days out and just basically carry 365 days of FP+ reservations? Wouldn't that be stupid. But, technically, it's playing within the parameters as we know them right now!

This whole thing is ridiculous. Love's been saying he wants to go see Harry Potter anyway so I'm thinking that AP renewal coming up in August is looking less and less likely if this is the kind of direction the parks are going. I may love Disney, but there's a level of stupid that gets past the point for overlooking and impacts if it's really any fun any more. FP+ looks like the "no longer any fun" tipping point to me.

 

[wdwmagic]

Well if everyone is supposed to be able to adjust/access plans through their smart device.... how on earth does Disney expect to do that when the wifi/cell data networks are woefully overloaded?

It currently looks like the WiFi and cell data performance is the biggest barrier to this going live. I can't see how it can possibly work without the data infrastructure being reliable. Perhaps they have a big upgrade coming there from Cisco which will eliminate that specific issue.