Pop Century here as well. My assumption is the closer we get and less we hear, that eventually its reopening will be announced and thats where we are going. I am all checked in on the app.
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So youāll have to have the Bluetooth turned on with your smart phone while at park to use MDE.
I wonder what kinds of things youāll be agreeing to to in the T&C, although probably already have agreed to giving away too much private information.
What about small children, too young to have their own phone?
Urgh, just noticed in the step by step guide that if members of your party have different types of tickets, some with APs etc youāll have to do the booking separately.
That sucks. Iām sure itāll be fine but you could book for the AP holders and then find the rest of the party canāt get in.
Also no more booking for offsite guests at the same time as onsite guests. Again in the step by step guide it says everyone in your party must have an onsite reservation. Obviously this will only apply in the priority phase, but youāll have to wait until offsite guests can book to book for offsite guests.
You probably wonāt need itā¦but if you want it, you can still buy a MagicBand to use.
Or use an old one.
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Ugh. That does stink!
I wonder how they will control/monitor admission for children staying on-site. If you scan Mom or Dadās phone and it has tickets for two kids, it could be my kids or maybe my two nephews.
Will off-site guests still have a physical card?
The FPP is either going away or going to be something completely different.
To expound on thisā¦
MagicBands were effectively created as a āmagicalā way to replace the need for Paper FastPasses. But, Disney being Disney, they decided to make it used for other things like entry into the parks, etcā¦basically becoming a paper fastpass or a park ticket, etc.
But truth is, there isnāt much technology to the MagicBand at ALL. It simply transmits a number using Bluetooth LE all the timeā¦OR, it transmits a number using NFC if within close range.
A Smart Phone is perfectly capable of the Bluetooth part of this. Of course, the use of NFC is hit or miss on Smart phones (my phone doesnāt have it). So what to do instead? Well, with the Smart PHone, they can avoid the use of NFC because they can have the phone transmit data much in the same way it does for unlocking your resort room door from a distance. NFC is not used, but Bluetooth LE is.
You open up your MDE app when you arrive at the parks, which already has your familyās tickets in it. Arrive at the gate and ācheck inā using the phoneās app. It reports the 2 or 4 or 7 people in your party, or what have you, and they let you through accordingly. With the drop of the biometrics (at least in the short term) thatās all they needā¦not all that different from how Universal is handling the VLPs.
The biggest issue will, in fact, be how to handle the case of a dead phoneā¦or what if you have a working phone and lose it or drop it while in the park? MagicBands didnāt really suffer in this regard much.
But I think Disney sees it just as a shifting clientele, etc. MagicBands have served their time. They will still be available and work, but no need to spend money GIVING them to everyone when they are no longer needed.
Iām envisioning lots of problems with phones running out of juice while in the parks.
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I am not going to be paying for data in order to get into the parks. I donāt use my phone internationally for fear of using data rather than wifi.
So I will be using a key to the world card, or buying a magic band.
Iām not sure why it would really matter whether you are taking your own kids or some friendās kids in with you though? Two kids, two kidās tickets. Sorted.
And I donāt see what FPs have to do with magic bands, The blurb says you can use old bands, a phone or key to the world cards.
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Agreed. I think this is the big flaw in Disneyās plans. I know my phone, which is fairly new, I canā barely get to last through the dayā¦and thatās with somewhat limited use. But when you have people using MDE all day long, plus using for thinks like Play DIsney within the parksā¦that backup phone charger is going almost be a requirement!
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Key to the world cards. Have one as a backup.
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Bluetooth on the phone doesnāt require any data. If you turn off Mobile Data entirely, you can still use BLuetooth. (After all, a MagicBand has absolutely ZERO way to access the internet.)
I know Iām echoing everyone else but the uncertainty with this planning is killer! I wish they had a "this is a practice page to make sure you know what you;re doing " type of thing set up so I could get practice some different scenarios and get as ready as possible for Monday 
Iām afraid itās going to be a mad dash and of course Iāll be at work. Do we know what time it goes live at least??
Well now Disney can add paid FP in the future without people complaining that free FP are being taken away ā¦ free FP are already gone. Problem solved. Now that is some Disney Magic!
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How about AP? Today I bring my kids into the park, tomorrow, my neighbors kids.
I could start a business, bringing other peoplesā children into the park on my kidsā AP instead of my neighbor buying individual tickets for his kids.
Are they going back to giving out cards to each and every Resort guest or will it all be MDE app based? Seem like a step back.
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Is it something you have to install, like an app? I know I use it to connect my headphones to my iPad. I donāt know if I have it on my phone though.
Things is I literally do not take my phone out of the hotel room safe. I only take it with me in case I need to make an emergency call.
All goes back to the days when DS, then aged 10 ran up a phone bill of hundreds of pounds on premium rate texts coming TO his phone. Ever since then, we pretty much banned the boys bringing their phones with them until they are paying for it themselves.
And Iām still too scared of doing the same thing inadvertently. So no phone for me!
One place I will need a magic band or hard park card is the water parks.
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The article says you can use a KTTW card. And theyāve always been available to those who want one.
My concern at this time is having to reserve a TIME to be in the parks in addition to which park on which date. AK is open from 8am-6pm. If I canāt get into the park until say, 12:00, my time there is significantly less than someone who could arrive at 8:00. Not sure about thisā¦
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