Magic band notice - is this new?

[Dizznee Freak]

One question. I may have missed it, but I am assuming that not everyone will be required to have a smartphone. I cant see Disney requiring a 5 year old to have a smartphone to get into the parks.. And yes I am aware that some 5 year olds do have smartphones...lol

 

[rteetz]

One question. I may have missed it, but I am assuming that not everyone will be required to have a smartphone. I cant see Disney requiring a 5 year old to have a smartphone to get into the parks.. And yes I am aware that some 5 year olds do have smartphones...lol

Won’t be much different than it is now. You do the planning already for your 5 year old.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

looks like the cellphone battery will die even faster now, using it for everything instead of a magic band..
Using MDE now, already drains the battery quickly.

Don't worry you can buy the $39 Disney Magic Battery for your cell phone. Will give you 2 hours of recharge power

 

[Dizznee Freak]

What I meant was....will this require everyone in the party to have a smartphone(which is ridiculous) or will just a designated member need one. I am referring to entering the parks

 

[skeeter31]

What I meant was....will this require everyone in the party to have a smartphone(which is ridiculous) or will just a designated member need one. I am referring to entering the parks

I doubt everyone will need a phone. Even now I am able to pull up tickets on MDE for my entire party, as long as they’re linked to me as friends or family. My guess is you’ll have that part of the app open and swipe through the guests as the CM scans them. Just like going to a concert or sporting event with the Ticketmaster app.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

What I meant was....will this require everyone in the party to have a smartphone(which is ridiculous) or will just a designated member need one. I am referring to entering the parks

I'm sure there is probably an option of either.
Though I assume everyone would still have to get their thumb print

 

[hp_lovecraft]

Don't worry you can buy the $39 Disney Magic Battery for your cell phone. Will give you 2 hours of recharge power

Last time I had to buy a battery pack for the photo center, the battery was reasonable. Maybe $15 with a free usb cable. Then went to buy iphone cable... $20. yikes. Had no choice, as we travel in large groups, 10-15. We split up after lunch, and rely on phones to communicate everything that is going on.

Personally, I like the MDE app. I love getting fastpasses all day. I love preordering my counter service food. I love knowing where the resort buses are, knowing "posted" wait times, and everything else, like reservations and show times. You can use it to maximixe your trip.

But it doesnt replace MB or cards. It just can't. Augment? certainly. My kids like there independence. With a band, I can trust them to be gone all day, feed themselves, and get back safely. I leave my wallet behind all week. and the phone battery is no small thing. We all carry battery packs, cuz we are all on our phones while in line... mostly refreshing for fast passes. lol. So we will all need to have cards., but can room charges be linked to cards?

 

[skeeter31]

Last time I had to buy a battery pack for the photo center, the battery was reasonable. Maybe $15 with a free usb cable. Then went to buy iphone cable... $20. yikes. Had no choice, as we travel in large groups, 10-15. We split up after lunch, and rely on phones to communicate everything that is going on.

Personally, I like the MDE app. I love getting fastpasses all day. I love preordering my counter service food. I love knowing where the resort buses are, knowing "posted" wait times, and everything else, like reservations and show times. You can use it to maximixe your trip.

But it doesnt replace MB or cards. It just can't. Augment? certainly. My kids like there independence. With a band, I can trust them to be gone all day, feed themselves, and get back safely. I leave my wallet behind all week. and the phone battery is no small thing. We all carry battery packs, cuz we are all on our phones while in line... mostly refreshing for fast passes. lol. So we will all need to have cards., but can room charges be linked to cards?

Yes, room charges can be linked to cards. That’s how it was done pre-magicbands in 2015. You used the KTTW card for all room charges.

 

[DisneyJade]

Just updating this (kind of old) thread to say that I was mistaken about not having to pay for our magic bands. Months after I posted this, just today, I got an email saying we have to pay for our magic bands. I logged on to verify our reservation, and all the magic band colors we selected are now gray, and the message has changed to say we have to order them if we want them.

 

[Hoosier1329]

Looks like you can either:
1) use your smartphone
2) use a "key to the world" card (physical card to use like has been done in the past)
3) buy a magic band (probably eventually won't be an option)
4) use an old magic band (again probably not an option in the future)

 

[skeeter31]

Looks like you can either:
1) use your smartphone
2) use a "key to the world" card (physical card to use like has been done in the past)
3) buy a magic band (probably eventually won't be an option)
4) use an old magic band (again probably not an option in the future)

The magic bands aren’t going away. They make a lot of money on selling them and they work forever. They’re just stopping giving them away and pricing them low enough to convince most people to purchase them.

 

[AllisonLB1994]

I am fine using my phone to open the door using the app.

What I am wondering is if we will be able to use the app to scan for entrance to the parks? Universal had that built into their app when I went last December. You linked your ticket in there easy peasy. As long as I can do most things on the app, I think I can avoid using the KTTW card.

 

[skeeter31]

I am fine using my phone to open the door using the app.

What I am wondering is if we will be able to use the app to scan for entrance to the parks? Universal had that built into their app when I went last December. You linked your ticket in there easy peasy. As long as I can do most things on the app, I think I can avoid using the KTTW card.

I wouldn’t bet on it by 1/1/21 when free magic bands are going away, but eventually, yes, I can see them adding scanable tickets to MDE.

 

[DreamIsaWish]

So when fast passes come back, I can no longer send my 10 year old on a ride I don’t want to go on. She needs the Magic Band all the way through the line to the second touch point. And I won’t give her my phone. So she’s old enough to ride alone (especially if I wait at the exit) but can’t go alone unless I buy a Magic Band. And, no, a card won’t work since most of her shorts and pants don’t have pockets. A surcharge for kids 7 to teenagers.

 

[skeeter31]

So when fast passes come back, I can no longer send my 10 year old on a ride I don’t want to go on. She needs the Magic Band all the way through the line to the second touch point. And I won’t give her my phone. So she’s old enough to ride alone (especially if I wait at the exit) but can’t go alone unless I buy a Magic Band. And, no, a card won’t work since most of her shorts and pants don’t have pockets. A surcharge for kids 7 to teenagers.

As of now there isn’t even any ability to use phones as a ticket or as a FP, so it’s all conjecture at this point. As for Magicbands becoming pay, I’m really surprised they gave them away for free this long, or didn’t just offer the gray ones for free and make everything else a surcharge. Plus, if you’ve ever been in the past 5-7 years and have a magicband from that trip, just reuse that. But really, $5 for peace of mind at the resort and parks is a small price to pay, especially considering the cost of the entire trip.

 

[DreamIsaWish]

And I can no longer get ride photos on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train unless I buy Magic Bands. No other way to get that ride photo and old bands won’t work with likely dead batteries. Maybe include one free Magic Band with Photo Pass? That would make sense since you need a working Magic Band for some features you’re expecting to get with Photo Pass.

 

[skeeter31]

And I can no longer get ride photos on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train unless I buy Magic Bands. No other way to get that ride photo and old bands won’t work with likely dead batteries. Maybe include one free Magic Band with Photo Pass? That would make sense since you need a working Magic Band for some features you’re expecting to get with Photo Pass.

Well I haven’t seen any notification that free magicbands will be going away with purchase of APs, so if you’re getting photopass through that, you should still be able to order bands. And it depends on how old your old bands are. If they’re 2-3 years old, they’ll still work. And the photopass pictures on rides are so spotty right now with mask compliance it’s hardly worth it right now. But again, a band is only $5 if you are that concerned. You’ll pay more than that on a small coffee at Starbucks in the park.

 

[Tiki Birdland]

... But again, a band is only $5 if you are that concerned. You’ll pay more than that on a small coffee at Starbucks in the park.

that's the issue now, isn't it? Why are they discontinuing this if the cost -- especially their cost -- compared to the cost of ANY resort room? Would love to hear why Disney thinks this is a good idea.

 

[skeeter31]

that's the issue now, isn't it? Why are they discontinuing this if the cost -- especially their cost -- compared to the cost of ANY resort room? Would love to hear why Disney thinks this is a good idea.

I just don’t think Disney ever anticipated having magicbands be free forever and I think they left them free for much longer than they originally planned. With the rollout of Genie and more functionality for MDE coming soon, now is a good time to move them to purchase only.

 

[DharmaLou]

Question - we have old Magic Bands we can use no problem - but how do we get them activated?