Do I really need a Magic Band?

[AustinTink]

It does get a bit hot and sweaty at times though.

That’s what will bother me most.

 

[DSLRuser]

My wife and I went last month and I brought the wrong magic band (brought daughters bf)

Guest services wasn't open yet so I just decided to use my phone. you know what...it did not suck. Getting into parks or G= rides worked like a charm with my phone. May just stick with it from now on.

 

[AustinTink]

My wife and I went last month and I brought the wrong magic band (brought daughters bf)

Guest services wasn't open yet so I just decided to use my phone. you know what...it did not suck. Getting into parks or G= rides worked like a charm with my phone. May just stick with it from now on.

The phone works great for us at DLR. We are going to try the bands for this trip to WDW but might just stick with the phone going forward.

 

[mroulier]

And OF COURSE the Monorail one is now gone from the MDE page! Waited too long for my DW to decide which one she wanted, so she may have to buy me the Star Wars "May the 4th, 2023" one from Shop Disney for full price!

 

[Boba(not-so)Fit]

And OF COURSE the Monorail one is now gone from the MDE page! Waited too long for my DW to decide which one she wanted, so she may have to buy me the Star Wars "May the 4th, 2023" one from Shop Disney for full price!

Looks like from your sig that you have over 3 months until your trip so you have time for the Monorail MB to come back in stock. Unless it was limited addition?

That May the 4th MB is pretty sweet though . But $65 yikes!

 

[disny_luvr]

Quick question - My sons are going to just wear their Apple watches and use them for their park tickets and Genie+. My DH and I don't have Apple watches so we are going to wear our magic bands from our 2021 trip. Will we still get ride photos with our older magic bands?

 

[JodyK]

Your magic band battery may be dead, so you may not get your ride photos unless there is a place to tap for them. The workaround is you can have the MDE app installed on your cellphone and bluetooth on so your phone picks up the ride photos.

 

[Boba(not-so)Fit]

Quick question - My sons are going to just wear their Apple watches and use them for their park tickets and Genie+. My DH and I don't have Apple watches so we are going to wear our magic bands from our 2021 trip. Will we still get ride photos with our older magic bands?

Since you are looking for ride photos. if it is not too late (seeing that you are staying @ the Yacht Club in June), I would recommend getting the $10 MBs thru your reservation. I have heard of many people that have had difficulty getting the MDE app on the phone to work with the ride photopass. To me it would not be worth the risk. Also, I am not 100% certain but I do not believe that the Apple watches will work with the automatic photopass, only the scans at the end of a ride.

 

[AustinTink]

automatic photopass

What does that mean?

 

[CarolynFH]

What does that mean?

The ride photos that link to your MDE account over the air, without tapping anything, for example Seven Dwarfs, Haunted Mansion, etc.

 

[disny_luvr]

Since you are looking for ride photos. if it is not too late (seeing that you are staying @ the Yacht Club in June), I would recommend getting the $10 MBs thru your reservation. I have heard of many people that have had difficulty getting the MDE app on the phone to work with the ride photopass. To me it would not be worth the risk. Also, I am not 100% certain but I do not believe that the Apple watches will work with the automatic photopass, only the scans at the end of a ride.

That’s a good idea! I just checked and I can still order one. Can I just order myself one or do I need to order for the whole family?

 

[Boba(not-so)Fit]

That’s a good idea! I just checked and I can still order one. Can I just order myself one or do I need to order for the whole family?

Since you have party of 4, I would at least get 2 based on my earlier points to the OP below.

A couple exceptions off the top of my head for using of a single MB across 3+ people for pics.

For Haunted Mansion and your party is riding in more than 1 car you (which may be the case for the OP with 3 adults), you will only get the picture for the car the MB rider is in.

Also for Slinky Dog, all of the cars have 2 rows of seats which will be fine for a single MB (for 3-4 riders). BUT, if part of your party is in the last (tail) car which only has a single row of seats, you would need 2 MBs to capture that row and the other row where your party is seated.

And to add, in your case with 4 ppl, you would need 2 MBs for Space Mountain as well since the pic only captures 1 car of 3 ppl.
Honestly, if possible, I would recommend to just get 4 so everyone has one on them just so you don't have to worry about who has the MBs at any moment.

 

[AustinTink]

Update: I wasn’t expecting to be so excited when our Magic Bands arrived in the mail but I sure was!

We’re so behind the curve with magic bands it’s a fun novelty for us at this point. We’ll see how we actually like using them on our trip.

 

[nolatravelgirl]

A couple exceptions off the top of my head for using of a single MB across 3+ people for pics.

For Haunted Mansion and your party is riding in more than 1 car you (which may be the case for the OP with 3 adults), you will only get the picture for the car the MB rider is in.

Also for Slinky Dog, all of the cars have 2 rows of seats which will be fine for a single MB (for 3-4 riders). BUT, if part of your party is in the last (tail) car which only has a single row of seats, you would need 2 MBs to capture that row and the other row where your party is seated.

We just had the MDE app and our AppleWatches and still got all our photos automatically for Slinky, HM, 7DMT and many others. I think as long as you have location services turned on and have the app you will automatically get all your photos.

 

[CarolynFH]

We just had the MDE app and our AppleWatches and still got all our photos automatically for Slinky, HM, 7DMT and many others. I think as long as you have location services turned on and have the app you will automatically get all your photos.

Was your MDE app set to use your phone’s Bluetooth? That’s the alternative to MBs for linking ride photos.

 

[Boba(not-so)Fit]

We just had the MDE app and our AppleWatches and still got all our photos automatically for Slinky, HM, 7DMT and many others. I think as long as you have location services turned on and have the app you will automatically get all your photos.

I don't think anyone will argue that it can work by using your phone w/the app. The problem is that it is not as "automatic" as you stated because there are many ppl out there (and have posted on this msg board) who have tried and been disappointed to find out that they did not get their photos.
It really becomes a situational thing IMO depending on how set you are on getting the photos. If you are a family and taking your kids on their first Disney trip, I wouldn't take the risk of using using my phone at the expense of a few MBs that are only $10 each if staying onsite (or $20 otherwise).

 

[gharter]

Personally, I find using the MB is much easier than the phone app for park ticket entry, Genie plus tapping in etc. Paying by tapping the MB is also easier than using the phone to pay.

 

[Disco Lemonade]

Does your phone work at DW for LL scan in? I know it does at DL, but we went to DW for a couple days recently and I tried it on our first ride and it didn’t work, so I just used the card that they gave me the rest of the way. I never thought the card was that big of a hassle. I just kept my card in my pocket the whole day until I needed to use it to scan.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I recently took a trip with extended family to WDW, and I was the only one with a MB. Everyone else had a key to the world card that they got at check-in (The cards have cute Disney characters, a different character on each card so you know whose is whose). Only one person "malfunctioned" entering the parks-me and my MB, twice. When we returned to the resort at the end of the day, someone always had their Card out. Three different generations of people-no one found MBs any easier, seeing mine. Actually, when we got home DH, who had a MB but forgot it on this trip, hence the Key to the World card, said "I don't think I'll bother bringing a MB to WDW ever again.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Does your phone work at DW for LL scan in? I know it does at DL, but we went to DW for a couple days recently and I tried it on our first ride and it didn’t work, so I just used the card that they gave me the rest of the way. I never thought the card was that big of a hassle. I just kept my card in my pocket the whole day until I needed to use it to scan.

It does but I found the paper card to be easier.

Just be sure to gave the Bluetooth turned on in your phone for on-ride photos.