NextGen / FP+ / Magic Band. The official truth starts to appear

jlsHouston

jlsHouston

Well-Known Member
msteel said:
There is one aspect of using the wristband as a Fastpass ticket that i haven't seen anyone mention yet. It limits the ability to transfer the Fastpass. On our last trip our kids were too short to ride some of the rides. But, their ticket was still valid to receive a Fastpass for that ride. This allowed the older members of the group to get "extra" Fastpasses. While I expect that you could still do a wristband swap to accomplish this, it would be much less convenient to be doing that all the time than to simply hand off a paper ticket.

In addition, we were handed Fastpasses to TSMM by guests who had (or chose) to leave the park before their window came open. I can't see how that will ever happen with FP+

The elimination of either of these things helps reduce the number of Fastpasses used (whether issued or not) and thus reduces its use.
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OMG you are totally right, I never even thought about this aspect ! I have given FP away when plans changed and we couldn't make our time slot work, and once we were given FP for barnstormer that was really great since I do not do wait times longer than 30 minutes unless it is dumbo where DGS can play and I sit and burn my cell phone battery down playing angry birds or on FB...You sure aren't going to swap wristbands with strangers though..
 
Yankee Mouse

Yankee Mouse

Well-Known Member
sbkline said:
I am a planner just like the next guy, but I think there is such a thing as too much planning. I like to decide as I go which attraction to visit, and I like to go to fastpass kiosks in the parks while I am in the park, to get my fastpass for later. I don't like the idea of having to sit in my hotel room, or my own home (before we even leave for the trip) and map out what day and time I want to ride this ride or that ride. That's way to for me, and believe me, I have a reputation among my family and coworkers for being in my trip planning. But this sounds like way too even for me. Someone please reassure me that I am misunderstanding this thing and it won't be as as it sounds...
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This is one of my biggest concerns. There is such a thing as overplanning, but I am not sure Disney realizes that. Supposedly there will be FP available day of, but we will see how well that works, there are dining reservations available day of too and we all know how well that works out.

msteel said:
There is one aspect of using the wristband as a Fastpass ticket that i haven't seen anyone mention yet. It limits the ability to transfer the Fastpass. On our last trip our kids were too short to ride some of the rides. But, their ticket was still valid to receive a Fastpass for that ride. This allowed the older members of the group to get "extra" Fastpasses. While I expect that you could still do a wristband swap to accomplish this, it would be much less convenient to be doing that all the time than to simply hand off a paper ticket.

In addition, we were handed Fastpasses to TSMM by guests who had (or chose) to leave the park before their window came open. I can't see how that will ever happen with FP+

The elimination of either of these things helps reduce the number of Fastpasses used (whether issued or not) and thus reduces its use.
Click to expand...

Very good points, we have given away FP before and traded FP within our group. For example, since I don't do roller coasters we will usually use my ticket to get an extra one so that someone can ride twice. I guess that is out the window now, too bad.
 
stevehousse

stevehousse

Well-Known Member
What I am most concerned about or our trip is the photopass + package now comes with wrist bands. We have not purchased it yet but plan to very soon. I am very curious to see how this plays out! I will be extremely upset if I get there and they hand us all wrist bands and now I have lost that extra perk if u want to call it that of making my FP in advance??? This whole thing is so confusing and I wish they would release more details so everyone I on the right track for their trips! I said it in a previous post but will state it again, this changes the Disney vacation radically from what we have all come to master over the past 20 years the parks have operated the way they have! I want my answers to questions before I arrive and in sure very one else on here would agree!
 
icecreamrules

icecreamrules

Active Member
"Until September 7, 2008, Disney World used wristbands during EMH hours to identify on-site guests. As of this date, they will only continue to use wristbands during Typhoon Lagoon EMH. Disney World has made this change to keep millions of non-recyclable bands out of landfills each year, in support of their commitment to operating in an environmentally responsible manner." o_O

Wow. Guess that only worked for them for "a limited time" - soon the whole park will be filled with wristbands!
 
Yankee Mouse

Yankee Mouse

Well-Known Member
icecreamrules said:
"Until September 7, 2008, Disney World used wristbands during EMH hours to identify on-site guests. As of this date, they will only continue to use wristbands during Typhoon Lagoon EMH. Disney World has made this change to keep millions of non-recyclable bands out of landfills each year, in support of their commitment to operating in an environmentally responsible manner." o_O

Wow. Guess that only worked for them for "a limited time" - soon the whole park will be filled with wristbands!
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I don't really think it is comparable. The EMH ones were cheap plastic hospital type bands . The new bands look like they are better quality and could be reusable.
 
icecreamrules

icecreamrules

Active Member
If the chip is embedded into the wristband permanently then I doubt they are intended to be reusable, which I am pretty sure Disney will want to do to lessen tampering with while in the parks. Plus, most people will take them home as souvenirs, and also how can you be certain 100% your personal info is erased at the end? I am taking mine home.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
icecreamrules said:
If the chip is embedded into the wristband permanently then I doubt they are intended to be reusable, which I am pretty sure Disney will want to do to lessen tampering with while in the parks. Plus, most people will take them home as souvenirs, and also how can you be certain 100% your personal info is erased at the end? I am taking mine home.
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There will be no personal information on the band.
 
icecreamrules

icecreamrules

Active Member
Wait - maybe they are recycling,collecting all the old rubber bracelets now that the fad is mostly over, melting them down and making these MagicBands :)
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
danlb_2000 said:
Has there been any indication that they will be re-used?
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The notion of pushing upsold customized ones puts some weight behind reusable ones IMO

That and I don't think Disney would try to force non removable bands even tho there are lots of reasons Disney would want to... I just don't see it as feasible given the typical length if stay
 
icecreamrules

icecreamrules

Active Member
They may very well have names printed on them. But that only lets the owner reuse it.The average person visits Disney Parks Once a year or less. How long will the battery last?
wdw_magic_band.jpg
 
fillerup

fillerup

Well-Known Member
If this link already exists somewhere in this thread, apologies but I didn't have time to go through all the posts.

Not related to Disney directly but since I think both the fans and the haters of Next Gen agree that data mining is a big part of this project - here's a report from ABC news on the topic. Ironic that it's ABC.

Finding Meaning in Human Data Mining
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
My biggest gripe (today) is how Disney is presenting the whole issue of "Planning."

On one hand.... Disney wants you to plan out your trip to the Nth degree.

On the other hand.... Disney wants you to be able to have dynamic plans that can change in case of a ride being 101 or other unforseen circumstances.

The world doesn't work that way. Disney can either have it one way or the other. Both are mutually exclusive.
 
Darth Sidious

Darth Sidious

Authentically Disney Distinctly Chinese
PhotoDave219 said:
My biggest gripe (today) is how Disney is presenting the whole issue of "Planning."

On one hand.... Disney wants you to plan out your trip to the Nth degree.

On the other hand.... Disney wants you to be able to have dynamic plans that can change in case of a ride being 101 or other unforseen circumstances.

The world doesn't work that way. Disney can either have it one way or the other. Both are mutually exclusive.
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Just had this discussion yesterday. While planning dining in advance is useful as is a general plan on which parks on which day, planning rides is crazy. Why do I have to plan five months in advance to ride Space Mountain at 5:00 on Thursday? I think this is something that will change and they will just alter the original FP. I think it should be the same kiosks for FP that list the time like they currently do and you just do this with RFID instead. Then make it tiered on how guests can use FP. Deluxe Resorts have x amount of time between FP reloads and the time intervals increase in length dependent on the resort or if you're off site or if you're an Annual Passholder. Each time would be different and perhaps you could pre register a park and have a few free FP where dependent on your package you get a few anytime use FP that are not subject to typical reloads.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
icecreamrules said:
They may very well have names printed on them. But that only lets the owner reuse it.The average person visits Disney Parks Once a year or less. How long will the battery last?
wdw_magic_band.jpg
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The printed names are handy for families so each person can be sure to get the right one each day (assuming they are removable). I assume the name will only be on there if you get them ahead of time, I wouldn't think that the ticket booths would have the capability to print names on them for walk up guests. I know the EZ-Pass tags that are used for highway tolls, which are a similar technology), last for at least 5 years. These might not last as long since they have a beacon capability which would allow them to periodically broadcast their id number. That would use up the battery quicker.

flynnibus said:
The notion of pushing upsold customized ones puts some weight behind reusable ones IMO

That and I don't think Disney would try to force non removable bands even tho there are lots of reasons Disney would want to... I just don't see it as feasible given the typical length if stay
Click to expand...

I am wondering if the customized ones will be a band that these could fit into. That way you could keep the customized park and just snap in a new ID tag for each visit.
 

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