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I am also Military....we cannot buy our tix until we arrive (with the valid ID) I spoke to a CM in regards to Fastpass + and I was only able to get 3 FP+ per person. CM did say once we arrive (Oct 13) and purchase tix we will have the option to FP+ the rest of our trip at the hotel.
I wish I knew about the magic bands or I would have asked the CM...do you need tix to have the magic band or is the reservation of POR enough?!?! I cannot customize my magic band yet...but I still have 51 days till I am there...I will try with 30 days left
galaxyg528 wrote:I am also Military....we cannot buy our tix until we arrive (with the valid ID) I spoke to a CM in regards to Fastpass + and I was only able to get 3 FP+ per person. CM did say once we arrive (Oct 13) and purchase tix we will have the option to FP+ the rest of our trip at the hotel.
I wish I knew about the magic bands or I would have asked the CM...do you need tix to have the magic band or is the reservation of POR enough?!?! I cannot customize my magic band yet...but I still have 51 days till I am there...I will try with 30 days left
Just wanted to say I was able to customize my bands this morning...with 50 days in for our POR reservation...we still have no tix (other than the MNSSN) Super excited...many bright colors to choose from!
Thanks to you website's reporting of Magic Bands for POR stays starting Sept. 3, I was able to go to My Disney Experience right away (instead of waiting of something in the mail) and click on Magic Bands. I chose what color each person wanted. I linked FastPass+ to them. I was allowed 3 FastPass+ options per park per day, but MK gave us a "free" bonus Fast Pass.) The Magic Bands arrived this week (we live in the US) in a fun box personalized with our names printed beneath our corresponding bands. They remind you to pack them in your carry-ons instead of checked luggage. Some have asked if you must wear them 24/7. No, they are designed so you can take them on and off. I spoke with a CM and asked if we missed a ride time if it would effect out other Fast Passes. SHe assured us it would not as they are aware that plans don't always go as planned.
We are staying at POR Oct 20 thru 25 I have been online and set up My Disney Experience+ account and all family members that are going also set up an account. I have been playing with the app on my phone and on the Disney website and Thur of last week AUG 22 I was able to make my fast pass selection and order our magic bands. I did not receive an email or phone call about any information, so set up a My Disney Experience account and see what happens you must link your reservation to your account.
I agree with Misskeri... Same thing happened to us, we were just sitting down to finalize our schedules. Looked up our dinner reservations on My Disney Experience and my wife said "explain the magic bands thing..." When I clicked on it the link was totally different. We set up all of our fast passes, customized our bands, and THANK GOD WE DID! We arrive on Oct 2nd. We only have 2 days left until they ship our bands, if we had not customized they would have just sent us any color they decided on. If my wife would not have ended up with a pink band I would have been hearing about it the WHOLE trip. Cant wait for ours to arrive!
The FP+ selections are pretty straight forward, you will get 3 fastpasses per day regardless if you select just one or two rides. The only downside in our eyes was its challenging to get all 3 ride times to fit your schedule because you dont select morning/midday/evening, however, they do give 4 variations for your group of rides.
We got our invite for our trip that starts on oct 27th 61 days ahead of time. I could not make any picks until 60 days out. There was nothing available for any of the fireworks shows but they said they may not be loaded yet.
Ive never stayed at port orleans riverside, are there any requests i should make? We have our 3 year old with us (his first trip) and a 9 year old. We booked a standard room with free dining.
I finished testing the Magic Band and just completed the survey. Arrived on 9/4 for 6 days and was whisked through check-in. I can't recall ever seeing so many cast members in the lobby available to assist guests. Check-in was easy, not much different than usual, other than having to touch "Mickey-to-Mickey" to activate the band. I found that phrase was quite common at the parks and any place the band was used, particularly if a guest was having trouble getting a green light. With practice its a snap! I was issued a KTTW card, just "incase".
Off to the room, the band worked for room entry with no problems. EPCOT first for FP+ picks. Park entrance was easy and there we no problems. I did find myself trying to decide how to orient the band (RF out or RF in) to make touching the reader more comfortable (much the same way people choose to wear a watch face in or face out). All went smoothly, and the cast members greeted me by name at each attraction. Touch to pay worked well also.
Fast Pass+ was a breeze, and I was able to make revisions for one of the following days, as plans had changed.
Upon returning to the resort I had to remove the band from my left arm to activate the security gate at the resort entrance. Not a big deal. Unfortunatley the gate would not open. I used the KTTW card and was in. I experienced the same problem at the room, red light flashed on the reader.
A short walk to the lobby and I was greeted by a couple of managers (Val happened to be there as well) and was asked how the test was going. I mentioned the problem with the gate and the room. I was walked over to the desk, a technician scanned the band, typed quite a bit of code and the problem was solved rather quickly. Everything went smoothly after that for the remainder of the stay.
The technician was able to see where I was, what I purchased and saw all of my past stays this year already linked to my profile. The amount of data was interesting. While at the deluxe resorts, one of the cast members showed me the data that displays on the handheld scanners. Basic data but interesting, he was able to see my name and my zip code, as well as the fact I was an AP holder. Overall it was a good experience.
I did receive an invitation to test lunch at Be Our Guest. Here is the copy from the e-mail:
Bonjour John,
You are invited to participate in an exclusive test for lunch at one of our newest restaurants, Be Our Guest. As part of this test you have the ability to select an arrival window and pre-order meals for your entire party before arriving at Be Our Guest Restaurant.
To begin, follow the steps below:
Log on to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX using your Disney.com account.
Enter your Resort Reservation Number to begin: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Select an arrival window and pre-order your meal
On the day of your lunch, visit Guest Relations at City Hall or Mickey’s Philharmagic® FASTPASS distribution before your selected arrival window to pick up a MagicRose to expedite your arrival at Be Our Guest Restaurant.
When you arrive at Be Our Guest Restaurant during your arrival window, please enter the Disney FastPass+ entrance at the beginning of the bridge. You’ll be able to breeze by the line, confirm your order, pay for your lunch and head direct to your table while your food is prepared and delivered straight to you!
Bon appétit!
I’m still undecided on the BOG process, but it was a blast giving it a try! So far two thumbs up on the bands, at least at this early stage. Hope everyone has a great experience while at The Port!
RiverRooster said, "I did receive an invitation to test lunch at Be Our Guest."
I am wondering if this was an e-mail, a note in your check-in packet, or an offer at the airport for those taking Magical Express. We plan to eat at BOG for lunch next Tuesday with my 81 yr. old FIL. I would LOVE to test this "FastPass+" option to help him avoid standing so long in a line. We have our Magic Bands and are looking forward to using them. So glad your experience was relatively smooth.
One last question - I'm assuming you had the free dining plan. Did you try to leave a tip at a table service restaurant using your Magic Band to have it charged to your room? If so, how did it go? I'm thinking this would save us carrying cash or a credit/debit card. We'll be eating at Boma, Biergarten, & Mama Melrose's.
Royhan - I was surprised how many people made the same comment when I mentioned the invitation. Most asked if WDW was picking up the tab. I really hadn't given it much thought at the time, assuming that part of the test was using the band and touch-to-pay. A comp would have been magic!
MArri1998 - The invitation arrived via e-mail to the address linked to my MDE account. If I remember correctly, I received it a day or two before arrival. When I failed to respond I received at least one per day while at the resort. I was sitting at Muddy Rivers after a rather warm day at EPCOT on my first day and another guest had just received an e-mail asking her party to test BOG and almost fell off of her chair she was so excited. Hopefully this means they are extending the invitations out to more and more folks. As far as the dining plan, I don't really use it that often. I am a frequent guest at the resort and I find myself going "off campus" enough that it doesn't really pay; this was one of those trips. Sorry to be of no help.
I'm hearing reports that the system is allowing French Quarter guests with bookings at early as 19 October to make Magic Band reservations, the system seems to have updated overnight. More info later today hopefully.
Update: the POFQ start date has now been confirmed as 30 September.
Andre
- The Unofficial Visitor's Guide to the Port Orleans Resorts in Orlando, Florida -
I have resort reservations beginning in November, but have not received an invite to participate in this test. Has anyone with reservations in November received the invite?
Quick update re magic bands when ordering from UK, we travel on 25 Sept and had to customise magic bands by 25 August via my disney experience. Once customised they remained available to change showing that they could ship at any time and our home address in UK. Today our address has changed automatically to the Riverside address and states "pick up your customised magic band order at your resort front desk". At no point have we received any e mail inviting us to take part or advising magic bands had shipped. I would recommend customising the magic bands once checked in and don't panic when they don't seem to ship anywhere because it looks as though 5 days before arrival is the deadline for them being sent to resort. Cannot wait now!
Hi everyone,
Read earlier that someone was able to to make FastPass+ selections for their November trip, so since we're heading down in November i was excited to check and see if i would be able to FINALLY make mine. Well, when i logged on, sure enough i was able to make FastPass+ selections for our trip in November (made selections for the 16th,17th, and 18th). We check in POR on the 15th and stay through till the 19th.
Here's the kicker, after making my picks tonight, i went back to MDX, and would you believe, that i now had the options to customize our Magic Bands!!! Done customizing, says that i have till October 16th to change any bands.
Looks like the question if they'll continue through November is answered!!
The system goes up to 30th November at the moment. The expectation is that 1st December will be the official 'live' date for the whole process, after which time there will presumably be a rolling 60-day window for FP+, and MagicBands will be configurable even earlier, but at the moment it is still technically a phased test.
Andre
- The Unofficial Visitor's Guide to the Port Orleans Resorts in Orlando, Florida -
We are staying at POR Dec. 21-28 and we were able to customize our MagicBands yesterday (Oct. 20th). Four of us and we are really excited as we are staying at a Disney resort for the first time. They have given us until Nov. 20th to make any changes before they ship them out. Good news for those staying during December.
(made selections for the 16th,17th, and 18th). We check in POR on the 15th and stay through till the 19th. 
