Everything you need to know about MagicBands.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Accident

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 13, 2015
This post was rewritten on 3/19/2017. If you see anything wrong or have information to add or questions, please reply.

mbtwo389795711.jpg

Everything there is to know about the MagicBands

Disney has taken what used to be a half dozen different cards you might have to carry around (per person) and designed a new system to make it easier, faster and more convenient for the average guest. Previously you needed your ticket, meal card, room key, payment options (cash or credit card), and photopass plus cards.. This system does all this and more.

MagicBands in theory last forever and they are not specific to a reservation or stay. More on this later but if you have a magicband, it's still good and can be reused on future trips.

This system is specific to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. Pieces of the system have been installed and implemented in different forms in other Disney properties. The bands do cross over in some areas. For example, it can be your room key at Disney Beach Resorts however they do not sell them at these locations so you need to bring your own. Also a recent announcement makes it sound like magicbands will start to appear for disney cruise ships soon. To my knowledge, there is no other locations or places you can use a magicband. Crusies and Aulani have started to use them when you drop a child off at the kids club. They provide them (deposit required) and you cannot use your own.

How to get a MagicBand.

Free: Guests staying at a Walt Disney World resort will receive 1 free band per guest on the reservation. This includes last second stays. Reservations 2+ weeks away from arrival date can customize their bands to pick a color and have a name printed on the inside of the band to help identify whose band is whose. 4+ weeks away they will be mailed. Guests with last second arrival dates between 2 and 4 weeks away will pick up their bands at the resort. Guests within 2 weeks arrival date will get gender neutral grey bands with no customization from the resort.

Purchase: You can buy MagicBands in almost any store found on WDW property. You may also find generic bands at some disney stores. Avoid ebay. Bands cannot be transferred between people so you may end up with a band that is costume jewlery but not usable at WDW.

Customized purchase: There are 2 stores on WDW property where you can pick some designs and customize some bands. These are located in the gift shop at space mountain in Magic Kingdom and Co-Op at Disney Springs.

See 1.0 vs 2.0 below for more information as right now there is some situations for what type of band you'll receive.

Who needs a MagicBand? What do they actually do.

There is no requirement to have or use a MagicBand at Walt Disney World with 1 tiny exception that may not be important to you. Let's take a look at the features and non-magicband alternative.

Resort Features:
  • Room Key.
  • Purchasing food as part of your Meal Plan.
  • Charging purchases to your room.
  • Alternative: there is 1 card from the resort that replaces all the non-wireless MagicBand features. Get them from the front or concierge desk(s) at your resort.
Anyone Features:
  • Theme Park Ticket: Alternative: an actual theme park ticket, AP card or resort card
  • PhotoPass Photo Claim: Alternative: theme park ticket, AP card, resort card OR photopass card from a photographer. *1 see below wireless features, there is more to this
  • Charging purchases. Alternative: None, you cannot charge purchases without a room.
  • Fastpass: Alternative: Theme park ticket, AP card or resort card.
  • Waterproof. Magicbands are waterproof and ok to swim, bath and get caught in the rain wearing them. If your band becomes damaged (hard to do), you should give serious consideration to replacing it as there is a battery inside it.

Wireless Anyone Features:
  • Automatic Ride Photo and Video claiming (*1). If you have a magicband on you (bag, pocket, wrist, keychain) rides that have photo or video will detect you are riding and automatically link the photo to your photopass account. Alternative: Use a Ticket, Resort Card or AP card to claim your photo after the ride. There is no alternative for ride videos and some rides do not have a way to claim. See the Everything about Photopass and Memory Maker thread for more details.
  • StoryTellers. Spread out around property on rides, ride queues, resorts and other surprise places there are customized to you and your family. See later in this post for more information on where to find them. Alternative: None, you must have a MB for this feature. Also note, it's broken a lot so don't buy a band just for this, it's not working more than it's working and not worth it.

Safety/Security Features:
  • Room purchases require a pin code which you choose to use a band for room purchases.
  • Meal Plan purchases also require a pin code.
  • You can deactivate and reactivate any band at anytime from the APP or website.
  • Disney can deactivate a band as lost (which you can reactivate if you find it).
  • In theory, disney could locate someone by their band however they have published they are not tracking people but in the right circumstance like a lost child, I'm sure they will use everything in their power to keep them safe.

Information for the technology curious folks:

The magicband has 2 different technologies.

The first is a standard RFID chip. Works the same as any employee id, credit card, passport, realid, school id. Any card you might touch to a something to use it. In theory, this part of the magicband will work forever. 99% of the features you use in the band use this technology.

The second is listed in the FCC filing as a wireless 2 way industrial radio. This is not rfid based and is an actually 2 way miniradio that communicates with disney on their own encrypted, proprietary protocol operating at 2.4Ghz. This technology uses a battery which you cannot replace and lasts about 1-4 years depending on how old the band was when you got it and how often you are at disney property. This is how all the wireless features work.

The new magicband 2.0 with it's removable icon does allow you to purchase a new band in the future and move the icon as a way to replace the battery. Very handy if you have a beloved limited edition band you do not want to stop using.

MagicBand 1.0 vs 2.0

magic_bands_colors.jpg

At the end of 2016, Disney revealed and started to release a new version of the MagicBand (first picture in this thread, picture above is 1.0 MagicBands). They are technically the same but a new design. The old versions are being phased out and at some point will not be available anymore.

One magic design feature is the new 2.0 bands have a wider Mickey head and are much thinner and flexible. The mickey head (called icon) is removable and can be moved between bands and new MagicKeeper accessories which at the time of this posts update is several versions of key chains.

How to get a 1.0 band: (valid as of 3/19/2017)

There are a lot of different styles still for sale around Disney Property. In fact, there is mostly 1.0 bands for sale and very few 2.0 bands. I would be surprised if they are not sold out by end of summer so don't delay.

Customized bands you can buy at space mountain or co-op are all 1.0 bands. The official word from disney is this will be the last place to convert to selling 2.0 bands. At some point 1.0 bands will not be available anymore.

The mobile "Shop Disney Parks" app may also have some available you can ship home or pick up at WDW property. This is disney's shopping app to help you locate things for sale and in stock around property. It also lets you ship many of the items home so you don't even need to be at the park to buy it :)

International travelers or disney resort guests who have them shipped to the resort address will most likely get 1.0 bands. Some travelers have been surprised with 2.0 bands as as of it appears to be groups that have someone picking red. Supplies of solid colors on the shelf for sale is getting smaller and smaller so I suspect in the very near future, everyone will get free 2.0 bands. See the international forum on disboards for more up to date information. This includes non-international guests that have bands shipped to the resort.

How to get a 2.0 band: (valid as of 3/19/2017).

Guests staying at a Disney resort or annual passholders that ship their bands home or non-WDW address will get 2.0 bands.

There is a variety for sale around property but they are not solid colors and in limited supply. It is more common to see them on the shelf than a month ago but they are all limited release designs and sell out fast.

More on this later but if your looking for the MagicKeeper keychains, they are commonly found on the shelf now and you can even ship them home using the shop disney parks mobile app.

Medical related things to know about MagicBands.


This topic really comes down to 3 things..

1) Allergies.

Disney has no official information about MagicBands and allergies. Their Mom's panel back when only 1.0 bands were released has a post that says they are hypoallergic.

2.0 bands have some differences in materials they are made out of. On the back side of the mickey head that comes into contact with skin you'll find a small plastic ring and 2 tiny metal screws that holds in the icon. Again no official statement on allergies from disney but consider this when deciding to wear them.

Personal note: I've never heard of an allergy issue from a magicband since they were introduced. just be cautious if you know it might be an issue and request a card if your staying at a resort and don't have a hard ticket if your concerned. Leaving the band in your bag is fine for ride photos, as well as traveling with someone who is wearing it near you when riding.

2) Medical implants, insulin pumps, hearing aids, neurological simulators, etc and wireless signals.

Disney does have an official statement on RF Technology in use on property and you can find it here to review and decide if it is safe for you to use magicbands. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/my-disney-experience/frequency-technology/

The cards that disney has available (resort, tickets, photopass, annual passholder) does not use RF technology.

3) Disability options at WDW

Disability options change often at WDW. DAS and other options may work with MagicBands.

To ensure the best information that is accurate and up to date, please visit the Disability forum on disboards for information on how magicbands work with different options you have. There is FAQ threads posted. None of them are magicband only so go over all the options if you have someone traveling with you that may qualify for some of the disabled perks and compliance that WDW offers.


What to expect when getting a MagicBand.

There are 5 things that may happen when you get a magicband.

Special circumstances to note:
  • If you have multiple resort rooms, sometimes called a split stay at WDW property, you are eligible for bands for each reservation. If you do not want 1 band per person from each room select the opt out option to not get them.
  • If your party has several MDE accounts that are linked. The bands to customize only appear on the MDE account with the reservation. As soon as they ship, the band will disappear from the reservation account and only appear in the individual account.
  • MagicBands are interchangeable. If you have 15 bands, any of them will work at all times. You never modify a magicband setup, you just adjust/buy/link tickets, fastpasses, rooms, etc to the correct people in MDE.
  • Travel Agents. A good travel agent/agency will not take full control of your vacation from you. If you had an MDE account, your bands will still appear even if the agent customizes them for you. If you didn't have an existing account, your agent made you one and ask them for information about the account.

1) Included in your resort package (USA based)

Only disney owned and operated resorts come with a magicband unless you purchased a special discount package that has included a band. To date, there has never been a discount package that didn't include a disney owned and operated resort room but you never know what the future will include.

Four Seasons and Swan and Dolphin is not a Disney owned resort. While technically on property they may share some of the disney resort amenities but does not include a MagicBand as part of your reservations.

When you complete your reservation and have placed at least a down payment on your trip the option to customize magicbands for your trip will appear in your my disney experience account.

If your reservation was made over 30 days in advance of your arrival:
  • You can customize the solid color and add a custom name on the band of every MagicBand. You have up until 30 days before arrival to do this or make changes to them. The Disney website will have a counter of days to help you know when you must be done with customization. they will also email you once or twice before they ship if you haven't customized.
  • You can customize the shipping address but all bands will ship to the same address.
  • Near 30 days before arrival, the bands will be customized and shipped to the address given (or the address when you created the account if you did not customize it). You will be able to get a tracking number in MDE and they will email it to you as well. They arrive approximately 10 days later or bout 2 weeks prior to your arrival. They come in a non-discrete box so if you are trying to surprise the family, it will not be obvious they are your bands and your heading to disney soon. If they open the box, that's a different story :)
  • If you do not customize your bands, you will have grey bands waiting at the front desk when you arrive at the resort.
In the event you will not be at home to receive them prior to your trip. You can customize them before they ship and use the exact address for the disney resort you are staying at. The addresses for your resort can be found on the disney website. look up the resort and select the information tab (the website will bring you to room rates). The address is found on that screen. You must also add "GUEST: {NAME ON RESERVATION}" to the address. There is no package fee for bands shipping to the resort and you pick them up at the front desk when you arrive.

If your reservation was made between 30 and 14 days of your arrival:

This is not an option, this is only available if you book your disney resort room between 30 and 14 days. If you booked prior, see above for what will happen.
  • You have until 14 days prior to arrival to customize your MagicBands.
  • They will be waiting for you at the front desk when you arrive at the resort.
  • In the event you do no customize them, grey bands will be waiting at the front desk.
If your reservation was made between 13 and same day of arrival:
  • there is no customization option.
  • Generic Grey MagicBands will be waiting at the front desk.
If you add someone to your reservation after you arrive.
  • there is no customization option.
  • a generic grey band will be waiting for them at the front desk
  • you can pick this up for them when you stop at the front desk to add them to the reservation at the same time.

Included in your Disney resort package (International)


  • You can customize the bands up to 14 days before you arrive.
  • They will be waiting for you at the front desk of the resort.
  • If you do not customize, there will be grey bands waiting at the front desk for you.

3) Purchased at WDW property (including purchase for a gift)

When you purchase a MagicBand, the cast member at the register will offer to set this up for you.

If you said yes:
  • then will quickly scan your existing magicband or ticket.
  • they will then scan your new magicband or ticket.
  • everything is good to go and both bands or band and ticket will work during your trip. They are interchangable with no additional steps to switch between them.
  • See note **1 below as there is 1 gotcha that might happen.

If you said no (personal or gift purchase):
  • sometimes the cast member will ask if you want it link it later or later. saying no to setting it up is the same as asking for it as link it later. This term is used less and less lately but it sometimes gets asked.
  • the band comes with instructions to set it up later. this can be you or someone you gift the band too.

(**1): Occasionally when you have cast member that is not at a resort store set up the new band, it may not work for resort features. To fix just stop by front desk or concierge when you have a moment to get them to activate it for room, room purchases and meal plan purchases. Keep your old card or magicband handy as you'll need to use that for food, purchases or room key until you can stop by.

Non-transferable warning: Under no circumstances will disney transfer a magicband to someone else. Once it's linked to someone, that band will only work for that person at WDW. be 10,000% sure your selecting the correct person if you link it yourself or that your having the castmember link it for the right person. Nobody can fix an incorrectly linked band.

4) Purchased ahead of your trip from home.


3 options for this...

1) disneystore (in person or on the website).
  • the band will arrive in their normal shipping timeframe (not as fast as amazon).
  • it will come with instructions to link it to your MDE account and person who will be using it.
2) Mobile "Shop Disney Parks" app.
  • the band will arrive in their normal shipping timeframe (it's not fast).
  • it will come with instructions on how to set it up.
3) 3rd party, ebay or auction site.

  • BE VERY VERY VERY CAREFUL. Once a band is linked to a person it can never be changed. you might be about to purchased a band that is linked to someone else and cannot be used at disney property. I strongly suggest you do not do this unless you are a collector or want it for costume jewelry and never intend to use it at WDW.
  • if it happens to be a link it later band, then follow the instructions it came with to use it.

5) Annual Passholder or DVC bands.
  • Annual passholders and DVC members get 1 band per year.
  • When you customize your bands, it'll ask if your ready for it to ship. They will only ship when you say yes. You do not need to customize right away.
  • If you are not renewing and getting a new annual pass, you cannot customize and ship until you your pass activated. you cannot activate your band until you are standing on property.
  • the bands will arrive at your address or the address you customized in approximately 10 days from when you select to ship it.
To be clear: Your are new to annual passes, you cannot get your annual pass magicband until 10 days after you activate your pass in person. For most people, this means you will not get this magicband until after your WDW trip. You are still eligible to purchase or get free resort bands for this trip.

What to expect when you have more than 1 MagicBand.

All MagicBands and cards that are in your MDE account and assigned to a specific person. They are not specific to any reservation, ticket, fastpass, meal plan or anything else you can use the MagicBand for.

As long as you see the MagicBand or card in your MDE account (it's under profile->MagicBands and Cards) you are all set and can use any of the MagicBands that are listed as Active. If any are listed as deactivated and you want to use it, just activate it from that same screen/section of the MDE app or website.

To manage new tickets, reservations, fastpasses or anything similar there is nothing extra you need to do for them to work with any active MagicBand. Just manage your trip in MDE, use whatever MagicBand your in the mood for at the time and have a great trip!

If you are not interested in receiving additional MagicBands for new room reservations or multiple room reservations, just select the opt-out option when you are customizing them and Disney will not send them too you. There is no discount or refund for not taking the included with room, AP or DVC MagicBands.

Battery warning: The wireless features as mentioned earlier in this post require the battery to be working. A MagicBand will work for all other features except the wireless ones if the battery has died. At the last time this was updated, they means automatic linking of ride photos to your photopass account is the only thing that will not work. Batteries last approximately 2 years so if the wireless is important to you, you should consider for replacing or getting additional MagicBands

Because of the battery warning and minor updates to MagicBands that happen even if they look the same, I strongly recommend you accept any MagicBand that disney wants to give you for no additional cost and bring it with you. If there is any problems with your old band, you a brand new one ready to use. Also many people like to color coordinate their outfits with magicband color so more bands means more color choices. This is especially common with people who are Disney bounding.

Using the MagicBand with children and tiny wrists.

There are a couple options available to size or use a band with someone that has a smaller wrist or doesn't like to wear things on their wrist.

photo (3).JPG

1) make the band smaller.


The MagicBands have a feature where you can remove the outer part of the band to make them smaller. It's important to understand that you can't put the outer part of the band back so you want to be careful and make sure you can still use it after you remove it. You'll need to purchase a new band if you remove it and it no longer fits if you want to use it as a band.

You may notice from the picture that the edges are rough after you remove it. This is very easy to clean up with a hobby knife, emery board, or nail file. If you plan to purchase a band after you arrive, just pack some extra emery boards in your bag. You can also buy personal supplies from the resort gift shops that may have something you can use and last resort, bring it to the front desk and tell them to make it smooth :)

Note: Some people have said the larger mickey head found on the 2.0 bands makes them uncomfortable even if you size them smaller. You may want to explore other options besides wearing them if they are not comfortable.

vjhdbf9342.jpg

2) move the icon to a Magic Keeper

For sale around disney property and via the shop disney parks mobile app you'll find MagicKeepers. Above is the 2.0 specific version. They come with a small screwdriver, extra screws and very easy to take the icon from a 2.0 MagicBand and turn it into a keychain, something you can clip onto your person or bag or even add to a lanyard or necklace.

One item to note is there is also a couple other magickeeper designs from the 1.0 band days. These look like mickey and minnie hands that clip onto you or your bag. You just put the entire band on them. Can be handy for very young children what you don't want or they don't like having it on but you need it available for fastpass or tickets.

3) Don't wear it. (whole band or just icon).

You can use the magicband / icon from the magic band without wearing it. I commonly have a band or icon in my bag. While you have to take it out for fastpass or getting into a park, you can just leave it in your bag for ride photos and video and they work just fine.

The icon on it's own is about the size of 3 quarters stacked on top of each other.

4) If a problem arises.

the most common issue is an older band and not getting photopass photos. This means your battery is dead or near dead. for 1.0 bands, you must get a new band if you want the wireless features to work. for 2.0 bands you can purchase a new band and use that, or move the icon from it to the band with problems.

the second most common issue usually happens when entering the park. There are cast members who help you get into the park as painless as possible. Dont' worry they are right there to jump into action and rarely is a lengthy problem. this wasn't always the case but they are much better at getting you in the park.

The last and most annoying problem is if there is a system issue. VERY VERY VERY rare but have another way to pay for merchandise or food just in case. This happened recently (2/2017) and everyone was handsomely rewarded by Disney but you had to pay for things without using the magicband to eat or merchandise that day.

Accessories and Decorating your MagicBands.

There are a variety of official accessories available for sale..

1) MagicKeepers.

Shown above, these are keychain like accessories that you can move your icon from the band instead of wearing it.

As a local, I personally love this as it makes it smaller, easy to have on my keys and I would be at disney without my keys so very convenient for me. I also hate things on my wrist so even as not a local, I would have loved this when I was a traveler.

2) MagicBandits.

these are accessories and decorations that fit into the unused holes in the band. A wide variety of options.

For examples and a list of all bandits that have at one point existed, see magicbandcollectors. These change a lot so this is not a list of what is currently available. You can use the mobile shop parks app to try and see what is there but you'll find more available when your at WDW.

3) MagicBand Sliders.

These are accessories that slide over the band. AP and DVC bands come with a slider that shows your an AP or DVC member (they have no value and not valid to prove your a member). watch faces and other decorations also come out.

Again check shop parks mobile app or take a look at what is for sale when your on your trip as they change often.

Examples of the slides for AP and DVC: (Note the AP sliders no longer come with a date and lately have been orange for over a year.).
2015-band-e1422703337976.jpg o.jpg

4) Decorate the band on your own.

Maybe write on, color over or even purchase third party skins for the bands to change the look and feel. One family made news when they used real gems to customize their bands at an estimated cost of $10,000 so the sky is the limit.

An example of someone selling skins is http://www.magicyourband.com/ There may be others but this one is widely known and even offers bands for disboards, wdwinfo, disunplugged (all apart of this forum). They also have some that are for charities like give kids the world where purchase includes a donation to the cause.

What to do with the MagicBands when packing for your trip.

The most important thing is to remember to pack them. The magicbands are durable, waterproof and safe to remove from the box and you'll be wearing them and banging into things, they will be safe just put into a bag.

If you are taking magical express to get from the airport you want to make sure you pack them in a carry on bag. There is delays that could be the entire day to see your luggage and your magicbands are your room key, meal plan and park tickets. Don't worry if your in the air and realize you made a mistake, disney will provide you with an alternative until your luggage arrives but save some time and pack them in your carry on.

The first place you will most likely use your magicband is going to be checking in for Magical Express. Again don't panic as this is not the only way to check in but if you packed your bands in your carry on, one person in your group can use the band to check in and speed up the process slightly. Not everyone gets their band ahead of time and people don't always pack it where they can get to it. No need to waste 10 minutes finding where you put the band just get into line and if you have it readily available, use it.

Below covers the rest of the places you will use it.

What to expect when using a MagicBand.

So your getting a magicband! You probably want to know how to use it..

1) Linking things to the band.

This is actually an incorrect statement and very confusing to many. nothing is linked to your band. You get a band and link it to a person.

After that, you just use MDE (My disney Experience) to add/remove tickets, fastpasses, rooms, anything you can change for a person).

A magicband is just an electronic id tag for disney computers to look you up in their system. make all your changes in mde and the band will work for them.


Hollywood-Studios-Gray-Magic-Band-Scan-Entrance-3.jpg

2) Going to a theme or water park.

When you go a theme park, there will be a short security check followed by the tapstyle entrance. You will "touch the mickeys" together and then scan your finger. You can do this at the same time or first scan your band and then scan your finger.

One thing to note, after you scan your band for the first time you must use the same finger for any future scans. Make it easy to remember which finger.

If anything goes wrong or you are traveling with someone that can't scan their finger, don't worry there is a cast member standing by ready to help you out at the tapstyle. Disney is very good making it as painless as possible to get you into the park.

note: starting at the end of 2016, everyone must scan their fingers including small children. Basically if your old enough to require a ticket, you have to scan your finger.

tip: I always clean my hands just after going into the park. I hate the finger print scanner for this reason and dont' trust anyone before me to be healthy when they scanned their finger.

img_5978.jpg

3) opening your resort room door.

As shown above, there is a scan plate above the handle, just touch the mickeys together and the door will open like any hotel that used rfid cards or bracelets has.


walt-disney-world.jpg

4) purchasing items charges to the room or meal plan meals

Anywhere you can purchase something at disney there will be a scanner. After scanning your band you will put in your custom pin code to complete the purchase.

for table service meals, they will bring a wireless scanner by to scan before you purchase your meal to ensure you have credit and what kid and then scan with pin after you see your bill. Please note that gratuity is not included and if you want to charge the gratuity to the room, let the waiter know and you can do it directly from the table.

At food locations, also let the cm know if your using the meal plan or paying for the item before you scan (and they will ask you first for those with anxious family member that hate talking to strangers).
maxresdefault.jpg

5) Fastpass

The fastpass entrance at every ride with fastpass will have the same tapstyle that you see at the entrance but without a finger scanner. Just tap and go.

note: may rides have a second scanner closer to the ride to stop line jumpers from clogging up the system. You may need to scan more than once, especially if the ride lines are very long.

6) DAS (disability access system)

We're not going to try to keep up with the options for disabilities, please see the disabilities forum for up to date information on disability options at WDW.

however: the cast member at the ride entrance will give you instructions for how to reserve a DAS slot as well as use it when it's your time to return. The guest relations agent will also inform you how to use it when you stop by to get your disability options activated.

7) Resort pool and laundry room access

Many resort pools are only for guests staying at that resort. Also laundry rooms are locked for guests only. It works exactly like your room key and just scan the MB scanner. The magicband is waterproof, you do not need to take it off when using the pool but make sure it's still on our wrist when you get out :)

8) Using a photopass photographer or getting on a popular ride during Extra Magic Hours

Anytime there is a need to scan your band but not in a location where there is a permanent tap style the cast member who needs to scan the band will have a small handheld scanner. This is common at dining tables, getting into a standby ride line during extra magic hours (yes disney checks your a resort guest), photopass photographers, research surveys and anything else where the person who needs to scan is more mobile.

With photopass photographers, only 1 person in the group needs to scan. See the Everything about photopass and memory maker thread for much more detail in what happens but it's take photo(s) and scan one of the bands.

What to expect or do when you have more than 1 ticket in your My Disney Experience account?

1) Pay party or event tickets, desert parties, etc.
  • When purchased online or via a travel agent they should appear in your MDE account under profile->tickets. You can select e-mail or will call to avoid delivery fees although sometimes that is not an option. use the confirmation or reservation code to link them if they do not appear under mde->profile->tickets.
  • When purchased on the phone, go into MDE under profile->tickets and link the ticket by adding it with the confirmation or reservation code.
  1. Events and parties at the theme parks will have lines specific to the party entrance. They will have a cast member holding a sign with the event name and it will be obvious where to go. Using another line may use a regular ticket and you might miss out on any credentials you need for the event so ask the CM at the tapstyle if your in the right place if your unsure.
  2. Food related events like prepaid dinner shows and desert parties usually have a guest list and not a band scanner. If you purchased the same day, be prepared to show your purchase from the mobile app or bring a printout if your coming from somewhere you could print your ticket ahead of time. (showing email from your phone is also good enough). If you cannot do any of these, have your confirmation number ready and they will do everything to make it painless to get in.
  3. Events and parties that happen before the park opens usually has a line on the side for early park entrance. this again involves a check in with a guest list and you'll be let into the park. If the event requires a regular ticket or park hopper you might have to enter via a special tapstyle line similar to an evening holiday party. Magic kingdom with the new main street and hub opened before park opening or epcot for certain character meals may have a secondary check point to make it all the way to your reservation meeting point.
2) Multiple Park tickets.

Multiple tickets means you have many different regular park tickets. This might include some combination of multiple multi day tickets, 1 day tickets, old non-expired tickets (including paper tickets). If you have 1 ticket with many days this does not apply to you.
  • To ensure the wrong ticket isn't used, stop at guest relations at the parks before you scan your band and ask them to make sure the correct ticket is prioritized to be used next. Once prioritized, the correct ticket will be used until it's run out of days or entitlements. you do not need to prioritize event and party tickets, just use the correct tapstyle entrance.
  • you will need to stop by to get ticket prioritized if you plan to go between several tickets on your trip. for example if you had an old park hopper ticket for 1 day and you have new non-hopper tickets for 3 days. if you plan to use your 3 day ticket first day, you need to stop to make sure it's prioritize. then if day 2 your planning ot use your hopper ticket, then you have to stop again to get that prioritized. since your only left with 2 more days of regular tickets you don't need to stop by anymore.
  • recently many have been recommending adding fake family members to your account and reassigning all tickets to the fake family member. Then when you go to use a ticket, reassign just that ticket to yourself and there is nothing to worry about or extra steps to do in order to use the ticket.
note: It's really hard to fix the wrong tickets being used after you get home and discover it happened. It's not impossible but it'll take awhile. If you have them prioritize your tickets, stop by before the end of your trip to make

3) mulitple tickets with different waterparks and more entitlements.

If you only have 1 ticket with many days and you added waterparks and more or the new hoppers+waterparks then this section is not for you and there is nothing you need to worry about.
  • This is very similar to #2 but if you plan to start your trip with waterparks, again stop at the ticket booth/guest relations at the water park.
  • If you have regular tickets + separate waterparks tickets, also stop by to make sure the correct ticket will be prioritized and used.
  • if your also using theme park tickets, stop again at guest relations before you go to make sure it'll use the correct theme park set of tickets..
Features available for room charges and meal plans and how to set them up.
  1. the front desk or concierge may have to make the change, if your unsure or concerned it's setup right plan to visit them for help and skip doing it yourself.
  2. everyone in the same mde account will share the same pin.
  3. if you don't want everyone on the same mde account to be able to unlimited spending on room charges or put them under some type of limit, see the front desks.
  4. if your sharing a room with people that have multiple mde account, anyone whose mde account doesn't have a credit card or pin will use yours if you give it to them. protect it or send them to the front desk to put their own card and pin number on their account.
  5. room charges add up until a threshold when it'll charge to the card. It varies by resort type but generally $1000 for value, $1500 for moderate and deluxe. To use a gift card, pay it off at the front desk with a gift card before you hit the limit. Also pay it off the last night before you go to sleep as it'll autocharge in the middle of the night. They will refund if you forget but it can take 10-15 days for the credit to appear on your card.
  6. save your gift cards, even better setup an account on disneygiftcards.com and put in all your gift card numbers into your account. If you paid for anything with a gift card and something happened and it gets refunded after your trip. By law the refund has to go back to exactly the same gift card. if you don't have the gift card anymore but you put the card into the website then you can get a cheap $5 card from the store and transfer the balance to that card. If you do not have the card and it's not in the website, you just lost the money from the refund.

Meal plan warning with families splitting up. This is not exactly band related but the way meal plans work is you get all your credits when you check in. We all have some family member that doesn't care for anyone but themselves and with the ability to scan their band with the pin code to get the food, they can go off and use up all or many of hte meal credits impacting the total cost of your vacation. No real fix except no giving them the pin which is why I am mentioning it here and it is a consideration for who to not let know the pin code.

What happens if the mymagic+ system is down?

if you are not aware, the entire system that includes MDE, fastpass, photopass, adrs, rooms basically everything disney moved into MDE is called my magic+. Thing happen and it's really easy to take for granted how well things work at disney and forgo having the ability to have a plan b or c for things that impact you.

99% of Disney has a lot of backups and alternative ways things happen but in very very rare circumstances things happen and you need a plan b for your family. This might be a medical or personal emergency you don't have time to stop by the resort before heading off property.

Then there is the situations that disney tries very hard to avoid. One such situation recently (Feb 2017) was a massive problem with payments at epcot. This meant you could not use meal plan or room charging via magicbands for an entire day but only in epcot. Many don't bring cash, credit cards or id to the parks anymore. While disney did make good on the problem with free park hopping from epcot, refunds, discounts and similar, you had to have another way to pay for the food if you stayed at epcot. On top of it, it was one of the artist food festival weekends.

You should have a plan B for food and basic needs if you must rush off property. ID, Cash, credit cards, whatever you might need if something happens, including in the park and you cannot use the magic bands for purchase or proof of who you are anymore. Disney is a bubble but life still happens there. Be prepared.

Reusing MagicBands, how long do they last and how to add tickets, tours and future reservations

Many think the magicband you get with the resort is for that vacation only but that's not the case. It's just how they got their first MagicBand. Let's break this down into the different categories of where it might fail.

1) Appearance. They are durable and waterproof and 99% of the time a little elbow grease will clean them up after being stored for awhile. I've also personally noticed that ones I had on when spraying suntan location over them dulled in color but I didn't even notice until it was side by side another band (and don't you want suntan lotion on your skin? take the band off or you will get a nice wrist watch sized sunburn)..

2) RFID technology. The band uses an RFID chip when you touch the band to something. this is 99% of how you use the band and the important part that needs to work. It gets powered via the scanner that is reading it and in theory should last forever.

3) Wireless technology. This is the part of the band that will die. This is all the storyteller and automatic photo linking features. The part that actually dies is the tiny battery in the band that runs out of power. It should last about 2-3 years but some bands, especially ones you purchased might be 1-2 years old before you take it from the shelf. Also guests that visit the parks more often like locals find they last just over a year and one of the reasons DVC and AP holders get a free band every year. However, it's only the wireless feature and for many, they don't really care of that stops working.

4) Damage. you should replace a damaged band or see if disney will replace it. while rare, it happens. this is 1 area that disney will most likely step up and make it better for free, unless it's obvious that you damaged it.

So how often should you get a new band?

I would take any and every free band disney offers you. get a collection of colors, phase them out. 1 interesting protip is when customizing them, add the year to the name you want printed on them. then you know exactly what vacation it was from and how old it might be.

The new icon being able to be swapped is really going to help the situation of someone that wants the wireless technology options but also wants to use a specific no longer for sale magicband. You can take a new band or newer icon and swap it with your favorite band. Now you need to buy or receive one to get the new icon which is why I say take them all, maybe you got 4 in 1 year but 2 years later, you can take an icon from the last one you received and swap the icon in your favorite purchase limited edition band.

General rule of thumb:

It's the icon in a 2.0 band that will go bad, the band can be reused forever by putting in a new icon.

If it's a limited edition, the band already has some age on it unless you got it very close to it being released. assume the band is going to be good for up to a year.

If it's a resort band and you travel up to 2 times a year, you are probably good for at least 2 years, maybe more.

If your an AP holder and coming often (14+ days in parks per year) or live locally and visiting a lot more than a couple times a year, you want to consider a new band every single year.

nobody really knows how long a 2.0 band lasts. The numbers I'm giving is personal experience over a couple years of traveling and then living locally but it was with all 1.0 bands. I've had a limited band that was 2 years old and I had no clue when I bought it that died on the same trip. I've had resort bands still going strong. we just don't know if anything changed in 2.0 to make them last less or longer.

Lesser known things you can do with your MagicBand.

There are a few options with magicbands that many overlook.

1) Photobooths. Scattered randomly around property are photo booths. While they do take cash, many have been converted to photopass and you can use your magicband to get the photos in your account. There is no list of where they are and they are known to move but check around arcades, Disney springs and especially around the boardwalk resort.

2) Members of Club33 in Disneyland Anaheim are eligible for a magicband. It's unknown how to customize and receive it and if you get anything special with it but it is an option even if you don't plan to visit WDW.

3) Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom. There is a card and portal game all around magic kingdom you can play for no additional cost (you still need a ticket to get into magic kingdom). You can use your magicband instead of the card they give you to activate the portals. There is 1 catch22, while you can continue the game on a future visit the game is locked to a specific magic band. using a different band will restart the game.

4) A pirate's adventure is another game that is free to play inside magic kingdom's adventure land and pirates square. You can use your magicband as part of that adventure instead of a card.

5) Make a difference with surveys. Disney researchers, generally found near the main entrance of a theme park do not randomly pick people. (white shirts). While there is a few ways they pick people, most people are picked based on somethign they did during the day for disney to get feedback about it. I've personally been asked to participate in surveys for food quality at a specific eatery, surprise early guest experiences, general cleanliness of a specific park. Disney makes choices based on feedback, be counted especially if there is things you hate.

6) Surprise fastpasses. Yes you read that right. While less common these days, there is still accounts of people suddenly getting a txt message and free fastpass for a bad experience. A great recent example is disney looking into the accuracy of ride lines. There is reports from people who had to leave before riding to make a dining reservation and only stopped because the wait time said they could do it fast. Disney did an on the spot txt survey to find out why some people were leaving. They used the magicbands to figure out who was leaving and the txt message number from MDE for online reservations to ask and then reward with free fastpasses for the feedback.

Where to find StoryTeller features.

This is not a complete list, also storyteller seems to break down or stop working when it gets mega crowded so don't be surprised if you do not see it work...

Parks:

Magic Kingdom:
- Haunted Mansion: The ghosts will list your name or your state/country at the end of the ride when they join you.
- Small World: Screens at the end of the ride identify you as part of the small world.
- Space Mountain: Tv screens after the ride while going up on the moving sidewalk after the ride will list your name with a saying. (once you see those screens, the ones where there is a camera showing people going past, stop walking, stand near each other and have a camera ready, it might be a distant screen with your name).

Hollywood Studios:
- Rock and Roller Coaster: screens at the end of the ride add your name to the signs (I think, screens yes, what they show I'm not sure).
- Tower of Terror supposively has something so watch out for it.

Animal Kingdom:
- when in line for expedition everest, both standby and fastpass (not single rider) there is screens when you reach the final room that you can see the ride loading. The screens look like advertisement posters and scroll between several of them. if you pay attention your name might be the person being quoted in the ad.

Epcot:
- Mission Space uses your name and hometown during the ride.

Resorts:

Art of Animation:
- The Lobby Posters personalize to your family.


Questions and Answers:

Q: How do I link things to my band? (tickets, room reservations, etc).
A: You don't and there is nothing to do for your MagicBand. Just make it look correct for the right people in MDE and your magicband will just work right.

Q: I purchased the most amazing MagicBand, how do I move my tickets and fastpass?
A: You don't have to do anything. All magicbands work interchangeably. Just link the band to yourself or have the cast member at the register link it for you and it will just work. Your old band still works as well.

Q: What should I do if my band is lost?
A: If you have a mobile phone that has the disney MDE app, go into the magicbands and cards and deactivate it. It is your room key, stay safe.

If you need a replacement for fastpasses or anything, head over to guest relations (or the new ticket office in liberty square in magic kingdom) to see if they can provide you a new band for no cost or at least a card you can use for the day. Also report it as lost disney knows about the problem. If you really care about that specific band, stop by lost and found on the way out of the park for the night. It can take hours for something lost to be found and make it's way to the front of the park. you might get lucky. If it's really special you can go to central lost and found near the taxi stand at TTC. overnight everything lost is moved to that building. You can also call them before you head over there. Even if you lost it when leaving, you can call from home to see if they found it and make shipping arrangements to get it back.

Q: Do they come off? I've heard stories of people loosing them.
A: People also drop their wedding rings, forget bags, leave cameras on the bench and other common problems. It happens, it's not common though. Keep an eye on toddlers that like to explore, they will remove and toss the band out of the stroller when your not looking. The second mostly likely thing to happen is it gets caught on something and gets pulled off. Again it's not common but happens, especially if your not a person who wears things on their wrist. you just don't have practice having them there.

Q: should I be deactivating our bands and why would one want too?
A: Lost it is the best reason, it's a room key even if you lost it at home. Otherwise it's just generally good security practice to deactivate it since you aren't at WDW to use it anymore after the trip.

There is 1 official reason you must deactivate them. When you reach 15 bands, disney will force you to deactivate old ones before you can receive new ones. This is to keep the system working fast, speed up how long it takes to scan your band and in some cases they stop being scannable if you have too many. the more activate bands oyu have, the longer it'll take you to use the bands so deactivate the old ones. if you have 2 or 3, your not going to speed things up but having 10-12 and you'll notice a difference.

Q: what to do with them when our trip is over?
A: They are good for future trips. Put them away or let the kids have them for a souvenir. If you really don't want to keep them inquire with the front desk as your leaving for what to do. Remember they still work for meal plans and room charges the day you checkout so don't just leave them around.



Q: does swan and dolphin guests get a magicband?
A: No, swan and dolphin is on property but not a disney hotel. They get some perks but included magicband is not one of them. You will get something else at check in for your room key.

Q: should I buy one and does everyone need one?
A: this is hard to answer. If you want the ride photos from 7DMT or FEA then yes you have to get one for those images. The same goes with videos from 7DMT and TOT.

Now everyone may not need them. Ride photos are done per ride car. Most rides with photos seat more than your family in the car so as long as you have 1, your covered. The rides that are exceptions or an extended family might need more than 1 are dinosaur that seats 8 per car. Space mountain that is single file with 3 per ride car (and 2 people might get split into 2 different cars). EE, 7DMT, RNR seat 4. CMs try to fill up the cars to the family is in the same car the best they can. I generally recommend you get the children magicbands. They like to use them, it's easier for the parents to manage their tickets for fastpass. If your a family of 3, get 2 people a band as will probably be split up if your going to ride space mountain.

Q: how do I purchase a band as a gift?
A: Just buy a magicband and tell the CM it's for a gift. It comes with instructions on how to link it to MDE in the box for the recipient to follow. If your buying online at disneystore.com or shop disney parks app, they will arrive ready to gift to someone and nothing special to do.

Q: what does a link it later band mean?
A: This is a term you don't hear too much anymore. It just means the band is ready to be linked into mde without help from disney. On an auction site, this might mean you can link it if purchased (but you may not be able to trust the seller so avoid ebay bands).

Q: should I buy one in advance of my trip?
A: My recommendation is no. Everyone that asks this has never used one so the question is really do I need one? Go on your trip, use the cards and you'll very quickly know if it's worth the cost to buy them. If you decide it's worth the cost or you really want one, there is more choices at WDW and the CM can have it ready to wear and use in seconds after your purchase. I find friends and family that wait decide it's not worth the cost and save some money skipping it.

Q: Where can you find bands for purchase both at WDW and from home?
A: You can't miss them on property, they are sold everywhere. At home you might find some in your local disney store. You will find them in the parks section of disneystore.com and you can find them in the mobile shop disney parks app. The app might have some park exclusives that you can have shipped home without every going to the park. They are using this more and more for pre-available special merchandise. A recent example is AP holder could buy special shirts from the app a month before they went on sale at the parks.

Q: where can I find what bands exist to figure out which one I want to buy?
A: disneystore.com and shop parks app are the 2 best resources but they do not have a complete list.

http://www.magicbandcollectors.com/ is a fan website for magicband collectors. If the band exists or once existed, they will have it on their website. They are very very quick to update. This doesn't mean you can easily find it for purchase but you can find out if there is any chance to find it :)

Q: where do I find the "insert design here" magicband.
A: check the mobile shop parks app. If it's listed there you can look up what store on WDW property might have it in stock. Also check the design your own bands at space mountain and co-op, some old limited bands are available in custom design your own bands now.

Q: the band I want is on ebay, should I buy it?
A: Buyer beware. Bands cannot be transferred. Disney will not do it. If that band is never used and link it later you will get lucky. However it might be someone that got home and say the final bill or decided to sell off things to pay for it. If your a collector or never plan to use it at WDW then it's safer to complete your collection.

Q: does the magicband work for anything else after we are done with our trip.
A: Maybe. Disney is closing down the infinity system very soon. There is unique content you can unlock with a magicband. It's unclear if the system will still work after disney closes it down.

There are some other disney owned resorts like the 2 beach resorts in vero beach and hilton head island. You can use them for room keys but they do not sell them and may not be able to help you set it up. They can work though.

Q: My child(ren) are traveling with a school group, what do I need to know about magicbands and their trip without me.
A: If they are staying at a disney resort on their trip, they should be getting a free one. If you have one from a previous trip, you can send it with them for their park time. You will want them to have their own MDE so they can manage their fastpasses otherwise your at the mercy of the group leader.

If your joining them and staying longer than their school trip, their band from the trip will work with the resort, just stop by the front desk to add them to the room after you arrive to avoid any of the disney quirks like everyone with the same tickets which they can't use and will cost you even more.

Thanks for the all the fish!

Hopefully this helped you, please reply if you see any problems, have any questions or discover things that have changed!

Cheers!
 
Last edited:
Good idea! Here's a question I didn't see in your list...

Q. How long does a MagicBand last?

A. Although the MagicBand should last forever for touching Mickey Heads (doors, FP+ queues, point-of-sale terminals), the long-range WiFi transponder is powered by a battery which should be good for at least a year, maybe two or three. This means you'll miss out on ride photos and other enhanced experiences that rely on the long-range function.
 


Good idea! Here's a question I didn't see in your list...

Q. How long does a MagicBand last?

A. Although the MagicBand should last forever for touching Mickey Heads (doors, FP+ queues, point-of-sale terminals), the long-range WiFi transponder is powered by a battery which should be good for at least a year, maybe two or three. This means you'll miss out on ride photos and other enhanced experiences that rely on the long-range function.

It's in there. And that was one of the things I learned. Which explains why our original ones still work for tapstiles.

Q: How long does a magic band last?

A: Cast members will tell you anywhere from 1 to 2 years. There is 2 parts inside a magic band. One part is used when you touch the band to something to use it (cast members say touch the mickeys together, it'll make sense when you get there). This part should last forever and it is how you will use the band 99.9% of the time. The second part has a battery that dies. Disney says 2 years, my experience it's about a year and it starts to act up. The battery part is used for ride photos and videos.
 
Good idea! Here's a question I didn't see in your list...

Q. How long does a MagicBand last?

A. Although the MagicBand should last forever for touching Mickey Heads (doors, FP+ queues, point-of-sale terminals), the long-range WiFi transponder is powered by a battery which should be good for at least a year, maybe two or three. This means you'll miss out on ride photos and other enhanced experiences that rely on the long-range function.

I had a badly worded version of this in a funny spot. I moved it up to just below the price and added the castmember answer..

If now reads:

Q. How long does a MagicBand last?

A. Although the MagicBand should last forever for touching Mickey Heads (doors, FP+ queues, point-of-sale terminals), the long-range WiFi transponder is powered by a battery which should be good for at least a year, maybe two or three. This means you'll miss out on ride photos and other enhanced experiences that rely on the long-range function. Cast Members will tell you up to 2 years, some have found they needed to replace it after 1 year.
 
Last edited:


I just added a couple more points:


Q: I saw someone with a magic band that lit up and made noises when they used it. The mickey even changed to different colors than green or red.
A: There are some extremely limited edition effects magic bands. They are not readily available. And example of these were sold at Star Wars weekends and were the limited edition light saber magic bands. It would make light saber noises, say something and the mickey would change colors to match your band instead of the normal green for go, red for stop.

Q: We didn't claim our ride photo but later in the app/website we saw us on the ride! Was this the magic band?
A: Yes, the magic band automatically links your ride photos and video to your photopass account.

Q: Do you need to wear it on the ride for your photopass photo to work?

A: No. I've left it in my bag that was with me and got the photos without an issue. This can be a tricky answer as it signals wirelessly with the ride so if you happen to store it somewhere that the signal is blocked, you wouldn't know until after the ride that it didn't work.
 
Last edited:
I have a question for everyone, does anyone know if the "ticket turnstyle" checks battery power???

My daughter has had 2 bands (she tries to use them until they die) and both times, it was trouble getting into the park. I'm starting to think that disney has hidden a battery check in the park entrance while there is a lot of help to ensure your band is ok. Even the IT group the first time found it strange so I'm thinking it doens't check but it would make sense for the most efficient way if it did check at the turnstyle.

I know the rfid part should last forever, but that's what we've always had fail first and it's only the turnstyle that fails.. a battery check that nobody is trained to know is there is the only thing I can think of.
 
Last edited:
I just noticed I missed a really important section... Just added:

Information specific to multiple park/waterpark and more tickets

Q: I have multiple trips booked and they all have different tickets, which will get used?

A: Disney ranks the tickets in a way they never mentioned to everyone, stop at guest relations just outside the park entrance before you use the tickets the first time and ask them to prioritize the tickets you want to use for that trip.

Q: I have an old ticket that is park hopper and new tickets for the remainder of the trip that are not park hoppers, which ticket will get used first?

A: Disney appears to rank the ticket so the park hopper is the first ticket used. Stop at guest relations located just outside the park before you use the ticket to prioritize and ensure the correct ticket will get used that day. When your ready for the day of your park hopper/old ticket, again stop by and make sure that ticket will be used before you go through the turn style.

Q: I have all different types of park tickets for 1 trip, which will get used?

A: Disney ranks the tickets in a way they never mentioned to everyone, stop at guest relations just outside the park entrance before you use the tickets the first time and ask them to prioritize the tickets you want to use for that trip. Anytime you want to use a different ticket for a specific day and have multiple valid, you should stop by first.

Q: How did people save money with multiple tickets? Why would you have multiple tickets?

A: Conventions offer some special after 4 pricing, military has different priced tickets, there used to be non-expiring tickets, there used to be an educator discount. Some of these tickets can't be upgraded or extended. Sometimes the right combination of tickets and situation is cheaper than getting new tickets.

Also some people have many trips booked with different tickets for each stay. Also they might have booked a bounce back offer with tickets early in the trip and now they have current trip + bounce back showing up in the account. It really sucks to get home and find out your 8 day park hopper tickets are now used and expired when you wanted to use your 3 day single park tickets that trip.

Side tip: while asking priority, ask what it would cost to upgrade all the tickets you have to an annual pass. Not only might you get money back but there is roughly 10% merchandise and dining discounts that may save you even more money even if it costs more to upgrade the tickets.
 
Last edited:
Very informative, @Accident.

The only thing that may be confusing for Swan/Dolphin guests is they do not receive MagicBands. They are "onsite" for booking FPs and EMH but MagicBands are not included - MagicBands do not open S/D room doors and purchases cannot be charged back to their room account.
 
Very informative, @Accident.

The only thing that may be confusing for Swan/Dolphin guests is they do not receive MagicBands. They are "onsite" for booking FPs and EMH but MagicBands are not included - MagicBands do not open S/D room doors and purchases cannot be charged back to their room account.

Thanks, I was trying to confirm that but couldn't find anything. what is used to get in the rooms there?

I'll adjust right away.
 
Thanks, I was trying to confirm that but couldn't find anything. what is used to get in the rooms there?

I'll adjust right away.
They have a regular room (plastic) key. Separate hard plastic ticket for the parks unless they purchase and link their own MB to their MDE account.
 
I need a break before I proof post #2...

I added some pictures to help explain and show certain things about the bands.. I think it helps.
 
My daughter reminded me of this magicband problem. Added:

Q: I'm thinking of taking a tour, is there anything special I need to know?

A: Yes. The VIP Ultimate Thrills tour is riding all the best rides and you exit/enter backstage to speed up getting to rides when you change parks. VIP services needs to take your band to swipe them for insurance reasons to say your in the park. Get a card and give them the card and wear your magic band for ride photos. Without it, your going to keep slowing down the group to have a ride operating find and put the photo into your account.
 
Added the below (thanks @hiroMYhero )

Q: Where can I see the magic bands available?

A: The ultimate site for every magic band is http://www.magicbandcollectors.com/ and they are the best source for anything and everything about them.

You can also see some of them in the "Shop Disneyparks" app available for your smart phone. If you only have a tablet, make sure you select in the App store to show you phone only apps. This app does not have a tablet specific version and on ipads, it will not appear in the store. The app will also tell you where you can buy them on property and login with your MDE account, some of them can be shipped home without being at the park.


I also revamped the more info and going back to revise/add in some "Show your The DIS" and find other disers in the park information.
 
I just learned something very cool about the magicbands for parents. I added the following to the 2 posts:

Information specific to anyone traveling with children.

Q: Can the MagicBand help if my child is lost?

A: Yes, Disney will scan their MagicBand, Call the mobile number in MDE and track exactly where you are in the park to quickly reunite you with your child.

Q: Can Disney help me find my teen that doesn't appear to be in the park anymore?

A: Good question and I'm trying to find an official answer on this. (I contacted guest services).

Q: Can Disney help find my autistic child that has wondered off?

A: Yes, but I do not have details and have contacted guest services to see if I can find an answer.

CHILD FINDER:
  • Disney tracks everyone with a magic band.
  • A lost child, they can scan their band.
  • They will call your mobile if you have one on the MDE account.
  • They will track exactly where you are to quickly reunite you with your child.
 
Good work, and a lot of it! Just a couple minor points that jumped out at me:

Q: I decided to buy one on property, but I want to add it to my account later.

A: The cast member must activate it, but you can add it to your mde account later.

Not sure what you mean by "activate" -- you can purchase a band onsite and ask the CM at checkout to keep it in "Link it Later" mode, which means it is not activated until it is linked by you to someone in MDE.

Q. How long does a MagicBand last?

A. Although the MagicBand should last forever for touching Mickey Heads (doors, FP+ queues, point-of-sale terminals), the long-range WiFi transponder is powered by a battery which should be good for at least a year, maybe two or three. This means you'll miss out on ride photos and other enhanced experiences that rely on the long-range function. Cast Members will tell you up to 2 years, some have found they needed to replace it after 1 year.

This is kind of nitpicky, but my understanding is that it is not WIFI, it is RFID.

Thanks for taking the time to put this together!
 
Not sure what you mean by "activate" -- you can purchase a band onsite and ask the CM at checkout to keep it in "Link it Later" mode, which means it is not activated until it is linked by you to someone in MDE.

I didn't know of a better way to word it so I used the term I've been told at both pin traders, guest relations and by the IT staff when I had to call in a problem with a new band. I did notice last trip they don't say it anymore but if you buy a band and they just hand it to you, you can't link it to your mde account, you get an invalid message,call us for help.

Getting that band fixed took 3 hours and I had to run to guest relations where I had to wait an hour while they ran to a store to "activate it" as they said. What I saw happen last trip is they use the machine to link it and the activate is when they scan the new band, they then ask if you want it linked. That first scan is when they activate it which i've come to learn means the bands serial number is put into the system so it can be linked but I'm sure it does more.

I'm open for any recommendations, I'm basically just saying make sure they use the machine even if you don't link it, if they just hand it to you it will be problems.

This is kind of nitpicky, but my understanding is that it is not WIFI, it is RFID.

I liked @larryz wording. I think the average person that this is really targetting understands the term wifi. To use rfid twice is confusing. The rfid works but the other rfid will die.. I'll add a nitpick note, I think it's worth it.

Thanks for taking the time to put this together!

you're welcome!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts

Top