Magic bands as room keys

[Leigh L]

We have a quick stopover at ASMo in a few weeks, then a stay in January at CSR and I forget which Magic Bands went with each trip for each family member. I know we can use any bands (old or new) for park entry or photo pass, etc., but are specific bands tied to each reservation for the hotel room key or are they interchangeable too?

 

[Hopefully]

We have a quick stopover at ASMo in a few weeks, then a stay in January at CSR and I forget which Magic Bands went with each trip for each family member. I know we can use any bands (old or new) for park entry or photo pass, etc., but are specific bands tied to each reservation for the hotel room key or are they interchangeable too?

Nothing is ON the Magic Band. It is like the card that accesses your bank account. All of the information is IN MDE. Any active band will work to open your room. BUT the bands are person specific for park entry. They must be used by the correct person for subsequent trips

 

[Leigh L]

Nothing is ON the Magic Band. It is like the card that accesses your bank account. All of the information is IN MDE. Any active band will work to open your room. BUT the bands are person specific for park entry. They must be used by the correct person for subsequent trips

Great, thanks!

We usually stay Shades of Green (but do use bands for park stuff). Last trip, we stayed on Disney-owned property for the first time (CSR) and had a 3-night reservation booked directly with Disney. Booked a last-minute 4th night at CSR through Priceline. When we added our daughter to that reservation at check-in, the CM gave her an additional band noting it was for her entry to the room, even though we all had bands for the original three days.

That confused me

 

[Lynne M]

Anyone who makes a reservation at a Disney resort is entitled to a new magic band. Not everyone keeps their bands from previous trips (or remembers to pack them), and they do break and get lost, so they just automatically give them out in situations like your daughter’s.

 

[DisneyMommy77]

I had a weird experience with our magic bands at Beach Club in August.

I always bring a few bands for each of us so we can wear different ones throughout the trip. One of my magic bands worked to open the door when we first arrived, but the next day when I wore a different magic band I no longer could get in my room. I tried using my phone but it also wouldn’t work.

I went to the lobby and they had to reset all of our bands and told us only the band we first use to open the door will work.

This was a split stay and when we moved to the Polynesian we didn’t experience any problems when switching bands.

 

[Leigh L]

Thank you for sharing your experience @DisneyMommy77 . I'll make a mental note when first arriving of which ones DH and I use (he probably won't switch his anyway)

I'm happy to learn any of them can be used for both stays, thanks everyone

 

[Wood Nymph]

I had a weird experience with our magic bands at Beach Club in August.

I always bring a few bands for each of us so we can wear different ones throughout the trip. One of my magic bands worked to open the door when we first arrived, but the next day when I wore a different magic band I no longer could get in my room. I tried using my phone but it also wouldn’t work.

I went to the lobby and they had to reset all of our bands and told us only the band we first use to open the door will work.

This was a split stay and when we moved to the Polynesian we didn’t experience any problems when switching bands.

We had the same thing happen to us at the BC in October. The bands we had with us when we checked in were the only bands that would open the door. The phone app did not work. It took them about 1/2 to set the bands, too. Our bands worked fine at WL. It must be something at the BC because we are not the only ones this has happened to.

 

[Best Aunt]

I think the people at the front desk will say anything when your magic band doesn’t work to open your door. I think it is one of the situations where they are not supposed to say, “We have no idea why it isn’t working, Disney IT is terrible.”

 

[Fangorn]

I think the people at the front desk will say anything when your magic band doesn’t work to open your door. I think it is one of the situations where they are not supposed to say, “We have no idea why it isn’t working, Disney IT is terrible.”

Disney IT may be responsible for a lot of difficulty, but this isn't one of them. This is a choice that has been made by the Beach Club management, and has been happening for at least 4 years. Each hotel has the ability to limit guests to a single MB for resort-specific stuff - room keys and pool access in particular. Beach Club will frequently turn that "feature" on in order prevent the possibility of resort guests "sharing" additional MBs with friends and family not staying at BC so as to have access to Stormalong Bay.

Steve

 

[DisneyMommy77]

Disney IT may be responsible for a lot of difficulty, but this isn't one of them. This is a choice that has been made by the Beach Club management, and has been happening for at least 4 years. Each hotel has the ability to limit guests to a single MB for resort-specific stuff - room keys and pool access in particular. Beach Club will frequently turn that "feature" on in order prevent the possibility of resort guests "sharing" additional MBs with friends and family not staying at BC so as to have access to Stormalong Bay.

Steve

I can see why they do that then. I didn’t think of that before, but that does make sense. People probably would use others magic bands just to access Stormalong bay. It would just have been nice to know this ahead of time because when they had to reset our bands it took forever!

 

[Best Aunt]

Disney IT may be responsible for a lot of difficulty, but this isn't one of them. This is a choice that has been made by the Beach Club management, and has been happening for at least 4 years. Each hotel has the ability to limit guests to a single MB for resort-specific stuff - room keys and pool access in particular. Beach Club will frequently turn that "feature" on in order prevent the possibility of resort guests "sharing" additional MBs with friends and family not staying at BC so as to have access to Stormalong Bay.

Steve

Well that's interesting because when I had trouble with my prior year Magic Band at Beach Club in August, they did NOT tell me this.

The very young looking person helping me was told to give me a room key card.

How do key cards fit in with your concept?

 

[Sarahslay]

I can see why they do that then. I didn’t think of that before, but that does make sense. People probably would use others magic bands just to access Stormalong bay. It would just have been nice to know this ahead of time because when they had to reset our bands it took forever!

Which is weird because they don't do this at YC, which of course shares the pool. I always travel with anywhere from 4-6 bands for myself and have only had one issue with it when I stayed at GF last year. They fixed it right there on the spot and I had no issues using all of my bands for the rest of the trip. It's odd that BC would do that, and I have heard of this happening with several friends who collect bands just like I do, and that would annoy enough that I may just put off staying there.

 

[Fangorn]

Which is weird because they don't do this at YC, which of course shares the pool. I always travel with anywhere from 4-6 bands for myself and have only had one issue with it when I stayed at GF last year. They fixed it right there on the spot and I had no issues using all of my bands for the rest of the trip. It's odd that BC would do that, and I have heard of this happening with several friends who collect bands just like I do, and that would annoy enough that I may just put off staying there.

No clue why the YC doesn't do this as well, other than different management philosophy. All I know is that in 2015 we had a 3 resort split stay and multiple bands. All bands worked just fine at AK and Poly, but only 1 was allowed at BC. I ran into the General Manager of BC while there and asked about it. I was told every resort has that same option, but BC is the only one that routinely implements the option and it's only so they don't have to deal with the SAB issue. Front desk CMs are generally unaware of how the technology works, let alone how the resort has chosen to configure the technology. CMs still fall back on the misconception that MB problems are a result of guests having too many (i.e. more than 1) Magic Bands on their account. It's always easier to just blame the technology and reset the connection to a band.

Keycards are merely another version of a Magic Band. Same tech, different form factor.

Steve

 

[Sarahslay]

No clue why the YC doesn't do this as well, other than different management philosophy. All I know is that in 2015 we had a 3 resort split stay and multiple bands. All bands worked just fine at AK and Poly, but only 1 was allowed at BC. I ran into the General Manager of BC while there and asked about it. I was told every resort has that same option, but BC is the only one that routinely implements the option and it's only so they don't have to deal with the SAB issue. Front desk CMs are generally unaware of how the technology works, let alone how the resort has chosen to configure the technology. CMs still fall back on the misconception that MB problems are a result of guests having too many (i.e. more than 1) Magic Bands on their account. It's always easier to just blame the technology and reset the connection to a band.

Keycards are merely another version of a Magic Band. Same tech, different form factor.

Steve

Pretty much just means that when I get around to staying there I’ll just only take one band and deactivate the rest simplify things. Nothing I hate more than showing up to my resort and spending forever figuring out MBs.

 

[focusondisney]

No clue why the YC doesn't do this as well, other than different management philosophy.

Except that YC & BC have the same general manager.