There is so much discussion around magic bands- and we only have these credit card things with images of characters on them- we are visiting the park for the day- is this typical????
If you are staying onsite and live in the US then you should of received magic bands otherwise you will get them when you check in... Did you purchase your tickets from Disney with a package or seperate somewhere else? If you did buy them from say tripleA then you get a card and you would have to link them yourself on the MDE app.
It's no big deal either way, but if you're on site (and booking from the US, I think) then I'm under the impression that you should have gotten magic bands.
Your band will be at the resort.. They can't ship internationally.
MagicBands & Cards – Frequently Asked Questions
Q.
I do not live in the United States. Will you ship my MagicBand internationally?
A.
Unfortunately, MagicBand orders cannot be shipped to all countries. When you customize your MagicBand, you’ll be asked to provide a shipping address. If, during this process, you discover that we do not ship to your country—but you plan on staying at a Disney Resort hotel—your MagicBand will automatically be waiting for you at the Front Desk when you arrive at your Disney Resort hotel. Likewise, you can also arrange to have your MagicBand sent to a non-Disney Resort hotel with a valid shipping address prior to the start of your vacation.
The credit-card-things are park passes, too. I think they do almost everything the magicbands do if you have linked them to your MyDisneyExperience account, except for the ride videos.
I live in Canada and the only "credit card things with images of characters on them" we had mailed to us were the admission "credit cards" to the Halloween and Christmas parties which we purchased. Besides that didn't get anything mailed to us except for our luggage tags. If you personalized your magic bands through MDE they will be waiting for you when you check in at your resort, if you didn't they can give you un-personalized ones at check in.
Did you buy your park admission from a third party? In that case those cards you have are your park admission.