The Beauty of the Magic Band

My family and I went to the Disneyana convention in Dayton Ohio this weekend. It was a mini convention with vendors, and three panelists. We were only there on Sunday, so I went to hear Jim Hill speak about Alice in Wonderland (the boys went and got lunch) and then we all went to hear Bill Farmer Speak. Ben was very excited to hear the voice of Goofy, and he loved the presentation! Bonus- Steve found a Tax Day pin he has wanted to find for a friend for years! So thank you Plane Crazy Chapter of Disneyana we had a great day!

Throughout the day there are many conversations about all things Disney, and on this day, many centered around the Magic Bands. More precisely the new My Disney Experience app and FastPass+. Boy, are a lot of true Disney fans disappointed! Some even wondered when it would all go away... They miss the spontaneity of Disney days of the past.

Here is why the casual traveler is LOVING the Magic Band.

• With a little bit of planning a mom can be sure that after spending thousands of dollars on a vacation, her family will get to ride Space Mountain, meet Anna and Elsa (the line is hours long without a FastPass) or have a great spot to watch the fireworks. 

• For families that require the Disability Access Service Pass (DAS), FastPass+ also allows you to have 3 reservations made that you can know are set, because the rest of the day you need to have a runner go from ride to ride getting a reservation, and think about wait times.

• For families that require sleep, need to stick to a morning routine that includes physical therapy done in the hotel room, or they just move slowly in the morning, FastPass+ allows you to still get on Toy Story Mania without a 2 hour wait. The old system ran out of Fast Passes as quickly as 30 minutes after rope drop (Disney speak for opening).
• Now that the Accessibility changes have settled in, the magic band is a much nicer way for that system to work. (See my previous blog about those changes)

• Annual Passholders that live in Central Florida can make some FastPasses around dinner plans, before this system they would have to wait 70 minutes or more for Soarin' because the FastPasses were long gone.

• It made Disney look at their wi-fi, it is now free, and pretty darn good, especially when you consider how many are using it at one time! My teens, and my social media addicted self appreciate this! 
• Then remember the cool factor! It's fun to wear, when they arrive the excitement is real, and having everything on your wrist is very nice and convenient! (I want one for real life)

We would not have met Anna and Elsa without the FastPass +!

My parents are taking all 15 of us (kids, spouses, and grandkids) aged from 6 months to 66 years to WDW in July. We have FastPasses for attractions we can ride together, some that split us up depending on interests (and height), and my mom and dad know that we will have at least some time together as a family on this amazing opportunity to vacation together.

Yes, I was up at midnight to secure our FastPasses for 7 Dwarves Mine Train for 15 people (of course rider swap will be needed for the 2 littlest ones), but then I went to sleep really happy knowing we can all experience that ride right before we have lunch at Be Our Guest on the first day.

I met a couple who go to their resort bus stop in the mornings and say whichever bus comes first is the park we will go to. A very fun idea for spontaneous people, but to do that now means no FastPasses. If I were them, with the new system I would spend my morning that way, but have some passes for the evenings to ensure I still get to do my favorites without too much of a wait!

 So although I understand why some fans miss the "good old days" I hope you can see why this particular change is good, and according to the polling Disney is getting, it's actually very popular, so it is here to stay!

Please feel free to ask questions or comment, I would love to hear from you!