Holy MagicBands Batman

[jerseyduke]

So my Dec. ressies break down like this:

12/1-12/6 - VGF, points ressie (magic bands recieved!)

12/9-12/11 VGF points ressie (2nd magic bands received)

12/11-12/12 - VGF cash - woke up this morning to an email saying my magic bands were on their way

12/12-12/14 - VGF points - nothing yet, but can only assume a 4th set of Bands.

This is a little crazy. And I have an annual pass, not individual tickets or anything. And so far the bands have all been shipped overnight.

Is this really necessary? It seems quite wasteful.

 

[soulmates]

Awesome!!! Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

We have a three way split stay starting January 3rd, 1 night SSR, 4 nights BWV, 3 nights AKL, and three sets of magic bands. It's completely ridiculous!

 

[woodleygrrl]

I think it is nuts. Same thing with us. We had a reservation with two resorts in 4 days and we got two sets of bands.

is there a plan for you to keep a band for life? (or until the battery dies?)
I have been wondering about that.

Jennifer

 

[Niewoe]

Wow... I was under the impression that we would be stuck with one set of magic bands for life!! (With an AP). Guess I don't have to stress as much about customizing them.

Sidebar: So jealous of your trip!! Have a wonderful time, even if you need to use an extra suitcase for all those bands!

 

[PolyLover]

We recently stayed at the Polynesian but had two reservations (one a bounceback offer an then just the regular 30% offer) and they sent us two sets of magic bands. I called the IT people and they said at this time they are automatically being sent out. What a huge waste of money!! It is a shame. I felt bad getting two sets ---but 4?! Enjoy your trip and have fun keeping track of all of those MB's!!

 

[Simba's Mom]

So my Dec. ressies break down like this:

12/1-12/6 - VGF, points ressie (magic bands recieved!)

12/9-12/11 VGF points ressie (2nd magic bands received)

12/11-12/12 - VGF cash - woke up this morning to an email saying my magic bands were on their way

12/12-12/14 - VGF points - nothing yet, but can only assume a 4th set of Bands.

This is a little crazy. And I have an annual pass, not individual tickets or anything. And so far the bands have all been shipped overnight.

Is this really necessary? It seems quite wasteful.

That's what I said also when I received 3 Magic Bands for my split stay last month. But when I called, Disney assured me that it was necessary. But don't be surprised if, when you get to WDW, the front desk will "activate" your first magic band, so you'll never need the others. That's what happened to me-when I changed resorts, I'd forgotten and left my "new" Magic Band packed in my suitcase. However, the front desk just did some "Mickey Head to Mickey Head" stuff and I was good to go. I'm now the proud owner of 2 completely unused Magic Bands, and still wondering about why Disney wasted the money.

 

[dvc_john]

I have 5 DVC reservations over the winter, so I guess I can expect 5 magic bands to be sent. The first one should arrive before I leave home, but the others won't. It looks like I can change the address the last 4 will be sent to though, so I'll have them sent to a relative's house (in Florida). Even though I won't need them, I don't want them left on my doorstep all winter.

 

[MouseMomx2]

I doubt the bands cost that much to make and I am sure they have a great shipping rate through UPS. All of these costs are probably more than offset by the increase in spending the bands generate so I doubt Disney is feeling any financial effect.

I will have all seven colors by December. I choose a different color each time and then have wardrobe options. On our split-stay last week I was able to use all four of my current bands interchangeably with no issues.

 

[jerseyduke]

Set 3 just got here...even the UPS driver said ***?

I told him to expect another tomorrow.

Even if its only a few dollars to over night these, its ridiculous.

Thankfully I did not go with plan B, which was to move to PO-RS for the three days i have no ressies. We decided to go down the west coast, otherwise, I would have 5 sets for this trip!

 

[Chuck S]

.

I will have all seven colors by December. I choose a different color each time and then have wardrobe options.

LOL, love it!

 

[bobbiwoz]

So my Dec. ressies break down like this:

12/1-12/6 - VGF, points ressie (magic bands recieved!)

12/9-12/11 VGF points ressie (2nd magic bands received)

12/11-12/12 - VGF cash - woke up this morning to an email saying my magic bands were on their way

12/12-12/14 - VGF points - nothing yet, but can only assume a 4th set of Bands.

This is a little crazy. And I have an annual pass, not individual tickets or anything. And so far the bands have all been shipped overnight.

Is this really necessary? It seems quite wasteful.

I agree that it seems wasteful! By the time our October-December trips are over, DH and I will have 4 each. Then we have 4 more DVC stays in January, so, we each could have 4 more for January! However, I do not have other people with us for 3 of those stays, so I will not order for them. However, my guess is that grey ones will be waiting at the resort for us for each new check in.

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome! Have a great trip!

 

[JessLCH]

My various reservations are a bit more complex (including once cancelled reservation after I found a better rate but magic bands for the first rez had already been mailed) but it looks like I will have 5 magic bands by January! So ridiculous! This must be costing so much $!

 

[bumbershoot]

I doubt the bands cost that much to make and I am sure they have a great shipping rate through UPS. All of these costs are probably more than offset by the increase in spending the bands generate so I doubt Disney is feeling any financial effect.

I will have all seven colors by December. I choose a different color each time and then have wardrobe options. On our split-stay last week I was able to use all four of my current bands interchangeably with no issues.

I agree.

And once ours get here for our January trip I'll have everything but yellow, including grey.

I like the idea of coordinating. . I'm also customizing the name to reflect what's going on. So the one for the day of the 5k for marathon weekend says molly5k. The one for the part of the trip when I'll run the Half reflects that. . My son is having way too much fun doing the same, making up silly things. Like "what up" and "Brundon" (night at the museum 2 reference).

If you live in the states and have a reservation during this time they are going to ship them to you. Might as well have some fun with it

 

[tjkraz]

In the grand scheme of things (30,000 Disney hotel rooms), the number of split stays is quite small. And Disney has bigger fish to fry than worrying about duplicate bands being sent out.

I would suggest traveling with all of the bands just to be safe but the resorts should be able to code your room entry such that you're using the same band the entire stay. If you wish to do that.

All of the bands are automatically linked to the user's My Disney Experience account. Park admission, FastPass+, charging privileges and other trip aspects are already associated with each band.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We did bring new ones, but found our original ones worked fine. If only Disney realized this.

 

[tjkraz]

We did bring new ones, but found our original ones worked fine. If only Disney realized this.

They do realize it. But operationally, MagicBands are currently being issued for every single resort check-in. There is no function in place to recognize split stays and suppress the duplicate issuance.

That will happen eventually but for the time being, other projects take priority. And the cost of duplicate bands is just viewed as anticipated expense associated with roll-out of a project of this magnitude.

 

[wildernessDad]

FYI, here's the official blurb on managing multiple magic bands.

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

 

[wdrl]

We are at WDW right now and have three segments for our 15 nights. We received three sets of MagicBands, one for each segment. We have all three sets active and can use them interchangeably for room charges, opening our doors, and for our PAPs. So far, we haven't had any problems.

I think the CMs are still learning what can and cannot be done with the MagicBands. The first day we were here a CM at one of the FP+ kiosks at Hollywood Studios told us that our PAPs could only be active on one MagicBand at a time. This is not true, or at least not true in our case.