UPDATED: MagicBands will NOT be coming to Disneyland

[HydroGuy]

Prior booking of attractions requires a lot of capacity. It's easy to turn on a computer and click on a few spots to reserve something. It's much harder to be in the park and get yourself to the FP machine and get an actual ticket. When you remove that extra barrier and it's easier to use, you get...... more use. That's why they added FP to everything they could at WDW.

I can't even imagine what the huge local AP base could do to the pool of FPs available at DLR with prebooking.

Supposing that DLR has physical space for FP+ for most all the rides, it would seem that with the larger number of rides (per park) at DL and DCA as compared to MK would make FPs a bit easier to obtain than WDW. Maybe they could even allot 4-5 FPs per day rather than WDW's 3 per day. And because of the AP effect they could make them available much closer to the trip date - maybe one week?

Heck, since they control the system they could hold back a certain amount of FPs and make them available up until the day before possibly.

I agree with you that the lower barrier will make them more attractive. But with so many locals making last minute plans maybe it would not be so bad? I think the biggest barrier would be the physical space needed. Dealing with how to deploy for Disney hotel guests, locals with AP, local day trippers, etc. would be a smaller barrier. But an uproar is still a potential. A third barrier (LOL) is that they often do not even firm up their park hours until 4 weeks ahead of time.

 

[mom2rtk]

Supposing that DLR has physical space for FP+ for most all the rides, it would seem that with the larger number of rides (per park) at DL and DCA as compared to MK would make FPs a bit easier to obtain than WDW. Maybe they could even allot 4-5 FPs per day rather than WDW's 3 per day. And because of the AP effect they could make them available much closer to the trip date - maybe one week?

Heck, since they control the system they could hold back a certain amount of FPs and make them available up until the day before possibly.

I agree with you that the lower barrier will make them more attractive. But with so many locals making last minute plans maybe it would not be so bad? I think the biggest barrier would be the physical space needed. Dealing with how to deploy for Disney hotel guests, locals with AP, local day trippers, etc. would be a smaller barrier. But an uproar is still a potential. A third barrier (LOL) is that they often do not even firm up their park hours until 4 weeks ahead of time.

I do think that if it comes to DLR it will be a lot different from what we see at WDW. But I still envision rides like RSR and Indy being snapped up the moment they become available as locals decide to get one "just in case" they pop in over the weekend. So it's possible it might work well except on the few rides people really want it to work on.

I am just of a mind that it works quite well as it is and I really wish they wouldn't tinker with it.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I am just of a mind that it works quite well as it is and I really wish they wouldn't tinker with it.

I agree. I don't have an issue with them making the system electronic, but I wish they'd keep the same "rules" that the system uses now - including day of only and having to be in the park (easy enough to do with location services)

 

[Jerry Horne]

Not cool. I wish they would leave it as is.

 

[JaeAnnA]

My sister won a DL vacation on the radio a few months ago. The agent at Disney Travel that she was working with told her that they were going to be testing FP+ in the parks but it wouldn't be rolled out before her trip (she goes the first week of September). This and the official app release makes the rumors of a FP+ announcement at D23 seem plausible to me.

 

[coluk003]

and no peep about it at d23, further shows this idea has been scrapped for DL

 

[mom2rtk]

and no peep about it at d23, further shows this idea has been scrapped for DL

Great point. In the everyone's excitement over what IS happening, it almost escaped notice what ISN'T happening.

And that makes me a happy camper.

 

[nana50]

Boy, I am totally confused. Even the explanation was confusing. What is the magic band good for? Is it because your tickect and hotel key are all in one wrist band. Can you load fast passes on it. If so that sounds knd of cool, what is the objection?

 

[mom2rtk]

Boy, I am totally confused. Even the explanation was confusing. What is the magic band good for? Is it because your tickect and hotel key are all in one wrist band. Can you load fast passes on it. If so that sounds knd of cool, what is the objection?

Most don't object to the magic band itself. It's the FP+ system they have issue with. The issues they have with it are based on what they have seen rolled out in WDW:

1) needing to commit to ride times 60 days in advance
2) some rides book up entirely prior to the day of
3) prebooked rides are limited to 3. You can get FPs beyond that, but you have to wait through a kiosk line to get each additional one (These are lines where groups must agree on which ride, at which time, as opposed to a line where you just stick in your ticket and take the FP that comes out)
4) At WDW, some parks are tiered, meaning that you can only get one ride from group A and 2 rides from group B (and all the good rides are in group A).
5) Booking window opens at midnight eastern time so if you want the best choice of attractions, you have to decide if it's worth disrupting sleep to try for it.
6) With the addition of FP+, they needed more capacity, so FP+ was added to a bunch of attractions that never had it before, resulting in longer standby lines (because FP is always prioritized over standby).

There's no reason to believe that it would roll out in the same form if it ever came to DLR. But many worry that it might. Some love it at WDW, but some feel it has led to a marked loss of spontaneity and longer lines for some attractions.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I LOVE the MBs themselves, and have gotten used to FP+ and how to make it work for us. Our experience following many trips now with MBs and FP+ is that just as one could make the old system work, one can make the new system work. The biggest disruption for us is that FP+ has been successful at doing exactly what Disney wanted it to do (among other things): spread out the crowds. So while the avg wait for Space Mountain is shorter than it was, the avg waits for our used-to-be-go-to-when-busy attractions like It's a Small World and Haunted Mansion have longer lines on average than before FP+. Changed the way we tour and what we do during the busier times of day.

I haven't been to DL in... maybe... 15 years, and we are going for 6 days in Jan for the Star Wars Half. I am going to miss the convenience of our MBs. I'm also not loving the idea of running all over the park to get FPs. With two parks so close and a group of us, I'm sure we'll make it work.

All this to say that not all change is bad, of course! That, and it is VERY SUBJECTIVE. There are still things I'd want to change about FP+, but IMHO it isn't nearly the travesty for us that some appear to feel (or at least say) it is for them. Vive la différence??

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Boy, I am totally confused. Even the explanation was confusing. What is the magic band good for? Is it because your tickect and hotel key are all in one wrist band. Can you load fast passes on it. If so that sounds knd of cool, what is the objection?

MBs are INCREDIBLY CONVENIENT, in my family's opinion... WE LOVE THEM... no fishing around for plastic cards for...

• Park entrance
• Unlocking Disney hotel room door
• Charging to your Disney hotel account
• Bands scanned to retrieve FPs
• Bands automatically scanned during select rides, adding your ride photo to your account (no running around if you have that one PP+/MM lanyard... ALL bands in your party, linked to your MDE account, get scanned!!)
• Scanning by PhotoPass photographers to add photos to your account
• Finding your dining table automatically at restaurants like Be Our Guest

And other features are expected in the future that will further personalize park experiences.

Some object to what they feel is "tracking" by Disney using RFID technology. Lots of info out there on that -- we don't worry about it in the least.

As someone else mentioned, the biggest objection -- at least here on DIS!!! -- is the FP+ system, not so much the MBs themselves. As I said in my last post, we're going to miss them on our upcoming DL trip in Jan.

 

[Angel Ariel]

The original post of this thread is a bit older. Disney execs have since gone on record saying that MagicBands will not be coming to DLR. FP+ could maybe still come to DLR, without MagicBands, but so far only one site has posted a rumor about it (that was then picked up by other sites, but I've only seen one source site for this rumor).

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

The original post of this thread is a bit older. Disney execs have since gone on record saying that MagicBands will not be coming to DLR. FP+ could maybe still come to DLR, without MagicBands, but so far only one site has posted a rumor about it (that was then picked up by other sites, but I've only seen one source site for this rumor).

That strikes me as absolutely ridiculous! I can't imagine that this is true FOREVER. Maybe a rollout that does FP+ first, and then MBs. It wouldn't make any sense not to add the most convenient aspect of MDE.

For those so fond of saying Disney does everything for money, MBs are a money-maker over the long term. All those easy charging opportunities and convenience that leads to happier guests with perhaps more time for shopping (no running around for ride photos, etc.). Not incorporating them at SOME POINT doesn't make sense at all.

 

[Angel Ariel]

That strikes me as absolutely ridiculous! I can't imagine that this is true FOREVER. Maybe a rollout that does FP+ first, and then MBs. It wouldn't make any sense not to add the most convenient aspect of MDE.

For those so fond of saying Disney does everything for money, MBs are a money-maker over the long term. All those easy charging opportunities and convenience that leads to happier guests with perhaps more time for shopping (no running around for ride photos, etc.). Not incorporating them at SOME POINT doesn't make sense at all.

But the future of Disneyland will apparently not include MagicBands, a wristband that uses microchip technology to let guests use the bands in place of theme park tickets, hotel room keys and even credit cards. The wristbands debuted at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., in 2013.

Disneyland does not plan to offer the wristbands at the park anytime soon, said Mary Niven, vice president for Disneyland Park.

She said the wristband won't work with Disneyland's guest demographics. Many visitors are local residents who do not stay for long periods at the nearby hotels, where the bands would be used heavily.

"We are constantly looking at what is next on the horizon," she added.

Source

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Source

I would focus on the "anytime soon". The more data they accumulate, the more features they add, this conclusion might change. I would bet that it will.

All of these benefits have nothing to do with the hotel people stay at:

• Park entrance
• Bands scanned to retrieve FPs
• Bands automatically scanned during select rides, adding your ride photo to your account (no running around if you have that one PP+/MM lanyard... ALL bands in your party, linked to your MDE account, get scanned!!)
• Scanning by PhotoPass photographers to add photos to your account
• Finding your dining table automatically at restaurants like Be Our Guest

And rather than charging to a hotel room, they COULD make it so that you can charge to a credit card you link to MDE.

 

[Angel Ariel]

And then there was this from Tom Staggs:

Like Iger, Staggs heralds how MyMagic+ will eventually spread to the other Disney theme parks. But when I press him on exactly what this means, Staggs says the company will roll out "variations on MyMagic+." He explains that this "doesn’t mean the MagicBand will be used in every [park]." MagicBand probably won’t come to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, because restructuring costs would be too high. Shanghai is expected to have such a high proportion of guests with smartphones, he says, that there wouldn’t be any need to export the MagicBand. A MyMagic+ app could essentially replace it.

Source

 

[Angel Ariel]

I would focus on the "anytime soon". The more data they accumulate, the more features they add, this conclusion might change. I would bet that it will.

Please see the other quote I just posted from Tom Staggs. I wouldn't expect MBs in DLR ever. If anything, they will likely go the smartphone route that Shanghai is likely to go.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

And then there was this from Tom Staggs:



Source

Yup. I get it. I'm not saying they didn't say this now. That's now -- their CapEx is huge over the next several years, spread out across parks throughout the world. I still wouldn't count it out.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Please see the other quote I just posted from Tom Staggs. I wouldn't expect MBs in DLR ever. If anything, they will likely go the smartphone route that Shanghai is likely to go.

Look -- if the smartphone route includes ALL features listed above for the MBs, I could see that happening instead. It's a bit of a cultural / generational thing for now -- not everyone has / wants to have a smartphone. That'll change even more over time in the US, making the smartphone route more viable for DL -- maybe that's what they're waiting for.

I personally much prefer the MB than using a smartphone. I never wear a watch, hate jewelry, etc. and I LOVE the convenience of the MB. I'd be disappointed if they replaced them at WDW in favor of smartphone technology at some point. I'd understand it, but would not prefer it.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

Sweet. Wonder if you'll have to get a FP+ for smartphone charging stations.