Is the Lack of Magic Bands hurting UOR's Overall Image?

[rhino4evr]

I just want to say, that I originally became a member of Orlando United to read about construction progress and info. I've never sided with either the Disney fanboys or the Universal fanboys. I think both parks have pros and cons. I am a member of WDW Magic forum as well, but I rarely post on there (those people are nuts). So please don't take this as some sort of Disney motivated thread. I call stuff as I see it, if I think an opinion seems a little too slanted in one direction, I will point out why I think so. I'm not trying to win any theme park wars. Thanks. - Rhino.

 

[Mad Dog]

I just want to say, that I originally became a member of Orlando United to read about construction progress and info. I've never sided with either the Disney fanboys or the Universal fanboys. I think both parks have pros and cons. I am a member of WDW Magic forum as well, but I rarely post on there (those people are nuts). So please don't take this as some sort of Disney motivated thread. I call stuff as I see it, if I think an opinion seems a little too slanted in one direction, I will point out why I think so. I'm not trying to win any theme park wars. Thanks. - Rhino.

Well said. :thumbsup:

 

[s8film40]

One interesting thing that's coming from Universal's new Facebook group is a lot of demand for something beyond just the paper AP's. Could be interesting to see if this forces them to come up with something.

Paper or Plastic? Universal Orlando Passholders Know What They Want

 

[Nick]

One interesting thing that's coming from Universal's new Facebook group is a lot of demand for something beyond just the paper AP's. Could be interesting to see if this forces them to come up with something.

Paper or Plastic? Universal Orlando Passholders Know What They Want

I noticed that too. Hopefully it prompts change.

It's the least they could do, honestly.

 

[s8film40]

I noticed that too. Hopefully it prompts change.

It's the least they could do, honestly.

I would ideally like to see them issue plastic cards and also have the ability to store admission in the Universal app like Disneyland's new app does.

 

[Nick]

I would ideally like to see them issue plastic cards and also have the ability to store admission in the Universal app like Disneyland's new app does.

Yep. And honestly, if Uni truly wants to save money with the plastic passes, allow for people to re-use their pass when they renew. There's some people out there who still use plastic passes from years and years ago bc they keep renewing.

And the app would be a nice bonus too. Although I think the app in general could use a refresh, it's not the easiest to navigate.

 

[Frank Drackman]

When I got the new passport the other day and it came with the magnet with the new UO AP design and stated something along the lines of it just being the beginning, I assumed it meant that pass holders would start getting new tickets in the future and I just assumed they would be plastic.

I mean, today we get the same looking ticket as a day ticket so I do not know why they would show us a design if they were not going to use it on our ticket media and can't imagine why they would not use something that doesn't cause the bar code and numbers to become unreadable when it gets in the least bit wet.

 

[s8film40]

I know they've asked about plastic AP's in previous surveys so it definitely seems to be something they are thinking about. This seems like it could be a good "we listened to what you want" opportunity for them, especially if they already had some plans in the works.

 

[Nick]

I know they've asked about plastic AP's in previous surveys so it definitely seems to be something they are thinking about. This seems like it could be a good "we listened to what you want" opportunity for them, especially if they already had some plans in the works.

Very possible they had plans in the works for this and they just wanted it to be a "we listened" moment. Someone who works with Uni started the initial post in there that really got the ball rolling on the whole Plastic APs thing. She posed a question of "what would you like to see?" or something and i'm sure they already know there is high interest in Plastic APs.

 

[s8film40]

The ironic thing is I'm kind of attached to my pass from 2008, I mean I've had it so long and somehow it's survived.

 

[UNIrd]

The plastic pass was partly the reason I got the Premier pass at first. I kid you not.

 

[MrRoamer]

Loved my old plastic pass. Lost it when a card expired and I didn't know and then lost the renewal.

Would love to see them back the only downside was how long the lines were back then to purchase them and get your picture taken. I want to say one year at HHN it took at least an hour to get the picture taken and printed after purchasing it.

 

[Nick]

Loved my old plastic pass. Lost it when a card expired and I didn't know and then lost the renewal.

Would love to see them back the only downside was how long the lines were back then to purchase them and get your picture taken. I want to say one year at HHN it took at least an hour to get the picture taken and printed after purchasing it.

I don't see why a picture would be needed. I mean, sure they did it on the old passes, but they don't do it currently, so why would they need it for plastic passes?

 

[MrRoamer]

I doubt they need it anymore. The photos were back when they didn't do finger prints. Some of the people on Facebook have been saying it would be nice to not need to pull out your ID for parking

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Again, the use of RFID whatevers to enter the park is separate from MM+ and the whole Magic Band branding. Universal can and should offer APs more than just that darn paper ticket.

 

[*Q*]

Again, the use of RFID whatevers to enter the park is separate from MM+ and the whole Magic Band branding. Universal can and should offer APs more than just that darn paper ticket.

This is the 21st Century, Universal can and should offer anyone who's buying anything other than 1-Day tickets more than just paper tickets.

 

[UNIrd]

Well, let's also not pretend Disney wasn't issuing the same paper tickets up until My Magic plastic cards were introduced what.. 2 years ago?

 

[Nick]

Well, let's also not pretend Disney wasn't issuing the same paper tickets up until My Magic plastic cards were introduced what.. 2 years ago?

Yeah, but that's still something that's been addressed. And especially now that it has been addressed, it makes the paper passes at Uni seem dated and cheap as it's actually approaching 3 years at Disney.

Especially when Uni is doing so much else right, this and their new park entrance system needs to be addressed. I feel like my fingerprint never works and it always takes forever to get into the park.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Well, let's also not pretend Disney wasn't issuing the same paper tickets up until My Magic plastic cards were introduced what.. 2 years ago?

It has never bothered me that my tickets are on regular card stock at UOR, the only inconvienance to my family (and the staff at UOR) has been how easy the bar code seems to smudge.

Back when we had Disney passes, they gave you a new one each year. UNI has you keep the same one, again, this is no big deal to me. What has been a slight inconvenience is that the passes have become unreadable at different times.

On our last trip, my daughter's pass would not scan. The person at the gate could not read the numbers so they had another team member try. He finally had to ask about my wife's and my numbers to try and guess what the last two numbers might be...this annoyed the folks behind us in line more than it bothered me.

No big deal, we went to guest services in the park. I'm not sure why I did not get mine redone, but my wife did as she said hers was having issues as well so she sort of mentioned that they needed plastic passes and the employee behind the counter said something along the lines that they would love that as well.

Anyway, I think Disney used a better card stock and me personally, I could care less about what they use...but I do think UOR would help eliminate an annoyance to guest and staff if they gave use something that did not fade or smudge so easily...I'm not one to defend Disney, but I never had one of their tickets get ruined (maybe the water rides at UOR are to blame).

Anyway, it has not happened a lot to us, but my daughter's pass has had to be redone three or four times in the time I have had two, but I got the feeling from guest services that it happens often to pass holders so change probably wouldn't hurt anything and it sounds like plastic would please a lot of folks.

 

[mike.marty]

I want them to rework how we use the pass online, its really annoying to have to enter 20 something characters number anytime you want to do anything.