No Pixie Dust Yesterday!! I Hate Magic Bands!

[leebee]

I've said all along that it's NOT a good idea to depend completely on technology- because what happens when it goes down? SOL. This isn't just for Disney, this is for everything. I am always amazed that people are so proud of their dependence on technology and look down their noses at people who can "do it themselves."

ANYHOW… Almost as concerning as the magic bands not working is the attitude of the Disney employees. They accused you of trying to sneak into the park? They think you are lying about having FP+ or ADRs? Since when is rudeness part of a CM's job description? There are plenty of theme parks to attend if one is looking for poor customer service and rude employees! It sounds almost as if they CMs have been convinced that Disney's new technology is flawless, and of COURSE it's going to work all the time. What flavor kool-aid have they been drinking? OP, were they not concerned or sympathetic at all about dead magic bands? This is getting ridiculous, especially with reports on other threads about cast members telling visitors that it is no longer possible to get cards for room and park admission (old KTTW cards, or similar).

With the money they spent, and all the things tied to your MB, you'd think Disney would have built in several layers of redundancy for this technology.

 

[DisUniversal]

That seems a bit dramatic. We keep ours in the glove compartment just in case we want to swing by whilst in the area. Not very difficult.

That works...if you have one car or always take the same one to the parks...or never find yourself in the area with friends.

 

[GotLabradors]

Just a question......Since so many of you have experienced being accused by CM of trying to enter w/o a valid ticket, do you think Disney is seeing a lot of people with expired MB tickets banking on the "niceness" of CMs to just wave them through because the system is still "glitchy" to get a free day in the park?

 

[Sparkly]

How on earth could thousands of MBs stop working at once??

 

[Disney Frenhines]

Can't stand Magic Bands. One of the worst things...and perhaps THE worst things on a long list of things I feel Disney has done wrong over the past decade. I think it looks silly having all your guests walk around tagged with little rubber bracelets...though it does present a huge cash grab opportunity for Disney to sell extra bracelets and 'bling' to decorate them with.

I hope they always give out legacy pass cards along with the bracelets, otherwise my days as an AP holder may come to and end. I keep my pass in my wallet so it's nice to know I can always drop in at a park if I happen to be in the area. I don't always carry around my silly looking rubber bracelet.

No one is forced to buy anything at Disney, they can make the stuff, but, it is up to the guest as to if they want to buy it.

I'm sorry to hear all the stories about glitches, but, remember how many people go to WDW every year and it is a well known fact that people tend to talk about negative experiences than positive ones in all aspects of consumerism. I go to a well known chain of UK coffee house (not Starbucks) and all the baristas are very good with the exception of one who always fills my tea pot only halfway up, so when I get an email asking for my opinions do I mention the positives, of course not, I tell them about the short changing guy. This is why word of mouth is so important.
Anyway, I digress, these things will happen, at Universal Studios I always have issues with the finger recognition, every bloody time, I have an AP for there and it refused to recognise my finger print at both parks, if I heard someone ask one more time 'are you sure you used that finger before?' I will scream! Luckily I had my ID with me, but, I got to face this all again in October, this worrying me far more than anything to do with MBs as Universal staff are incredibly unhelpful, I asked for a replacement ticket so I could scan my finger afresh and it was a big 'no' so I'm stuck with this issue at US and IoA not only the trip last year, and in May, but, it'll happen again next trip, oh yippee.

 

[Disney Frenhines]

How on earth could thousands of MBs stop working at once??

Computers are not infallible.

 

[Suvadoo]

Just a question......Since so many of you have experienced being accused by CM of trying to enter w/o a valid ticket, do you think Disney is seeing a lot of people with expired MB tickets banking on the "niceness" of CMs to just wave them through because the system is still "glitchy" to get a free day in the park?

My question is how do we prove we have valid park admission if we are unlucky enough to have "Invalid" Magic Bands or RFID cards?

 

[mom2rtk]

They didn't say what the problem was but I saw the cast member's IPAD (they finally brought out people with IPADS because of the limited help) and it said invalid next to our names??? But between yesterday and this morning our band don't work. None of us can get into our rooms...

Maybe the billing portion of the system will stop working too.

Nah. Scratch that. For some reason that part NEVER goes down. Funny thing, don't you think?

The Cast Member that helped us there stated that our bands were "Frozen"

Are you sure that wasn't a new feature of the "Frozen Summer" promotion rolling out early?

 

[luvthemouse71]

Just a question......Since so many of you have experienced being accused by CM of trying to enter w/o a valid ticket, do you think Disney is seeing a lot of people with expired MB tickets banking on the "niceness" of CMs to just wave them through because the system is still "glitchy" to get a free day in the park?

I was going to post something similar. I believe some people experience legit problems. But, I also believe many problems are guest related. Either someone trying to game the system or someone who is confused.

And while I can believe perhaps that a large number of guests had an issue, I find it hard to swallow that it was thousands. I think some exaggeration is going on here.

 

[Ellwood970]

My question is how do we prove we have valid park admission if we are unlucky enough to have "Invalid" Magic Bands or RFID cards?

you have to carry ID at all times. That may not work at all times either if you are not staying onsite.

 

[wdwlver]

This is so scary. Just went on the website to reassure myself that all our reservations are in order and what happens.....my daughter has disappeared from all of our fpp and my husbands park hoppers are now registered to someone named Annette Romano.

Surreal.

 

[smokeyblue]

No one is forced to buy anything at Disney, they can make the stuff, but, it is up to the guest as to if they want to buy it.

I'm sorry to hear all the stories about glitches, but, remember how many people go to WDW every year and it is a well known fact that people tend to talk about negative experiences than positive ones in all aspects of consumerism. I go to a well known chain of UK coffee house (not Starbucks) and all the baristas are very good with the exception of one who always fills my tea pot only halfway up, so when I get an email asking for my opinions do I mention the positives, of course not, I tell them about the short changing guy. This is why word of mouth is so important.
Anyway, I digress, these things will happen, at Universal Studios I always have issues with the finger recognition, every bloody time, I have an AP for there and it refused to recognise my finger print at both parks, if I heard someone ask one more time 'are you sure you used that finger before?' I will scream! Luckily I had my ID with me, but, I got to face this all again in October, this worrying me far more than anything to do with MBs as Universal staff are incredibly unhelpful, I asked for a replacement ticket so I could scan my finger afresh and it was a big 'no' so I'm stuck with this issue at US and IoA not only the trip last year, and in May, but, it'll happen again next trip, oh yippee.

If my plans are held up for an inordinate amount of time because of MB glitches or any other problem that originates from Disney you best believe I will complain. You can't compare a Disney trip with a trip to the coffee house. There is a lot more time and money committed in going on vacation, the stakes are so much higher.

 

[Missyrose]

Perhaps they can't wave people through anymore due to the people bringing old magic bands in to game the system to get more fastpasses?

Beyond that though, it does suck for people caught in those glitches, which seem all too frequent based on this board. That's a shame.

This is a problem with having MBs remain active, I guess. I'm happy to use MBs from previous trips on a current trip (since they all link back to my AP). But I can't imagine many people put in the effort to get to the Disney gates with no ticket linked to their account and hope they're just waived through.

My question is how do we prove we have valid park admission if we are unlucky enough to have "Invalid" Magic Bands or RFID cards?

The main issue with the MM+ system is that it isn't one system. It's many systems strung together. There's the resort reservation system, the ticketing system, the dining system, etc. And the MDE servers are supposed to connect what you have booked in each system via your ID number (which is all that resides on your Magic Band).

So even if the systems aren't talking to each other very well and MM+ says you don't have a valid admission, there will still be a paper trail in the ticketing system (made easier if you have your ticket confirmation with you).

 

[bella2117]

The thought of this happening at rope drop freaks me out.

omg me too

 

[larryz]

Yeah, I know, I know, it's not Disney's fault that a technical difficulty happened, but THAT kind of experience is unacceptable. Unacceptable.

If they don't have enough capacity, or backups, or fallback systems in place, I submit to you that it IS their fault.

 

[Madame]

What in the world happens if you miss your ADR or FP times (imagine it's A&E) because you're stuck at GS?!?

 

[bella2117]

Maybe the billing portion of the system will stop working too.

Nah. Scratch that. For some reason that part NEVER goes down. Funny thing, don't you think?



Are you sure that wasn't a new feature of the "Frozen Summer" promotion rolling out early?

 

[surferdave]

And while I can believe perhaps that a large number of guests had an issue, I find it hard to swallow that it was thousands. I think some exaggeration is going on here.

What the OP described sounds like a systemic problem that affected thousands of guests, not a thousand individual problems. It's common enough with complex systems like MM+ that there's no reason to be suspicious of it.

 

[lovethattink]

I feel your pain. The same thing happened to us the 3rd weekend of sww. Our bands wouldn't work for the room. That was an hour ordeal. They sent a ruuner to us. He tried over the phone to get the mb to work. But we all ended up back at the front desk. The next day, my mb wouldn't get me in the park. I have an AP. GS spent another hour with IT getting it straightened out. It was a big pain.

 

[larryz]

Are you sure that wasn't a new feature of the "Frozen Summer" promotion rolling out early?

Maybe it's the new promotion -- "Magic No Way."