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From my perspective as a potential guest Magic Bands dont drive me to go to the park. Where as at Disneyland the refurbishment of California Adventure (which was done for a Similar cost as to the creation of Magic Bands) has made me strongly consider a making a trip to California

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But its one of those improvements that helps the company more than the guests. It's like spending money on paint, windows, and roof for your house. In the long run it helps you out but it's not as much fun as a big TV, PS4, and surround sound.

The MB are not a deal sealer at all, but they do offer a very unique and original experience.

If you haven't been since the MB, then go check it out. It's crazy how many people are wearing them. They even sell you special ones.

It may not be noticeable but I would guess that Disney is making money over this system.

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The Magic Bands are making serious money for Disney, which is why the system is being implemented at Disney Land without the FastPass+ system.  The system has increased in-park/resort spending because guests are spending less time in line and it has unique tie in purchases like Memory Maker.  Also because of the uniqueness of the system and the experience it delivers I would argue that it incentivizes guests to return because how simple it makes Disney.  I have heard that this system has already paid for itself + more.

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I dont see how scheduling rides and meals months before you go makes for a more simple vacation

 

While I wouldn't choose the system myself, I would argue that it DOES make your vacation simpler.

 

You pre-book your flight, right?

 

You pre-book your transportation.

 

You pre-book your hotel. 

 

You pre-purchase your park tickets.

 

[if you want into a good, sit-down restaurant,] you pre-book your dinner reservations.

 

Now, you pre-reserve a select number of attractions you'd like to be on.

 

You probably wouldn't arrive and say "Oh, we'll figure out the hotel when we get there." Now, planning your DAYS is built right into that. Once you arrive, it's ALL taken care of. Smooth sailing. 

 

Many analysts argue that Walt Disney World is NOT primarily a theme park business, but a real estate business. What really matters to Walt Disney World is hotel occupancy; DVC membership; keeping people on-property to eat, shop, be entertained, etc. It's a physical walled garden where Disney earns your dollar coming and going.

 

Think of MyMagic+ as the cornerstone of that.

 

Arrive at MCO unsure of what to do or where to go. But look, Disney's Magical Express shuttle is waiting for you! With a wave of that gee-whiz MagicBand, you're on board. You won't see your luggage again until it "magically" appears in your Disney Resort hotel room. You don't even need a rental car thanks to Disney's foresight and generosity! Wow!

 

Then that crazy gadget on your wrist lets you into your room, provides easy wallet-free payment, park access, dining reservations... And don't forget, you even got to reserve FRONT OF THE LINE PASSES for each day of your vacation FOR FREE! Just like you already knew exactly where you'd eat (dining reservations are made months out at Disney) and where you'd stay (same) and how you'd get there (same), you now know exactly which park to go to each day and what will be waiting for you at each!

 

By the way, if you want to spend even a day at that resort down the road with that wizard, you'll forfeit all of this for 24 hours. No more easy access. No MagicBands. No convenient hotel. And if you INSIST on stepping out of Disney's garden, good luck finding a route. Your only option to get to Universal is probably going to be a cab. Have fun! MagicBand and MyMagic+ are part of the business plan. They tie you even further to Disney's geographical resort and the program's forced pre-planning is – like it or not – a way to simplify and solidify vacation plans well ahead of your visit. I don't doubt that many or most families like that.

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I am not denying that Disney does a great job of keeping you within the Disney bubble and encouraging you to spend more money,

Im just saying that with the MyMagic+ system having me book rides in advance(and the current state of DHS and Epcot)I wont be traveling to Disney World any time soon

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As for the dinner reservations, everyone makes reservations at good restaurants. Heck if you go to Universal, better make sure you get your Mythos reservation in early enough or you won't get in.

As for booking rides, no one is forcing you to. In the middle of the week in June the wait for any popular ride was just a hair inside 90 minutes. You can wait for that ride at any time you want. No one was cutting off ride times.

Real world example: we would check our app to see what a ride time was. If it was long we would have booked a FP+ for it, at one point a night ride on Hollywood Tower was 90 mins so my mom and I scheduled our fast pass roughly two hours from the current time. This allowed us to have a set time to come back and we went and explored a few shops, ate, and got photos.

Or we could have gotten in line and waited 90 mins...

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Heck if you go to Universal, better make sure you get your Mythos reservation in early enough or you won't get in.

 

Unless you go when the park is deader than KI on a summer weekday, such as the Friday before Labor Day 2012. I walked into Mythos at 10:45 AM that day and made a reservation on the spot for 1:00 PM the same day*. And when I showed up for the reservation, they were taking walk-in customers with a 20-minute wait*. Try that with Disney's California Grill on an equally dead day. Hint: it ain't happenin'. I booked a California Grill reservation for the following Thursday evening, which turned out to be similarly dead, two months in advance, and only got it because somebody canceled; two days before I booked it, there were no slots available for my whole week at Disney.

 

*Experience described is not typical. Your experience may vary.

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I dont see how scheduling rides and meals months before you go makes for a more simple vacation

Scheduling meals well in advance has been needed at Disney long before Magic Bands and My Magic +.

 

But as others said the bands are much more than just your Fast Pass on your wrist. With them you basically don't have to carry anything with you on the resort property. They have your room information so yuo can make purchases adn pay for them by swiping your band, and most stores will have the stuff delivered to your room too. They function as your room key as well. This is in addition to holding your park tickets, fast passes, reservationsm, and photo tickets.

So yes they greatly simplify a trip and can make it more enjoyable since you don't have to worry about carrying things with you adn loading down your pockets or worrying about losig your credit card or room key or having to hold on to a bunch of ticket slips. All you have is a little bracelet on your wrist for everything.

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Others have made many of the valid points I was going to reply with, but let me just add this and you tell me which one is better.  

 

When visiting the Magic Kingdom this past December there were 2 things my daughter wanted to do above and beyond anything else.  Meet Anna and Elsa and ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Prior to FP+ I would have had 2 options at Disney, Legacy FastPass or Stand By.  Legacy FastPass would have required me to be in the park at rope drop, make a mad dash to the sisters and grab a ticket, then over to enter the line for 7 Dwarfs to wait a few hours or once we used our FP for the sisters there may still be availability for paper tickets for the Dwarfs that would have been much later in the day.  Either way these 2 attractions would have consumed half of the day at the Magic Kingdom.

 

With FP+ I was able to book both of these attractions well before our arrival and for the times I basically wanted.  That morning we were able to sleep in, have breakfast with Mickey at Chef Mickey's, casually walk over to Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary in the afternoon, walk in ride 7 Dwarfs with no wait, ride Pirates of the Caribbean and play the Adventure of the Seven Seas game in Adventureland while we waited for our Sisters window to open, meet the sisters and leave the park for dinner at the Wilderness lodge.  All in all it allowed us as a family to relax inside the park because we had guaranteed reservations for the rides we wanted, weren't required to spend hours in line, and were able to experience neat attractions like Adventure of the Seven Seas that we never had time for in the past.  Oh and after dinner we took a boat back to the Kingdom and enjoyed the Christmas Party with no pressure of needing to ride anything.  Here is a link to my trip report with our first use of Magic Bands http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/30705-the-magic-of-disney-world-at-christmas/?hl=%2Bdisney+%2Bworld

 

The system and experience it helps create are highly recommended and this coming from someone who was an expert at using the Legacy FP system

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I never did the legacy passes so my last trip to Disney was filled with long waits.... This most recent trip was the FP trip. It was nice to say the least.

As for Disney tracking, I'm sure it will lead to improved guest experiences and more opportunities to shop.

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Last night, Disney quietly (as in, after park close) removed Bill Cosby's bust from outside the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.  You know things are bad when a simple bust that thousands walk by daily without ever stopping is removed.  Maybe they'll replace him with someone from ABC's comedies..I vote for Ty Burrell lol! 

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Disney certainly doesn't like to get too close to controversy.

 

A similar situation may have had lots to do with the closing of the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, if some are to be believed.

 

And with Whoopi Goldberg's outspoken defense of Mr. Cosby – even in light of recent revelations – she's lucky that she's not in oodles of Disney attractions the way she once was. She could be spotted no less than three times at Disney California Adventure when it opened. It seemed to me then that the woman will do pretty much anything asked of her. Which was verified in The Muppets when she shows up to their telethon and asks, "I heard someone hear might have a job for me?"  :lol:

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What a great read.  Seriously.  Thanks for the link.  I really enjoyed the read.  I also didnt know all of the history of the ride or about the whys it may have been removed for.  

 

Wow seriously though, that ride did not belong in that park.  I still remember the sounds of the running behind my head, the breathing on my neck.... I must have been 13 years old, and my wife was around the same age.  We both read your vivid retelling of the ride.  And man, I still remember the absolute fear.  

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What a great read.  Seriously.  Thanks for the link.  I really enjoyed the read.  I also didnt know all of the history of the ride or about the whys it may have been removed for.  

 

Wow seriously though, that ride did not belong in that park.  I still remember the sounds of the running behind my head, the breathing on my neck.... I must have been 13 years old, and my wife was around the same age.  We both read your vivid retelling of the ride.  And man, I still remember the absolute fear.  

 

Thank you! I've written probably a hundred features for that site, but the new line of in-depth recollections of forgotten attractions is one of my favorite. And of the four or five of those I've written so far, I think I'm proudest of Alien Encounter. What an attraction it was!

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An article has been getting lots of run on various Disney blogs and news feeds that discusses the potential $3 Billion reimagining of Disney Studios.  You can read the article here, it is worth the read http://thisisinfamous.com/3-billion-allow-star-wars-pixar-and-indiana-jones-to-overhaul-disneys-hollywood-studios-exclusive/

 

Everything mentioned seems very plausible and one of the most intriguing parts is an updated version of the Disney Land Indiana Jones ride(one of my all time favorites) would be making its way to the park.  Also the article refers to the park as Hollywood Adventure towards the end of the article, interesting thought there.

 

Like many I expect we will hear more at D23 in August, but this article is quite interesting and it is the first time I have seen something like this get any publicity on various Disney sites.  Makes me think there might be some validity to some of these ideas.

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What a great read. Seriously. Thanks for the link. I really enjoyed the read. I also didnt know all of the history of the ride or about the whys it may have been removed for.

Wow seriously though, that ride did not belong in that park. I still remember the sounds of the running behind my head, the breathing on my neck.... I must have been 13 years old, and my wife was around the same age. We both read your vivid retelling of the ride. And man, I still remember the absolute fear.

Thank you! I've written probably a hundred features for that site, but the new line of in-depth recollections of forgotten attractions is one of my favorite. And of the four or five of those I've written so far, I think I'm proudest of Alien Encounter. What an attraction it was!

Yeah thanks to you I didn't get to bed till 2 am last night. Haha I do like the idea of Endor over Pandora...

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Dinosaur at AK is essentially a clone of Indiana Jones at DL. I have heard that Disney wants something unique to the park and a warmed-over Indiana Jones update isn't thinking much outside the box.  Avatar is still popular-Cirque Du Soleil has created an entirely new show based on it called Toruk which is currently touring.  It is scheduled for a stop at Us Bank in Cincy next May.

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