In lieu of a massive TR, I've decided to write mini experiences placed in their appropriate forums...and this happens to be first on my list to 'write home about.'
Our family vacation was scheduled for Feb. 7-15th, with park touring days falling between Feb. 8-13th for a party of 9. We received our MB's on Jan. 9th, delivered via USPS 2-day shipping.
photo-67 by journ116, on Flickr
WEARING the BANDS
The bands are made of rubber, much like a sport watch, and were not that bothersome...if you were used to wearing a watch. My DH, in-laws, cousin-in-law & his wife, consistently wore their bands. I wore my band for the first half of the day, but found it somewhat itchy and a pain-in-the-toocus when trying to match up Mickey-head to Mickey-head at the credit card readers (park turnstiles were easier to match up). The 3 children rarely wore them and I carried them around in a handy-dandy personalized Thirty-One pouch. When our bands were needed to access FP+ reservations, the kids just held up the band to tap, and then I would place them back into my pouch.
As I mentioned before, the most cumbersome part of the bands were correctly matching the Mickey heads. Sometimes it was easier to remove the band and then tap...there are 4 locations in which you need to tap: room, park turnstile, FP+ entries (2), & credit-card readers (that's if you're charging items to your room or using the meal plan).
Overall, the MB's are a novelty concept, but as a group consensus, we much prefer carrying a card (even though those RFID-enabled things have glitches, too..LOSE, LOSE scenario here as the band marches on).
MB Usage
I realize the system is still in beta-testing/working out the glitches, but we still had hiccups along the way, specifically after upgrading our tickets. Here's what happened:
-My family of four and I were gifted 4 adult, 5-day PH's from DVC for adding on more points to our membership. I added those tickets to my MDE account flawlessly (thanks to the insightful tips found on these forums). Our first park day was at AK, where our DD's (7 & 4) were required to do a finger-scan in addition to tapping their bands because they came up as "adult ticket holders." No biggie. We were planning on upgrading to Premium AP's before leaving the park, which we did, but did not receive plastic AP cards...
The following day we visited EP, and my DD's still experienced issues and got the blue Mickey head...this happened a few more times until I thought I had it corrected at Guest Relations at HS (awesomely friendly CM helped me out...he even gave our family an extra set of 3 FP+ at a park of our choice for the inconvenience...seriously, this CM was a gem!). However, DD's bands still turned Mickey blue, which had the oldest DD feeling blue.
Another trip to Guest Relations at MK, and the manager on duty corrected the bands by changing the "level at which their AP's were coded." (?) Anywhosen, their bands FINALLY worked.
-There were other minor glitches along the way, but they were all at the park turnstile, and those poor CM's were very, very busy with approving a guests' entry on an individual basis...a lot of blue Mickey's and confused guests, both foreign and domestic.
-Oh, our 4-digit pin was the same for everyone in our party, which I put in at the check-in desk. Never bothered with individual pins.
FP+ SCHEDULING via MDE app
My 60-day window opened on Dec. 9th, 2013, and I had everyone's FP's 'scheduled' <hisses violently> within a couple of days. However, I was rearranging FP's throughout the trip, as our plans changed (i.e. kids were too tired, parents were hungry, etc.).
The MDE app was extremely temperamental & required patience and an occassional four-letter word, "dumb..." (get your mind outta the gutter). I would get messages like, "We are sorry, but the system is down. Try again later." "We are sorry you are experiencing a delay..." "We are sorry..." At one point, we had not used any of our FP's that morning and tried to cancel ALL of them while in the park (MK), and schedule them for EP later on in the evening. The app tried to tell me that the other 5 members of our party had exhausted their FP's and had to "TRADE A DAY"? Two more CM visits (one to a FP+ kiosk CM & another to Guest Relations)...I figured out the problem & a manager corrected it.
Accessing the MDE account was trial-and error: I found more success on my iPad in my room than in the park on my iPhone. And the kicker, the app received another update while we were visiting, which was a bit more glitchier than the original...I had more success with the old app on my DH's iPhone.
Guests had their faces buried in their phones & charging stations were consistently utilized. I hated being on my iPhone, and on more than one occasion, my phone completely shut-down as I had run out of battery life. Word to the wise: bring your cellphone charger or invest in a Mophie case.
FP+ kiosks were packed first thing in the morning. Instead of guests sprinting to a specific attraction to grab FP's, guests were sprinting to find the nearest FP+ kiosks. By mid-day, the kiosks were vacant, however, there were plenty of CM's on hand throughout the day.
Overall, I found the whole 'scheduling of FP's' annoying, especially when trying to do so for my entire party...first I'd have to "Change Time," then go back in and "Change Experience." Ugh...too much of a hassle IMO.
FP+ & STAND-BY LINES
After reading many stories from forum members and digesting their concerns, I went into my travel days prepared, but pessimistic. Just how bad could FP+ affect stand-by lines? Answer: not so bad AND, really bad.
Here's how a CM explained the concept of FP+ to me (because most were asking, "So, how do you like FP+?"): rides that had enormous Stand-by times, were now shaving 20 min. off...i.e. Peter Pan's Flight typically had a 60 min. wait time, now it was down to 40 min.. I then informed the CM that attractions that typically were walk-ons or minimal wait times, such as IASW, were now experiencing 20 min. increases. The CM then told me: "FP+ is meant to balance out ALL the attraction wait times."
A perfect example: Goofy's Barnstormer. This was an attraction, during the slower season weekdays, that usually had a Stand-By time of 10 min. or less...we could walk on over and over again. During this particular trip, by mid-afternoon, wait times soared to 45 min.!!! Even IASW & Spaceship Earth had mid-afternoon wait times in excess of 25 min.! However, PPF had a wait time of 48 min..
My tip, and a tip I'm passing along from another forum member: plan your FP's between 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and tour the parks early. We utilized this plan and had somewhat of a successful time. Example: I scheduled a FP for Soarin' at 11:50 a.m.-12:50 p.m.., but we arrived at the park by 9:05 a.m. and rushed over to TT. The wait time was minimal (15 min.), and then we had time to eat 2nd breakfast at the Land, ride LWtL, and several potty breaks prior to our first FP+ time. This strategy did provide a somewhat relaxed touring plan, which was a nice change of pace.
Walk-ons existed during EMH's, both morning and night. It also helped that I utilized my Touring Plans app...their wait times were pretty darn accurate!
OVERALL
As with all new things, there must be a period of adjustment. Sure, there will be glitches and time spent at Guest Relations, but, if you approach the situation with an understanding attitude, you will get a much happier CM and experience.
MB's are not that bad.
Scheduling FP's and changing said FP's is a pain.
Matching Mickey head to Mickey head takes finessing.
Pay with cash and invest in gift cards.
Our family vacation was scheduled for Feb. 7-15th, with park touring days falling between Feb. 8-13th for a party of 9. We received our MB's on Jan. 9th, delivered via USPS 2-day shipping.
photo-67 by journ116, on Flickr
WEARING the BANDS
The bands are made of rubber, much like a sport watch, and were not that bothersome...if you were used to wearing a watch. My DH, in-laws, cousin-in-law & his wife, consistently wore their bands. I wore my band for the first half of the day, but found it somewhat itchy and a pain-in-the-toocus when trying to match up Mickey-head to Mickey-head at the credit card readers (park turnstiles were easier to match up). The 3 children rarely wore them and I carried them around in a handy-dandy personalized Thirty-One pouch. When our bands were needed to access FP+ reservations, the kids just held up the band to tap, and then I would place them back into my pouch.
As I mentioned before, the most cumbersome part of the bands were correctly matching the Mickey heads. Sometimes it was easier to remove the band and then tap...there are 4 locations in which you need to tap: room, park turnstile, FP+ entries (2), & credit-card readers (that's if you're charging items to your room or using the meal plan).
Overall, the MB's are a novelty concept, but as a group consensus, we much prefer carrying a card (even though those RFID-enabled things have glitches, too..LOSE, LOSE scenario here as the band marches on).
MB Usage
I realize the system is still in beta-testing/working out the glitches, but we still had hiccups along the way, specifically after upgrading our tickets. Here's what happened:
-My family of four and I were gifted 4 adult, 5-day PH's from DVC for adding on more points to our membership. I added those tickets to my MDE account flawlessly (thanks to the insightful tips found on these forums). Our first park day was at AK, where our DD's (7 & 4) were required to do a finger-scan in addition to tapping their bands because they came up as "adult ticket holders." No biggie. We were planning on upgrading to Premium AP's before leaving the park, which we did, but did not receive plastic AP cards...
The following day we visited EP, and my DD's still experienced issues and got the blue Mickey head...this happened a few more times until I thought I had it corrected at Guest Relations at HS (awesomely friendly CM helped me out...he even gave our family an extra set of 3 FP+ at a park of our choice for the inconvenience...seriously, this CM was a gem!). However, DD's bands still turned Mickey blue, which had the oldest DD feeling blue.
Another trip to Guest Relations at MK, and the manager on duty corrected the bands by changing the "level at which their AP's were coded." (?) Anywhosen, their bands FINALLY worked.
-There were other minor glitches along the way, but they were all at the park turnstile, and those poor CM's were very, very busy with approving a guests' entry on an individual basis...a lot of blue Mickey's and confused guests, both foreign and domestic.
-Oh, our 4-digit pin was the same for everyone in our party, which I put in at the check-in desk. Never bothered with individual pins.
FP+ SCHEDULING via MDE app
My 60-day window opened on Dec. 9th, 2013, and I had everyone's FP's 'scheduled' <hisses violently> within a couple of days. However, I was rearranging FP's throughout the trip, as our plans changed (i.e. kids were too tired, parents were hungry, etc.).
The MDE app was extremely temperamental & required patience and an occassional four-letter word, "dumb..." (get your mind outta the gutter). I would get messages like, "We are sorry, but the system is down. Try again later." "We are sorry you are experiencing a delay..." "We are sorry..." At one point, we had not used any of our FP's that morning and tried to cancel ALL of them while in the park (MK), and schedule them for EP later on in the evening. The app tried to tell me that the other 5 members of our party had exhausted their FP's and had to "TRADE A DAY"? Two more CM visits (one to a FP+ kiosk CM & another to Guest Relations)...I figured out the problem & a manager corrected it.
Accessing the MDE account was trial-and error: I found more success on my iPad in my room than in the park on my iPhone. And the kicker, the app received another update while we were visiting, which was a bit more glitchier than the original...I had more success with the old app on my DH's iPhone.
Guests had their faces buried in their phones & charging stations were consistently utilized. I hated being on my iPhone, and on more than one occasion, my phone completely shut-down as I had run out of battery life. Word to the wise: bring your cellphone charger or invest in a Mophie case.
FP+ kiosks were packed first thing in the morning. Instead of guests sprinting to a specific attraction to grab FP's, guests were sprinting to find the nearest FP+ kiosks. By mid-day, the kiosks were vacant, however, there were plenty of CM's on hand throughout the day.
Overall, I found the whole 'scheduling of FP's' annoying, especially when trying to do so for my entire party...first I'd have to "Change Time," then go back in and "Change Experience." Ugh...too much of a hassle IMO.
FP+ & STAND-BY LINES
After reading many stories from forum members and digesting their concerns, I went into my travel days prepared, but pessimistic. Just how bad could FP+ affect stand-by lines? Answer: not so bad AND, really bad.
Here's how a CM explained the concept of FP+ to me (because most were asking, "So, how do you like FP+?"): rides that had enormous Stand-by times, were now shaving 20 min. off...i.e. Peter Pan's Flight typically had a 60 min. wait time, now it was down to 40 min.. I then informed the CM that attractions that typically were walk-ons or minimal wait times, such as IASW, were now experiencing 20 min. increases. The CM then told me: "FP+ is meant to balance out ALL the attraction wait times."
A perfect example: Goofy's Barnstormer. This was an attraction, during the slower season weekdays, that usually had a Stand-By time of 10 min. or less...we could walk on over and over again. During this particular trip, by mid-afternoon, wait times soared to 45 min.!!! Even IASW & Spaceship Earth had mid-afternoon wait times in excess of 25 min.! However, PPF had a wait time of 48 min..
My tip, and a tip I'm passing along from another forum member: plan your FP's between 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and tour the parks early. We utilized this plan and had somewhat of a successful time. Example: I scheduled a FP for Soarin' at 11:50 a.m.-12:50 p.m.., but we arrived at the park by 9:05 a.m. and rushed over to TT. The wait time was minimal (15 min.), and then we had time to eat 2nd breakfast at the Land, ride LWtL, and several potty breaks prior to our first FP+ time. This strategy did provide a somewhat relaxed touring plan, which was a nice change of pace.
Walk-ons existed during EMH's, both morning and night. It also helped that I utilized my Touring Plans app...their wait times were pretty darn accurate!
OVERALL
As with all new things, there must be a period of adjustment. Sure, there will be glitches and time spent at Guest Relations, but, if you approach the situation with an understanding attitude, you will get a much happier CM and experience.
MB's are not that bad.
Scheduling FP's and changing said FP's is a pain.
Matching Mickey head to Mickey head takes finessing.
Pay with cash and invest in gift cards.
