OS: Phones, not MagicBands, will be the Future of Disney's MyMagic+

[tribbleorlfl]

Has anyone else seen the cool color changes at the turnstiles with the different magicbands. I saw a video over the weekend on FB that someone had a Christmas magic band. When they swiped it at the turnstiles the mickey head changed colors. Instead of solid green swirling around, it was red, white, green swirling around. I also heard that the F&G bands made the turnstiles change into rainbow colors. I will try to find the video and post it.

Note, the color changing (and sounds, where applicable) is often park or event-specific. My son and I have the first LE SW Weekends MB's (Vader for me, Yoda for him); mine turns red and you can hear Vader's breathing, though it only works at HS (and even then, not all the time).

 

[KDM31091]

This makes little sense to me. Lines will get clogged up as parents have to pull up the virtual magic band tickets for each child (because they won't have smartphones of their own). This will increase congestion in an already crowded place. I don't see the big time saver with taking out your phone vs just wearing the magic band.

Then again, I really am weary of smartphones taking over every aspect of our existence. That said, I think Disney would still have "back up" physical magic bands for quite awhile, both for children, or for people who don't have smartphones. Or me, who has a smartphone, but when I'm in the parks, on vacation, I don't WANT to be glued to my phone!

 

[wdisney9000]

What happens when someone drops their phone trying to scan it and it breaks or screens cracks? You know they will blame Disney and march straight to GR demanding a new phone. Or what if phone battery dies? And not to mention the plethora of excuses that foreigners who pretend to not speak English will attempt in an effort to scam a CM. I can see them now, scanning their phone, Mickey head turns blue and they just shrug and look at CM with a bewildered look on their face.

 

[Adam N]

What happens when someone drops their phone trying to scan it and it breaks or screens cracks? You know they will blame Disney and march straight to GR demanding a new phone. Or what if phone battery dies? And not to mention the plethora of excuses that foreigners who pretend to not speak English will attempt in an effort to scam a CM. I can see them now, scanning their phone, Mickey head turns blue and they just shrug and look at CM with a bewildered look on their face.

Trust me, there are many Americans who try to scam CMs as well. Many.

 

[wdisney9000]

Trust me, there are many Americans who try to scam CMs as well. Many.

Oh, I totally believe you. But at least the CM can speak to them and at worst, tell them to go to GR. Ive watched so many CM's struggle trying to communicate with body language when a foreigner just continues to try and walk through or just point at the ride and the FP+ scanner regardless of the Mickey head being blue.

Our last trip we were at HM and a non english speaking family (or so they pretended) just all took turns trying to scan their bands and the CM just kept telling them they could not enter. This did not phase them. They would just have another family member scan their band, which would fail, then they would attempt to walk in ...again. Each persons band would fail, and they would all look at each other, then another would scan theirs and Repeat the process. I think their goal was to wear down the CM, but that girl did not budge.

 

[DrewmanS]

MM+ will constantly evolve. I doubt the magic bands will go away from WDW any time soon, but phones could become an option to those who don't want to wear bands. NFC could be used to access hotel rooms (already in use by several hotel chains) and make purchases. iBeacon technology (or some other Bluetooth tech) could be used for longer range RFID. They key would be to leverage technology to passively use the phone in lieu of wrist bands.

 

[wendysue]

Not everyone uses the bands. Some of us still request a card instead at check-in (I abhor the bands).

We do use the band, but if they ever were to go to phones, we would then request the cards as I have no plans to get a smart phone.

 

[FigmentForver96]

Here's a quick video I found on youtube of a Magic Band for Jedi Donald Star Wars Weekends 2015 - LE 2500.
I didn't even know the bands would do this. I knew it was possible, but never saw it till this past weekend.

I have the flower and garden band from this year and it lights up and makes a buzzing sound. Only at Epcot though

 

[flynnibus]

Not going to happen anytime soon at WDW. The Personal Magic enhancements and the automatic association of on-ride photos depends on the Long Range RF chip in the MagicBands.

The plastic cards only have a short range chip and the majority of cell phones do not have RF at all.

What is complicating this discussion is.. this is really about 'what applications do we want to roll out'. The magicband was a piece of the infrastructure to enable many different apps. Almost a decade later, it can simply be the company deciding some of these things aren't their way forward.. or aren't worth investing to get.

This is why I think you will see some parks getting 'lite' versions of MyMagic+.

There are a lot of reasons for the Disney controlled hardware... those haven't gone away. They may start dressing the edges or lighter features that can be driven by smartphones, etc.

 

[Jon81uk]

Most people are reading far far too much into this. All Disney are doing is looking at a different way to implement the MM system at DisneyLAND. As most people at DL are not resort guests, they stay off site or are locals and typically visit for 2 days not seven. Therefore a system that works with paper or smartphone barcode tickets is fine for DL. Whereas at Paris they have a lot more resort hotels and they might look to use MagicBands or similar there as more visitors are staying on property compared to California.

 

[marni1971]

There is a push to reduce bands use. Actually it's started already.

The base price was always more than what the budget allowed for and they couldn't get it down to what they were forecast to cost.

Something like forecast at 2.50, actual price around 4.

 

[stretchsje]

And yet until late last year it was unnecessarily difficult to decline a new (and reuse an existing) Magic Band.

We all keep complaining about Disney overarching effort to save a few bucks; here's an instance where many of us wanted Disney to save a buck and they weren't.

 

[cindy_k]

I just wish they had a band with a watch in it Or smart watch version.
I would pay extra for a special one for the extra features. I'm wearing it already.

I do like the magic bands and have already managed to collect enough of them so we can keep set in each car and in my purse. No more... 'Did someone grab the passes?' question when we decide to head to the park.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I like the idea and, at the same time, I don't.

I'd rather just pull out my phone, tap it, and get in. That being said, I don't know that I want my phone to get wet (which may be less of an issue in the future) or have to worry about battery life. "Oh, my phone died at 8:30PM this evening. I guess I'm done with fun!"

I don't really like the overall feel of the magic band but I don't have to worry about them not working or, if they don't work, it's their problem and not mine.

Also, as the original poster pointed out: All of this is making going to WDW far more complicated than it should be.

 

[GrumpyFan]

How's that supposed to work for families? Kids need phones too?

If you go read the full article on the Sentinel web-site, it included the following:

If Disney had developed MyMagic+ today, Lewison said, "I don't know that they would have gone through with it (the MagicBands) because phones have become so ubiquitous."

But the bands offer some unique benefits. For example, kids may not always own smartphones, but they can wear the bracelets.

 

[GrumpyFan]

Just a wild guess, but I would predict that the use of Mobile/Cell phones for MyMagic+ will begin by 2018, and by 2020 mobile phones will be the primary method for access/use in the parks. Bands (or whatever media follows them) will then become a secondary, used by kids or those who choose not to use their cell phone.

Once Shanghai gets all the kinks ironed out of their MM+ system, it will start rolling to the other parks, I would guess DL first.

 

[montyz81]

The future is Magic Bands or Phones combined into noe. Apple iWatch, Samsong Gear, etc.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

So let me get this straight...

They developed MM and touted the bands as a major selling point and convenience, because it would allow guests to avoid having to go to a pocket or backpack to get out a wallet.

Now they're announcing they're going to move away from the band, and make people go to a pocket or backpack to get out a cell phone.

So rather than carry a money clip or something small for your ticket and FP's, you're forced to carry a very expensive piece of electronics on all the rides and potentially in rain or other water-threatening situations that's depending on battery life lasting for as long as you're in the park that day and it's also dependent on Disney's crack wifi network.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Color me as SHOCKED that Disney would move away from the magic bands, as they're potential revenue.

Leaving dollars on the table is not something I'm occustomed to seeing Disney do. And frankly, I don't believe they'll do it in this situation either.

 

[Andrew C]

Note, the color changing (and sounds, where applicable) is often park or event-specific. My son and I have the first LE SW Weekends MB's (Vader for me, Yoda for him); mine turns red and you can hear Vader's breathing, though it only works at HS (and even then, not all the time).

Yeah. I have a Halloween one I got a couple years ago. If you use it for FP+ at MK, the turnstile changes rainbow colors and Mickey says, "Happy Halloween!"...even in the middle of summer. haha