Magic Bands 101

[MouseMomx2]

Hi MouseMomx2 -- thx for starting this thread!

Are you CERTAIN about the bold red part above?? I really hope this is the case. We have a similar situation to PP. We have a split stay 9/26-10/5, and 10/5-10/8 at BLT and have been told we can only test MB for the second reservation, since BLT begins testing after 9/30. Do they mean that we will only be able to test FP+ beginning 10/5, but can use MB for entry etc. beginning 9/26 when we arrive??

Yes. But the key word is "should". This program is still in its testing/roll-out phase. Ultimately that is how things will work and it is how they should work now. They are not telling you this, officially, because they are trying to keep things as simple as possible. The bottom line is that your magic band is tied to you, not to your reservation. That means that anything you have linked in your MDE account will be accessible by your band.

As for FP+, yes, you will only be able to get them for your BLT days. Right now you need a park ticket plus a resort reservation to be eligible for FP+ so your BLT check in day will be your live date.

There are a lot of reports of those with APs or who don't use all of the days on a non-expiring ticket being able to make FP+s after their reservation ends, but they are not able to make any before the first day of their first eligible reservation.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Yes. But the key word is "should". This program is still in its testing/roll-out phase. Ultimately that is how things will work and it is how they should work now. They are not telling you this, officially, because they are trying to keep things as simple as possible. The bottom line is that your magic band is tied to you, not to your reservation. That means that anything you have linked in your MDE account will be accessible by your band.

As for FP+, yes, you will only be able to get them for your BLT days. Right now you need a park ticket plus a resort reservation to be eligible for FP+ so your BLT check in day will be your live date.

There are a lot of reports of those with APs or who don't use all of the days on a non-expiring ticket being able to make FP+s after their reservation ends, but they are not able to make any before the first day of their first eligible reservation.

Thanks!!!

My initial understanding was that bands were linked to a profile (not tix or resort res, etc.), but then I was confused when told I was eligible only for the second stay because a "master switch" would need to be flipped for BLT prior to 9/26 for me to "test" for the whole stay. What got lost in the mix, was that this was true only for FP+ -- not for park entry, room entry, etc.

While I was (impatiently!!) awaiting a response here, I called Disney Tech Support and the CM I spoke with confirmed what you said: we should be able to use the bands for everything except FP+ until 10/5 when that piece is effectively "turned on" for us. AWESOME! We - the kids especially - were really looking forward to the bands, and we had resigned ourselves to waiting for our next trip until we received that invite to participate.

Looking forward to trying this stuff out!

 

[Bullseye]

Thanks Mom for the 101! I've been waiting for the verifiable info on MagicBands and FP+ to be put into a sticky.

Glad to see your post...it's nice to see an organized list.

 

[MouseMomx2]

After returning from the cruise we had one day in the parks with FP's set up, left on our first set of MB's and wore both MB's on our one night at AOA.

Just as an FYI...nothing was actually on your band. Everything was on your MDE profile. You would have been able to use either set of bands to access those FPs. The MB has a chip in it that accesses your MDE account. They do not actually store anything (reservations, park tickets, etc.) on the band. You will be able to bring either of your bands back over the next several years and they will work for anything you have linked to your MDE profile, which your band is also linked to.

 

[MouseMomx2]

Thanks!!!

My initial understanding was that bands were linked to a profile (not tix or resort res, etc.), but then I was confused when told I was eligible only for the second stay because a "master switch" would need to be flipped for BLT prior to 9/26 for me to "test" for the whole stay. What got lost in the mix, was that this was true only for FP+ -- not for park entry, room entry, etc.

While I was (impatiently!!) awaiting a response here, I called Disney Tech Support and the CM I spoke with confirmed what you said: we should be able to use the bands for everything except FP+ until 10/5 when that piece is effectively "turned on" for us. AWESOME! We - the kids especially - were really looking forward to the bands, and we had resigned ourselves to waiting for our next trip until we received that invite to participate.

Looking forward to trying this stuff out!

It's always good to have confirmation directly from the source!

I, too, am very excited to try out this new system. We travel with teenagers/young adults who don't like to get up early. I am very excited that we will all be able to ride things together later in the day with our scheduled FP+s!

 

[runmommyrun]

We have a split stay at AoA for two nights and BLT for three nights over Columbus weekend. We are DVC members and AP holders (currently with a voucher that will be redeemed when we arrive). A few things to note:

-- One day about a month ago I logged on MDE and there was FP+ availability. No formal invite. It was for the entire trip.

-- I booked FP for the entire five day stay.

-- With help from IT, we linked DVC VOUCHERS to the Magic Bands. I will be curious to see how this plays out. The vouchers were from an PAP special and need to be activated by end of year.

-- We also linked our MNSSHP tickets.

-- We could customize until Sept. 9th, which was one month prior to check-in at AoA. We received the bands on Sept. 10th.

-- I only recently received a formal invite that appears to be for our AoA stay. However, that invite was received the day AFTER we got our Magic Bands in the mail. So I have no idea why I was told to customize our bands 30 days in advance of our AoA check-in and now have an invite to join testing with a date of Sept. 29th as our cut off to customize our bands. I already have the bands and everything is booked and linked for our entire trip in MDE for BOTH stays.

I'm a tad nervous to see how this plays out. But it all appears on MDE: two hotel reservations, park VOUCHERS, MNSHHP tickets, dinner reservations, and FP for ALL days of our trip. We shall see!!! Fingers crossed!

 

[Teri1]

Just as an FYI...nothing was actually on your band. Everything was on your MDE profile. You would have been able to use either set of bands to access those FPs. The MB has a chip in it that accesses your MDE account. They do not actually store anything (reservations, park tickets, etc.) on the band. You will be able to bring either of your bands back over the next several years and they will work for anything you have linked to your MDE profile, which your band is also linked to.

I asked this question of the CM at check-in and thought I was told it was band specific. Doesn't matter, it was not a problem to wear one on each arm.

 

[MouseMomx2]

I asked this question of the CM at check-in and thought I was told it was band specific. Doesn't matter, it was not a problem to wear one on each arm.

No, the bands are tied to your MDE account, not to your reservation. Anything that is linked there will be accessible by your band. Disney ultimately intends for guests to bring their bands back year after year and re-use them.

Yours would not be the first CM to give incorrect information. This is a new program and many CMs aren't quite up to speed yet.

 

[jimmysmom74]

No, the bands are tied to your MDE account, not to your reservation. Anything that is linked there will be accessible by your band. Disney ultimately intends for guests to bring their bands back year after year and re-use them.

You can probably answer this the best. Essentially, won't each set of MBs do the exact same thing, access your MDE?

 

[MouseMomx2]

You can probably answer this the best. Essentially, won't each set of MBs do the exact same thing, access your MDE?

Exactly.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

You can probably answer this the best. Essentially, won't each set of MBs do the exact same thing, access your MDE?

Yup. FWIW, I just spoke to Tech Support where a CM volunteered that one could have a MB in every color if he/she wanted, leave them all active, and all would link to your MDE profile and all work equally.

I think she was referring to once this is all rolled out, but she didn't specify.

 

[MouseMomx2]

Yup. FWIW, I just spoke to Tech Support where a CM volunteered that one could have a MB in every color if he/she wanted, leave them all active, and all would link to your MDE profile and all work equally.

I think she was referring to once this is all rolled out, but she didn't specify.

Since they are currently sending out MBs for every reservation I will end up with all seven colors by January. Two came from an upcoming stay that had a minor issue so they had to issue a second set of bands, two will come from our November split-stay and three will come from our January split-stay.

While I think this is a complete waste and I hope they change the policy soon, I am going to go ahead and order bands each time. If you don't customize you end up with a gray band (which I already have) so I might as well choose a color.

 

[Teri1]

No, the bands are tied to your MDE account, not to your reservation. Anything that is linked there will be accessible by your band. Disney ultimately intends for guests to bring their bands back year after year and re-use them.

Yours would not be the first CM to give incorrect information. This is a new program and many CMs aren't quite up to speed yet.

I understand that and I am sure if you are correct then in the future they may not send one or two sets of MB's UPS for each reservation. I will just activate the band I plan to use.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Since they are currently sending out MBs for every reservation I will end up with all seven colors by January. Two came from an upcoming stay that had a minor issue so they had to issue a second set of bands, two will come from our November split-stay and three will come from our January split-stay.

While I think this is a complete waste and I hope they change the policy soon, I am going to go ahead and order bands each time. If you don't customize you end up with a gray band (which I already have) so I might as well choose a color.

I'm with you -- why not choose a cool color?!

The CM I spoke with said you could eventually have them all and be able to color-coordinate each day of your stay! Not sure I care so much about that, but hey - nice to know what the options are!

 

[erionm]

I understand that and I am sure if you are correct then in the future they may not send one or two sets of MB's UPS for each reservation. I will just activate the band I plan to use.

From the MagicBand & Cards FAQ:

Q. I have multiple MagicBands or cards. How do I manage them?

A. You manage your MagicBands or cards in the MagicBand section of My Profile. For example, you are able to:

• Activate or deactivate MagicBands or cards
• Report a MagicBand or card as lost
• Customize MagicBands before they are shipped

Multiple MagicBands or cards can be assigned to a single person, so activating a new MagicBand or card does not mean that you must deactivate an existing MagicBand or card. All active MagicBands or cards assigned to a person have access to the benefits and entitlements for that person. Adding a new MagicBand or card does not add new entitlements, such as additional theme park admissions.

If you require additional assistance managing your MagicBands or cards, please contact us or visit any Guest Relations location at Walt Disney World Resort.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/bands-cards/multiple-magic-bands/

 

[BuzzBelleMom]

MouseMomX2:



Thank you for this thread. I really appreciate it.

 

[One Hit Wonder]

Yeah, but you're talking about post testing, when it is live. Right now, non resort guests cannot participate. As of today, you have to either wear or carry your MB if you want to participate in FP+...you cannot use your KTTW card, correct?

I've read that RFID KTTW Cards do Fastpass+ just fine.

 

[MouseMomx2]

I understand that and I am sure if you are correct then in the future they may not send one or two sets of MB's UPS for each reservation. I will just activate the band I plan to use.

Bands are activated when they ship. You do not need to activate or de-activate a band. They can all be active at once and used interchangeably.

 

[MouseMomx2]

BTW, I am so grateful to this new system. I am a new empty-nester with my youngest having left for college a few weeks ago. Learning all about MBs/FP+s and helping to share the info with others has given me something to occupy my time. So nice of Disney to do that for me, no?

 

[Teri1]

Bands are activated when they ship. You do not need to activate or de-activate a band. They can all be active at once and used interchangeably.

I understand that, I was talking about on future visits if I want, I can activate the bands I am taking and deactivate the ones that I am not using, if I wish.