Disney’s Magic Band FAQ Link

[Spoisal]

MB+ needs to be paired with your phone if you want to do the interactive experiences like Fab50 Quest or Batuu Bounty Hunters (in the Play Parks app). If you don't pair with your phone, they will still light up, vibrate, do all the regular MB features, etc.

There are 4 of us, but I am managing the vacation with my MDE account. Do I pair their bands to my phone also ....or do they each need to sign onto my MDE on their own phones?

 

[Mike Marzano]

There are 4 of us, but I am managing the vacation with my MDE account. Do I pair their bands to my phone also ....or do they each need to sign onto my MDE on their own phones?

IF you are not doing the FAB50 Quest and/or Batuu Bounty Hunters activities, you don't need to pair and connect the bands via bluetooth with your phone, just link and assigned the bands within MDE. If you manage all their accounts/profiles (under Friends & Family you see "Managed by [yourname]" next to them),, then just make sure their bands are assigned to them.

IF you ARE ALL planning on doing Fab50 and Batuu Bounty Hunters, then the only way we found to do it was for each person to have their own phone with their MB+ paired and connected via Bluetooth, and their own Play Parks account at a minimum. That being said, you will need MDE installed and signed in to pair and connect the MB+ to the phone.

If you manage all of your family's MDE Profiles, then you'll need to sign into MDE on their phones to pair/connect their MB+ with their phones. If they manage their own MDE account, then they sign into MDE and pair/connect their band to their phone.

We found it easier with those who are 13 and over, to split onto their own MDE account (Link them via Friends and Family), and have them use their own MDE account, on their phone phone, with their own MB+ paired and connected, and their Own Play Parks account.

I shared our experience from our early October trip back in Post 179 of this thread with more details that might give a better explanation.

 

[Lavitz]

I know people have indicated that MBs work indefinitely (except for some of the photo features), but what’s the oldest one someone has used successfully? I got ours in late 2015 and want to use them in November 2023…

I used 2016 bands with no problems a few weeks ago.

 

[CeCe0906]

So, my daughter in law, her mother, and 3 kids ages 6, 8, and 1 will be going to WDW in May. My daughter in law, and the 6 and 8 yr old have birthdays prior to the trip, and I was planning to buy magic bands for them as part of my gift.
Since the 6 and 8 yr old don't have phones, in fact aren't really allowed much sceen time at all, I shouldn't bother with the magic band plus, correct? They won't be doing any online games, and can't pair with a phone they don't have. I could just buy them the regular magic bands, maybe a plus for the mom.. Grandma barely uses her smart phone for text and facetiming, I'm not even sure she will have the Disney app on her phone.

My daughter in law is so much a go with flow person, and all of the planning and expected phone use is not her style at all, so I thought I'd help, so that at least checking in LL and getting into parks was easier. I'm tempted to just get her a regular MB, since I don't know if she wants to deal with charging ut.

 

[Mike Marzano]

I know people have indicated that MBs work indefinitely (except for some of the photo features), but what’s the oldest one someone has used successfully? I got ours in late 2015 and want to use them in November 2023…

I used my Figment MB1 purchased in October 2015 on our 2019 trip. I continue to use my Magic Kingdom 45th LE Tiki Room band (from June 2017) on every trip since, included Dec 2-7, 2022. Tapping features still work fine. Long range (auto linking photos/videos on rides) does not.

I still like the custom effects my Tiki Room, Pandora, white Epcot 35th, and some others make when going through the tap-styles for park entry and LL entry. The Tiki band is my favorite. So even though their battery for long range is dead, I still wear/use them

When using older bands, I buy the cheapest solid color MagicBand 2.0 band I can find, pull the puck/icon out, and put it in a magic keeper clipped to my bag. I first got the plain one with the carabiner, then the Compass one. It think Disney might still sell the Mickey and Minnie ones at Pin Traders in Disney Springs, and the Emporium in MK. And you might be able to just keep the puck in an external compartment in your bag.

 

[Mike Marzano]

So, my daughter in law, her mother, and 3 kids ages 6, 8, and 1 will be going to WDW in May. My daughter in law, and the 6 and 8 yr old have birthdays prior to the trip, and I was planning to buy magic bands for them as part of my gift.
Since the 6 and 8 yr old don't have phones, in fact aren't really allowed much sceen time at all, I shouldn't bother with the magic band plus, correct? They won't be doing any online games, and can't pair with a phone they don't have. I could just buy them the regular magic bands, maybe a plus for the mom.. Grandma barely uses her smart phone for text and facetiming, I'm not even sure she will have the Disney app on her phone.

My daughter in law is so much a go with flow person, and all of the planning and expected phone use is not her style at all, so I thought I'd help, so that at least checking in LL and getting into parks was easier. I'm tempted to just get her a regular MB, since I don't know if she wants to deal with charging ut.

If they wont be doing the Fab50 Quest activity (all 4 parks, find statue, wave and it makes sounds, and you collect "cards" in Play Parks App) or Batuu Bounty Hunter in Galaxy's Edge game/experience (in DHS, get missions to do), and don't care about the "glow with the show" type features, and don't want to deal with having to charge them, then yes just stick with Magic Band 2.0 bands and skip the MB+ bands.

Personally, the "glow with the show" is neat, but not a must have. I'm going to watching the fireworks, not my band. They did light up for some reason in ride queues, but again, neat but not necessary. The Fab50 quest was fun. Our son (was 13 in Oct, just turned 14 two days ago), and our friend's son (8) enjoyed it. If I recall correctly, the bands did vibrate when you passed a statue, even without the phone. We didn't have time to do Batuu Bounty Hunters, and didn't really have interest.

 

[FSU Girl]

I want to buy my parents magic bands for our trip. I was planning to get them when I went on my upcoming trip but we had to reschedule it because my daughter is sick.

Can I buy magic bands online and have them shipped to them? We are friends and family connected, but I don’t manage their accounts. Would I be able to connect them to their accounts? Or send them unconnected magic bands? I haven’t bought new bands in years online and not sure how it works anymore

 

[CarolynFH]

I want to buy my parents magic bands for our trip. I was planning to get them when I went on my upcoming trip but we had to reschedule it because my daughter is sick.

Can I buy magic bands online and have them shipped to them? We are friends and family connected, but I don’t manage their accounts. Would I be able to connect them to their accounts? Or send them unconnected magic bands? I haven’t bought new bands in years online and not sure how it works anymore

If you buy them via ShopDisney.com, I'm sure you can have them shipped directly to your parents, but I don't think they'll automatically be linked to them in MDE. However, it's not difficult to link them, they just have to follow the instructions in MDE. If they're shipped to you, you can link them via F&F. The hard part is reading the tiny numbers on the back in order to enter them into MDE!

If you buy them via MDE with a resort reservation, they'll automatically be linked, but if you buy them through your MDE account they'll be shipped to you. If your parents have their own resort reservation, you can order them via your parents' MDE account(s), and they'll be shipped to them.

 

[FSU Girl]

If you buy them via ShopDisney.com, I'm sure you can have them shipped directly to your parents, but I don't think they'll automatically be linked to them in MDE. However, it's not difficult to link them, they just have to follow the instructions in MDE. If they're shipped to you, you can link them via F&F. The hard part is reading the tiny numbers on the back in order to enter them into MDE!

If you buy them via MDE with a resort reservation, they'll automatically be linked, but if you buy them through your MDE account they'll be shipped to you. If your parents have their own resort reservation, you can order them via your parents' MDE account(s), and they'll be shipped to them.

Thank you! I’ll see which way they would prefer it.

 

[mmouse50]

I have an over 2 year magicband 2.0 and I have bought memory maker for my upcoming trip which is assigned to my account. Will memory maker still work so that everyone listed in my friends and family list can see the pictures? Or because the band is over 2 years and I have no clue on whether or not it is still active for pictures that it will work with memory maker. Should I buy a new band to be on the safe side?

 

[CarolynFH]

I have an over 2 year magicband 2.0 and I have bought memory maker for my upcoming trip which is assigned to my account. Will memory maker still work so that everyone listed in my friends and family list can see the pictures? Or because the band is over 2 years and I have no clue on whether or not it is still active for pictures that it will work with memory maker. Should I buy a new band to be on the safe side?

MBs link photos to your PhotoPass account. Having Memory Maker allows you to view the photos without watermarks and to download them to your phone, tables, computer, etc.

Your older MB2 might link photos, and it might not. If you turn on Bluetooth on your phone and then allow the MDE app to use Bluetooth, photos will link to your PhotoPass account that way. Or you can buy a new MB, whatever’s easier.

Either way, only the photos that you are in will link to your account - if someone is riding in a different ride vehicle, for example, the photo of them might not link to your account. They need their own MB or to have their own phone/MDE app/Bluetooth connection so that their photos will link to their PP account. Then, if they’re in your F&F list, you will see their photos and be able to download them without watermarks.

 

[Mike Marzano]

I have an over 2 year magicband 2.0 and I have bought memory maker for my upcoming trip which is assigned to my account. Will memory maker still work so that everyone listed in my friends and family list can see the pictures? Or because the band is over 2 years and I have no clue on whether or not it is still active for pictures that it will work with memory maker. Should I buy a new band to be on the safe side?

Bands over "2 years old", or however long the internal battery actually lasts, will still work for Tapping.

The internal, non-replaceable, battery is used for long rang functions. Those long range functions include auto linking ride photos and videos on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Pirates of the Caribbean, Frozen Ever After, Guardians, Haunted Mansion, and some others. Pre-covid it was used to find you with food for breakfast and lunch at Be Our Guest. That battery has a useful life which most say is about 2 years (but I've seen some claim 3-4years) without an easy way to check.

There are ways to setup your phone using Disney Magic Mobile feature of the My Disney Experience app on your smart phone and get those "long range" features, including ride photo linking. That being said, in my experience, and based on my friends experiences, this is not as reliable. If you don't set it up right, or the phone or app goes to low power mode, it doesn't work.

All that being said. If you want to be safe and have reliable long range, just buy a new band.

Keep in mind if your party is large and split up (think 7D, Guardians, etc where you have 4 per picture) you need to have 1 person in each smaller group to get their photos.

 

[stevelle]

I've read a lot of this thread and still have questions. Is magicband+ the only band that will be available moving forward? I can certainly see that online magicband2 doesn't have many options. Secondly with magicband+ if I don't link it to my phone, and then also forget to charge it, are there still features that will work like the old bands (park entry, charging, etc) or not?

 

[CarolynFH]

I've read a lot of this thread and still have questions. Is magicband+ the only band that will be available moving forward? I can certainly see that online magicband2 doesn't have many options. Secondly with magicband+ if I don't link it to my phone, and then also forget to charge it, are there still features that will work like the old bands (park entry, charging, etc) or not?

I don’t know whether Disney is phasing out the MB 2 or not, but I can tell you that the MB+ will work for touch functions like park admission, etc. without being charged or linked to your phone. Those functions don’t need a battery or Bluetooth.

 

[BostonEd]

I actually prefer the "basic" MBs. It looks like Disney is phasing them out, based on the colors that are available. This isn't even about the money; I just don't like the look of the MB2 or MB+. Are more color options for basic MBs hiding somewhere? Probably not, but I thought I would ask.

 

[BostonEd]

I actually prefer the "basic" MBs. It looks like Disney is phasing them out

Some evidence of this: Just a few days ago, a white MB was available. Now I can't find it.

 

[Mike Marzano]

I actually prefer the "basic" MBs. It looks like Disney is phasing them out, based on the colors that are available. This isn't even about the money; I just don't like the look of the MB2 or MB+. Are more color options for basic MBs hiding somewhere? Probably not, but I thought I would ask.

when you say "basic MB" there are 3 different versions. The original Magicband (aka MB1), 2nd generation with removable icon/puck (MB2 or MB2.0) and now MagicBand+.

I don't think you mean MB1 because those were made/sold and discontinued years ago (like sold 2013-2016).

If you mean Solid Color MB2 bands, rather than MB2 bands with special graphics like say characters, resorts, festivals, etc. printed on them? Yes, they had several shades of blue, green, orange, yellow, etc. in the past which are harder to find now. Pin Traders at Disney Springs, and The Dark Room at Hollywood Studios seemed to have the best stock of them when I was there in October and December.

I'm not sure if Disney is phasing them out, but it wouldn't surprise me. They also have had supply chain issues causing shortages in the past, so it wouldn't surprise me if they are having issues getting the older bands again. I notice the inventory for Shop Disney and pre-arrivals keep changing.

Then again, it could just be that the MB+ and graphic MB2.0 bands are more popular with guests, so they just carry more of them.

 

[BostonEd]

If you mean Solid Color MB2 bands, rather than MB2 bands with special graphics like say characters, resorts, festivals, etc. printed on them?

Yes, that's right. I don't really care about having "Tomorrowland!" on my MB. What you said about supply issues is definitely possible; that could be the reason they pulled the white one. I wonder if I should wait a few weeks and hope their supply increases (not going for almost 3 months, so I think I can wait.)

 

[BrightMorningStar]

I read the first post before asking. I am just seeking clarification.

We are not paying for G+ or ILL. We do not have photopass, etc. If I understand correctly, taking our MBs with us to get in and out of the room and enter the park is unnecessary? No benefit, correct?

 

[CarolynFH]

I read the first post before asking. I am just seeking clarification.

We are not paying for G+ or ILL. We do not have photopass, etc. If I understand correctly, taking our MBs with us to get in and out of the room and enter the park is unnecessary? No benefit, correct?

Correct. You can get a Key to the World card at the front desk of your Disney resort that will open the room door and get you into the park. You can also use it to charge food and merchandise back to your resort account.