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

[Mad Dog]

I thought this was closed a good while ago?

I considered switching hotels on my last trip since I had free cancellation but I would have to do it all through Disney but they were charging more for the room I wanted and it sounded like a real effort.

Glad it’s fixed though.

I wonder how many people will be booking a single night for the FP though.

Yeah. They said that 1 day scam was still working. Thread just started yesterday. I thought they closed that a few months ago too, but the way people were talking on the thread it was still working (cancellations) until a bit ago. Thread said new policy is effective 2/4/19.

 

[Scott W.]

Yeah. They said that 1 day scam was still working. Thread just started yesterday. I thought they closed that a few months ago too, but the way people were talking on the thread it was still working (cancellations) until a bit ago.

I don’t know if you can call the 1 day stay a scam. It’s exactly what they’re advertising.

Does it work the day you arrive and leave?

I know plenty of people do the same thing for Express Pass at Universal.

 

[Universal 4 Life]

I know this is a bit off topic but here goes. A friend of mine is interested in visiting Disney World. She wants to know if there are any legit sites/vendors that provide a discount on one day tickets. Any info would be appreciated.

 

[Mad Dog]

I don’t know if you can call the 1 day stay a scam. It’s exactly what they’re advertising.

Does it work the day you arrive and leave?

I know plenty of people do the same thing for Express Pass at Universal.

They can do 10 days of 60 day fastpass with a one day check in. I don't think they advertise that. People just found a loophole in the system. There's been tons of them, especially by CM's....So it's really not like the Express Pass.

 

[Scott W.]

They can do 10 days of 60 day fastpass with a one day check in. I don't think they advertise that. People just found a loophole in the system. There's been tons of them, especially by CM's....So it's really not like the Express Pass.

10 days is ridiculous. I didn’t even know that, I just assumed it was for the length of stay.

My example about Express Pass was people booking a stay for 5 people, getting the Express Pass and not staying at the hotel. I’d be curious at how many people even stay at the Disney hotel.

 

[Mad Dog]

10 days is ridiculous. I didn’t even know that, I just assumed it was for the length of stay.

My example about Express Pass was people booking a stay for 5 people, getting the Express Pass and not staying at the hotel. I’d be curious at how many people even stay at the Disney hotel.

All of those loopholes are probably the major reason it's so hard to get fastpasses for most of the best , and newer, attractions. And who wants to keep refreshing their cell phone My Disney Experience app every couple of minutes trying to snag one. No fun.

 

[Scott W.]

All of those loopholes are probably the major reason it's so hard to get fastpasses for most of the best , and newer, attractions. And who wants to keep refreshing their cell phone My Disney Experience app every couple of minutes trying to snag one. No fun.

The very first day of our trip last year, I had assumed it would be easy picking for FP but the first few days didn't have anything until late into the day. If people are able to pick up to 70 days in advance and how many rooms Disney have on site, getting a FP for Star Wars is going to be impossible for anybody not staying on site.

This is why I far prefer the old system or better yet, MaxPass which is the best combination of the two. 6 month dining reservations is even more ridiculous.

 

[Nick]

So I spent 4 nights at Disney hotels recently and over those days spending a lot of time refreshing the app, the only rideI never saw available at one time or another was Flight of passage. Slinky Dog was probably the hardest one to get that I was able to.

Epcot is pretty easy to get a FP for most anything, even a Frozen pops up more often than you’d expect. And MK day-of you can pretty much get whatever you want (although 7DMT remains a hot ticket).

I’ve come to realize that it’s not the system that is a failure at all. The system is pretty great actually (touring MK is extremely easy with the app). The REAL issue is the parks don’t have enough rides to match demand. For it to work as designed, the system needs a lot of options (and many good ones). DHS, DAK and Epcot to an extent (not enough big ticket options) lack in those options.

 

[Mad Dog]

Today WDW closed the loophole whereby guests could book a one day on site hotel stay and get 60 day fastpass reservations for all days of their ticket. Now you can only get 60 day fastpass reservations for the days of your hotel reservations. Any other days of your ticket will be subject to the 30 day fastpass reservation window.....Example: If you book a Disney hotel for 3 days, and you have a 10 day ticket, the 3 days on site will be 60 day reservation window. the other 7 days will be 30 day reservation windows. (Reported on WDW Magic Administrator)

 

[bob albert]

I think the loophole being closed is going to open up more fastpass then people realize. I think the prices and crowds have been pushed so high everyone is looking for a advantage.

 

[shiekra38]

Don't tell Disney that in the late 2000s, early 2010s.

I would say 2008 - 2018 was more of the headscratching era....Basically sitting and waiting for an answer to Potter and instead we got MM+ and more festivals

 

[Nick]

I would say 2008 - 2018 was more of the headscratching era....Basically sitting and waiting for an answer to Potter and instead we got MM+ and more festivals

The infrastructure improvements that came along with MM+ were needed whether the rest happened or not so i'll always defend parts of the project. actually, the main goal of MM+ was to gain information and monetize off of what otherwise would be a dull infrastructure replacement project. Nothing wrong with that from a business standpoint, but they forgot to add attractions during that time.

I feel most wouldn't be as tough on MM+ if there were a bunch of big rides/lands opening around that time like there is now. Look at it this way - if Disney wasn't adding so much right now, people would look at this era and say that this is when they cut down on EMH so that they could do the Disney After Hours upcharge events at all their parks. But since so much is being added, people don't care and many - most I would even say - seem to enjoy the DAH events.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

The infrastructure improvements that came along with MM+ were needed whether the rest happened or not so i'll always defend parts of the project. actually, the main goal of MM+ was to gain information and monetize off of what otherwise would be a dull infrastructure replacement project. Nothing wrong with that from a business standpoint, but they forgot to add attractions during that time.

I feel most wouldn't be as tough on MM+ if there were a bunch of big rides/lands opening around that time like there is now. Look at it this way - if Disney wasn't adding so much right now, people would look at this era and say that this is when they cut down on EMH so that they could do the Disney After Hours upcharge events at all their parks. But since so much is being added, people don't care and many - most I would even say - seem to enjoy the DAH events.

Two points.

1) Yes the infastrure upgrades were needed but those could have been accomplished at a fraction of the cost without the attached snake oil. And I say snake oil because the proposed money makers and savers never panned out due to poor research methods all the way to the US SENATE.

2) The goal of MM+ was to reduce new attraction expenditure. That was THE POINT. To say “well if they also built new rides” ignores the intent of the project. The goal of MM+ was to lock guest habits in before they arrive, increase spending, reduce CM labor, and add personalization to attractions because families liked it when Cinderella asked what someone’s name is and then repeated it back to them.

 

[belloq87]

MM+ also ushered in FastPass+, which has imposed a level of planning onto the guest that I don't appreciate, and has also negatively impacted the queues of rides that were never designed to accommodate FP.

Taken in total, I think the entire MM+ project is one of the company's worst decisions in its history. Certainly as far as WDW goes.

 

[Andysol]

The goal of MM+ was to reduce new attraction expenditure. That was THE POINT. To say “well if they also built new rides” ignores the intent of the project. The goal of MM+ was to lock guest habits in before they arrive, increase spending, reduce CM labor, and add personalization to attractions because families liked it when Cinderella asked what someone’s name is and then repeated it back to them.

We may dislike MM+, but it was an unequivocal success on a massive scale. Maybe the most successful things they’ve done in their parks in decades.

Guest feedback has been good for it; specifically for new guests. But more than that, they’ve had over a dozen quarters of reduced operating expense and record profit numbers. It’s paid for itself 10 fold and was a brilliant move by TWDC.

Again, it’s painfully annoying to us, in particular if you go during a (somewhat) slower time like the first week of December and only one side of BTMRR is running until the other side opens at 10:30. But for Disney? Cha-Ching. They’re thrilled.

 

[belloq87]

They’re thrilled.

I'm not 100% sure of this. I don't think it's a coincidence that the most ardent advocates of the whole Next Gen project were ushered out of the company.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

We may dislike MM+, but it was an unequivocal success on a massive scale. Maybe the most successful things they’ve done in their parks in decades.

Guest feedback has been good for it; specifically for new guests. But more than that, they’ve had over a dozen quarters of reduced operating expense and record profit numbers. It’s paid for itself 10 fold and was a brilliant move by TWDC.

Again, it’s painfully annoying to us, in particular if you go during a (somewhat) slower time like the first week of December and only one side of BTMRR is running until the other side opens at 10:30. But for Disney? Cha-Ching. They’re thrilled.

It’s... not?

Every executive behind the decision to execute MM+ not including Iger has been walked out of the company. None of the technology developed has been adopted by any other parks. None of their initial plans have been fully deployed or executed (guest tracking, personalization, targeted ads and incentives, etc). Guest complaints on tech issues are up.

Profits are up because they’ve exponentially raised prices compared to the rest of the industry.

A successful MM+ roll out would have lead to Staggs as CEO, roll out of bands and planning to other resorts, attraction “plusing” over new construction on new rides, reduction in staffing, and most importantly fewer guests leaving property.

 

[Brian G.]

We may dislike MM+, but it was an unequivocal success on a massive scale. Maybe the most successful things they’ve done in their parks in decades.

Well, that sure is a take.

 

[Andysol]

Profits are up because they’ve exponentially raised prices compared to the rest of the industry.

That's only half of it. Their operating expenses dropped as well, which was largely because of more accurate projections that resulted in more efficient real-time staffing based on data gathered through MM+. Something they didn't do nearly as efficiently as they did prior to MM+.

They used to handle it in the same manner Universal currently does. Which allows UOR to have actual "slow" times as they aren't as efficient with their real-time staffing and projections (luckily).

 

[rhino4evr]

I actually like MM+ and Magic Bands, I'm just not a fan of the current FP+ system. It's needs to be completely redesigned.

I couldn't care less if Disney made a profit off of it.