lastvist was in january. at that time i was told the bracelet was good because it would eliminate carrying paper tickets and passes. and would also serve as a room key. by the time i was on the system i had to carry paper copies of my tickets and passes as a back-up but also my free parking pass. i need 2 bracelets because the "system" would not work with the hotel room key information. and my hotel bracelet key would not recognize my passes and tickets. as of today i think i have 6 bracelets from 2 visits.

I was invited to the trial for Be Our Guest in January. I tried it out on the browser but the entire utility of making a quick service reservation for our party of 4 adults and 5 kids and spending that much money to be shuffled in and out made no sense to me. I'd rather grab a quick snack and head back to the hotel for a real lunch than that. I opted out.

In reply to by Steve Berman (not verified)

Steve we did the beta test for Be Our Guest lunch service in February. The system worked well ordering for two of us once I figured it out. However I agree way too expensive for a quick service meal that in a likely scenario a lot of people with other things planned and scheduled will just go in scarf down and then leave.

The whole system is annoying to me way too much pre-planning now and no spontaneity. The Magic bands are just one of the outward symptoms. There are whole web sites devoted to planning including; setting up your planning binder, best ways to get the reservations you want, shortcuts in the parks, what to pack down to the smallest detail and on and on. The whole Disney experience is being transformed from a fun family vacation to something akin to a planned assault on the kingdom with stressed out parents and kids marching from the rope drop to a fast pass, then an adr and so on to the next.
Naïve visitors approach the concierge (what a quaint idea) and ask for dining reservations at Be Our Guest for that night and wait in line at the park to get a fast pass for Seven Dwarfs while those who got them months ago shake their heads in pity. Now at the earliest moment we can possibly make a reservation of any kind we're at the computer or on the phone and the system is crashing under the stress but wait one minute later and you won't get it. Where's the fun in all that?
Don't get me wrong I love Disney and think they get so many things right. I do wonder though how My Magic + will play out and feel once they get it all up and working well and how much this culture of preplanning with become ingrained.

Is the problem that IT professionals aren't so interested in being hired at minimum wage for the privilege of working for the Mouse?

I mean, having employees stand around in the parks holding iPads and pretending to be kiosks for making FP+ updates, because you can't do it on your phone - how embarrassing is that!?

Maybe Disney had no control over it. There could have been something wrong with their system, there are plenty of different reasons why it couldn't work.

We used to go to Disney yearly as a family, because it's my happy place. But I'm devastated to say that this might be our last year. Disney has taken all spontaneity out of the vacation. We have to pre-book most of our rides, our counter service and our table service. We even have to pre-book character meets. Because if you don't, it becomes nearly impossible to just do a walk-up.

I'm a planner, and I like to have an outline, but there was always something magical to me about just wandering the park and saying, "Hey, let's ride that!" Now it feels like you can't just DO that. It's just disappointing. I refuse to pre-book character meets and rides and counter service meals. That's just sheer ridiculousness. It becomes "Hurry, we have to get over to xyz ride by 2:36pm before our window expires!" and "Oh you wanted chicken nuggets for lunch? Sorry, I pre-ordered burgers for us 6 months ago. Sorry that you want something different but you can't have it."

SMH. Fail, Disney. Fail. :(

In reply to by Meredith (not verified)

a wdw vacation should be relaxed. i used to go to the park on the day i wanted to, eat when hungry, and not wear a watch during the entire visit.

In reply to by Meredith (not verified)

We generally buy annual passes, but Fsst Pass+ is so poorly thought out that we will not be going back for a long time. Think we may finally try Universal, or Busch Gardens. Can't walk onto rides attractions and I got turned away from Rose and Crown because I didn't have a reservatio. Oh by the way all I would have had to do to get one of yhe empty tables was go to My Magic site. BUT WE DON'T HAVE SMART PHONES. GOT PLENTY OF TABLETS BUT NO SMART PHONES. Oh by the way we then we to the side seating area and sat and relaxed at one of the many empty tables

Somebody tell me when WDW dumps the genius who is behind this and we will think about maybe returning - unless we are having too much gun at Universal et al.

Completely agree it was crazy. Got up at 6pm, logged in got the time and date I wanted and then it hung up at confirmation. Went through same process multiple times on both my Mac and the moblie app on my phone. Always hung up, never confirmed. NO emails sent of confirmation. Tried calling in and only got a busy signal or error message. NEVER did get through online, in app or on phone. Very disappointing. BUT last night checked my account for the heck of it and found 3! different reservation times booked! Still shocked at that. I'm hanging onto 2 of them for a few more weeks now just to make sure they actually stay there. With all their Billions it's a shame the Disney website (all around) is sluggish, quick to error out and overall is VERY un-user friendly.

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