Our MagicBands
Last night I returned from a fabulous visit to Walt Disney World. I was fortunate enough to be included in a test of the new MagicBand, which is a plastic wristband that uses HF Radio Frequency (RF) technology and is picked up by short- and long-range readers located at the Walt Disney World Resort. The MagicBand does everything the Key to the World card does … and more!
So where can you use a MagicBand?
I was on the lookout for all the places we could use the MagicBand, and here’s what I found:
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A Cast Member shows my son how to use his MagicBand at our first spot — Disney’s Magical Express
Disney’s Magical Express (used at podiums and boarding)
- Resort check-in
- Your resort room door (unlocking)
- Club/concierge level access in elevators
- Alternate entrances to resorts (like the doors at the ends of the wings at Wilderness Lodge)
- Disney parking lot entry
- Park admission (if you’ve purchased admission, of course)
- Attractions with FastPass+
- Stores (parks, resorts, and Downtown Disney)
- Counter-service restaurants and snack stands
- Table-service restaurants (servers carry portable scanners)
- PhotoPass photographers (photographers with portable scanners)
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Using MagicBands just before entering the ride vehicle at Test Track to bring up the car design customized earlier.
Interactive games (such as Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, A Pirate’s Adventure, Test Track’s Vehicle Design Studio)
- Booking and modifying FastPass+ at the kiosks or with cast members who have iPads
- Disney’s Infinity game on XBOX (unlock the Disney Dragon and new Toy Box)
- Guest Relations and Concierge Desks
Places and things that were NOT using the MagicBands during my visit in October 2013: arcades, lockers, in-room safes, on-property taxis, and purchases of Disney gift cards.
I found MagicBand readers everywhere we expected and hoped to find them, and then some! I was issued a Key to the Word card, and dutifully carried it with me, but I never had to actually use it. The MagicBand made my visit very simple.
My favorite experience with MagicBand happened when I arrived at the Wilderness Lodge to check-in. We had just exited our taxi and were standing under the portico, gathering our luggage, when a Cast Member walked up with a big smile and said, “Ah, the Marx Family has arrived! We’ve been expecting you. Come right in!” I was thrilled. The Cast Member would not reveal her secret (just “Mickey told us you were coming!”). But I snuck a peek at her iPad and I could see that it was tracking arrivals, presumably with long-range radio frequency receivers. While I imagine there are some guests who would not be happy with this, I absolutely loved it. I felt recognized and welcomed. I’m on vacation and quite fine with Disney knowing what I’m doing. The MagicBand has nothing more than a randomly assigned code that securely links to an encrypted database and is configured to not store any other information. If you’re among those who feel funny about this, opt for a Key to the World card instead — cards contain a passive HF Radio Frequency chip and cannot be detected by the long-range readers.
[Edit: I’ve since learned that the personalized greeting is probably due to giving my name at the security gatehouse rather than anything going on with the MagicBands. I usually arrive on Disney’s Magical Express, so I hadn’t experienced this greeting before and automatically assumed it was our shiny MagicBands. Ah well! I still loved it!]
My second favorite experience was when we used FastPass+ at the Haunted Mansion. Besides the fact that we whizzed past a very long queue, we were delighted to hear a creepy yet fun sound when the MagicBand was held up to the sensor. I even took a video, which you can see below:
I also have more experiences and opinions on wearing the MagicBands, decorating the MagicBands, and using the MagicBands. I took photos of nearly every place we used them — even some video. Let me know what you’d like to know and see.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Jennifer!! Looking forward to using our Magic Bands in a few days!! Love that they were so convenient for you;
Hooray! I’ve started another blog post on wearing the MagicBands and how to stay comfortable and secure — look for it tomorrow. 🙂
Thanks for your share! I just customized our bands for our upcoming trip. I am ever so curious on how to maximize the use of it.
so u were given a key to the world card too? so could u get more fast passes because u had both the band and card?
Yes. I didn’t try to get a paper FASTPASS in addition to an electronic FastPass+, but it was my understanding that that was possible. 🙂
The card is to be able to stay in at magic hours go get early . You can only have 3fast passes a day one park not happy with this at disney now
You are right, during the beta testing period, you can get paper passes too.
Just returned. We got paper fast passes in addition to our 3 FastPass Plus. We were able to get them in both the same park as our Fast Pass Plus & in a different park. We have Annual Passes that are linked to our bands. We used the APs for the paper Fast Passes.
Hi Jennifer
Thanks for all the magic band info. We are leaving in 10
Days for our first disney world trip and can’t wait to use out magic bands. Two question maybe you can help me with:
1. Can money be ‘stored/put’ on the band to use for merchandise, food, etc?
2. What happens if one of my kiddos looses their band? Does the ‘adult’ band or main account band have everyone’s info/tickets/etc on it?
Thanks for any possible help!
Tamara
Hi, Tamara!
When it comes to money, you can use the MagicBand in the same way you do your Key to the World card — the MagicBand is simply linking to your account. This question was asked over on the PassPorter Message Boards at http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/planning-your-adventure-your-plans-walt-disney-world/275293-magic-band-if-using-one-can-you-still-pay-out-pocket-things.html too. You can make a cash deposit into your account, and then use your MagicBand to tap into that when you make purchases.
If anyone loses their MagicBand at Walt Disney World, go to Guest Relations or Lobby Concierge. If you lose the MagicBand before you go (and you have at least 10 days to go), contact Disney. Here’s Disney official information on lost MagicBands: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/bands-cards/lost-magic-band/
thanks Jennifer!!!
We just arrived back from 6 days at WDW. We to were excited to be picked as Beta Testers for the Customized bands BUT low and behold when we arrived everyone must have been a Beta Tester they were everywhere. Overall I like the bands. They are convenient and more practical then carrying the card around. Now my DD did lose hers at ESPN during a ATA Tournament and I thought it would be an easy thing to just locate it since it’s HF RFID but the concierge said that the technology was not possible to do that. So they issued her a replacement. We only had a few hiccups with the band and that was at the guard shack entrance it would not scan but they just let you through usually since there are about 50 cars backed up behind you. And the Picture takers seemed to have bad luck with their hand held scanners they would have to ask for our backup room key card. I also wish the soda fountain refills were tied in with the bands then the chips on the bottom of the cups.
Great summary and its lovely to hear that you too had a great experience with the Bands. On our recent trip they were excellent and far better than carrying around cash and cards which makes me pretty nervous, particularly coming from outwith the US. Noticing your comment about being welcomed on arrival, we often found in our two weeks there that at ride entrances and FP+ entrances for Character Meets etc in the parks that we were welcomed by the Cast Members by our first names which we equally thought was a lovely touch and made us feel special! As we beeped through the CM would be standing by an iPad station and made a point of saying Welcome or Hi to each of us by name. When you were near a regular queue you could see other guests looking on in fascination (and a touch of envy) and we felt like VIPs although I’m sure as the rollout continues it will become slightly less of a novelty. I was genuinely honoured to have been part of the first testers and very impressed with this system – simple but effective.
Are the Magic Bands only at WDW? Going to Disneyland in the spring and wondering if they will be available there.
Yes, currently only at Walt Disney World. I do not know if they are coming to Disneyland, nor am I able to find any information on it right now.
Just got back from our WDW trip yesterday! Everyone in our travel party enjoyed using the Magic Bands! We never had to use our Key to the World card, but carried them just in case. Only a few times the system was slow to read the Magic Band. Overall, I like the Magic Band program. Even purchased some bling for it!
I was wondering do you think that the magic bands will be at all of the deluxe resorts?
I think eventually the MagicBands will be at ALL the Disney-owned resorts — deluxe, moderate, value, and deluxe villa (DVC). I don’t think it’ll be at Shades or Green, Swan, Dolphin, or the Downtown Disney Hotels, however. Only time will tell, though.
If the MagicBands hold your ticket information how do you get in park FastPasses with a runner? Does the runner need to take everyone’s band, or can all the passes for your party be printed from one? Thanks for the time you put into your posts!
With MagicBands you can pick your fast pass selections online before you go. No need for a runner!
Yes I love the Magic Bands. We were fortunate enough to use them last week and they are wonderful. Like you I never took out the key card they gave us. Why would I want to? Although they did tell me that not all places were equiped to use the magic bands. But everywhere we went they were in place..except for the laundry room. I had to use the key card for that. Truly a wonderful new tool to make Disney easier to enjoy without worrying about carrying key cards around. Can’t wait to go back next May. Yahoooooooooooooooo
My Disney Experience website has gotten better. When we went in September, our daughter had coordinated all our bands. We were a party of 10 staying at Port Orleans Riverside. At that point the website was frustrating to say the least! We did carry our cards with us and at Coral Reef we had to use them as the bands were not working. However, we are returning this November, staying at the Beach Club and they sent us new bands. We had checked with concierge and they told us that would happen and just deactivate the old ones. Odd since the bands are good for 2 years. And a waste of money in my opinion. When choosing Fast Past this time, I didn’t have any issues with choices in EPCOT as others have reported. And I got one for ILLUMINATIONS. Interested in seeing how that works.
We never take Magic Express and we’ve never been greated like you so maybe it does have to do with the bands.
I asked if the bands would only be for resort guests but was told that it would be rolled out to everyone. I’m hoping that resort guests will be able to reserve fastpasses earlier (much like advanced dining) before others, although, quite frankly, we pay a lot more to stay on site and think that it should be a perk just for on-site guests (or perhaps annual passholders as well). What do others think?
I was just curious, my family is going next year. It happens to be that I am fluffier and have bigger wrists. Are the bands adjustable or large enough to comfortably fit a fuller figured adult?
Yes, the MagicBands fit wrists with a circumference of 5″-10″.
Wonderful! Now I won’t feel so bad or embarrassed.
They do have long range readers that they use. I just read that on the insert in the box with our MB’s. So the CM at the door did know your name not security like you thought.