Discounted MagicBand designs can be found for pre-arrival Walt Disney World lodge friends and Annual Passholders. This shopping for information covers the improve buy course of, stock shortages, worldwide points & errors, Magic Band+ types, and new choices. (Up to date August 22, 2024.)
To improve your Magic Band, use the My Disney Expertise app or DisneyWorld.com, which lets you select from a wide range of colours and designs impressed by characters, resorts, sights, nighttime spectaculars, and extra. The types rotate with regularity, and there are dozens of MagicBand decisions at discounted costs.
Walt Disney World usually presents dozens of MagicBand improve choices, with new seems to be added as others promote out. As mentioned under, the “new seems to be added” a part of that has not been occurring as a lot these days. Pricing varies, with choices beginning at $24.99 and costing as a lot as $44.99. We replace this usually with screenshots of the brand new MagicBands, plus information, and troubleshooting suggestions for what has confirmed to be a irritating course of.
Let’s begin with the entire updates, as a lot has modified since this program launched. Walt Disney World has eradicated the complimentary solid-color MagicBands that had been despatched to friends pre-arrival. Disney additionally stopped providing free MagicBands to Annual Passholders.
Because of this all MagicBands now price cash–you don’t get free ones with resort reservations or for being an Annual Passholder. Upgrading to those designs, shopping for MagicBands within the parks, or through shopDisney.com is your solely choice.
As all the time, MagicBands are not required at Walt Disney World. For room entry, park admission, Lightning Lanes, and charging privileges to the lodge room, Walt Disney World presents plastic Key To The World playing cards. This may be offered on the lodge entrance desk, and is how issues labored previous to the debut of MagicBands a number of years in the past. Alternatively, friends can obtain commonplace ticket media and use that for park entry or utilizing Lightning Lanes.
Moreover, MagicMobile service is out there at Walt Disney World through the My Disney Expertise app. This may be added to your Android, iPhone, or Apple Watch digital pockets as soon as enabled. This works identical to a MagicBand with most options working by merely holding up your good machine close to an entry level. It may be used to enter theme parks, join Disney PhotoPass photographs to your account, enter Lightning Lanes, and extra. Right here’s how MagicMobile compares to MagicBands.
MagicMobile and Key to the World playing cards are two of 4 methods to entry these options. The opposite choices are the MagicBand+ and the common ole MagicBand 2.0, as we’ll focus on under. MagicBand+ is the newer of the 2, having debuted final 12 months.
Our brutally trustworthy MagicBand+ Assessment: Good, Unhealthy & Ugly ought to allow you to decide whether or not it’s for you. If you happen to’re actually excited in regards to the MagicBand+ and have already ordered one for every member of your loved ones, you may not wish to learn that. Typically ignorance is bliss.
For these questioning how MagicBand+ and MagicMobile examine to the unique MagicBand, under is a useful chart. We’d advocate consulting that, attempting out MagicMobile, and studying the above sources to find out whether or not upgrading to the MagicBand+ is value it for you:
Sadly, worldwide friends can now not order MagicBand or MagicBand+ through the pre-arrival system except they’ve a United States mailing tackle. There are doable workarounds for this, which ought to let you order and pick-up on the resort–but it surely requires lots of further legwork. In our view, it’s not well worth the effort. Simply purchase a MagicBand if you get to Walt Disney World…or under no circumstances.
Walt Disney World has not provided an official rationalization (and doubtless by no means will), our greatest guess is that it’s a matter of mental property legislation. As talked about in our Information to DisneyBand+ on Disney Cruise Line, the title change was made there for that motive. We’ve since heard extra in regards to the concern, and it sounds prefer it’s extra important than beforehand reported–that Disney can not use the MagicBand title in any respect in sure worldwide markets.
Disney Authorized might be erring on the facet of warning and stopping Walt Disney World from advertising and marketing or promoting MagicBands internationally in any capability to keep away from litigation publicity. Once more, all of that is unconfirmed however we’ve heard sufficient to imagine that this rationalization is extremely credible. The upshot is that Disney doesn’t care in the event you bounce by way of a couple of further hoops and handle to make a pre-arrival order even whereas residing in Canada or the UK or wherever.
In any case, right here’s a present have a look at MagicBand 2.0 and MagicBand+ stock for the pre-arrival program as of August 22, 2024:
There are at present 31 pre-arrival choices, which has been about par for the course this 12 months–we’ve seen someplace between 25 and 40 decisions every time we’ve checked. That is far fewer than final 12 months, when the choices peaked at a excessive of 82 MagicBands. A part of the explanation for a decrease quantity is undoubtedly that Walt Disney World is phasing out the common ole MagicBands (formally generally known as MagicBand 2.0).
It’s not simply that, although. We’re additionally seeing far fewer MagicBand+ choices, and about two-thirds of the alternatives above had been additionally accessible after we final up to date this checklist 6 months in the past! And lots of of these had been there 6 months earlier than that. We’re seeing little or no turnover, interval, which might be as a result of MagicBand+ is essentially a flop.
Personally, I nonetheless hope that Walt Disney World reverses course and makes extra common MagicBand types. I’d slightly pay much less and persist with tried and true MagicBand 2. Right here’s hoping that lower-than-anticipated gross sales of the MagicBand+ trigger Disney to rethink its method. Common MagicBands are cheaper to make, which additionally means they wouldn’t have to be bought at such astronomical value factors.
It’s additionally doable that there’s so much much less curiosity in MagicBand upgrades amongst friends. What began as a free program turned paid, however was nonetheless a reasonably good take care of $10 MagicBand choices. Now, the minimal is $25 and there are improve choices costing as a lot as $45. You’re arguably higher off simply ready for a sale on the Disney Retailer, which additionally has higher choice.
There’s additionally no hurt in ready till you arrive at Walt Disney World to buy your MagicBand. The one draw back is that you just received’t have the ability to instantly use your MagicBand to open your lodge room door, enter the parks, and so forth–however the precise course of of shopping for a MagicBand and linking it to your My Disney Expertise account is easy and simple. You too can purchase from DisneyStore.com, the place there’s a perpetual collection of MagicBand+ designs on sale.
Talking of which, you would stroll right into a Walt Disney World reward store proper now and discover cabinets and cabinets of MagicBands. There’s ample availability within the parks & resorts…however these should not the identical product strains and the logistics of delivering to the parks is totally different than the achievement middle for these MagicBand improve choices. (A extra resourceful firm may determine a strategy to reallocate provide, however Disney isn’t any Amazon!)
Whether or not you need to pay to buy a MagicBand pre-arrival is a private resolution, however there’s one huge upside in that it makes the holiday expertise seamless and streamlined. You possibly can bypass your lodge’s entrance desk, don’t should trouble with separate funds, keys, and so forth. So there’s undoubtedly a component of comfort for on-site friends.
Observe that you’ve got till 10 days earlier than your arrival at Walt Disney World to customise and order your MagicBand if you wish to have the MagicBand shipped to your property. If you happen to order in underneath 10 days, you’re eliminating two of the largest benefits in shopping for MagicBands.
On account of postal service delays, we advocate putting your order a minimum of 14 days upfront to play it protected. Anecdotally, we’re additionally listening to of extra friends having their orders delayed or cancelled fully, so even ordering far upfront doesn’t assure that your MagicBands will arrive on time–or in any respect.
With that mentioned, listed here are our troubleshooting suggestions and the step-by-step course of for ordering. (Simply needless to say this was written when provide chain disruptions weren’t a factor–so that you’re going to see much more stock n the screenshots under that’s NOT at present accessible!)
TROUBLESHOOTING
It’s laborious to imagine, however the MagicBand improve choice went dwell a couple of years in the past. A part of the explanation that it’s laborious to imagine is as a result of MagicBand stock stays hit and miss. The system can also be frustratingly glitchy, with issues requiring personal or antiquated browsers, plus errors all through the method–even after submitting cost.
We assumed the kinks would’ve been ironed out by now, however sadly, that’s not the case. (How naive of us given the fixed points with My Disney Expertise years after its launch.) Sadly, past this troubleshooting recommendation under coupled with persistence, there’s no good decision. If reader studies are any indication, contacting Disney is unlikely to yield favorable outcomes. (We’d love to listen to your experiences within the feedback!)
We can not stress sufficient that this technique continues to be having an incredible quantity of issues. If you happen to’re having bother finishing the choice course of, or getting this to work, we’d advocate utilizing the desktop web site as a substitute of the My Disney Expertise app or cellular web site.
Moreover, if the desktop model of DisneyWorld.com received’t be just right for you, attempt personal searching, incognito mode, or a distinct browser fully. Often, we first attempt personal searching on Chrome, and that resolves the problem. Nonetheless, a few occasions we’ve obtained a message that we wouldn’t have entry to a sure web page, or that our cost couldn’t be processed–each of these points may be resolved by time-traveling again to Y2K and utilizing Web Explorer. (Don’t fear, you received’t have to make use of AOL or dial-up, too.)
We’ve discovered that this course of will get hung up on a number of totally different pages, together with on the choice and checkout course of. Having a ‘clear’ browser will typically resolve these points. It’s not foolproof, however in the event you’re discovering that issues grow to be unavailable proper after you choose them, that’s one rationalization as to why.
If you happen to’re having points with stock…there’s no nice answer to that. We’d advocate watching the location, checking every morning at round 8 am for the day’s restocks, and ordering your MagicBands if you see a ‘ok’ collection of MagicBands that enchantment to you. Moreover, persons are reporting points with their orders really transport, however this appears to be a sporadic downside.
In case your Walt Disney World trip will not be within the close to future, we’d advocate being affected person and ready for a design you really need. Now that Disney has a extra correct understanding of demand, they’re (hopefully) extra more likely to enhance the stock to an sufficient stage to fulfill the unbelievable demand.
Whereas we aren’t large into Magic Bands, it will undoubtedly have collectors and character followers excited, because it means buying a brand new design for what quantities to $10 to fifteen off. If you happen to preferred distinctive designs and have already got a drawer filled with the ‘commonplace’ colours from previous Walt Disney World journeys, leaping on the up-charge definitely is sensible.
Personally, I’ll most likely simply follow the one, stable blue MagicBand that I’ve been utilizing for the previous a number of years…which itself changed a distinct blue one which needed to be “retired” as a result of it was too soiled.
Not that you just care about that. Anyway, right here’s how the method works…
After clicking the “My MagicBands and Playing cards” hyperlink under the My Disney Expertise drop-down on DisneyWorld.com or the “Select MagicBands” button in your resort reservation, you’ll see the above display.
As you possibly can see, there’s a message on the display indicating that the brand new improve choices may be shipped to friends’ houses (U.S. addresses solely) if ordered 11 or extra days forward of arrival. They are often customized if performed so a minimum of 6 or extra days forward of arrival.
That is what seems subsequent, and when you hit “Choose” the display scrolls down on the identical web page, revealing all of this:
By way of the magic of Photoshop, I mixed each single web page right into a single view, so you would see every character and attraction-themed MagicBand.
No Nation Bear Jamboree, however ya can’t win ’em all. Hopefully, over time new designs will likely be added as a part of particular promotions, seasonal occasions, and that form of factor. (I presume the ‘greatest’ designs that Walt Disney World believes will promote to collectors and lovers will stay unique to shops, the place they are often bought at full value.)
As soon as chosen, you arrive at this whole buy display the place you possibly can change your title. From there, you’ll enter cost information, a transport tackle, and end the checkout. Assuming the system works. Good luck!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider the brand new MagicBand improve choices? Will you be paying the premium for certainly one of these colours or themed designs? Any particular design catch your eye? Do you cynically assume that is only a lame cash-grab? Any questions we may also help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
