If we're not staying at an WD resort and are getting AP's how will all these new band things affect us? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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If we're not staying at an WD resort and are getting AP's how will all these new band things affect us?
We can't afford staying on site. We are going to be getting Annual Passes and will be at WDW the Valentines Day. How are all these new wristband passes going to affect us? I'm a veteran, but feel like a newbie! I'm totally out of my element here!
Thanks so much!
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Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't have to convert your APs to the MagicBands if you don't wish to.
All you need is to make sure your APs have the RFID chip in them. If you're purchasing them for this upcoming trip, they should already have that built in.
I'm not sure how FastPasses will work if you don't also have the MyDisneyExperience app on your smart phone. Hopefully, someone else will come along to help you figure that out.
As of right now the magic band will really have no effect on you since you are staying offsite. The magic bands are only for on-site guests as of right now (although that could change in the next few months.) Since you are offsite you will only have the option to make fastpass+ selections at the park the day you are there. Right now you can still get your regular fastpasses at Epcot and HS, however at MK and AK you will only have access to fastpasses through the kiosks located inside the parks. There will be people handing out directions once you enter the parks to explain how to schedule.
There are rumors that annual passes will be offered on magic bands in the future without staying onsite, but that has not happened yet. Since you are going in Feb. I would say that will not have started by then. We will be there in Feb. too and I have an AP, however we are staying onsite, so it is a bit different for us. Hope you have a wonderful time!
My brother was just there last week. He stays offsite. The only problem they had was with the FP+. They had a difficult time either getting FP or having the return time quite a way away. He said that on one day -TSMM the FP were gone by 9:30am. There is a thread here in the new technology section that goes into more detail on FP+ and what's replacing the regular FP machines.
We stay offsite all the time, let me know if you have any other questions.
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