Mike Marzano
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2017
- Messages
- 302
There are currently 69 bands to select from which includes mostly MagicBand+ and a few MB2.0 bands via MDE for resort stays at the pre-arrival discount. (I just looked as I'm typing this because I have a resort stay coming up and I renewed my annual pass, so I can still select bands for those). The selection can vary depending on their inventory. Once your reservation is linked to your MDE account, visit -> https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/bands-cards There will be an option to "Get Started" which will allow you to select a band for every member of your party at Pre-Arrival price.Our last two trips, we purchased Magic Bands ahead of time from Disney, I think somehow through MDE or the website. We didn't buy through ShopDisney.
We are going next year and there doesn't seem to be a very big assortment of styles. I remember seeing a ton of different ones in a shop maybe in Hollywood Studios. I'd love to have the chance to have a variety to choose from!
Pre-arrival discount is usually $10 off.
ShopDisney dot com has a smaller selection, but some designs which are available on ShopDisney are NOT available as a selection thorough MDE for resort stays. Shop Disney sometimes offers sales, or if you have a Disney Visa, you can get 10% off purchases of $50 or more.
The Dark Room in DHS, The Emporium in MK, Pin Traders in the Market Place end of Disney Springs all have MagicBands available, as do the resort gift shops. There are shops in Epcot (near Spaceship Earth) and Animal Kingdom that also sell bands. Of those locations Pin Traders has the biggest selection.
Remember bands purchased pre-arrival via MDE come already linked and assigned to a person in MDE, with the name on the back of the band/ICON. If you purchase them elsewhere, you will need to link the band to the MDE account and assign it to a person BEFORE you can use it. And they wont have your name on them.
Unfortunately, there is no one location with every design/color available. So you might find something pre-arrival via MDE you can't find in store. You might see something on ShopDisney that you don't see as pre-arrival and don't find in store. There are some bands you might find in Pin Traders that you don't see anywhere else... etc. At the same time you might find some bands available at all locations.
If the band is from 2022, the internal battery used for long range (auto linking of ride photos) should still be good (they usually last about 2 years or so). Even if it isn't, it will still work for anywhere you TAP (Park entry, Disney Resort door, LL entry, with Photopass photographer, etc). Unfortunately the only way to test the battery/long range feature of a Non-Plus band is to try the band on a ride like Seven Dwarfs, Tron, Pirates, Guardians, that auto-link ride photos, and see if you get your photos.Thank you, I should have added those details.
We came April of 2022, and bought the Magic Band 2 models. They might still work. I was going to bring them to check. For my son, I would splurge and get the new MB+ for all the neat features, but if my band still works, I'm going to stick with it. My husband is coming this trip and I would consider ordering him just a plain band before we arrive, if it's a low price. He doesn't care too much.![]()
For your husband, there are some Solid Color MB2.0 bands which are cheap after pre-arrival discount. White, Dark Purple, Light Navy for example are all $9.99 pre-arrival price ($19.99 in store).
For MB+, if you aren't planning on doing Fab50 Quest or Batuu Bounty Hunter, the neat features are just light up and vibrate on occasion which may not be worth having to re-charge them every night.