Truth be told, Disney is kind of old hat for me. There's no way I can tell you what I'm about to without it coming off like I'm bragging or that I was a spoiled kid so I'll just be out with it: My family & I went to Disney quite often when I was but a young lad - as in almost every year. It was something of an annual event for us and I have tremendously fond memories of those trips. While I can honestly say we never had a bad trip to Disney, I will say that there were times where it got repetitive. Those parks don't change that frequently, truth be told, and having the same experience over and over again became redundant. However, change has been in the air for the Disney parks for what seems like the better part of the last few years with the creation of New Fantasyland and a slew of other updates, refurbishments and the like. It's a great time to fall in love with Walt Disney World again, in other words.
The parks have gotten a fresh coat of paint, as it were, but that's not the only big alteration that's being made. Perhaps more significant are the changes that are happening with Disney's resorts and how resort guests are granted access to the various properties. Disney is taking a big leap forward in using devices equipped with RFID (radio-frequency identification) chips to replace aging technologies like key cards that rely on bar codes or magnetic strips to store guest data. The most shining example of this are MagicBands - a brand new accessory that's all the rage in Orlando these days.
Therein lies the uniqueness of these things right now. You see, at this point Disney hasn't rolled out MagicBands as being fully implemented seeing as how they're testing their functionality to gauge what is and what isn't working all that well. What that means is that only certain Walt Disney World Resort guests are being invited to participate in testing MagicBands and the various systems associated with them (more on that later). It's a fairly exclusive club to be in, needless to say, and Disney fanatics have had a field day in jockeying for an opportunity to get their hands on them. No one seems to know for sure when full deployment will occur but it would seem to be fast approaching seeing as how it was recently announced that all resort guests staying on the property after October 23 will begin receiving MagicBands. They're still considered to be in test phase, though the breadth of this new round of testing would seem to indicate that it's only a matter of time before MagicBands become standard equipment for resort guests.
The October 23 date hadn't been publicized when we received this in the mail about a week ago - kind of takes the novelty off of it in hindsight, to be completely honest, but we're not about to turn down the opportunity to be involved.
We've been following the development of MagicBands since they were announced. We were both really hoping we'd get to participate when we booked our vacation back during the summer but we weren't sure that we'd get an invitation seeing as how not every resort was taking part in the initial round of testing. To make the sense of anticipation worse, some friends of ours made us quite jealous as they took a family vacation to Disney within the past month or so and they were in on the testing. That said, I'm not lying when I tell you that my wife and I literally turned into two small children when we opened the letter - yes, I'm a grown man and I got schoolgirl-giddy over the fact that Mickey & Co. wanted us to help them out!
Obviously we went online to customize our MagicBands the same day that we received the letter. You're able to pick what color band you would like and also have it branded with your name - I picked a grey band whereas my wife picked a red one. I will register one complaint with Disney at this point. The letter stated that we had until October 31 to customize our MagicBands, however when we went online we were presented with a quandary because the site stated we only had 1 day remaining to make our selections. We got everything handled in time, thankfully, but I'm glad we got the letter the day that we did else we might have missed out on getting to customize our bands.
We completed our customization request on Friday, October 11. They were delivered by 9:30 AM on October 15 - that means in less than 3 days, our MagicBands were customized, packaged, and shipped to our home. As someone who's a fan of logistics, that kind of turn around on something like this is really impressive.
I've never done an "un-boxing" before but I figure this is something that's so new it stands well to be documented. The box itself was very nondescript; it had no logos or markings that would've tipped someone off to its contents other than the from information block on the shipping label.
The box had no adhesive, rather just one convenient peal strip was all that kept it together.
Tearing back the strip revealed a piece of art in terms of geometry and packaging design. Did you know people actually go to college specifically to learn engineering geared towards developing boxes?
It's almost like some kind of magical box that springs open only when the heart of a true believer is near...
What I found most interesting about the MagicBand box is the fact that out of all the characters that could've been featured on it, Disney chose Elasti-Girl from The Incredibles which is one of my favorite movies, ever (personally, I think it's a better example of what a Fantastic Four movie should be - i.e., a family that just happens to be made up of superheroes - than what any of the actual Fantastic Four films have been able to capture).
Then it was time for the moment of truth - I'm always skittish about things that are to be customized and whether or not they'll be made correctly.
As one of my old co-workers would have said, "Oh, happy day, happy day!"
In describing them, MagicBands look like rubber watch bands without an actual watch face. Instead of the watch face you have a logo that's become synonymous with the MagicBand, that being a new take on the classic Mickey emblem. Underneath this logo is where the RFID chip is contained. The band uses a pair of pegs that fit into a number of corresponding holes in order to secure it to the wearers wrist.
There is already a line of MagicBand accessories out that allow for users to customize their bands even further by adding covers (called CoverBands - no "Freebird", unfortunately), Bandits (studs featuring character faces and other logos that can be inserted into the empty holes on the bands), and MagicSliders (a slip-over piece that makes the band look more like a watch but doesn't include a timepiece). These items are only for sale at Disney resorts, which plays into the fact that this is, after all, a technology that's still in test.
I will bring up the fact that MagicBands fall into the category of "one size fits all". This was mildly terrifying to me because I have never fallen into the category of person for which "one size fits all" was applicable. "All" being a relative term, as it were, I had misgivings about whether or not the band would fit my wrist as I have had issues in the past in finding watches that fit. Thankfully, Disney had me covered as my MagicBand fit perfectly, and I didn't even have to resort to using the last or next-to-last holes in the band.
Regarding the sizing of the bands, there is an accommodation in place for small children who might find that the band has too much slack for their wrists. The darker grey section of the band can be removed in order to make for a tighter fit. A word of warning, though - that section of the band CANNOT be put back on once it is removed, meaning it would be best to follow the old saying of "measure twice, cut once" before pulling it off. This isn't something that I determined by trial and error, rather it's plainly spelled out on the interior of the box's lid.
You may be saying to yourself, "This is cool and all but what do these things actually do?" MagicBands are part of what Disney is calling MyMagic+ which is a multi-tiered system that allows resort guests the opportunity to take greater control of their Walt Disney World experience. MyMagic+ includes MagicBands, FastPass+, and the brand new My Disney Experience app for Android and iOS smartphones (apparently there is no version available for Windows phone). You MagicBand is essentially the way you're identified while on the Disney properties (to make a TRON analogy, it could be said that the MagicBand is your identity disk); it can be used to open the door to your room at the resort, it functions as your ticket to the parks, and it allows the wearer to make purchases. FastPass+ is a reincarnation of the original FastPass, a reservation system that allowed for park guests to be assigned a time when they could return to a ride or attraction and get quicker service than they would by joining the standby line. The My Disney Experience brings all of these assets together under one convenient app as users can view park information, get ride wait times, change their FastPass+ reservations, and more all from their smartphone.
There have been some concerns levied about MagicBands and how they could be used to collect data on the wearer. I hate to break it to people who are complaining about this, but that's not exactly anything new. You know all those discount club cards you have in your wallet or clinking around on your key chain? What do you think retailers are doing every time you swipe that card when you make a purchase? They're collecting data too, so don't try to demonize Disney as being some kind of unique entity in the modern marketplace.
My wife & I were already looking forward to our vacation but needless to say we're now REALLY looking forward to it! I hope the MagicBands add to the experience. I know there will be some learning involved and some getting used to, but that's all part of the fun for me.
Hello! Is it possible to take out the grey part of the band and change with a different color? My son and daughter want to swap colors.
ReplyDeleteHey there, Chris! No, the grey part cannot be changed out for another piece that's a different color. The grey part is there for sizing the band either to an adult or a child. If you take the grey part off it CANNOT be put back on, so definitely be sure about doing so beforehand!
DeleteDisney does make accessories in the form of covers that can be put over the entire band. These covers are themed after characters, movies, and rides, so you may be able to find a cover for them that they like which will mask the grey and let your children express themselves.