Magic bands

[pizzaandtulips]

Now that they aren’t just given to you, and they are $$$$, and it looks like everything can be done with a phone, are people still using magic bands or are they slowly fading away? I’m bitter that it will cost $60+ for my family to have them for our trip.

[mrsslocombe]

There were definitely fewer people using them when I was there in January. My mother used an old one (from 3+ years ago). My friend used her Apple Watch. My sister bought a new magic band because she found one she liked. I just used the Key to the World card from our resort. I personally wouldn't buy them, if you are going to use Genie+ I would just make sure you keep your Key to the World cards in an easily accessible location so you can quickly pull them out.

[nicolewi]

I'm feeling more and more that when we went in 2019 we got the last of the "good old days" staying on-property--Magical Express (which was huge for us with four small kids), Magic Bands (kids LOVED wearing them), dining plan (worked for us b/c we did a bunch of character meals), Extra Magic Hours, and even the fast pass system, which worked great for us.

Now it seems like they just charge extra for everything.

[daisyduck]

If you have any from previous trips you can still use them, you'll just have to link your new tickets to them. In my opinion, the biggest reason to have a MB is to automatically get your ride pictures if you are purchasing Memory Maker. Many rides have the scanners at the exit and you can claim your photos on those using a MB or key to the world card, but some rides just do it using the RFID in your MB so you'll likely miss those without one. This is also a drawback to using old MBs as the longer range RFID (required for the ride pictures to work) fades as the battery dies, but the short range to get into park and line queues will always work.

On our last trip we bought one new MB to get the ride photos and everyone else wore an old one.

[mrsslocombe]

Apr 14, 2022 10:09:04 GMT -5 nicolewi said:

I'm feeling more and more that when we went in 2019 we got the last of the "good old days" staying on-property--Magical Express (which was huge for us with four small kids), Magic Bands (kids LOVED wearing them), dining plan (worked for us b/c we did a bunch of character meals), Extra Magic Hours, and even the fast pass system, which worked great for us.

Now it seems like they just charge extra for everything.

I agree, I'm especially annoyed by how few "perks" you get for staying on property now. I really miss evening Extra Magic Hours. 

There are a few new things that I do like better since I was there in 2018. Mobile Food Ordering is amazing, I like that at the large stores you can check out using your phone so you don't have to wait in line. And the new security system at the entrance is SO MUCH BETTER. Also a huge fan of the Sky Way, when it's working. 

But I still miss the paper fast pass days. It was so much more egalitarian. 

A tip for everyone though-if you have ANY issues at WDW and speak to Guest Services, they hand out ride passes to solve every problem. You can't use them on the major rides like Mine, Ride of Resistance, Remy, Frozen, etc. But they work on nearly everything else, no reservations required. Just scan your band/key card and ride. They also refund any individual LL passes you buy but were unable to use (which happens a lot with Remy and Rise of Resistance because they break so often). 

[quesyrah]

We used them in January. We only paid $10 for them though so an additional $40 wasn’t a big deal to us. I don’t know how much they are now.

They are definitely more convenient. We had a very specific and uncommon ticket issue so we could only use them some days to scan into the park and into LLs. The other days we either had to use our phone or ticket card. It was definitely much easier to just scan the band

[sent]

We are on our way now! I was just telling DD that since we couldn’t find our Minnie ears or our magic bands, the only solution is to be good consumers and buy more when we get there. We did do a trip without them once. I remember just using a plastic card for everything.

[meganew]

I love my magic bands- I hate fumbling looking for cards or trying to get my ancient phone to work. I feel like it cuts down time, especially since we paid for everything with them too. Plus I got the super cute snack themed one lol

[sent]

Apr 15, 2022 6:16:49 GMT -5 meganew said:

I love my magic bands- I hate fumbling looking for cards or trying to get my ancient phone to work. I feel like it cuts down time, especially since we paid for everything with them too. Plus I got the super cute snack themed one lol

Last time we went, DS was almost 2 and kept ripping my magic band off anytime he got near my wrist. It’s was super annoying LOL since everything was connected to it. Hopefully this time he wears whatever band he will pick.

[huskymom]

We just got back and I think they are still helpful but agree so annoying to pay for. I wouldn’t want to get my phone out for scanning at rides, photos, plus we used it to pay for most things. We needed it to get into our pool (I think this is just a Beach Club thing).

[litasail]

Literally on the plane home right now and we were very happy to have MBs. I didn't want to whip my phone out constantly. And there's just something so satisfying about that buzz when you use it to get into the LL for a ride.

[sent]

Update, we are here now and I didn't buy the magic bands. We received a plastic card for our tickets and just scan that in when we enter each park. We are not staying at a Disney owned property so don't need it for that. I also didn't buy the Genie+ or LL so we don't need to scan for that. The only time I had to fish the card out was when I asked a photographer to take our photo once. I had it prepared to scan it for more photo ops but there haven't been many yet.