Day by day account of MyMagic+ (Yes, another MyMagic+ thread, because why not?)

[Son of Gadsden]

Well, we're finally here for our December trip. We'll be here for a little over 8 days, with 8 day park hoppers. DW and I have been excited to give this MyMagic+ thing a try and came in optimistic. I'm going to give a try posting our results each day.

Day 1: today, we got a chance to use our magic bands for the first time. We received six bands total (3 for each of us). One of each of ours was painted with nail polish to get some unique colors. Both of these work just fine, so polish blocks nothing. We get TONS of comments. Mine is black, DWs is glittery green. Out of all six bands, five successfully opened the room door to our AoA LM room. We will be staying at AoA tonight, and moving to Coronado Springs for most of the remainder of our stay tomorrow.

We knew we had to visit guest services to fix a ticket issue we've had for a few months now with Undercover Tourist tickets linking to My Disney Experience. When we brought the issue up around the resort and Downtown Disney, we found that the majority of CMs have no earthly idea how to do anything about MyDisneyExperience, nor do they have any idea how to deal with your questions off script. All the answers are robotic and have nothing to do with our questions. The AoA concierge tried to fix our ticket issue for about half an hour before looking at us like our ticket was bootlegged. We took it to Downtown Disney to Guest Services and didn't do much better. Everyone whom we told what the CM on the Disney hotline told us (to take it to guest services and get it exchanged for a ticket that will link to MDE) gave us a strange look and acted like that's not going to happen. Once we got the guest services, we found a line of about 6 people waiting with a similar problem to ours. The CMs on the phone seem to be able to diagnose problems fairly easy and say "Just go talk to so and so and tell him you have problem X, he'll fix it." That is not the case. The CMs at guest relations seem to be caught off guard by everything you throw at them, and the concierge at the resorts act like you're speaking a different language. We finally found the right guy at guest relations, and he fixed our problem very quickly. I found that the few CMs that do know anything about MDE begin most of their sentences with "Well, theoretically..." For example, after asking that same CM about our single MB that doesn't open the resort door but is able to be charged on, he replied that only one of the magic bands should open to resort door. When we told him the other five work fine, he said "Well...theoretically, the band you received for staying at each particular resort should be the only one that works for that resort door." That's not the case.

He had a bit of trouble copying our FP+s from one ticket to the other, as well. Eventually I just told him I'd do it myself later when I noticed how bad I was holding up the line for something so simple.

We have charged merchandise, food, and alcohol on our magicbands with no issues. we received four KTTWs...two each...which was rather odd.

Thus far, we have yet to enter an actual park. Tomorrow will be our MK day, though, and we will also check into Coronado Springs.

So far, it hasn't been too bad, and I'd say my expectations were right where they should be. I like the idea, it's a bit buggy, but without testing phases and beta versions, you'd never have decent tech. Besides, the bugs haven't really been anything I wouldn't expect to run into with a KTTW card. I knew most of the possible issues before we came, and had them resolved today.

So, for day one, I'll give it a C+. It's an above average visit, as I love the idea of the magic bands and how convenient they have been, but I've never had to go to guest relations before.

So, tomorrow I will check in again and let you guys know how it goes at MK.

 

[higitusfigitus]

Looking forward to your coming posts. I'm headed to WDW in 30 days and am eager to check out my Magic Band experience (which shipped today)! Thanks for the post and have a great trip! Curious about switching resorts (as I will be on my trip as well) and how that works with the activation of the magic band.

 

[g-dad66]

Thanks for the detailed day-of report.

These are always interesting and enlightening.

 

[bumbershoot]

We finally found the right guy at guest relations, and he fixed our problem very quickly. I found that the few CMs that do know anything about MDE begin most of their sentences with "Well, theoretically..." For example, after asking that same CM about our single MB that doesn't open the resort door but is able to be charged on, he replied that only one of the magic bands should open to resort door. When we told him the other five work fine, he said "Well...theoretically, the band you received for staying at each particular resort should be the only one that works for that resort door." That's not the case.

So what was the issue and solution?

So funny about "theoretically". Even with the RFID cards back in February it was all a big unknown. We were called back to SSR to get all brand new cards because they wouldn't work, only we used it to open the gate to get into the resort lot. So much for not working.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

So what was the issue and solution?

So funny about "theoretically". Even with the RFID cards back in February it was all a big unknown. We were called back to SSR to get all brand new cards because they wouldn't work, only we used it to open the gate to get into the resort lot. So much for not working.

The solution was to replace the ticket that wasn't functioning correctly, as they did for yours. So, it sounds to me like less of a MDE problem and more of a ticket problem, but maybe they are one in the same. Who knows. The CMs over the phone claimed the ticket was one of those that are "unlikable" to MDE, and claimed it is because that's just a batch UT bought.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

DAY 2:

We had quite a few issues today, but I can't necessarily blame them on MyMagic+.

First issue: We awoke to a phone call from the Art of Animation concierge, along with a note by the door notifying us that our online express checkout ran into an issue. When I called to fix it, they claimed my method of payment was messed up. We went over it and one of the numbers on the card was wrong, but it still wouldn't charge right. They asked me to come down to the front desk. Upon coming down to the front desk, the CM I met seemed to not care to mess around with the card and just said "You need a new method of payment". When I tried to figure out why my card wasn't working, he just ignored me. So far, he's only the second bad experience with a CM I have had, but still not too bad (the first was a condescending CM at guest relations that was sure I just didn't know how to work a computer, and their system can't possibly be glitching). So I happened to have a credit card with me, as well, and just went with the flow. We just wanted to get to Coronado Springs. For what it's worth, the issue was with a debit card. I assume the card wanted a pin entered, and the CM wasn't sure how to do that. When I asked if there was a way I could enter a pin, he said no, that the mickey head scanners only take pins for the magicbands...other CMs have said otherwise, however. This is a rather major part of our trip, as our backup money is on that card. I charged a bit more on the MagicBand today, and will be trying to solve the issue tomorrow, and see if it is CM incompetence, MyMagic+ issues, or bank issues. I suspect the former.

Moving on. Once we got out of AoA and got to Coronado Springs, mass confusion began again. It was pretty much all obsolete, irrelevant confusion, but confusion nonetheless. By that, I mean the CM checking us in gave us a lot of reasoning to why a magic band does this, or glitches there...which we gave contradicting replies...to which the CM kind of just said "Hmmm....well, theoretically" (told ya). For example, she told us we had 8 bands (4 each). We actually have 6. We are only staying at 3 resorts. She had a bit of an issue activating my last band, but she got it within a reasonable amount of time. Once again, it seemed she just wasn't all that familiar with the system. I expect that with such a huge system being implemented and still in test mode. I explained about the magic band (one of my wife's) that wasn't working, and she said they all appear to be activated, except one of mine shouldn't be working...which all 3 were. Once again, a lot of irrelevant confusion.

We got checked into Coronado Springs at 9am this morning. A couple fun facts we learned that we didn't know, and I see debated a lot on these forums. The CM checking us in (and the ones checking us out at AoA) told us the 3pm checkin time is basically a guideline, and for the sake of being official. You can checkin whenever you like, and they'll probably have a room for you. I was also told that the parking passes are irrelevant at the resorts. She told me you only need them at the parks, no one checks at the resorts or really cares. She claims lots of people go on cruises and leave their cars parked at the resorts. The passes are also still good until midnight the day you check out.

One of my bands was rather sluggish today at first. I'm not sure why, but by midday, it picked up and was working fast as before. I know it was just that one and not the system, because all the others were fine.

We received a KTTW from both AoA and CSR. Both sets pulled paper FPs.

When getting in the parks, the ticket I mentioned on day one that guest services fixed worked fine. No issues.

Opening the door to our new room, I expected issues since it had opened an AoA room just minutes before. No issues. All six bands worked on the new room door at CSR. We also made multiple charges for food and merch with the bands on the new room charge account. No issues there either. Very smooth day for magicbands.

Those who may have read my previous posts, we don't use FP. We never do. I have bad knee issues, and I'm not into walking from attraction to attraction, and I can't be at the park all day. We arrive at the parks after 10 most of the time. This trip, however, I made FP+ selections for each day, and I figured just for the hell of this post, I'd try out FP- as well. Both sets of our KTTWs pulled FP- cards, and we set all 3 FP+ several weeks ago. Once again, no issues checking into FP+ locations with the magicbands.

I will also say that there is no better way to say, this is the dumbest group of Disney goers I have ever seen in my life. The CMs at all the rides have to beg them to obey the rules, 3 year olds are sitting on the outside of the trains, people are breaking in line like crazy, walking backwards into crowds, I heard the mickey cake pops get called "those heart shaped things", bus drivers are begging people to go to the back of the bus...it's been terrible. I've never had such a bad experience with the crowds as I have this time. I say that so I can tell you...I read lots of DISers saying Disney goers are too dumb to work MyMagic+, yet I see tons of people using magicbands without an issue for FP+ and everything else. From what I've seen, they work much more fluently with the technologically challenged than the previous KTTWs did. You know, that group that has to scan their cards 10 times, can't figure out how to hold it or swipe it, whatever...that isn't happening. Everything is moving faster. The queue lines even seem to be moving faster. I don't know if that has something to do with the new FP system or what, but I like it.

But anyway, my newbie opinion on both FP systems, since I've never used either of them....as of right now (and I know, so many say the sky will fall eventually), I like FP+...and it's not close. Even with me having two sets of KTTWs, it's not close. Something interesting to note: I missed my first FP to Space Mountain. I surprised DW with her first ever time to CRT, and we just didn't have time to make the Space Mountain FP+. When we got out of CRT, we actually missed our second FP+ of Under the Sea, as well. However, with one minute left, I switched it to a later time. It surprised me that it worked so last minute, though...so I figured I'd try Space Mountain, as well. IT WORKED. Even though I missed my FP by HOURS, it allowed me to move it to a later time. I moved it from 11:25am to 5:20 PM. The Under The Sea moved from 2:20 to 3:20. Last I checked at 4pm, there were still FP+s available for almost every attraction I checked.

DW agreed. So far, FP+ has been MUCH more flexible and easier to use, and quite frankly made FP- look bad. I know, I know, it's going to be terrible eventually according to some...but as of right now, it's awesome.

So, so far, honestly, the only things I have to complain about are the crowds' IQ being below room temperature and the bus system is really bad this visit for some reason. Fourty-five minute waits every time for me, so far. Maybe i've just been unlucky.

I'm writing this while we are taking a break and resting our legs. We'll be headed back at about 9 to stay until 1am. I'll update if anything interesting happens, and on to Day 3.

PS: Also, I watched the DIS Unplugged shows about the errors with online checkin and suggesting to avoid it. Two resorts down for me, online checkin worked without a hitch.

 

[AmyB2006]

Thanks for the day by day report! Can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[MouseMomx2]

Thanks so much for the info. It's great to get some feedback from a busy, holiday weekend. I was especially pleased to read that you were able to change your FP+s on the fly today. I think that is very good news.

We also much preferred the FP+ system to FP-. We are excited to be able to use it again over the busy Christmas/New Year holiday.

Hope the rest of your trip is magical!

 

[mrsmorgan]

following

 

[twinsmom44]

Thank you so much for the updates! Sitting here debating whether we should link our UT tickets for Christmas week or not- sounds like your issue was more with the batch of UT tickets and not UT tickets per se. We are DVC park hopper veterans with a family of six plus grandpa who stays off site but has a MB and friend status in MDE so I can control. We tend to be rope droppers on most days but with two college age and two teenagers, keeping that schedule on most mornings may be a challenge this trip. If I'm understanding you correctly, even on days you've booked FP+ you've still been able to pull FP-(legacy). In other posts I've read that wasn't happening any more. Keep posting! I'm reading every one of them!

 

[bumbershoot]

The solution was to replace the ticket that wasn't functioning correctly, as they did for yours. So, it sounds to me like less of a MDE problem and more of a ticket problem, but maybe they are one in the same. Who knows. The CMs over the phone claimed the ticket was one of those that are "unlikable" to MDE, and claimed it is because that's just a batch UT bought.

I wrote my post wrong. I literally meant that the resort called to TELL us that our cards weren't working. We didn't have tickets on them; we have APs that were separate. We hadn't set up charging on them so didn't have any experience with that with the batch of cards. But something came up in their system that told them that our cards wouldn't work, and they told us to come back.

On our way back we used the card to get into the gates. We should have gone to see if they would have opened our door, but didn't feel like it.

We actually had a group of 8 during that reservation at SSR in Feb, and because of that switch and another switch later for a room problem, we went through 32 KTTW RFID cards.



Good to hear that you're having a good time with FP+!

 

[Cdn Gal]

Thanks so much for sharing, it is greatly appreciated!

 

[g-dad66]

the bus system is really bad this visit for some reason. Fourty-five minute waits every time for me, so far. Maybe i've just been unlucky.

Sounds like it. Don't think we've ever had to wait more than 30 minutes for a bus, and that was highly unusual.

Hope you get luckier tomorrow on the bus service, and please keep the interesting detailed reports coming!

 

[Brian_WDW74]

Per the Looking for the Live Report and Just Back Threads? sticky thread, I have moved this to the Disney Trip Reports board.

 

[curemyreed]

Enjoying following along. Thanks for the details.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

Apologies, mods. Never even saw the forum existed.

DAY 2, PART 2:

Just got back at about 2 am. Update on the FP+ vs FP- thing I've got going on. I had one FP+ and two FP-s for Space Mountain at the exact same time today. Space Mountain went down before my FP time came up. At the FP entrance, I was told that the FP+ was good at any ride I wanted to ride for the rest of the day. I was also told that the FP- was good at any time of the day for Space Mountain. This was at 5pm. We returned at 10:30pm after Space Mountain reopened to find that...well....so did everyone else. The FP line was twice as long as the standby line for a good hour, I'd say. That time consisted of taking about 10 people from the standby line per 3 minutes. Needless to say, the standby line basically didn't move at all. It was a complete mess. Clearly, the old system was not without faults.

We got in this mess for one of our FP-s and then said screw this. We used our FP+ for Space Mountain on Thunder Mountain, instead. When we arrived at the FP entrance at Thunder Mountain, we got the dreaded blue ring of death (yep, I'm calling it that) when we tapped our bands. We told the CM what we were told at Space Mountain and she overrode both magicbands at the entrance, and we were let in instantly. It took about 10 seconds. Second FP+ checkpoint, we got green rings. Good to go.

So, lesson: Ride goes down for FP-, complete line overload disaster. Ride goes down for FP+, that mess is pretty much avoided since everyone isn't forced to return to the same ride if they want to use that FP.

Also, bus rides have been much better.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

DAY 3:

It's 5:18pm and we just got back from Animal Kingdom. We used FP+ only today. We had fun, we rode all the headliners pretty much walk on. However, today we ran across a downside to FP+. We ran around and scheduled our entire day around the FPs we had for pretty much no reason. The Standby lines for Killamanjaro Saffari, Expedition Everest, and Primeval Whirl were all either walk ons or not worth the planning to skip. I thought we would like this FP system, and I'll still say we both like it lightyears ahead of the previous system. However, FP is still not for us. We both just had a ranting session in the room about how these past few days have been fun, but not near as fun as we would like them to have been. We're exhausted, I'm having knee issues way ahead of schedule, and we've been so tangled up in plans that we missed buying Christmas party tickets tonight. From this point on for our trip, I think we'll skip both FP systems.

So, my conclusion to the FP+ vs FP- argument is as follows: FP+ is much more enjoyable for us as of right now, however, fastpass is still just not for us. We like to slow down and take in our surroundings, and we don't mind waiting in line or working around to the less popular rides and following our lines apps in order to do that.

We've also used the ADR system for the first time this trip. We don't like that either. We just don't like the planning thing, nor the rushing thing. Some people do, we don't. If rushing around systematically doesn't bother you, go FP-. If you like planning your day out, go FP+. If you like to relax and go with the flow, regardless of what that means for the rides...skip both of em.

I will, say it was a very low capacity day today, so we can say that and still not really wait in line. Peak season may be a different story.

We had a flawless day of magicbands today. No issues at all, yet again. Still haven't resolved my debit card issue, however, Grand Floridian conceirge seems to have pointed at my bank as the culprit. Will be talking with them tomorrow.

A few things I learned today:

1) If you are planning on traveling from a non-monorail resort to a monorail resort, no matter what logic dictates in your head, go to the Magic Kingdom and catch the monorail from there. We took a bus from Coronado Springs to Animal Kingdom, so we could then catch a bus from there to Grand Floridian for Park Fare. They're right next to each other, and the GF bus will be empty...we'll get to sit for the entire ride, and it'll be quicker than going to MK...right?! WRONG. It took us an hour to get from CS to GF. The bus had several routes to run before taking us to GF...none of which were mentioned. The bus driver told us it's ALWAYS better to take the MK route.

2) Don't sweat ADRs. We were 15 minutes late for our Park Fare breakfast. It was no issue.

3) Those people who complain about Brazilians on the forums? Turns out they aren't bigots, they're realists. I didn't see that until now.

4) Primeval Whirl breaks down a lot.

5) Coronado Springs has to be the easiest resort on the legs that I have ever visited. We asked for a room close to transportation. We got a room at bus stop 4, and I mean AT bus stop 4. If we want to go to pepper market or the main building, we jump on any bus that comes by, and they stop at Stop 1 every time. We can fill up our mugs, and hop on another bus to go where we want from there. VERY simple. Beats the heck out of walking to LM at AoA or Garden View at Poly.

6) The room lock mechanisms need to be moved. It is so freakin' awkward opening the doors with the magic bands. They work fine, but bending your arm like that isn't natural.

7) I read that the zebras were moved off the Safari. Not true. They are still there. Saw them today.

8) 1900 Park Fare has the best breakfast of the monorail resorts in my opinion. Today was my first day there after being a lifetime Ohana fan and they converted me.

Since our plans to the Christmas party have become nil, we're not sure what we'll do tonight. Considering hopping to Hollywood Studios to catch the Osbourne Lights. Will update again if I run across anything else interesting.

 

[720L]

We were at MK last night too when SM broke. It broke right when our fastpass was ready so we asked a CM if we'd be able to get on past our FP time. He asked what kind of fastpass we had and when we answered FP+, he said we would have to change the FP time. He said if we had a paper fastpass we could go on later. So I guess it depends who you ask. Our problem was not wanting to switch the FP+ time because the return time would've been too late. I wish we would've asked the CM you talked to!