A Quick Guide To Walt Disney World's MyMagic+

The Walt Disney Company has a long history of innovation, and after many years of speculation on the next generation of projects they have rolled out a collection of groundbreaking tools to make it easier than ever for guests to create a personal and customized experience. MyMagic+ is a new way for all Walt Disney World guests to experience more of the magic by connecting nearly all aspects of the Walt Disney World vacation experience, and beginning right at home.


MagicBands Become Act As Park Admission MediaMagicBands Become Act As Park Admission Media


Through the online digital guide of MyDisneyExperience.com, guests can connect to the fun of Walt Disney World by creating their very own custom web page as they explore, personalize, and keep all their Disney vacation plans in one place. Guests can dive into the fun by making selections for their FastPass+ "must-do" experiences and customizing by their very own MagicBand. It allows families to create excitement and begin their Disney experience even before they leave home; and they'll be ready to go when their customized MagicBands arrive in their mailbox!

Worn on the wrist
, Disney's MagicBand brings together a collection of new Walt Disney World experiences and acts as the key to unlocking the magic. The MagicBand connects guests to all the choices they make online at MyDisneyExperience.com serving as park admission, access to FastPass+ experiences and Disney PhotoPass. For Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests, it also serves as a room key and optional payment method. One little wristband that does so very much! It's all part of Disney's ongoing dedication to offer their guests the very best vacation possible.


MagicBands Hold Your PhotoPass IDMagicBands Hold Your PhotoPass ID


In addition to the website My Disney Experience has a free mobile app that makes use of the extensive complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the Walt Disney World Resort. With the app loaded onto a mobile device guests can have information about WDW attractions, show times, dining and more right in the palm of their hands throughout their visit.

Interactive digital maps simplify navigating the parks and finding nearby experiences. Guests even have the option of modifying FastPass+ choices or dining reservations while on the go. No mobile device? No worries! Disney, has added in-park kiosks to help guests take advantage of what MyMagic+ has to offer. These Service Centers are staffed by friendly and helpful Walt Disney World Cast Members ready to make sure you don't miss a minute of the magic.

MyMagic+ is a fantastic new way for our guests to experience even more of the magic of a Walt Disney World vacation," said Tom Staggs, chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. "The Walt Disney Parks and Resorts vision is simple: To be the most trusted provider of shared family travel and leisure experiences throughout the world. And with MyMagic+ we are taking that experience to a new level.



Service Kiosks Let Guests Change Dining And FastPass+ ReservationsService Kiosks Let Guests Change Dining And FastPass+ Reservations


Day guests and Walt Disney World Resort Passholders (those not staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel) using My Disney Experience are able to make FastPass+ selections 30 days in advance of their trip. As with all guests, Passholders and day guests can change their FastPass+ selections thanks to in-park kiosks or through the My Disney Experience mobile app. If there's any question about how the system works, be sure to stop by and talk to those friendly cast members at the Service Centers.

Day guests will be issued RF-enabled cards for their theme park admission and may use them to enter the theme parks, link PhotoPass photos and redeem FastPass+ selections. If day guests prefer their magic around their wrist, they have the option to purchase a MagicBand at select merchandise locations ($12.95, plus tax) and link their theme park admission to the MagicBand. Disney Passholders receive a complimentary MagicBand. All guest have the ability to buy trinkets and covers to further personalize their MagicBands with at Walt Disney World as well.


MagicBands Can Be Decorated With Your Favorite CharactersMagicBands Can Be Decorated With Your Favorite Characters


Like any new program, MyMagic+ will continue to evolve and improve over time. As we've mentioned previously there have already been changes made to the FastPass+ system allowing guests more attraction reservations and flexibility then originally tested with. For guests concerned with security, MagicBands store no personal information and can be disabled remotely if they are lost during travel. It's also possible to opt-out of the program and chose not participate in MyMagic+, make FastPass+ selections in advance or use MagicBands. Disney says that opt-out guests can still enjoy a park experience but may not have access to all aspects of the new program.

Have you used MyMagic+ yet? How have your experiences with it been? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!

Source

Marion Ringwood wrote on Wed, 05/14/2014 - 14:45:

Marion Ringwood 's picture

Just returning from Disney and we loved using mydisneyexperience.com to select Fastpasses ahead of our trip! Using the Magic Bands was easy and simple (saved time not having to get our our annual passes for entry and fastpasses! Loved the experience! We're already planning our December trip!!

Kristen K. wrote on Wed, 05/14/2014 - 15:30:

Kristen K.'s picture

That's fantastic Marion! Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

LouisianaMike wrote on Wed, 05/14/2014 - 17:27:

LouisianaMike's picture

Glad to hear it, Marion.. We'll be arriving in three days, so I am anxious to try out my new Magicbands & the new FP+ system. Any talk of a soft opening for 7 Dwarfs? We do have FP+ booked for 28 & 29 May, but I don't want to wait that long;)

LouisianaMike

ontaya wrote on Wed, 05/14/2014 - 19:14:

ontaya 's picture

Excited to visit Disney for the first time without kids. Just me and my husband who has never been. I have been a number of times and looking forward to this experience. My husband is from Guyana South America and I want to make sure he is totally impressed and enjoys his self.

BeachLover wrote on Thu, 05/15/2014 - 00:39:

BeachLover's picture

They are alright if you don't mind being monitored ALL THE TIME!!

Come back to your resort...scan your band.

Get in the Fastpass line that you have a reservation for...scan your band...not once but two different locations. Once when you enter the line and a second time when you enter the queue.

Dinner reservations at a resort...scan you band. Oh...and if you don't have a band, they pull out a nice long list to verify by name.

I have been a Disney fan for years...one of the biggest, but now it looks like Big Brother has a name...and his name is Mickey.

The band does make some things more convenient, but it really does feel like you are kind of on house arrest and the bands are Disney's version of an ankle bracelet.

I work for DoD and we don't have this many access checks.

Donna wrote on Thu, 05/15/2014 - 11:38:

Donna's picture

We used them last September and thought they were fabulous!! Going back again this year and excited to use them again. We loved being able to tweak our fastpass choices right up to the time we were going to use them and also being able to change them and still use if we missed our time slot!! Awesome!!

Mike wrote on Tue, 06/03/2014 - 15:00:

Mike's picture

We enjoyed using the Magic Bands, but encountered a few issues.

One, the system was far from fully tested. At one point, we saw the ride Soarin' just let anybody who scanned their band for Fastpass onto the ride. The wait time for the ride started to jump drastically as people figured out the glitch. Also, despite my mother-in-law's setting up the park passes, it still wouldn't take her wristband-as-ticket every single day.

Two, when setting up our vacation, someone set up an account at MyDisneyExperience on my behalf. They didn't know that I already had an account set up. So during our vacation, amenities were split between the two accounts. My Magic Band had my room key/credit card, but not my tickets or Fastpasses. For that, I had to use our park tickets. It wasn't until the last day I figured out which was on which account, after being frustrated with the bands the entire trip. However, I knew about the issue on the first day, but couldn't have it fixed because I was told either "the system was down" or they "couldn't make that adjustment".

Three, we saw one of the big plusses of using the bands in that we didn't need to carry around so many things that could potentially be lost. Like money/credit cards, etc. One day we went free of all of them, planning to just use the Magic Bands, placing all of our stuff into the hotel's safe. Everything went relatively smoothly (see number two above). That night for dinner we went to Mama Melrose's in Hollywood Studios. Sitting down to a nice fantastic dinner, I ordered a glass of chianti, and was asked for my ID to prove I was over 21... I'm 32 with starting hints of grey hair. However, my ID was back at the hotel with all of my other items, and so I was summarily rejected for ordering a glass of wine with dinner. It wasn't just me. My wife was rejected (31), and the entire table of older ladies and gentlemen (older than we were) sitting behind us were rejected as well.

Now, I get it... my own fault. I didn't have my ID on me, and the waitress was just doing her due diligence. However, I *wasn't* asked the previous night in Epcot at the Biergarten when I ordered a huge stein. I assumed then that the bands had a way to tell age appropriate purchases. You know what they say about assuming...

So, yes, the bands are nice, but really still not convenient *enough* to require not carrying around all of your back-up information. Thus, we viewed them as still just a novelty, and not anything necessary to increase convenience.

Side note... I encountered a couple from the UK that was enjoying their stay in Epcot, and trying to use the website to make reservations for one of the restaurants. I believe it was the restaurant in the Mexico region. However, they could not make the reservation because they needed to input a phone number to do so, and it wouldn't take their international cell number. I told them that if they needed a number, even though I had never met them before, to go ahead and use my number and we would wait with them to make sure it went through. They used my number, it went through fine, and the reservation went onto their account with no issues. I received no text/call confirmation.

It was awesome that I was able to help them out, but it was unnecessary needing a US-based phone number in the first place to make the reservation, that just seems to make it more difficult for international visitors. At least we were there to pick up the unnecessary slack.

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