From the pages of Wired:
A good look of the origins and creation of the MDE/MB technology, a little bit about how it works, what it can do, and a hint of what it could potentially do in the future.
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That’s a really great article- thanks for sharing. 
Very interesting - thanks for sharing!
That was a pretty good article. We have come a long way since two years ago, when people here were talking about leaving Disney and never coming back if they continued to pursue this “Magicband” stuff. FPP was the end of the world.
Now, we’ve learned the system and use it the same way we used the old system. It has, in many respects, become a seamless experience. I love the line in the article about making people happier by reducing their choices. As a former FastPass runner, I like the convenience of FPP so I can enjoy the leisurely stroll to Kilimanjaro Safari instead of racing to EE and then to the Safari to catch up with the family.
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Ah yes, I remember those, ahem, discussions. All done within the 255-character limit of Chat. WDW was ruining things, so they were never going to go back. Yeah, right, a person who spends their free time on a WDW-focused chat forum is going to totally give up on Disney…
What is this thing you call a “leisurely stroll”? I, too, will never miss sprinting back and forth across the park in the infernal FL heat and humidity, but we always “walk with purpose” between attractions. 
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Is it wrong that I wish about 10-20% of Disney attendees had given up and would never go back? It’s getting crowded down here!
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Sorry, but while magic band is cool, not a fan of FPP, or the 3 FPP limit/kiosk thing. Waiting on line to get a FPP to avoid waiting on a line is… a fail.
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From the article: "In 2008, Meg Crofton, then president of Walk Disney World Resort, told them to root out all the friction within the Disney World experience. “We were looking for pain points,” she says. “What are the barriers to getting into the experience faster?”
FPP kiosks are prime pain points & barriers to getting into experiences faster.
They’re also nearly non-existent or a LONG walk away from almost anywhere in Epcot.
Fix that, and I’ll be a fan.
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I agree @ejj. that the FPP needs some tweaking. But I do like the fact that with FPP I can ride Test Track or TSMM even if I don’t make RD (even though I always make RD). This next trip we are planning on doing a long night (based on projected hours) and MNSSHP, both of which may mean sleeping a little later the next day. This was a no-no in the past because in every park there was at least one ride that required us to get a FP and meant that someone (me) was running at RD. Now I have the luxury of not running.
I’m all for a better way to distribute FPP. The kiosks are, as you point out very well, not working. I’d also like more than 3.
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That article certainly explains why the backlot tour got eviscerated.
The space was being used by FPP/MDE imagineers.
I’d never read that before.
From the article: "You can see why he—and Disney—would be so keen on the bands. Instead of telling your kid that you’ll try to meet Elsa or ride It’s a Small World, Franklin says, “you get to be the hero, promising a ride or a meet-and-greet up front. Then you can be freer to experience the park more broadly. You’re freed to take advantage of more rides."
Too funny.
“I can’t promise it, but I’ll try my best to get us in to see A&E at MK.
How long are you willing to wait for them?” is pretty much exactly
what I said to my 11-year old daughter before the last trip.
We ended up skipping that in favor of doing lots of other things instead.
It’s a trade-off. Skipping A&E allowed us to “experience the park more
broadly” & “take advantage of more of the rides.”
Certainly not the fault of FPP/MDE, but still, it’s hilarious to read this in the
article as a defense/rationale for it. That rationale is a fail, even if FPP/MDE
is generally a success.
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"In fact, it’s called the paradox of choice: You make people happier not by giving them more options but by stripping away as many as you can. The redesigned Disney World experience constrains choices by dispersing them, beginning long before the trip is under way. […] The ability to plan and personalize has given way to spontaneity. "
Thus, the 60-day (and 30-day) dance to land 7DMT FPPs.
There’s a paradox / supreme irony in here somewhere, no? 
“In that way, the park isn’t a playground so much as a videogame, with bosses to be conquered at every level. The MagicBands let you simply set an agenda and let everything else flow around what you’ve selected.”
Er… no.
MagicBands don’t do that at all.
What does that is the Unofficial Guide to WDW book, and a subscription to touringplans.com.
You know I’m right about that.
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I don’t think I understand this comment… The baclot tour was evicerated to make room for the LMA stadium. The MB testing occurred LONG befor it was completely closed. And I couldn’t figure out WHERE this secret training area was based on the few details given… 
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Having said all that… I would say that the BOG, “come in, sit down, get served your pre-ordered food in minutes & you’re on your way in 30 minutes with zero waiting & zero hassle so you can go spend more time enjoying the rest of the park” experience is an unmitigated SUCCESS in every way… at least it was for us.
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See, now that’s weird. I got the impression, for part of the article, they were in HS (“Their vision finally began lurching off the workbench in the first months of 2010, in a decommissioned theater that once hosted the Mouseketeers Live Show”) but then they said it was so cold because…holy cow. I just went back to the article and it has changed. They originally said it was next to Buzz Lightyear, now the article says Toy Story Midway Mania. There is an editor’s note at the bottom.
Whew…confusing!
Well, if the test area was abutting and/or behind TSM, wouldn’t that make sense? The backlot tour used to take up all of that space… then took up part of it. It was a shell of what it once was, before it ceased to be altogether.
@bswan26, apparently the author of the story was mixing up a couple of different iterations of the meeting place which happened over the space of a few years. The one talked about mostly was connected to TSMM in a converted theater.
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I wonder if they haven’t invested heavily in FPP kiosks because they don’t envision them lasting too long. I imagine eventually the process with go to the app. I hope anyway!
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I was just searching through Forum to see if anyone had posted this yet. Very good read. We’ve never had a single issue with our bands and really like the functionality.
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I’ll need to poke around next time I’m in the park, but I’m guessing the location that they’re mentioning is what was most recently used for Wandering Oaken’s during Frozen Summer Fun.