Got an email from Disney I'm not sure I understand

[amylevan]

But to your point, a corporation like Disney will have business continuity plans in place for if/when the MB system goes down if they are using that as a single form of payment. They would not be able to go live with that property-wide without a redundancy plan.

Lol!!!!! Disney not going live without a redundancy plan?!?!?!? Not the Disney I know.

 

[gillep]

Ok, that made me spit my coke on my monitor.
Having been at Disney when 1st gen MDE rolled out back in 2012, I'll just say, that is wrong. The nightmares I had trying to check in to the resorts, ohvey! Disney and redundancy plans do not go in the same sentence. They have proven that many times. I'm not even sure I believe they do any live testing in a lab first.
Or even just think back to the fall. When they had a system update they tried to roll out to the reservation system. How long was it down totally, where you couldn't book anything online?

Oh yes, those early MDE and MB days. Our first MB trip I was at guest services at each park we tried to go to because at least one of us could not get into the parks with our MBs, and each time they told me it was totally fixed, and about half of the time that we tried to get into our room we had had to go to the front desk of the resort. DH and I turned it into a 'fun' game guessing as to whether we would actually be able to get into any park or our room each time we tried to use the MB. Even on our YC trip in November 2017 it took the front desk and 2 supervisors over 15 minutes to 'reconnect' my husband's MB when it just randomly stopped working.

 

[Action City]

Most everyone is carrying a smartphone around WDW with them (MDX is so useful). Why don't more people use Android Pay?

I am a regular user of Android Pay, and use it wherever it is taken, be it a small purchase like a gallon of milk at Aldi's or a new games console at Gamestop.

• Each time you use Android Pay, the store gets a one-time id number, NOT your credit card number. Staff can't steal your credit card number.
• No cash to lose or spend without tracking (cash seems to melt away when I have it....no idea where it goes)
• No currency tied up in a gift card with limited spending options, like Disney Gift Card
• I carry my phone everywhere already

I wish MDX would use phones as MB. Not as a total replacement, since not everyone at WDW will have a current smartphone, but as an option. Let me scan my phone to get into the park, into the FP entrance, etc.

Very few places around here have Apple Pay. The only two I can think of off the top of my head are McD's and Jimmy John's, maybe Panera. McD's had it the last time I was there a few months ago, but I dont imagine they've gotten rid of it since then.

I would hate having to use my phone as a MB replacement. That does not appeal to me at all.

 

[Action City]

But to your point, a corporation like Disney will have business continuity plans in place for if/when the MB system goes down if they are using that as a single form of payment. They would not be able to go live with that property-wide without a redundancy plan.

You'd think they would, wouldn't you? The answer to that is a big ol' fat nope, there currently is no backup for when the MB system goes down.

 

[Colleen27]

As has been said, put the cash on a gift card. Easy peasy.

Yeah, but then the money belongs to Disney. We've had several trips where the kids took a particular amount of spending money and came home with some or most leftover. As someone else said, it isn't a trip-ruining change but it is inconvenient for kids excited to have their own spending money and potentially financially advantageous for Disney if families opt for the gift card alternative which doesn't let the kids decide to spend less than they planned.

I'll just be letting the kids keep their cash at home and I'll run a tab for them on my MagicBand or dedicated credit card. They can pay me back later for just the things they actually want to spend their money on, rather than committing to spending a certain amount of money at Disney in advance.

I do have to wonder though, do those who operate only with cash have no fears about loosing it? Seriously, I am terrified any time I have cash that I'll loose it. Credit cards can be cancelled. If I have a Disney gift card, I register it online and it can be replaced. Lost cash is lost forever. That's why I don't use it. Even DGD is given a gift card for her spending money, for the same reason.

I carry a wallet, like a man, so I don't worry about it. If I had a purse, I'd be crazy-anxious because I'm notoriously bad at keeping track of them. But really, having to cancel credit cards would leave you in just as bad a position on vacation, so I don't see one payment method as riskier than the other.

Curious, Why do you understand doing it on a cruise ship but not a hotel?

A cruise ship is a closed system. No one stops in for dinner that doesn't have a room account to charge to. No one comes on board to go shopping without staying there. So logistically, there are fewer stumbling blocks to going cashless on a ship because you know every transaction is in some way associated with a stateroom.

Curious ... have they ever allowed folks to have a cash deposit on their accounts the MB can tap in to? I know folks have asked about doing this because they don't want to use a CC ... but I don't remember an answer.

Yes, they have. The last time I did it was pre-MagicBand era but for a long time we didn't use credit cards, so we used cash rather than attaching the debit card linked to our checking account, and we never had a problem doing so. You just deposit the cash at the front desk and they set the amount of the deposit as your spending limit, rather than using the default limit for your resort tier. If you don't spend it all, the cash is refunded at check-out.

 

[TLSnell1981]

My primary care doctor went cashless last year.

To the UK person talking about credit card fees for foreign transactions, don’t they have credit cards in the UK without foreign transaction fees? I got a Capital One Venture card just to use overseas when I went to UK. I would think that going to a foreign country happens way more often in the UK than here in the US since the foreign countries are closer.

More hoops to jumps through? Disney continues to create more stress and hurdles for guests on holiday. No thank you..

 

[WDW_Ding]

Very few places around here have Apple Pay. The only two I can think of off the top of my head are McD's and Jimmy John's, maybe Panera. McD's had it the last time I was there a few months ago, but I dont imagine they've gotten rid of it since then.

I would hate having to use my phone as a MB replacement. That does not appeal to me at all.

Every grocery store in my town takes Apple Pay. So does Best Buy, Panera, and Jimmy John’s.

 

[Sparkly]

More hoops to jumps through? Disney continues to create more stress and hurdles for guests on holiday. No thank you..

Only if you let yourself be stressed by it. Most people just try and adapt.

 

[Colleen27]

I really doubt this is a money saving thing. It is probably just makes logistics easier and allows lines to move more quickly.

If WDW doesn't accept cash, they don't have to:

• count-out drawers at the beginning and ending of each shift
• transport money to the bank
• manage the amount and variety of change in the drawers

There are probably more small benefits like this as well. These things surely cost WDW *something*, but it is such a small amount that I doubt the money saving alone would account for the change. It probably has something to do with everything I mentioned above, plus speeding up the lines, plus motivating guests to use the Magic Bands, etc.

Time is money, though, so streamlining logistics does save money. All of those advantages of going cashless translate into fewer work-hours needed. Going cashless can also facilitate greater automation, which further reduces staffing costs.

You and me both. I don't use cash for fear of loosing it but the few times I do have it for some reason or another, I spend it and haven't a clue where it went.
With my credit card or debit card, I know exactly what every purchase was for and I always think twice about it. Cash never causes me to think twice.

I'm the same way. I keep obsessive track of my plastic spending but cash tends to evaporate somehow.

Most everyone is carrying a smartphone around WDW with them (MDX is so useful). Why don't more people use Android Pay?

Two words: battery life. I like Android Pay in the real world, but at Disney it is all I can do to get my phone through the day for using MDX and FP+, taking pictures, and keeping in contact with my teens when we go our separate wasy. I don't want to be counting on it as a payment method as well.

 

[Action City]

Every grocery store in my town takes Apple Pay. So does Best Buy, Panera, and Jimmy John’s.

None of our grocery stores take Apple Pay. You're right, I forgot about Best Buy.

 

[Action City]

Only if you let yourself be stressed by it. Most people just try and adapt.

And for some people, it is one more thing to add to the ever lengthening list.

 

[Minnesota!]

I do NOT like this idea...at all. I hope the test fails.....mightily.

 

[skyblue17]

If people aren't interested in adapting, then they are going to have to at least be open-minded to the alternatives. If someone isn't happy with having to pay with a credit card, there ARE other options. If they want to still pay in cash, this is ONE resort. I'm not sure I understand the idea that new ideas and ways of business shouldn't be tested simply because a few people can't roll with the changes required. No one is required to hand over their credit card information at this time. If you want to stay at AKL and this bothers you, there are ways to figure it out, or you can opt to stay elsewhere. That's the choice you make when you limit your own means of spending, just like it's the choice Disney is making by limiting the type of spending they accept at certain resorts.

 

[WDW_Ding]

None of our grocery stores take Apple Pay. You're right, I forgot about Best Buy.

That is unfortunate. I have 4 large grocery stores here in town and all 4 take it.

 

[sam_rogers]

While I in no way believe this will roll out further, you will have the option of leaving the cash with the front desk and they'll apply it to the room charges as you make them. So in some ways, it may work out to be a benefit since it may make that easier. No cash to carry around/loose. Have the resort keep it safe in 1 spot, and you'll be able to get the difference back (unlike a gift card)

We wanted to try boma this trip so if we're stuck with cashless it's good to have that as an option. We normally budget our spending money so we know how much we've got each day so it's much easier to budget when the money is there in my purse...it's reasons like this why Disney are probably trialling cashless

 

[Farro]

I don't understand the argument that not being able to use cash will cause more stress, or another hoop to jump through, or more things you need to do.

Getting cash is a pain in the butt. I always have my cards with me, I don't always have cash. So in order to get some, I would either have to go to the bank itself, find an ATM from my bank so I don't get charged a fee, or go to a store, buy something with my debit card and get cash back that way.
That's stress!

 

[TLSnell1981]

Only if you let yourself be stressed by it. Most people just try and adapt.

Just one of many new unwanted "enhancements". The totality of these changes are ruining WDW. IMO I travel several times a year and Disney has become a pain. I've come to dread our trips, instead of looking forward to them. It's said because we have so many wonderful memories from almost 40 years of Disney.

 

[Dashzap]

Very few places around here have Apple Pay.

That stinks. Here are some of the stores that take Apple Pay:

Aeropostale
American Eagle Outfitters
Anthropologie*
Apple
B&H
Babies “R” Us
Barneys New York
Best Buy
BevMo!
Big Lots*
BJ’s
Bloomingdale’s
Champs Sports
Crate and Barrel
Disney Store
Express
Foot Locker
Footaction
Forever 21*
Free People*
JCPenney*
GameStop
House of Hoops
Kids Foot Locker
Kohl’s
Lady Foot Locker
Lego
Levi’s
L.L.Bean*
Macy’s
Office Depot
OfficeMax
Nike
Petco
Pep Boys
RadioShack
Run by Foot Locker
Sephora
Six:02
Sports Authority
Staples
T-Mobile*
Toys “R” Us
Ulta Beauty*
Unleashed by Petco
Urban Outfitters*

Fast food places and restaurants that accept Apple Pay:

Au Bon Pain*
Baskin-Robbins*
Chick-fil-A
Coca-Cola vending
El Pollo Loco*
Firehouse Subs
Fuddruckers
Jamba Juice
Dunkin’ Donuts
Jersey Mike’s Subs
Johnny Rockets*
Luby’s
McDonald’s
Panera Bread
Peet’s Coffee
Rubio’s
Subway
White Castle

Grocery stores and drug stores that accept Apple Pay:

Acme Markets
Albertsons*
Bashas’
BI-LO
Cub Foods
Dan’s Fresh Market
Davis Food & Drug
Dick’s Fresh Market
Duane Reade
Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy
FoodMaxx
Hannaford
Harveys Supermarket
Hornbacher’s
Jewel-Osco
Lin’s Fresh Market
Lucky
Maceys
Meijer
Raley’s
Save Mart Supermarkets
Schnucks
Shaws
Shop ‘n Save
Shoppers Food & Pharmacy
Sprouts Farmers Market
Star Market
Stater Bros.
SuperValu
Trader Joe’s
United Supermarkets
Walgreens
Wegmans
Whole Foods Market
Winn-Dixie

Gas stations that accept Apple Pay

Chevron
Chevron Extra Mile
Texaco
ExxonMobil (through the Speedpass+ app)

Entertainment and travel businesses that accept Apple Pay:

Carmike Cinemas*
Edition*
Golden State Warriors
JetBlue
Marriott*
Orlando Magic
Phoenix Suns
Regal Cinemas*
Renaissance Hotels*
Walt Disney World

 

[Dashzap]

Maybe because they have Apple phones?

LOL, yeah that. I meant all NFC contactless payments on a cell phone.

 

[Farro]

Just one of many new unwanted "enhancements". The totality of these changes are ruining WDW. IMO I travel several times a year and Disney has become a pain. I've come to dread our trips, instead of looking forward to them. It's said because we have so many wonderful memories from almost 40 years of Disney.

Why do you keep going? Just an observation, you are on a number of threads and you are not happy. If you are dreading it, stop going!

Cashless is the way it's going to be almost everywhere at some point in the future.