SDFP: CHANGES COMING!! Beware the 7th of June?!

[ScrapYap]

You can use your room card for anything - including SDFP (unless the profiles on the resort reservation are your usual ticketed park guest profiles - in which case the cards would just access your primary FP). Your room card is a clone of your MagicBand and will appear on the MagicBands and Cards page of your MDE. You can use it for park admission (or anything else) if you have entitlements. It probably won't be given to you on a card that looks like a park ticket - it will just be a generic blue or yellow RFID card with the castle. But it's possible that you'll be given a card like those that are used for ticketing.

They definitely don't offer cards at check-in. You have to ask for them. People with implanted medical devices may prefer a card (because you're supposed to keep the MB 9 inches from the device - which isn't easy if it's on your wrist and you're obviously moving your hand up to your face periodically). Other people don't like to be tracked as they move through the park. (The RFID in a card is passive which reduces possible tracking.) Some people find that the bands are sweaty. So for a variety of reasons, they will still give you a card in place of a MagicBand at a front desk (or guest services).

If the profiles on your resort reservation are different from your primary profiles, you can use the room key cards for SDFP.

 

[erinch]

Hello! I have a pile of a MBs from a friend, which the overly helpful autocorrect wants to make abs. Some of them are a couple of years old. Is there a way to see if the battery is still good in order to make them rogue bands? Or does the battery not matter?

Second question, some of these may be first MBs, which the over helpful autocorrect wishes to make Geneva. Do all MBs work as phantoms?

Thank you!

 

[ScrapYap]

Hello! I have a pile of a MBs from a friend, which the overly helpful autocorrect wants to make abs. Some of them are a couple of years old. Is there a way to see if the battery is still good in order to make them rogue bands? Or does the battery not matter?

Second question, some of these may be first MBs, which the over helpful autocorrect wishes to make Geneva. Do all MBs work as phantoms?

Thank you!

Search with Ctrl F for "bring in the clones" on the first page of the thread - because you're going to want to be sure you understand how the bands work for SDFP.

Also, if your friend is willing to give you their MDE sign in, that would help a lot. Because many of the bands you were given must be clones. Figuring out which are clones is all spelled out on the first page.

 

[erinch]

Thank you! I thought as long as the MBs weren't linked to my MDE profile, they could be used. I will read it again!

 

[erinch]

Okay, I read it again! My friends are a family of 4 . I have 8 of their MBs from 2 previous trips of theirs. So there are 2 Bobs, 2 Susan's, etc. so what I understand is that I can use 4 of their bands, one for each of them, and link them as Thing 1 , thing 2 etc in my MDE? And then I can try for sdfps, which the ever helpful autocorrect calls sad fps with their bands? Or am I missing something?

They are using their MDE to make ADRs at 180 days out, but do not have tickets linked. But they would rather I not access their MDE.

 

[ScrapYap]

Okay, I read it again! My friends are a family of 4 . I have 8 of their MBs from 2 previous trips of theirs. So there are 2 Bobs, 2 Susan's, etc. so what I understand is that I can use 4 of their bands, one for each of them, and link them as Thing 1 , thing 2 etc in my MDE? And then I can try for sdfps, which the ever helpful autocorrect calls sad fps with their bands? Or am I missing something?

They are using their MDE to make ADRs at 180 days out, but do not have tickets linked. But they would rather I not access their MDE.

Now that you know which are clones, you don't need to access their MDE.

You can't link their bands to profiles on your own account because they're already linked to the original profiles. You could always become MDE friends with your friends - but you don't need to.

You don't need to do anything but tap the four bands at a kiosk to get SDFP. Marcie has photos to illustrate at the top of the thread.

Have a great trip!

 

[erinch]

Wow. And thank you! Apologies for being obtuse. Will be fun to try!

 

[hayesdvc]

Can anyone give me tips or tricks you use on organizing either using the non-ticketed bands or the cards for the day?

 

[ScrapYap]

Wow. And thank you! Apologies for being obtuse. Will be fun to try!

It's definitely complicated. Put a little colored rubber band around each of their bands, or something like that, so that you always know which set is which. (If they belonged to you, you could label them with a Sharpie.) Let us know how it all works out.

 

[marciemi]

With cards I just keep them as a set in Ziploc bags and hand them out to everyone as we approach the Mickey head and they know to give them back as soon as they've scanned (or wait for the second check point if applicable). Pretty much my rule with anyone I take (I'm frequently also using other family member's AP cards for extra pre-booked FPP's as well) is "If I hand you a card, use it. If I don't, use your MB". But really, if you mess up, it's not a big deal. Just grab the other set and use it then (or have people tap their other MB if they're wearing two). CM's won't care as long as it then turns green.

 

[hayesdvc]

With cards I just keep them as a set in Ziploc bags and hand them out to everyone as we approach the Mickey head and they know to give them back as soon as they've scanned (or wait for the second check point if applicable). Pretty much my rule with anyone I take (I'm frequently also using other family member's AP cards for extra pre-booked FPP's as well) is "If I hand you a card, use it. If I don't, use your MB". But really, if you mess up, it's not a big deal. Just grab the other set and use it then (or have people tap their other MB if they're wearing two). CM's won't care as long as it then turns green.

Thanks. Do you normally just have one card for each member of your party or do you do more ?

 

[marciemi]

Thanks. Do you normally just have one card for each member of your party or do you do more ?

Depends on who I have visiting. We're local. If some of my guys (20-somethings), I'll try to use our own FPP's and one more set. But if I have someone visiting from out of state and they're trying to do a whole park in a day, I'll use their ticket, plus our 5 family AP's to get 3 sets. Sometimes I'll do SDFP's as well. Just depends on if it's someone who goes regularly and I'm just trying to get one more ride in or someone who I'm trying to squeeze in as much as I can. It definitely can get confusing when you get to 4 or 5 sets of FPP's though! Just planning how many you can realistically do in a time period and minimize walking (especially when adding in SDFP's to a plan you already have) can seem like it fully occupies your day. If I were trying to visit and enjoy things myself, I wouldn't do more than one additional set. But since I don't really care if I'm distracted and I've been on everything a lot, I'm okay with that to help family/friends visiting maximize their days.

 

[hayesdvc]

If I have an ADR before the park opens, will the kiosks already be available ?

 

[MVC1225]

I wear a lanyard and I slip the extra band through the lanyard so I can just scan it without removing. I wear mine on my wrist so no confusion.

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

ScrapYap, is there any advantage or disadvantage to deleting a hived card or band from an MDE account? You can't really use them for anything, so is it best to delete them. Disney always tries to get me to get rid of some, but I am always reluctant... you never know, right?

Also, I have found two sets of cards from 2013 that are RFID enabled but not clones... can I use one to get SDFPs in one park, then the other to get 3 SDFPs in a second park? Can I then also use my ticketed MBs and the cards from the first park to get a single FP in the second park?

And, finally, CMs really have no issue with people using those old blue or green Mickey-in-circle cards to scan at the FP readers at the entrance to rides? I'd hate to be called out, and hold up the line, if you KWIM?

 

[ScrapYap]

ScrapYap, is there any advantage or disadvantage to deleting a hived card or band from an MDE account? You can't really use them for anything, so is it best to delete them. Disney always tries to get me to get rid of some, but I am always reluctant... you never know, right?

Also, I have found two sets of cards from 2013 that are RFID enabled but not clones... can I use one to get SDFPs in one park, then the other to get 3 SDFPs in a second park? Can I then also use my ticketed MBs and the cards from the first park to get a single FP in the second park?

And, finally, CMs really have no issue with people using those old blue or green Mickey-in-circle cards to scan at the FP readers at the entrance to rides? I'd hate to be called out, and hold up the line, if you KWIM?

You can't delete a card or band. You can just deactivate (though they still seem to work for FP entrance even if deactivated - Marcie haven't you found this, too?). Supposedly, the system can get bogged down if you have too many bands. Let's say your MB isn't working at your resort room door. This might be blamed on having too many bands on your account. Is that really the problem - who knows. Might just be a glitch. But if you have more than a few bands, you might want to deactivate a bunch (you can always reactivate later). Just put them in a big Ziplock bag marked "deactivated."

Those non-cloned cards will be convenient. What one card does, the other doesn't know about. You can use them any way you like for SDFP. (Though you can't get sets of SDFP at two parks on the same individual card.) Check the main FP thread for updated info on booking a fourth FP at a different park - or we can ask Marcie. She's probably in a park at this moment.

CMs only care about one thing - did the Mickey head turn green? They don't care what color the cards are. And there are plenty of non-expiring cards out there that have the old designs. I don't think CMs even look at your card. And it wouldn't matter if they did. Green Mickey head is all that matters.

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

You can't delete a card or band. You can just deactivate (though they still seem to work for FP entrance even if deactivated - Marcie haven't you found this, too?). Supposedly, the system can get bogged down if you have too many bands. Let's say your MB isn't working at your resort room door. This might be blamed on having too many bands on your account. Is that really the problem - who knows. Might just be a glitch. But if you have more than a few bands, you might want to deactivate a bunch (you can always reactivate later). Just put them in a big Ziplock bag marked "deactivated."

Those non-cloned cards will be convenient. What one card does, the other doesn't know about. You can use them any way you like for SDFP. (Though you can't get sets of SDFP at two parks on the same individual card.) Check the main FP thread for updated info on booking a fourth FP at a different park - or we can ask Marcie. She's probably in a park at this moment.

CMs only care about one thing - did the Mickey head turn green? They don't care what color the cards are. And there are plenty of non-expiring cards out there that have the old designs. I don't think CMs even look at your card. And it wouldn't matter if they did. Green Mickey head is all that matters.

Right! Didn't think about those non-expiring cards... that should help us blend!

In terms of second park, do non-cloned cards work the same as a ticketed MB would? Mostly curious, the only place I really think it might help is jumping to MK. None of the other parks would be worth it really, unless you are hoping for something like Illuminations at the end of the day with that single FP you could potentially get from park 1 RFID-enabled non-clone.

And kudos to you for figuring this whole thing out. What a mastermind! I think we should get people like you onto finding the cure for cancer!

 

[marciemi]

You can't delete a card or band. You can just deactivate (though they still seem to work for FP entrance even if deactivated - Marcie haven't you found this, too?).

Those non-cloned cards will be convenient. What one card does, the other doesn't know about. You can use them any way you like for SDFP. (Though you can't get sets of SDFP at two parks on the same individual card.) Check the main FP thread for updated info on booking a fourth FP at a different park - or we can ask Marcie. She's probably in a park at this moment.

Yes, I have found that all deactivated bands and cards still work fine at kiosks and are still linked to your MDE. So even if you deactivated the card, if you use it for SDFP, it will still show the FP on your MDE. I know someone explained what the point of deactivating was - I think it has to do with admission or maybe room entry? Definitely not SDFP though.

And I'm not going to the parks for another hour yet today! My question on the above though is are you trying to get SDFP for one person per park? Because if you have 2 old cards and use one at each park during the day, you'll only be able to book 3 SDFP's for 1 person each. If so, then yes, that would work. As ScrapYap says, read the regular thread for booking the 4th - general rule is that you can book your 4th as soon as you scan at the 3rd and that 4th can be for the same or different park (this is for your normal account - for your SDFP's you will physically have to go to the kiosk at the new park).

In terms of second park, do non-cloned cards work the same as a ticketed MB would? Mostly curious, the only place I really think it might help is jumping to MK. None of the other parks would be worth it really, unless you are hoping for something like Illuminations at the end of the day with that single FP you could potentially get from park 1 RFID-enabled non-clone.

Are you asking about at the kiosk? Then yes, what pops up at the kiosk will be the same if you have a regular linked MB or a non-clone card or MB that no longer has ticket media. Just the first name of the person who it's assigned to. That's all you and the CM will see there in any case. I think obviously MK is the best bet for using SDFP later in the day, but it really depends what time you hop. If you go to HS when it's open until 10 or 11, you can frequently still get Tier 1's or "good" Tier 2's (Star Tours/ToT) by mid-afternoon for later in the evening. You can almost always get Fantasmic or Great Movie Ride (and I've seen that line regularly in the 30-40 minute range lately it seems). So I think it's helpful there. Pretty useless for Epcot. Also helpful for AK though since it's open so late right now. I've gone around 4 and been able to get anything other than KS or EE (mostly since EE FPP's stop at 8-9). But it would help you for the JB show (although really I don't think a FPP is needed there), or Dinosaur, or Tough to be a Bug or other shows.

 

[ScrapYap]

Marcie - the City Hall kiosk was covered again last week. Would you say it's down as much at 50% of the time?

 

[ScrapYap]

Right! Didn't think about those non-expiring cards... that should help us blend!

In terms of second park, do non-cloned cards work the same as a ticketed MB would? Mostly curious, the only place I really think it might help is jumping to MK. None of the other parks would be worth it really, unless you are hoping for something like Illuminations at the end of the day with that single FP you could potentially get from park 1 RFID-enabled non-clone.

And kudos to you for figuring this whole thing out. What a mastermind! I think we should get people like you onto finding the cure for cancer!

Glad it's helped. I've found a lot of golden tips on the DIS through the years.

Wish I were a scientist, but no such luck. But I am thinking of running for president. Crazier things have happened.