Magic Bank and FP+ Live Date

[Ms. Mode]

Well, I put this under "Rumours" because.....

I was speaking with a Disney Computer CM yesterday trying to get MDE straightened out and during the conversation I told her that I realized the program was going "live" in November, she said, "Where did you hear that? We got a memo this morning that said it wouldn't be until January 5th".

She also told me that you could not pick your FP+ options until 26 days out from your trip; yet I see posts here that indicate people are picking their options for December already.

[faline]

Last week, when I spoke to a cast member about how to use fast pass + with my annual pass, I was told that the system is still on a trial, invitation only basis and complete roll-out had not yet been announced.

[vicster]

I'm at WL right now and they went live here Tuesday

[Hammer]

I'm at WL right now and they went live here Tuesday

You say live, but were you given KTTW cards? If they did, then it is still testing. Just because they are being given to all guests at 1 resort, that does not make them live.

I was just at AKL last week were almost all of the guests had Magic bands, but the system is not live. You are still given KTTW cards as a back up, and will for the foreseeable future. Talking with many in Disney IT last week, testing has been extended due to issues with Annual passes as well as working out issues with the billing system. January 5th may be the tentative general release date, but that could change again.

[buzznwoodysmom]

Well, I put this under "Rumours" because.....

I was speaking with a Disney Computer CM yesterday trying to get MDE straightened out and during the conversation I told her that I realized the program was going "live" in November, she said, "Where did you hear that? We got a memo this morning that said it wouldn't be until January 5th".

She also told me that you could not pick your FP+ options until 26 days out from your trip; yet I see posts here that indicate people are picking their options for December already.

Yeah, we made our FP+ selections way before 26 days out. More like 55 days out. Made them almost two weeks ago now, and we are just now at 36 days out.

I had been hearing it would "go live" Oct. 25th, but it seems like that was maybe the roll out date for all onsite resorts to be included in this next phase of testing. Seems like you no longer have to be staying at specific resorts, or get an invite to try it out. Perhaps that was the goal to be met by that Oct. 25 date.

[Kenny1113]

I did not recieve an invite, just saw it available on MDE.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I had just heard, and again take with a grain of salt, that testing was now pushed into January 2014.... Nothing about alive date for January, just still testing...

[buzznwoodysmom]

I had just heard, and again take with a grain of salt, that testing was now pushed into January 2014.... Nothing about alive date for January, just still testing...

Yeah, I agree with you. I think we will likely see the dates pushed back several times before it officially goes live completely.

[Ian]

This entire program has been nothing short of one huge hot mess.

[DizneyFreak2002]

This entire program has been nothing short of one huge hot mess.

If you heard what happened yesterday, or was it the day before??? you'd think it was a complete cluster you know what...

[Hammer]

This entire program has been nothing short of one huge hot mess.

You can say that about anything Disney does when it comes to technology, not just this program.

If you heard what happened yesterday, or was it the day before??? you'd think it was a complete cluster you know what...

When I checked in on 10/6, the system kept crashing. This was the first real test of it with increased crowds and it could not handle it. If they had a performance test lab set up, this would have been found prior to trials.

Once this thing is finally working, I think it will be good. There were parts which worked flawlessly for us and it made things very convenient. Some of the things that are broken, though, are things which would have been caught if Disney had a stronger IT department, especially in house testing. Disney, like many companies, are quick to cut corners when it comes to testing because it does not directly generate revenue.

[Cheshire_Girl]

AP Holder here...I still have not gotten/seen/read any reliable infromation (if there is such a thing on this subject) of how this is going to work for AP Holders?? Enlighten me someone please? In the beginning talk was that APH's would get x amount of FP's available to them per month...Anyone have any idea how this is going to work? I just renewed my pass and I'm leary that when I go to get my new pass card they are going to make me get a stupid magic band. I don't want any part of this until I absolutely have no choice. I'm just fine using the current FP system and don't want that option taken away from me until it's taken away from everyone.

[Kenny1113]

If you heard what happened yesterday, or was it the day before??? you'd think it was a complete cluster you know what...

Oh no! What happened. I'm hoping our trip in Nov goes smoothly.

Just out of curiosity, since our trip will now be during "testing". Do they give you a survey after your trip or is it just testing their process and they are not looking for feedback?

[Melanie]

This entire program has been nothing short of one huge hot mess.

[Ruprect]

You can say that about anything Disney does when it comes to technology, not just this program.



When I checked in on 10/6, the system kept crashing. This was the first real test of it with increased crowds and it could not handle it. If they had a performance test lab set up, this would have been found prior to trials.

Once this thing is finally working, I think it will be good. There were parts which worked flawlessly for us and it made things very convenient. Some of the things that are broken, though, are things which would have been caught if Disney had a stronger IT department, especially in house testing. Disney, like many companies, are quick to cut corners when it comes to testing because it does not directly generate revenue.

Does anyone know if Disney did this project in-house or hired consultants? As a veteran of IT consulting this reeks of a consultant project. Over-promise and under-deliver.

Glad our next trip is planned for July '14 in hopes they have the kinks worked out by then.

[Hammer]

Does anyone know if Disney did this project in-house or hired consultants? As a veteran of IT consulting this reeks of a consultant project. Over-promise and under-deliver.

Glad our next trip is planned for July '14 in hopes they have the kinks worked out by then.

I don't know for certain, but I'm thinking it was largely consultants/contractors. I say this as most large corporations have gone that route. I work for the parent company of Universal and their practice for workers is 70/30 split, with the 70% representing contractors.

[Ian]

You can say that about anything Disney does when it comes to technology, not just this program.

I know it's very frustrating. Those of us that work in technology (yourself included) find it hard to fathom how someone can so consistently get something so wrong.

[Hammer]

I know it's very frustrating. Those of us that work in technology (yourself included) find it hard to fathom how someone can so consistently get something so wrong.

What they need to do is restructure their IT organization. Make sure testing is it's own department (I'm betting it is not that way now) and have a group devoted to performance/load testing. This would help prevent or least lessen the slow response time when there are times of high transaction volumes.

Ian, I think you and I should offer our services to fix their IT organization. 2 problems with that:

1. Disney doesn't pay enough to afford either you or I. They are notorious for paying their IT staff 1/3 less than what they could get elsewhere. Talent goes where the money is.
2. Do either you or I really want to deal with that big of a headache ?

[DizneyFreak2002]

You can say that about anything Disney does when it comes to technology, not just this program.

So much for Iger being the tech guru huh? I guess weathermen cannot become tech savy IT CEOs of major media companies after all...

When I checked in on 10/6, the system kept crashing. This was the first real test of it with increased crowds and it could not handle it. If they had a performance test lab set up, this would have been found prior to trials.

The over abundance of people on the system could have led to what happened the other day to happen... But, at the same time, when you read what happened, I think you'll be seeing part of what is in the future for WDW with this FP+/NextGen program...

Oh no! What happened. I'm hoping our trip in Nov goes smoothly.

Major system glitch the other day where paper fast passes were not available by 9:15 or so for TSMM, Test Track, and Soarin... HUGE stand by lines... Many people were ticked off... There were no same day FP's available for those three attractions pretty much all day... Caused major headaches and issues... If this is what we have to look forward to (when all the FPs are gone cause of the FP+ booking), this is going to be a huge nightmare (and turn a lot of people off to WDW, rightfully so)...

Does anyone know if Disney did this project in-house or hired consultants? As a veteran of IT consulting this reeks of a consultant project. Over-promise and under-deliver.

Chris said it... Lots of consultants...

[Biggeek]

For a week I've been trying to get our FP+ selections in and tweaked and constantly running into problems such as crashing the website and pages not loading, but that's not all.

The past 3 days has been the worst (I did the first 2 days that went okay, but didn't have time to finish since website was soo slow (and I'm no a 54Mb connection, so not me) constant time-outs, page not loaded, 'cannot process at this time' and other tech glitches.

Now I've got 2 days it tells me someone in the party already has got FP+ selections on the day, so can't make more for them.. (one problem cleared after waiting 24 hours and trying again, but later resurfaced when I made a change) and even more fun is that each time it tells me it's a different person each attempt that has the conflict, and nobody actually has any for the day (even the website shows nobody with any fp+ for the day on another screen.)

Also see problems on days where not all FP+ selections show on the 'itinerary' screen. Some seem missing, but when you go to other screens they are there.

Needless to say, they are def having problems handling the volume and I really feel for people who have had to wait until the last minute... as well as Disney support who are going to have to deal with this mess. No way is this ready for Prime-Time.