Walt Disney World Tech News & Discussion- Magic Bands, Genie+, and more

[WAJAS]

Supported rumors are coming in that many significant updates are coming within the next few months to My Magic +.
These include:

1. The ability to make extra Fast Pass + reservations on your My Disney Experience app.

2. The introduction of StoryMaker. This is the first step in the introduction of StoryMaker and will only include some personalization of the current interactive meet and greets (aka. Mickey at MK) and some onride personalization (such as those screens at the end of Small World and the goodbye bride on Haunted Mansion).

- The second step in StoryMaker will include the Fast Pass + scanners at the entrance to attractions and the scanners at the park entrance welcoming you by name to the attraction/park. Although, this step will likely to come till late this year at the rate Disney does things.

3. The ability to make Fast Pass + reservations for multiple parks on the same day.

UPDATE:
4. Almost forgot that those buses/boats waiting time boards should be coming to the smaller stops and all should have them by the end of this year. I believe Contemporary may be the only one that has a board that always works at the moment.

 

[epcyclopedia]

You mean the original primary selling points for the guest experience...? How quaint.

 

[Teebin]

Thanks for the info. That is tiresome news.

 

[WAJAS]

Ya. It really sad how long this has taken to come to fruition.

 

[IzzyB]

I would just like to be able to add my credit card to my account so I don't need a credit card or an AP discount card.

 

[UK-Trigg]

They can gloss my magic with what ever they like but it will still be a lousy waste of money.

Heading over for two weeks in May, staying at both Disney and uni. planning for uni was simple as ever Disney is a pain in the butt.

it's over kill booking rides and restaurants and really don't enjoy it and never will, a mouse or doll saying hi to me ain't gonna change that.

Bring back fun and spontaneity please and save the gimmicks, and the money, for, you know, attractions that actually need a fast pass.

 

[Mad Dog]

UK Trigg is so right on. Went through all the planning for 2 weeks at WDW in the fall. Everyday I was there I missed the spontaneity, leisure, relaxation & fun at Universal. What a difference between the two. Night & day.

 

[epcyclopedia]

Disney's guest conditioning also hurts them whenever they try to change anything.

See the new Skipper restaurant - no reservations? No one thinks it's a place to sit down and eat. "But we planned it so walk up guests would have an option.." Yeah, well, you conditioned your guests to expect to need reservations for everything.

I suspect DAK will have a similar issue when they try to extend the hours because people have been trained to see it as a park that closes early. Aside from those holding FP for the show, I doubt there will be many other guests in the park.

 

[Teebin]

They can gloss my magic with what ever they like but it will still be a lousy waste of money.

This was what I was trying to imply, but I guess WAJA didn't get it.

 

[WAJAS]

This was what I was trying to imply, but I guess WAJA didn't get it.

I guess I didn't catch you. You are right in that respect though. They could have fixed the majority of the issues of all the parks with the money they spent on this.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I'll believe StoryMaker when I see it roll out. Same for more advanced tracking and preemptive targeting of discounts and attractions.

 

[IzzyB]

It is funny, outside of here I never hear complaints about the FP+ system. I hear about how their band didn't work for this or that, but almost everyone I talk to likes the bands and likes the system. I think because the core Disney fans are planners or they learn to be planners. I personally like it better than the old FP system. I hated running around trying to get paper fast passes when I got to the park. I much prefer the sitting in my PJs booking my FPs either the night before or the morning of. But then again I use the system enough I have learned how to use it and manipulate it. Same with dining reservations, you have needed those for a long time and I have learned what places I can get the day of, which I need to look at 48 hours in advance (when a ton of people drop them), etc. I am on my PC and phone all day long, so doing stuff for Disney on those devices doesn't bother me.

I think that is why to the general guest they like it. Now theme park fans, not so much. but we are a small % of people when it comes to these things.

Now the amount of money they spent? Sucks. But some of that would be needed whether they did FP+ or not. My understanding some of these systems had to be upgraded and so some of the money would have needed to be spend upgrading their infrastructure. So it wouldn't have freed up 1.5B for rides. Also, 1.5B would not fix all their problems. Disney is too blotted and that is not enough money with their blotted infrastructure to fix DHS and Epcot.

 

[Mad Dog]

It is funny, outside of here I never hear complaints about the FP+ system. I hear about how their band didn't work for this or that, but almost everyone I talk to likes the bands and likes the system. I think because the core Disney fans are planners or they learn to be planners. I personally like it better than the old FP system. I hated running around trying to get paper fast passes when I got to the park. I much prefer the sitting in my PJs booking my FPs either the night before or the morning of. But then again I use the system enough I have learned how to use it and manipulate it. Same with dining reservations, you have needed those for a long time and I have learned what places I can get the day of, which I need to look at 48 hours in advance (when a ton of people drop them), etc. I am on my PC and phone all day long, so doing stuff for Disney on those devices doesn't bother me.

I think that is why to the general guest they like it. Now theme park fans, not so much. but we are a small % of people when it comes to these things.

Now the amount of money they spent? Sucks. But some of that would be needed whether they did FP+ or not. My understanding some of these systems had to be upgraded and so some of the money would have needed to be spend upgrading their infrastructure. So it wouldn't have freed up 1.5B for rides. Also, 1.5B would not fix all their problems. Disney is too blotted and that is not enough money with their blotted infrastructure to fix DHS and Epcot.

Spend some time on what's probably the main WDW site, WDW Magic. You'll hear a significant criticism of it. The criticism here is mild compared to what you'll read over there.

 

[IzzyB]

Spend some time on what's probably the main WDW site, WDW Magic. You'll hear a significant criticism of it. The criticism here is mild compared to what you'll read over there.

As you know I don't go elsewhere. I did pose a question to that facebook page I was talking about to see their opinion. Maybe I am on the minority end of liking the new system, who knows

 

[Brian G.]

It is funny, outside of here I never hear complaints about the FP+ system. I hear about how their band didn't work for this or that, but almost everyone I talk to likes the bands and likes the system. I think because the core Disney fans are planners or they learn to be planners. I personally like it better than the old FP system. I hated running around trying to get paper fast passes when I got to the park. I much prefer the sitting in my PJs booking my FPs either the night before or the morning of. But then again I use the system enough I have learned how to use it and manipulate it. Same with dining reservations, you have needed those for a long time and I have learned what places I can get the day of, which I need to look at 48 hours in advance (when a ton of people drop them), etc. I am on my PC and phone all day long, so doing stuff for Disney on those devices doesn't bother me.

I think that is why to the general guest they like it. Now theme park fans, not so much. but we are a small % of people when it comes to these things.

Now the amount of money they spent? Sucks. But some of that would be needed whether they did FP+ or not. My understanding some of these systems had to be upgraded and so some of the money would have needed to be spend upgrading their infrastructure. So it wouldn't have freed up 1.5B for rides. Also, 1.5B would not fix all their problems. Disney is too blotted and that is not enough money with their blotted infrastructure to fix DHS and Epcot.

There's a fair amount of criticism which I think is just. Personally, I think this may echo a lot of other people's feelings, is that it's great for tickets and entering the park and you don't have to worry about it fading away, ripping, etc.

Criticism about reserving ahead of time is just a matter of preference. Some people are planners, some like to wing it, and those with kids can be a little tricky as not every kid is a cookie cutter of each other. Talking with Andy about it, he said it's hard to reserve a FP for Small World and his daughter wants to do a M&G instead and he can't really explain to her "Well we didn't reserve it, we can't wait now, we gotta wait later." So I think Disney forcing that preference is fair criticism.

I also think it's a silly expenditure to keep mailing out the damn Wristbands whenever an AP books a vacation onsite. There was no opt out.

 

[Nick]

Spend some time on what's probably the main WDW site, WDW Magic. You'll hear a significant criticism of it. The criticism here is mild compared to what you'll read over there.

Yes, but again those are WDW fans, not the general guest which Izzy was saying seems to like it. I fully agree on that point from my time working in the parks and just general thoughts I hear from people on vacation.

 

[IzzyB]

There's a fair amount of criticism which I think is just. Personally, I think this may echo a lot of other people's feelings, is that it's great for tickets and entering the park and you don't have to worry about it fading away, ripping, etc.

Criticism about reserving ahead of time is just a matter of preference. Some people are planners, some like to wing it, and those with kids can be a little tricky as not every kid is a cookie cutter of each other. Talking with Andy about it, he said it's hard to reserve a FP for Small World and his daughter wants to do a M&G instead and he can't really explain to her "Well we didn't reserve it, we can't wait now, we gotta wait later." So I think Disney forcing that preference is fair criticism.

I also think it's a silly expenditure to keep mailing out the damn Wristbands whenever an AP books a vacation onsite. There was no opt out.

You make a lot of good points. I am lucky in that by the time my daughter had preferences she was also old enough to understand she couldn't do everything. Which is pretty amazing considering we did do everything when my son was alive. So until she was 2 1/2 we could do anything she wanted, so that probably helped us too. Now that she is older I normally ask her in advance or if she is at the Park and wants to do Peter Pan, I will say we can't this time, but next time we come I will reserve Peter Pan. Again, she is 5, way easier to say those things to. Like she wanted Splash Mountain this time, so I told her we are doing Peter Pan, Thunder, and Space Mountain. We can't do Splash this time, but next time I will reserve Splash. She was OK with that logic. Then she started to tell me the other fast passes she wanted for next time lol

When it comes to M&G my daughter doesn't know what they are unless the line is less than 10 minutes. We don't do M&G and we avoid those places at all cost unless the wait is real low. By doing that she never asks for M&Gs, win for me! We do have Anna and Elsa FP for when our friends are down, but she won't care, she is not into Princesses. But my friend's daughter loves Princesses. So let's see how that one goes lol

But everyone is different. I posted it on the facebook groups which are not a bunch of insiders. They are general people who love Disney and like to visit it. They seriously have no clue what rides are coming or what stuff is closing until Disney announces it. So far the majority like both the dining plan and the Fast Pass + system. Only two negative comments about it. One is from a local who thought the older system benefited her better and the lines seem longer since FP+, but she also stated crowd levels in general are higher so she is not sure it is FP+ related. One other person said they like it, but miss when DVC used to give them paper FPs that allowed them to ride any ride.

 

[MrRoamer]

I also think it's a silly expenditure to keep mailing out the damn Wristbands whenever an AP books a vacation onsite. There was no opt out.

I'm not sure if the opt out was always there or I just never noticed till when I booked my next stay, but there is an option to opt out. After you book your vacation, you can re enter the upcoming vacations section, go to the manage magic bands section next to new orders and there is a little check box saying opt out. I'm already too close to the point of having all the colors so I may as well collect them all so I can be a Disney Master.

 

[Brian G.]

I'm not sure if the opt out was always there or I just never noticed till when I booked my next stay, but there is an option to opt out. After you book your vacation, you can re enter the upcoming vacations section, go to the manage magic bands section next to new orders and there is a little check box saying opt out. I'm already too close to the point of having all the colors so I may as well collect them all so I can be a Disney Master.

See... I consider myself tech savvy and didn't know about all that mess.

 

[IzzyB]

I think they have been slowly changing things on their system over the years since this was released. Like my friend told me that when her sister came to town she had no way to copy her sister's FP to hers and by the time they were available to her those FPs were gone. This was last October. But my friend is coming in April/May and I was able to copy his FPs over to my account so we all have the same fast passes. So I wouldn't be surprised if things like Opt out are now available.

I think what is dumb is the AP holders get one free band. But they have to mail it to you. They should just give you a credit to use at a store that sells the bands, because they end up spending extra money mailing them out in those fancy boxes. Always thought that was a dumb business move.