My Magic + details ...

[bubbles1812]

So don't use it... only if you use FP+ and it's related services do you have to worry about not being able to visit two parks in a day. Actually... even if you DO use it, you're fine. Just chose which park you want to use your FP+ functionality at. I get why some people are so against all this jazz but I don't get why so many folks say it's going to effect them in some way when ultimately it's only by choice.

It's only by choice yes, but if you don't "opt in" it's been made fairly clear you will be getting a lesser experience. So it's not much a choice really.

 

[Travel Junkie]

///////Electronic wristbands tested atWalt Disney Co. (DIS)’sFloridaresort succeeded in boosting spending by guests, parks division Chairman Thomas Staggs said.
The bands serve as admission tickets, hotel room keys and credit cards. They were tested by 1,000 people at Walt Disney World in Florida, Staggs said in an interview at Allen & Co.’s annual conference inSun Valley, Idaho, without offering details. Guests spent more on average in part because they had fun with the technology, he said.///////


Really there's that many people out there that have no budget what's so ever and simply spend more because they can use a bracelet to pay for things???? I must be one cheap Bast$$$ because I refuse to go on some Disney spending spree regardless of how much I could spend. The statement above simply doesn't ring true to me unless Disney has found some pocket of millions of people with no budgets or self restraint. That crowd does exist but there aren't 10's of millions of them.

The theory that visitors will folk over more paying with a bracelet than they would handing over cash does hold weight. If people are not not responsible for paying right away they are more likely to spend more. There is a reason why so many are in massive credit card debt. The savy consumer knows better, but as we all know not everyone is savy enough to make the unconscience connection between swiping a bracelet and eventually having to pay for it. This is why casinos have you place your bets with chips instead of cash.

 

[disney4life2008]

Count me in for anticipating failure!! While I absolutely love WDW there is something changing (including MM+) that is really making me deter from going as often as I do. I used to travel there no less than 4 times a year but the magic is slowly going away (it is still there in some cases) but the WDW that was 5, 10 and even 15/20 years ago is gone. I do not like MM+ and have made no secret about it. I will be there again in January and hopefully will be able to try this crap out with AP but wearing a band is not going to make me want to spend more. 99% that WDW sells is junk once I get back home. I am willing to spend money on good food - which I can say the quality is slightly better than 5 years ago.

 

[nytimez]

So don't use it... only if you use FP+ and it's related services do you have to worry about not being able to visit two parks in a day. Actually... even if you DO use it, you're fine. Just chose which park you want to use your FP+ functionality at. I get why some people are so against all this jazz but I don't get why so many folks say it's going to effect them in some way when ultimately it's only by choice.

Traditional FP is going the way of the dodo - so ultimately, this WILL effect all of us, and it is downright silly to pretend otherwise.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

It's only by choice yes, but if you don't "opt in" it's been made fairly clear you will be getting a lesser experience. So it's not much a choice really.

Traditional FP is going the way of the dodo - so ultimately, this WILL effect all of us, and it is downright silly to pretend otherwise.

I must've missed something... everything I've read has said "traditional" FPs would still exist just not in the paper ticket form. A person could chose not to use the FP+ system or any of the MM+ functions (outside of the obvious room key, park ticket stuff) and still go about their vacation the way they do today... right?

 

[AndyS2992]

I must've missed something... everything I've read has said "traditional" FPs would still exist just not in the paper ticket form. A person could chose not to use the FP+ system or any of the MM+ functions (outside of the obvious room key, park ticket stuff) and still go about their vacation the way they do today... right?

If that was the case then I would have no problem using all this stuff but I'm pretty sure normal FP is going to disappear and can now only use three FPs a day which need to be prebooked 60 days in advance which means if I wanted all three mountains on a particular day they may have already ran out as they deplete like normal FPs which means no FPs for those rides for that day so I'll have to choose something else 60 days before I've even got there.

 

[nytimez]

I must've missed something... everything I've read has said "traditional" FPs would still exist just not in the paper ticket form. A person could chose not to use the FP+ system or any of the MM+ functions (outside of the obvious room key, park ticket stuff) and still go about their vacation the way they do today... right?

My understanding jibes with Andy's post above. You get the three FPs - whether you book them 60 days out, or get stuck with whatever's left on the day you arrive.

I think the confusion stems from the fact that during testing guests have been allowed access to traditional FP as well as FP+, but I don't believe that will be the case once the system is fully implemented at least based on what I have read.

 

[flynnibus]

I wouldn't read too much into the Staggs comments. The sample is skewed by the participants knowing they are testing something 'new' or 'special'. Basically they want to kick the tires themselves and experiment. Basically.. when you're testing something, you tend to use it more than you might under unbiased conditions.

I think overall this will help reduce barriers to guests spending.. leading to an uptick.. but I don't think you can extrapolate too much in terms of expected guest spending from such a skewed test.

 

[dreamfinder]

The theory that visitors will folk over more paying with a bracelet than they would handing over cash does hold weight. If people are not not responsible for paying right away they are more likely to spend more. There is a reason why so many are in massive credit card debt. The savy consumer knows better, but as we all know not everyone is savy enough to make the unconscience connection between swiping a bracelet and eventually having to pay for it. This is why casinos have you place your bets with chips instead of cash.

It's not just the not being responsible. But by moving the method of payment to something that isn't money, you quickly disassociate with how much it really costs. Casinos use chips because even though the chip may have cost you $100, and may say $100 right on it, most people subconsciously forget that the chip cost them $100, and use it more like Monopoly money. This is why so many people who provide help to get out of debt suggest using just cash to pay for your transactions. You have no way to forget that a 20 dollar bill cost you $20. The same applies to in game spending. By having the player spend real money to buy "farmville bucks" or "gems" or whatever the video game uses as its currency, people easily lose track of the real cost associated with that action. $5 to buy a digital basket of corn to feed my pigs? No thanks. But 2,000 smurfberries to but the digital basket of corn? Not a problem, here is my in game currency, gimme my digital corn.

 

[willtravel]

The theory that visitors will folk over more paying with a bracelet than they would handing over cash does hold weight. If people are not not responsible for paying right away they are more likely to spend more. There is a reason why so many are in massive credit card debt. The savy consumer knows better, but as we all know not everyone is savy enough to make the unconscience connection between swiping a bracelet and eventually having to pay for it. This is why casinos have you place your bets with chips instead of cash.

Amen...

 

[J061112C]

I know the reaction is mixed on this program, however, myself and I'm sure for others, I'm glad that I'll be able to have everything in one, on my wrist. As far as Disney, perhaps, using my activity information for marketing purposes, which results in them sending me an email about something I might have interest in, then I have no issues.

The FP+ does seem a little restrictive in it's one park limitation though. It probably won't affect us too much, we barely use the system because there's never any left by the time we get to the park.

Would the limitation of 3 FPs per day have the effect of spreading out FPs to more guests, rather than one person using 12 in day? If so, that may benefit some of us.

The 60 day thing seems perplexing, particularly for annual pass holders, many of whom probably visit without advance planning. I'd be surprised to find that Disney hasn't considered this fact. Perhaps there will be a pool of passes to be used on the day, and another pool that can be reserved in advance.

Guest services at magic kingdom informed us of another big test in August, so perhaps some details are still being finalized.

 

[AndyS2992]

I know the reaction is mixed on this program, however, myself and I'm sure for others, I'm glad that I'll be able to have everything in one, on my wrist. As far as Disney, perhaps, using my activity information for marketing purposes, which results in them sending me an email about something I might have interest in, then I have no issues.

The FP+ does seem a little restrictive in it's one park limitation though. It probably won't affect us too much, we barely use the system because there's never any left by the time we get to the park.

Would the limitation of 3 FPs per day have the effect of spreading out FPs to more guests, rather than one person using 12 in day? If so, that may benefit some of us.

The 60 day thing seems perplexing, particularly for annual pass holders, many of whom probably visit without advance planning. I'd be surprised to find that Disney hasn't considered this fact. Perhaps there will be a pool of passes to be used on the day, and another pool that can be reserved in advance.

Guest services at magic kingdom informed us of another big test in August, so perhaps some details are still being finalized.

I think everyone is pretty much fine with MM+ EXCEPT for FP+ which has not been thought through well at all.

 

[lostpro9het]

I think everyone is pretty much fine with MM+ EXCEPT for FP+ which has not been thought through well at all.

Yup. The presented FP+ policy is my only issue. Allow the 3 FP+ selections while maintaining the traditional FP system.

 

[njDizFan]

I must've missed something... everything I've read has said "traditional" FPs would still exist just not in the paper ticket form. A person could chose not to use the FP+ system or any of the MM+ functions (outside of the obvious room key, park ticket stuff) and still go about their vacation the way they do today... right?

there are 3 issues at play here:

1) "traditional fastpass" will be gone when this is fully implemented
2) you can only use FP+ for one park a day
3) your 3 FP+s will be tiered so you will not be able to get a FP for 3 E-tickets

 

[J061112C]

there are 3 issues at play here:

1) "traditional fastpass" will be gone when this is fully implemented
2) you can only use FP+ for one park a day
3) your 3 FP+s will be tiered so you will not be able to get a FP for 3 E-tickets

Could you explain more about the tiered FP? I remember reading one person on this forum, who was part of a test, saying there were no tiers.

 

[mergatroid]

Ok I'm new to this stuff but here's my question. We're not staying in Disney as we have a family home in Haines City. We're flying in in October and will be buying an Annual Pass on the first day of our trip. We don't want to purchase our AP online in advance because we will be using it again next year in September just before it expires. So this trip, this year we will have no Disney 'tickets' till the first day of our holiday when we buy our expensive AP's and yet may then struggle to utilise the system as we can't advance reserve anything till we purchase the AP's when the FP+'s will be possibly all gone?

I understand that next year for our 3 weeks in September we can reserve stuff 60 days in advance, but I feel like we're being discriminated against this October for purchasing a very expensive AP on our first day in Disney? Also I suffer from Dystonia which can affect my walking so qualify for a GAC, last year the GAC advised to use FP's where possible and I'm wondering whether this is going to be even harder now with FP's, FP+'s and even more limited FP's?

I'm sorry I know that's a lot of questions but it's all terribly confusing

 

[AndyS2992]

Ok I'm new to this stuff but here's my question. We're not staying in Disney as we have a family home in Haines City. We're flying in in October and will be buying an Annual Pass on the first day of our trip. We don't want to purchase our AP online in advance because we will be using it again next year in September just before it expires. So this trip, this year we will have no Disney 'tickets' till the first day of our holiday when we buy our expensive AP's and yet may then struggle to utilise the system as we can't advance reserve anything till we purchase the AP's when the FP+'s will be possibly all gone?

I understand that next year for our 3 weeks in September we can reserve stuff 60 days in advance, but I feel like we're being discriminated against this October for purchasing a very expensive AP? Also I suffer from Dystonia which can affect my walking so qualify for a GAC, last year the GAC advised to use FP's where possible and I'm wondering whether this is going to be even harder know with FP's, FP+'s and even more limited FP's?

I'm sorry I know that's a lot of questions but it's all terribly confusing

Like I've said, this whole thing has not been thought through properly and yes it certainly looks like AP's and GAC will be out of luck with FP+. There will be FPs available on the day which can be obtained from interactive kiosks at the front of each park but would expect the good rides to deplete quickly so getting there as early as possible would be your best bet.

 

[kittybubbles]

I know the reaction is mixed on this program, however, myself and I'm sure for others, I'm glad that I'll be able to have everything in one, on my wrist. As far as Disney, perhaps, using my activity information for marketing purposes, which results in them sending me an email about something I might have interest in, then I have no issues.

For pass holders (that want to take advantage of their discount) there really is no 'everything in one on my wrist'. My last visit was when they 1st started 'tap to pay' with the RFID (room) key card. Nothing was all that simple about my transaction...for a pass holder discount, I had to show my pass, then to prove I was me, I had to show my I'd, tap, put my pin in, then I still had to sign for the charge (using a pin and having to sign seemed odd to me).

I really do not see them changing much when the device is worn, I mean you can pay w/ a Disney Visa, but you will not get a discount unless you ask for it today, so I do not see them given out a discount w/o asking for it, I guess what could change is that they know you are a pass holder or they know your account is linked to a Disney card, but I just do not think they will do that, so I assume I wold still need to show my ticket or my card hat is being used to get the discount offered.

 

[kucarachi]

so...can you refuse the RFID bracelet and ask for your regular ticket...or is this being forced upon you? I prefer the experience of getting them yourself and more importantly to park hop. 3 FP's in one day is fair, but is all this really being done because standby lines are getting ridiculously long. Wouldn't it be in disney's best interest to keep you out of lines, and out where you can spend money?

 

[mergatroid]

Like I've said, this whole thing has not been though through properly and yes it certainly looks like AP's and GAC will be out of luck with FP+. There will be FPs available on the day which can be obtained from interactive kiosks at the front of each park but would expect the good rides to deplete quickly so getting there as early as possible would be your best bet.

Thanks for replying. I'd avoided this thread for ages as I thought it would be confusing and today I finally decided to take a look to see if it would effect our trip much this year. As we always get AP's we tend to pop into the parks a lot over visits rather than do 'full days' and the use of FP's as well as our knowledge of what time to visit what attractions has always worked very well for us. I'm genuinely worried that with these forced changes that long time regular visitors like us will suffer more than the once in a blue moon visitors who don't really have a planned way of doing things. With less FP's issued I can see standyby lines increasing a lot. I'm maybe being cynical but I imagine it's in Disney's interest to make FP+'s 'spaced out' over many hours on the same day to keep guests in the park longer to spend more money on food and drink etc. If so the chances of getting 3 FP+'s in advance for a 3-4 hour period for 1 day would seem unlikely making 'popping into' the parks less attractive to visitors like ourselves who currently love doing that. Maybe I'm worrying over nothing but it's all rather depressing really