Magic band notice - is this new?

[DharmaLou]

Also, you can get inexpensive, slim and powerful external phone battery chargers. We bring one daily to the parks and it has enough juice to charge all 3 of our phones, sometimes more than once

https://amzn.to/2KT3dm6

 

[skeeter31]

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

Just go onto MDE, click on the menu in the bottom right, then select the “link to account” option which is third from the bottom. In there is the option to link magicbands to people in your party. You just have to enter the number on the puck of the band, and then select the party member you want to assign it to. Just double check before hitting confirm as once it’s assigned to a person it can’t be changed.

 

[Fangorn]

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

They don't have to be "activated". ALL bands you've ever had, or will have, are attached to your MDE account and are totally interchangeable with one another. There is nothing you need to do.

Steve

 

[DharmaLou]

They don't have to be "activated". ALL bands you've ever had, or will have, are attached to your MDE account and are totally interchangeable with one another. There is nothing you need to do.

Steve

Even ones never used and bought on ShopDisney?

 

[skeeter31]

Even ones never used and bought on ShopDisney?

No, if they’ve never been used and were purchased, they need to be activated and registered as stated above.

 

[KaitorTot]

I have a trip booked for mid-January and assumed we weren’t getting free magic bands per the new protocol. I received an email (“Great News: Your MAGICBAND package has shipped!”) and am now confused. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[nursejackie]

deleted

 

[Barlament]

Thanks for sharing

 

[stephalloo]

I prefer the phone. I never forget my phone when leaving one place to another, but I cannot count on one hand how many times I almost left the room without my magicband.

 

[jkh36619]

Just checked into the Fort. Complimentary magic bands for 2 more days.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I have a trip booked for mid-January and assumed we weren’t getting free magic bands per the new protocol. I received an email (“Great News: Your MAGICBAND package has shipped!”) and am now confused. Has this happened to anyone else?

Yes - happened to us, too. I went in to select bands, just to see if it'd let me, and it was a $5 charge for colored ones so we just didn't order any.

Weeks later, got an email ours had shipped. They arrived last week and are all gray ones

 

[rosieposie3]

Hi. Not sure if this is the right place to ask. We're staying at the Hilton Bonnet Creek in April. First timers coming from Europe. Can we get $5 MagicBands if we order through MDE? On MDE I see the option under our resort hotel to link MagicBands but can't see an option to purchase. Thanks.

 

[chad_1138]

This is all weird. Our trip is booked for July, so I went in to MDE a couple of days ago just to see if I could get a free order in before 2021, and it let me order 4 plain color magic bands for free. We will see if the order stays for the next 6 months...

 

[Jess.stw]

I have a trip booked for mid-January and assumed we weren’t getting free magic bands per the new protocol. I received an email (“Great News: Your MAGICBAND package has shipped!”) and am now confused. Has this happened to anyone else?

Yes I was shocked and got a notice a few days ago that my ones for my September 2021 trip shipped! (They will be all gray because I didn’t think to choose them!)

 

[Heather07438]

Hi. Not sure if this is the right place to ask. We're staying at the Hilton Bonnet Creek in April. First timers coming from Europe. Can we get $5 MagicBands if we order through MDE? On MDE I see the option under our resort hotel to link MagicBands but can't see an option to purchase. Thanks.

Hilton is part of the Good Neighbor hotels with WDW, which give some extra perks for the parks but complimentary (or now it's $5 plain) Magic Bands were never included. Sorry

If you don't want to purchase a MB, you can still use your phone to do most everything. Or you can get a card to use (something like these green ones in the picture).

 

[kittlesona]

I guess I’m confused on how this change makes OPERATIONAL sense for WDW (I totally see the financial side). In my head this seems like it’s going to lead to longer lines into the park and fastpass lines as people have to find KTTW cards out of whatever pocket. I admit I don’t know if the KTTW cards actually have the same RFID tech embedded, but again in my head it seems like reducing the total number of magic bands in the parks would reduce the amount of data available on how guests move, spend, etc.

 

[rteetz]

I guess I’m confused on how this change makes OPERATIONAL sense for WDW (I totally see the financial side). In my head this seems like it’s going to lead to longer lines into the park and fastpass lines as people have to find KTTW cards out of whatever pocket. I admit I don’t know if the KTTW cards actually have the same RFID tech embedded, but again in my head it seems like reducing the total number of magic bands in the parks would reduce the amount of data available on how guests move, spend, etc.

They still can gather that data from your phone. Magicbands also still aren’t going away but just becoming a paid option.

 

[skeeter31]

They still can gather that data from your phone. Magicbands also still aren’t going away but just becoming a paid option.

Plus, the KTTW card was the norm pre-2014 and it all worked out fine back then. UO still uses cards for everything and they’re fine. Disney can now start selling more lanyards if people do indeed stop buying magicbands. But I really think band sales will still be quite high. It’s just too hard to pass up $5 for peace of mind. Or, for most of us here, we have tons of bands already and will never travel without them. I have them in both of our cars, in my wife’s pocketbook, in multiple drawers in the house, and in our overnight bag. We’re set for whenever we leave the house in case we decide to take the hour drive to the parks.

 

[huggypack2112]

I have a trip booked for mid-January and assumed we weren’t getting free magic bands per the new protocol. I received an email (“Great News: Your MAGICBAND package has shipped!”) and am now confused. Has this happened to anyone else?

same thing with me. Check in at Fort Wilderness on Jan 24. Looks like they are all grey.

 

[imbatman]

Disney can now start selling more lanyards if people do indeed stop buying magicbands.

And pin trading will become popular again!