Magic Key Discount without Pulling Out Phone?

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At table service restaurants, waiters will often take your phone to the back to apply the discount which is something I felt very uncomfortable about. CMs would be able to see my private data and while waiting for them to return, I'd be left without my phone.

Taking out a phone to get a discount can also be a lot more friction than taking out a credit card. With a credit card, I reach into a wallet and pull it out. With a phone, I have extra steps to unlock it and load the app. In some cases, the app has errors and won't even load the Magic Key properly. You may also have problems if your phone runs out of battery, overheats or you have a limited data plan.

I actually find the current system less secure than physical cards in preventing unauthorized people from using a discount. Disney Plus already incentivizes sharing your Disney password with your friends and family who can then log in on their phones in the park to see your Magic Key. Or you could even send a screenshot to everyone. With a physical card, you only have one card which you are unlikely to pass on to a bunch of different people. If security was a concern, they'd actually require a physical card with your photo on it to get a discount.

My stance is that the physical cards should be offered and the app can be an option for people who like that. At least for me, being able to use Magic Bands for discounts would be cool but still wouldn't convince me to buy one.

I 100% agree with this - the table service stuff has been the main friction point for me. Maybe last year, they gave the restaurants a device to scan the MK from your phone - I don't know if they all have it, and it might be one per restaurant - it seems like they've had to go get it, rather than having it on them at all times. (At one point some wait staff were simply writing down the MK number on paper.)

I would much prefer to use a physical card for MK benefits, especially table service. I've actually hand-made MK cards that I throw in the restaurant billfold with my credit card. (Before I had an MB+, I mainly just used it for LLs.) I had a Lamplight wait staff complain to me about it once last year, so I started telling the wait staff up front that the card was handmade and that they didn't have to take if they didn't want to. (Normally, they take it without questioning it - I think it saves them the time of having to go get the device.)

The big thing for me in what I was saying above - it's the MB part. (I have one, and I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not being able to tap for shopping or restaurants.)

Adding an MB tap on the restaurant device actually might not be a big deal - honestly, it might already be able to do that. (I don't know this, but I'm assuming the restaurant device is similar to the gate device.) Still potential errors if the guest has the wrong pass attached to their MB.

Having said that, I'd be hesitant to ask cashiers to keep one of those devices for shopping transactions, though - it depends on if the devices can actually interface with the register, or if it's just there to pull up your information to copy over manually. Either way, it's basically making the cashier pull out their phone (and do extra work) instead of you pulling out your phone. (And that's a minimum $300 device - I can't imagine they'd want to supply every register at every store with one of those, especially if they're only giving restaurants one. It might actually be cheaper to upgrade the register. Plus, the question of how many people would actually use the feature - would it be a justified expense.)

I'll say this - I'd love a faster way to get to the MK barcode in the app - maybe adding a shortcut to Tickets and Passes on the + button for MK holders.

 

[DLandgirlie]

Oh I did not know this was an option, do you just ask at the booth?

Yes, I didn't have to pay the $20, because I purchased my Magic Key at the Ticket Booth. So the cast member printed the Pass