Walt Disney World has had its share of technical hiccups and outages over the past few years, when individual MyMagic+ features stopped responding or went offline temporarily, resulting in a few inconveniences for guests, but nothing too major. However, yesterday, Disney suffered a massive technical outage related to the Magic Kingdom’s admissions system, which resulted in guests who were using admission tickets without an accompanying MagicBand (or RFID card) to be denied admission for approximately two hours while the system was not functioning.
During this extended outage, guests had to wait outside the gates of the Magic Kingdom, and as lines swelled, guests were then kept at the Transportation and Ticket Center as Cast Members scrambled to keep the chaos as organized as possible. And while Disney did offer guests stuck outside in the 90+ degree weather complimentary water bottles, tempers still flared as guests tried to stick it out while the issue was being resolved.
Though this type of large-scale outage is fairly rare, this isn’t the first time this has happened, and with this type of technical issue on the rise, it is probably a good idea for guests to take some minor precautions during their vacation to prepare for this type of outage in the future.
1. Be prepared with different types of admission
Image: Disney
Though we’d guess that the majority of guests use either MagicBands or RFID cards to enter Walt Disney World theme parks, if you are using printed out tickets or barcodes, it may be worth the extra effort to get a MagicBand (which is free with an annual pass or hotel stay, or $13 if purchased separately) or an RFID card, which is free and can be picked up at guest relations. Not only will getting a MagicBand of RFID card at the start of your vacation circumvent any delays if this issue strikes again, but it will also make it easier for you to use the FastPass+ reservation system as well!
2. Screenshot all of your FastPass+ and dining reservations
Though yesterday’s issue was limited to the admissions system at Walt Disney World, in the past we have also seen the MyMagic+ system go down as well, with guests unable to access My Disney Experience to see their reservations or make changes. However, by screenshotting your reservations, you can try and stick to your plan, and simply show Cast Members proof of your reservation during an outage. In most cases, Cast Members will be able to continue to grant access to rides, attractions and restaurants when you show them a screenshot during an outage. This is also a handy strategy to save smartphone data on your trip, so you don’t have to keep opening My Disney Experience to see your plans!
3. Make the best of a bad situation
Image: Disney
This might seem obvious, but when something goes wrong during a Walt Disney World vacation tempers can flare quite easily. Though it might be frustrating to be stuck in a line and unable to get into the theme park that you likely paid a lot of money for admission to, the fact is that getting mad will not help the situation.
In fact, savvy guests can turn this initially negative situation into something positive, as many guests decided to leave the Magic Kingdom rather than wait for the system to come back online, resulting in more moderate wait times inside the park for those who stuck it out!
