We are reusing our old magic bands from a previous trip for next week. What we love about the magic bands was the convenience of charging things without digging out a wallet or room key. When we were at Universal WITHOUT magic bands, we found ourselves seriously annoyed at having to dig out the ticket/cards. When the kids were little, they loved that they could get their own snacks and ice creams without us. Made them feel special. Ours are plain colors since they are old, but I like the idea of being able to have more fun graphics. DS did upgrade his to a Leagues Under the Sea version when he was there in October and was pretty jazzed about it.