The era of MagicBands, FastPass+ and My Disney Experience is upon us. So what do Disney Vacation Club members need to know about Disney's NextGen initiatives?
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Although these so-called NextGen technology enhancements are still officially in a testing phase, it's more of a "soft opening" with tens-of-thousands of park guests participating every single day. By October 23, all Disney owned and operated resorts at Walt Disney World will be issuing the MagicBands and all related services. Invitations have already been sent to guests scheduled to arrive in November and December. While Disney is still tweaking some aspects of the program, there is no turning back at this point.
So you have a trip which begins in the next 60 days. Where do you begin?
It all starts with the website MyDisneyExperience.com. This is Disney's new one-stop-shop for online check-ins, dining reservations, FastPass+ and more.
Disney Vacation Club members who have access to the DVCMember.com website should use their same username and password when logging into MyDisneyExperience.com. During that first visit there will be some Terms and Conditions to accept and some behind-the-scenes account maintenance which Disney's servers should handle.
When the logon process is complete, ideally you'll be properly identified as a Disney Vacation Club member and any pending reservations displayed on the MDE site. There are links present which you can use to retrieve resort reservations, dining reservations and others which are not appearing. But if you run into any serious problems pulling-up your information, stop and contact tech support. There have been some reports of trouble, but tech support is there to assist.
The online check-in process can now be completed as much as 60 days prior to arrival. Clicking on the check-in link brings up a page which displays the details of the resort reservation and requests the anticipated arrival and departure time. Arrival times are often used to assist resort staff with placing guests in rooms which are immediately ready to be occupied.
Not pictured is an option to receive cell phone text message notifications related to the reservation. This option has its own set of Terms and Conditions related to the messaging. Upon selecting this option, a sample text message is immediately sent, confirming the desire to receive room alert texts.
Next prompt is for room charging privileges and PIN codes. Guests can designate who among their party members are eligible to charge purchases back to the room and assign a PIN code for each individual. Entry of the 4-digit PIN code is required for every purchase.
The final step of the online registration is room requests. A list of standard requests has been prepared for each resort with guests able to select up to two items. Disney Vacation Club members can still communicate more detailed requests through DVC Member Services. As always, requests are not guaranteed to be fulfilled and it is debatable as to which of these approaches will yield the better results.
Guests who place a higher priority on having a room ready immediately upon arrival can mark the "Room Ready Request" checkbox. This will place a higher priority upon having a room--any room--available at the stated arrival time. But some requests may have to be sacrificed in order to meet the Room Ready Request.
With the check-in process complete, the next task is to modify MagicBands for each member of the traveling party. For those not already familiar with the concept, MagicBands are brighly colored rubber wristbands which have replaced the credit card-sized Key to the World Card. MagicBands contain an RFID chip which emits a short range radio signal. The RFID technology allows the bands to fill a variety of roles during the Walt Disney World vacation.
MagicBands will be used to unlock the door to guests' hotel rooms / villas. MagicBands will be used for admission to the theme parks. MagicBands can be used to make purchases in gift shops and restaurants, to store FastPass+ ride times, and so on.
All Disney resort guests will receive rubberized MagicBands free of charge. By default, bands will be issued in a gray color with the first name of each guest. However, by using the "Personalize MagicBands" link on the MDE website, guests can choose their own color and naming options for their band.
The MagicBands & Cards page lists shipping details, number of days remaining to customize the bands and links to customize for each guest. Note that whatever customization options are in-place on the shipping cutoff date will be used to produce the guests' bands.
Available colors include green, pink, blue, red, orange, yellow and the standard blue. Personalization options allow for up to 9 characters of text to be printed on each band. No limitations are indicated, theoretically allowing guests to choose a name, nickname, username, initials or similar identifying mark.
With MagicBands customization complete, the next stop for most guests will be FastPass+. FastPass+ is Disney's evolution of the popular FastPASS ride reservation system. Rather than crossing the parks all day long, claiming paper tickets will pre-assigned ride times, the FastPass+ system allows guest to choose the exact dates and times they wish to ride certain attractions up to 60 days in advance.
The details of FastPass+ are the most likely to still evolve over time as Disney continues to perform stress testing on the entire system. At this time, FastPass+ is only available to Disney resort guests and each individual is limited to just three (3) FP+ selections per day, all at a single theme park of their choice.
Disney has installed FastPass+ at literally dozens of additional attractions and shows like Fantasmic! and Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. Eventually guests will be able to reserve viewing space for daily parades using FastPass+ or schedule a time for a character meet-and-greet to get those autographs and family photos.
During the December test period in which my trip happens to fall, most of the secondary options appear to be off line. For instance, FastPass+ offerings at Disney's Hollywood Studios are limiated to just four total attractions. Fortunately they are all park headliners: Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, Star Tours, Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania.
But more about that in a moment.
Before guests can even proceed to booking FastPass+ ride times, valid theme park admission tickets must be attached to their account. The admission can take the form of either Magic Your Way passes or Annual Passes. Tickets can be purchased direct from Disney or from an approved third-party ticket seller. Regardless of the purchase option selected, some form of park admission media must be attached to each guest's account.
Without a ticket, you'll get a message like the one below stating "Needs Valid Park Admission."
Disney appears to be using the park tickets as a gatekeeper for limiting FastPass+ reservations to only those who have plans to visit the parks. No tickets...no FastPass+. Only have a 5-day Magic Your Way ticket...you can only select FastPass+ ride times for 5 days.
With linked admission tickets, the process of booking FastPass+ ride times couldn't be simpler. A calendar allows guests to pick the theme park dates which coincide with the hotel reservation and/or Annual Pass effective dates.
Then one of the four theme parks is selected. Note FastPass+ is only valid at one park per day.
And finally the list of eligible attractions is presented.
After selecting the desired attractions, the MDE website will present several recommended itineraries like the one below.
However, each of the ride times can be easily customized by using the "Make Changes" button.
Securing the FastPass+ ride times is quite simple. However, it remains to be seen how flexible the system will prove to be once fully implemented. Guests are not required to book FastPasses weeks in advance. In theory, they should still be able to wait until they arrive at the park and stop by one of the newly-constructed FastPass+ terminals to choose ride times for later that day.
Given the number of attractions which have added FastPass+ and the limit of just 3 passes per guest, per day, there should be plenty of ride slots available same-day for most attractions. But again, the FastPass+ allocations and partcipating attractions are still in a state of flux, making predictions very difficult.
FP+ ride reservations viewed on MDE smartphone app
Guests who travel with laptop computers or smartphones are likely to have the best experience as the MyDisneyExperience.com website and smartphone app can be used to make changes on-the-fly without even visiting the in-park terminals. Spontaneous travelers could make their selections from a laptop while eating breakfast in their villa, or from a smartphone while riding the monorail to Epcot. Even long-term planners can make changes to their scheduled attractions and reservation times as long as the FastPass+ return window has not yet begun.
Disney will eventually make FastPass+available to Annual Passholders and other guests who do not have a Disney hotel (or DVC) reservation. It is all-but-confirmed that the legacy FastPASS machines with their paper tickets will be removed onceFastPass+ is fully implemented.
The timeline for expanding FastPass+ beyond hotel guests is unknown, as is the cost (or lack thereof.) Rumors and speculation have suggested that some services like FastPass+ will only be complimentary to Disney hotel guests. Day guests and others may have to pay additional fees to use the service...or they may receive fewer daily selections than Disney hotel guests.
Disney has stated MagicBands will be complimentary to its hotel guests and Passholders. Day guests will eventually be able to add MagicBands to their visit for a fee.
But rest assured, all Disney Vacation Club members will have access to the entire My Disney Experience product roster including the MagicBands and FastPass+. Around two months prior to your next scheduled arrival, visit the MyDisneyExperience.com website to make your selections and prepare for the evolution of the Walt Disney World vacation.
