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

Lets see.... credit on account (very common) ... gift card (very common) ... credit lost if credit not used in "X" period, etc... just want them to actually state they'll refund back in cash at checkout which is not defined anywhere in the legal terms .. is that really to much to ask...... You make it sound automatic but unless they state it... it's not automatic. Get this works for you and you like it but cash is still legal tender it should be accepted at at VERY LARGE US corporation....
Oh, that's going to go very well for Disney, keep the cash left over from anyone who put cash down. I can see the PR now.

No, I'm not saying I have a clue what they are doing but keeping the cash will not be one of them. That much I know

I'd guess those who used to put cash down when they accepted it before would give some insight.
 
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?

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

:rotfl2: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.

Hahahahahahaha. That’s at the concept of what you said being true. No, alas, Disney has no contingency plans. Unless it means “have the ability to pay somehow and figure it out with the lobby concierge when you get to your resort.” Which isn’t much of a contingency plan.

What you guys seem to be forgetting is that the current MB system is not yet the exclusive way to pay at WDW. It's not the end all be all. They rushed it to go live and are fixing bugs along the way. If the MB (or card transactions) are going to be the sole way of paying on property in the future, Disney will have to have some kind of contingency plan for when that system fails. Some kind of back-up, at least. It will be probably be clunky and probably a disaster, but Disney is not going to miss out on that money for when the system goes down.
 


They've had 5+ years to get their system to work without failures and still haven't. There is no faith that they ever will. And even less faith they've even considered what they'll do as an alternative if they opt for this WDW wide. They could have an alternative option in place now, for those who do go with intent to rely on their MB, and they don't. They don't have any other back ups in place for guests who go without cash or cards when the MB system craps out. They either give away the items or turn away the guest. So again, you simply have more faith in them than many others do. I love Disney but IT systems is their weak link. They've shown nothing to indicate this is changing.
 
They've had 5+ years to get their system to work without failures and still haven't. There is no faith that they ever will. And even less faith they've even considered what they'll do as an alternative if they opt for this WDW wide. They could have an alternative option in place now, for those who do go with intent to rely on their MB, and they don't. They don't have any other back ups in place for guests who go without cash or cards when the MB system craps out. They either give away the items or turn away the guest. So again, you simply have more faith in them than many others do. I love Disney but IT systems is their weak link. They've shown nothing to indicate this is changing.

Fair enough. I don't disagree that their technology has flaws, but I'm just making the point that many/most large corporations have flawed systems. I can't think of one public entity that has a completely seamless technology experience for their users. I think we're keen to Disney's tech failures in particular because we see and hear about them daily being so engaged with Disney news and forums.
 
What you guys seem to be forgetting is that the current MB system is not yet the exclusive way to pay at WDW. It's not the end all be all. They rushed it to go live and are fixing bugs along the way. If the MB (or card transactions) are going to be the sole way of paying on property in the future, Disney will have to have some kind of contingency plan for when that system fails. Some kind of back-up, at least. It will be probably be clunky and probably a disaster, but Disney is not going to miss out on that money for when the system goes down.
MB's have been in use for over four years (fall of 13). Disney IT sucks. There is no backup plan, no contingency for when it fails, which is often. If this cashless test goes resort-wide, it will be no different. Total chaos when the system goes down and no plans to ever make it any better.
 


MB's have been in use for over four years (fall of 13). Disney IT sucks. There is no backup plan, no contingency for when it fails, which is often. If this cashless test goes resort-wide, it will be no different. Total chaos when the system goes down and no plans to ever make it any better.

I understand. I don't disagree. My only point in the post you quoted is that the current MB system is not used exclusively, so there's no urgency for a contingency plan. There are workarounds. In the future when financial losses are at play because the entire property is cashless, that's a different ballgame in my opinion.
 
Off topic, but is Disney still using the swipe technique or have they FINALLY joined the rest of the world.. chip and pin?
 
I understand. I don't disagree. My only point in the post you quoted is that the current MB system is not used exclusively, so there's no urgency for a contingency plan. There are workarounds. In the future when financial losses are at play because the entire property is cashless, that's a different ballgame in my opinion.
I've had enough experience with Disney IT to reasonably say it won't happen.
 
Fair enough. I don't disagree that their technology has flaws, but I'm just making the point that many/most large corporations have flawed systems. I can't think of one public entity that has a completely seamless technology experience for their users. I think we're keen to Disney's tech failures in particular because we see and hear about them daily being so engaged with Disney news and forums.
I can. Lots of them.
Amazon tops the list of a site that I've never shopped at and found it down. And I shop at it at least weekly
The difference is, Amazon has competitors. If their site goes down, someone goes to shop elsewhere. They know it so they keep it up.
Disney doesn't. If their site goes down you don't go elsewhere. You wait till it works again. Or you just don't go. Yeah, I know there are some 3rd party hotel vendors but they require you to pay in full, are harder to link, even have a cancellation fee. Not the same.
 
Off topic, but is Disney still using the swipe technique or have they FINALLY joined the rest of the world.. chip and pin?
Unfortunately, the US hasn't joined the rest of the world. Even when the machines here take a chip card they don't use the PIN
But Disney did get new machines (in most locations) last year so they can take a chipped card.
 
I've had enough experience with Disney IT to reasonably say it won't happen.

Anything is possible. But apparently Disney either has no qualms about their IT department or it's status quo for their size of a corporation, because to everyone's point, the IT stuff hasn't changed much in the four years the bands have been around. In other words, the IT team may be typical rather than incapable.

I can. Lots of them.
Amazon tops the list of a site that I've never shopped at and found it down. And I shop at it at least weekly

Amazon's web site may not go down entirely at any point, but I have had issues with a glitchy app from them in the past. Phishing emails. Return issues. None of these things are major, but it goes to show that tech problems are standard with major corporations is all.
 
Unfortunately, the US hasn't joined the rest of the world. Even when the machines here take a chip card they don't use the PIN
But Disney did get new machines (in most locations) last year so they can take a chipped card.
Disney is the only place I haven't been able to use my chip and pin in the US. We were there last fall and it wasn't working at that time.

Wasn't there a deadline for banks to provide these cards...last year. Sorry, only one cup of coffee this a.m. and very little sleep last night.
 
Disney is the only place I haven't been able to use my chip and pin in the US. We were there last fall and it wasn't working at that time.

Wasn't there a deadline for banks to provide these cards...last year. Sorry, only one cup of coffee this a.m. and very little sleep last night.
Yeah, every card I have has a chip. But no one requires a PIN to use them. Even Disney. I don't even know the PIN code for a single one of my cards, other than my Debit card where I need it to get cash from an ATM. Not for purchases where it runs as a credit card.

If you mean fall of 2017, it was working. DD used her chip card all the time, since it wasn't linked to our MB. We were there in Oct together and I saw her put the chip in
 
My memory may be faulty, but I seem to remember having to swipe. Jokingly, comments were made, that Disney went so far over budget for magic band...not enough left to implement chip and pin.
 
My memory may be faulty, but I seem to remember having to swipe. Jokingly, comments were made, that Disney went so far over budget for magic band...not enough left to implement chip and pin.
The chip works, but they don't use a PIN. Disney only uses a PIN on magic bands or debit cards.
 
I echo the concerns of those who distrust Disney IT. I also have concerns about "unauthorized" transactions which, when all transactions are electronic have a higher likelihood of happening. I usually use gift cards or Disney rewards points for restaurants and other purchases and will continue to do so. I will always have my cash backup for IT glitches. If they don't want my actual cash money, their loss.
 

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