First, let me say that never will I wear a wristband. Ever. But I did get the magic band for testing purposes for three separate trips in September, October, and November 2013, each for 4 days. Here are the results of my solo tests. (I carried the wristband around in my cargo pants pocket)
Trip One: September -- could not associate Annual Pass ticket with MyMagic+ and hence wristband was useless for anything except room key. Worthless -- put in drawer and used KTTW card for the entire trip.
Trip Two: October -- brand new wristband! Annual Pass could now be entered, but could NOT be used with the old wristband and a new one had to be sent. This could not properly be associated with the other members of my party, so it was impossible to make FP+ reservations together. Everyone in the party decided that they prefer the old fastpass system, and that was still available at all rides with the KTTW cards which were distributed at check-in anyway. I had one additional person registered to my room. We couldn't remove the charge privileges on their wristband without also removing it from mine -- making it useless for charging. KTTW card again the only real way to make this trip manageable. The only thing the wristband was really useful for on this trip was to enter the parks -- which could be done with the KTTW card just as quickly, so it was a wash. The wristband DID work on DME for arrival, not for departure.
Trip Three: November -- brand new wristband!! Once again, I could de-activate my previous two wristbands, but could not activate either one of them to use again on this trip, only custom design a new one. So band three arrived. FP+ selection seemed to work fine online -- and indeed it worked fine in the parks. I found I could also use my KTTW card OR my annual pass to get as many regular fastpasses as I wanted -- so it was all sort of a waste to make the FP+ reservations for this particular trip. In fact, on this trip I found I could get TWO fastpasses for any attraction I wanted using both the KTTW card AND the Annual Pass RFID card. I'm not sure they are tracking these at this point as they roll out the wristbands and the FP+ advance reservations and kiosks....As to DME, the wristband DID NOT WORK -- it still had my DME information registered from October, even though I got a paper DME folder and that worked at the DME gate. The Wristband did not. On this trip, the wristband DID work for making purchases in the park.
My own take on it -- since I hate wristbands and won't wear them in the future -- the KTTW card will always be available as an option. I will choose that and use it like I alway will. As an annual passholder, there isn't any way in the world I am going to make FP+ selections in advance of the night before my arrival -- I found on the last trip that it was easy to change your FP+ times on the fly day of visit, even change parks and make three completely different FP+ reservations as long as you have not already used a FP+ resie at one of the other parks that day. For first time visitors, it works GREAT to make sure you can experience your top three things you really want to do. Frankly as an annual passholder, there is nothing that "needs" to be done from trip to trip.
My own personal solution? I have a Hex iPhone stealth case that lets you put the RFID card in behind it. It works through the case and you can touch the case at the kiosks, doors, charge cards, etc. That's what I will be using for future visits. By the way, the RFID card works through the back of your wallet as well, so you don't need to fish for your ticket at the door, just keep it in the back and touch your wallet to RFID readers.
Trip One: September -- could not associate Annual Pass ticket with MyMagic+ and hence wristband was useless for anything except room key. Worthless -- put in drawer and used KTTW card for the entire trip.
Trip Two: October -- brand new wristband! Annual Pass could now be entered, but could NOT be used with the old wristband and a new one had to be sent. This could not properly be associated with the other members of my party, so it was impossible to make FP+ reservations together. Everyone in the party decided that they prefer the old fastpass system, and that was still available at all rides with the KTTW cards which were distributed at check-in anyway. I had one additional person registered to my room. We couldn't remove the charge privileges on their wristband without also removing it from mine -- making it useless for charging. KTTW card again the only real way to make this trip manageable. The only thing the wristband was really useful for on this trip was to enter the parks -- which could be done with the KTTW card just as quickly, so it was a wash. The wristband DID work on DME for arrival, not for departure.
Trip Three: November -- brand new wristband!! Once again, I could de-activate my previous two wristbands, but could not activate either one of them to use again on this trip, only custom design a new one. So band three arrived. FP+ selection seemed to work fine online -- and indeed it worked fine in the parks. I found I could also use my KTTW card OR my annual pass to get as many regular fastpasses as I wanted -- so it was all sort of a waste to make the FP+ reservations for this particular trip. In fact, on this trip I found I could get TWO fastpasses for any attraction I wanted using both the KTTW card AND the Annual Pass RFID card. I'm not sure they are tracking these at this point as they roll out the wristbands and the FP+ advance reservations and kiosks....As to DME, the wristband DID NOT WORK -- it still had my DME information registered from October, even though I got a paper DME folder and that worked at the DME gate. The Wristband did not. On this trip, the wristband DID work for making purchases in the park.
My own take on it -- since I hate wristbands and won't wear them in the future -- the KTTW card will always be available as an option. I will choose that and use it like I alway will. As an annual passholder, there isn't any way in the world I am going to make FP+ selections in advance of the night before my arrival -- I found on the last trip that it was easy to change your FP+ times on the fly day of visit, even change parks and make three completely different FP+ reservations as long as you have not already used a FP+ resie at one of the other parks that day. For first time visitors, it works GREAT to make sure you can experience your top three things you really want to do. Frankly as an annual passholder, there is nothing that "needs" to be done from trip to trip.
My own personal solution? I have a Hex iPhone stealth case that lets you put the RFID card in behind it. It works through the case and you can touch the case at the kiosks, doors, charge cards, etc. That's what I will be using for future visits. By the way, the RFID card works through the back of your wallet as well, so you don't need to fish for your ticket at the door, just keep it in the back and touch your wallet to RFID readers.
