My wife and I recently returned from a great trip to Central Florida, and while it’s late to the game, I wanted to share my general observations about MyMagic+. We had experienced pieces of it before but this was the first trip where I utilized all the major components.

I’ve talked ad nauseam about Fastpass+ and most of it has been highly critical. I still strongly dislike the advanced reservations and the issues it creates. Three bookings in advance results in tiers at Epcot and Hollywood Studios due to a lack of attractions in those parks that necessitate Fastpass+. Three bookings in advance also results in Fastpass+ being added where it doesn’t belong.

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Regardless of these gripes, Fastpass+ is still a means to an end, but naturally I felt obligated to test the system on my trip. All told, I think the system runs very well and there aren’t many points of exploitation. The same issues remain where popular attractions run out of Fastpasses early in the day, but alternatively same day reservations can be made 5 minutes out for many other attractions. These conditions should only improve as more attractions are built.

My biggest complaint about the system during the trip was that we couldn’t make additional Fastpass+ reservations (beyond the original three) on my phone and there weren’t enough kiosks in the parks. The learning curve is also steeper than the original Fastpass which means that the system still benefits the experienced guest more than the first timer.

I wanted to see how much a guest can get out of this system as well as where advantages can be gained. The biggest way to benefit from the new system is to use the first three Fastpass+ reservations as early as possible. When a guest makes their initial three Fastpass+ reservations, the one hour window is not allowed to overlap. Consider the following reservation windows that begin a clockwise tour of the Magic Kingdom.

  • Jungle Cruise: 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
  • Splash Mountain: 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

First and foremost, Disney has carried over the grace periods for these windows. The grace periods are allowed to overlap, but the reservation windows are not. The grace period allows a guest to enter 5 minutes early and up to 15 minutes late. I know we benefited from this once or twice on our trip. Secondarily, the one hour return windows present an issue of down time while waiting for the next window to open. The tip to avoiding down time is to move the remaining Fastpass+ reservations forward after using the first one. Once a Fastpass+ has been redeemed the overlap restriction for that window is lifted. In the example above, if a guest enters Jungle Cruise at 9:30, they can move their next Fastpass+ reservation forward (assuming availability). At an attraction like Pirates of the Caribbean there will often be availability 5 or 10 minutes out from the current time.

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In the above scenario, a guest can enter Jungle Cruise at 9:30 AM and then move their Pirates of the Caribbean Fastpass+ to 9:45 AM on their mobile device (assuming the My Disney Experience Application is working properly). They can also look to see if Splash Mountain has any availability for windows starting at 10:45 AM – 11:45 AM to bump up that reservation as well. A more popular attraction like Splash Mountain may not have availability, but something like The Haunted Mansion might. In theory, the guest could then ride Pirates of the Caribbean and get a Haunted Mansion Fastpass+ for 10:00 AM. After using the Haunted Mansion Fastpass+, they can continue making Fastpass+ reservations at kiosks throughout the day. Many of those reservations may only be 5 minutes away from the current time during lower crowds.

While the ability to reschedule on the fly seems beneficial (it is), it’s not without its issues. If a guest wants to change their Fastpass+ reservation to another attraction, the app gives the impression that the change will be made for the same time. However if that time isn’t available, a new time is given without additional verification. In the previous example, if the guest tries to change their 11:30 AM Splash Mountain reservation to Peter Pan’s Flight, there probably wouldn’t be availability at 11:30 AM. They may be assigned a reservation much later in the day, hamstringing their ability to use Fastpass+ until that reservation is used. They could still change this reservation, but they probably wouldn’t be able to get an earlier time for Peter Pan’s Flight. This issue is also significant for those guests utilizing a Fastpass+ reservation for a nighttime show.

Under the old system a guest could get a Fastpass for something with a return time more than two hours out, but then they could make another reservation in two hours. No such option exists with Fastpass+. This is why I continue to support reducing Fastpass+ reservations to two at a time. Guests would still be able to make advanced reservations, but when they use one, they could get another one. This would allow guests to continuously cycle two Fastpass+ reservations throughout the day. It would also address the complaints of guests that are locked into a nighttime spectacular reservation as well as eliminate the need for tiers.

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Another thing I wanted to test with Fastpass+ was if a guest could use someone else’s account to “hold” Fastpass+ reservations on an otherwise unavailable attraction. For example, I wanted to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at night. I had a friend that wasn’t in the park reserve a Fastpass+ for the attraction in the evening. My hope was that I could cancel the reservation under his name and immediately reserve it under my name. In short, this did not work, but I may have timed it incorrectly. I think in theory, this type of action could work under the current system but is highly susceptible to user error and/or luck.

Moving away from Fastpass+, I understood that the motivation behind the Magic Band was to have one convenient wearable device that would allow guests to leave their wallet at home. For Annual Passholders, this is far from the case.

First, a bit of background on how we set up this trip. We bought 7-Day Park Hoppers in advance and then had them linked to a resort reservation. As a result of the resort reservation, we were given Magic Bands. When we arrived, we upgraded our 7-Day Park Hoppers to Annual Passes. Our Annual Passes replaced the 7-Day Park Hoppers on the Magic Band, and for all intents and purposes this worked as it should without issue. We were also issued a separate parking and discount pass that was also linked to our account and functioned similarly to the Magic Band without the long range RFID component.

When we presented the parking pass at the various parking gates, we were asked for ID seemingly arbitrarily. Sometimes we were, other times we weren’t. When they asked for ID, they scanned the parking pass and our name showed up on a monitor in the parking booth. They matched the name on the monitor with the name on the ID. This seems unnecessarily complicated. If they’re going to scan a device, why can’t the device be the Magic Band? Additionally, if they are trying to eliminate the need for a wallet, they need to add the guest’s image to their Magic Band as well. This works in Disneyland and was the norm for Disney World annual passes 25+ years ago. Similarly, we were asked for ID when using our merchandise discount card or Tables in Wonderland card. At this point, the “more convenient” Magic Band requires me to keep carrying the Tables in Wonderland card, the parking pass/merchandise discount card, and my ID. If anything, this is a step backwards.

Fast forward to the second to last day of my trip: I’ve been snapping/unsnapping my Magic Band for a week. One of the rubber prongs broke off making it less secure than it was previously. I didn’t bother getting a new one on the trip because I didn’t want a gray one. I also know that as an Annual Passholder, I could order a new Magic Band online. I was the only one that needed a new one – my wife did not. When I placed the online order, there was no option to unselect my wife from my Magic Band order. As such, we were delivered an Annual Passholder Magic Band box that came complete with two new Magic Bands and two new parking pass/merchandise discount cards.

So, as a result of this purchase of a single annual pass, I now have in my possession the following:

1 Magic Band (not broken)

1 Magic Band (broken, but otherwise functional)

2 Parking Passes

1 Tables in Wonderland card

When we consistently see things like entertainment cuts prompted by less than a million dollars worth of savings, I’m hard pressed to defend all of this excess with MyMagic+. If I could have gone into guest services and acquired a replacement green Magic Band with my name on it, I would have done it on the trip. Instead, by ordering it online, Disney had to spend money on shipping, their premium packaging (also largely unnecessary, but I’m sure some people like it), an extra Magic Band for my wife (not necessary), and two additional Parking Passes (also not necessary). All told, this was probably less than $20, but my visit to Guest Relations would have been far cheaper.

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The Next Gen project was intended to be more convenient for guests. Right now, it’s a lateral move. I see several major enhancements that need to be incorporated before this can be considered an improvement to the guest experience:

The My Disney Experience mobile application needs to have comparable functionality to the in park kiosks. This includes allowing guests to make Fastpass+ selections beyond their original three.

The Disability Access Service (DAS) card needs to be integrated into the Fastpass+ kiosks and My Disney Experience mobile application.

All parking gates should have EZ-Pass / SunPass type readers for Annual Passholders, DVC and Resort guests. This can be enabled by the RFID chips in the guest’s Magic Band.

Add a photo to all Magic Bands for Annual Passholders. The photo will appear at all points of purchase negating the need for a photo ID for merchandise discounts. This can also be used at Park and Resort parking guests for security check in purposes.

Link a state or federal ID to the Magic Band that includes a validated birthdate. This would allow the Magic Band to be used for alcohol purchases.

Add the ability to link the Tables in Wonderland to the Magic Band.

There is still a significant amount of waste with MyMagic+, and I fail to see how this is an improvement over what it replaced. It’s a new way of doing business that has some conveniences. However it seems that every convenience is offset by an equal or greater inconvenience.

 

Tim Grassey
Three months before being born, Tim enjoyed his first trip to Disney World. Ever since, frequent trips to Disney World and Disneyland have helped feed the obsession. Tim currently co-owns the Disney World Rumors and news site, WDWThemeParks.com. You can follow the site on Twitter @wdwthemeparks. In addition to contributing articles to MiceChat.com, Tim is also a co-host on the E-Ticket Report Podcast. The E-Ticket Report (@ETicketReport on Twitter) is a member of the Mice Pod podcasting network, and Tim along with fellow co-hosts Derek Burgan and Chris Wakefield discuss what pleases or displeases them about theme parks.