Magic Bands at DLR...what am I missing?

[ironband74]

Maybe I'm old and set in my ways...but I'm having a hard time seeing the value of Magic Bands at DLR. I was thinking about getting some for my party for our January trip, but as I understand it they are of fairly limited utility on the West Coast:

1. Serves as a wearable ticket for scanning in to the park and Lightning Lanes (cool...but not hard to do with phone)
2. Allows for photopass to be linked directly to account (cool...but not hard to do with phone)
3. Lights up fun colors when at shows or on attractions etc. (ok...but I don't want to look at my band while I'm watching a show or on an attraction.)
4. Lets you play the Bounty Hunter Game in GE (ok, that's pretty cool, but honestly they could have done that just as easily with your phone since you have to "thermal scan" your target in the app anyway...)
5. Saves you some battery opening up the phone to scan for items 1 and 2.

Am I missing something? This just doesn't seem worth the $150+ I'd spend for the family to have these. I understand on the East Coast they have additional utility (can be used for payment, as room key, has interaction with attractions outside of just lighting up, etc.), but has anyone found them to be more than just a novelty at at DLR?

I'd love to hear from folks who got them and love them more than they expected to.

 

[foolish_mortals]

In our MK holder family, only my aunt has a magic band because she isn’t good with her phone. Yea she can do it herself and I scan her in when I’m with her, but she gets flustered really easily. For her it’s great because we usual park hop multiple times a day and reduces her anxiety of getting phone out unlocking it and pulling up the app quickly. She’s comfortable booking lightening lanes while waiting in line, but for things that need to be quick she struggles.

No one else in our party wanted/needed one since we’re fast with our phones, but I’m immensely happy that I bought her one.

 

[DLgal]

We haven't gotten them yet as a magic key family. I agree they aren't worth it.

 

[DisSurfer878]

While this topic is up, do we think hotel key and charging privileges will ever come to magicbands at Land?

 

[Lisa24jks]

As with anything, it's worth it if you think it is. It's not if you don't.

Personally, I don't think it's worth it if you will only visit one time a year or very infrequently. But as a frequent visitor, and as someone who only had to buy ONE for herself and not an entire family, it seems like it will be worth it to me. I've only used it one day so far, but will be using it a lot more in 2023. As I mentioned in another thread, I am a sucker for shiny lights. I didn't find it distracted from the rides/entertainment, just added to it. But also, just the ease of scanning into LLs and park hopping was really nice for that one day. I didn't have a lot of time to do the Bounty Hunters game, but will take more time with that when I return in January.

Also, I'm fairly certain more features will be introduced over time, or at least I'm assuming they will. It just takes a lot of time to integrate an entire system like that. (Plus, if I do finally cough up that cash to take a WDW trip, it will work there as well.)

But, seriously, it's just a thing that no one HAS to have. So if you don't think it's worth it, it's probably not. Especially since you'd be shelling out the money for multiple people. (I'm single, no kids, so I only have to worry about me and I can waste a little money on silly things.)

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

As a local Magic Key holder who goes frequently with little kids, I’m not planning on getting them for my family. If they had more functionality maybe, but right now I don’t see the point.

Maybe if I had older kids who did not have phones but who wanted to ride attractions alone.

 

[Blue32]

I agree with you sentiments. I’d like them just for the scanning features so I can leave my phone in my pocket just a little more. But the price is too steep for that privilege.

 

[laugard]

As with anything, it's worth it if you think it is. It's not if you don't.

Personally, I don't think it's worth it if you will only visit one time a year or very infrequently. But as a frequent visitor, and as someone who only had to buy ONE for herself and not an entire family, it seems like it will be worth it to me. I've only used it one day so far, but will be using it a lot more in 2023. As I mentioned in another thread, I am a sucker for shiny lights. I didn't find it distracted from the rides/entertainment, just added to it. But also, just the ease of scanning into LLs and park hopping was really nice for that one day. I didn't have a lot of time to do the Bounty Hunters game, but will take more time with that when I return in January.

Also, I'm fairly certain more features will be introduced over time, or at least I'm assuming they will. It just takes a lot of time to integrate an entire system like that. (Plus, if I do finally cough up that cash to take a WDW trip, it will work there as well.)

But, seriously, it's just a thing that no one HAS to have. So if you don't think it's worth it, it's probably not. Especially since you'd be shelling out the money for multiple people. (I'm single, no kids, so I only have to worry about me and I can waste a little money on silly things.)

Yep, this right here. I don't buy ears or popcorn buckets, but clearly they're in demand and worth it to others. Many items at the parks are a novelty. I love my Magic Band. As someone who used to be the one scanning the rest of my party past the entrance and at lightning lanes, I love that they can do it themselves. And same goes for my own scanning too. While I still pull out my phone to order food, check LL times, etc. those bits of time when I don't have to is quite nice. I know it doesn't seem like it would make a difference, but for me, it really does.

Also a sucker for shiny lights and fun little interactions, so I enjoy how my band lights up and vibrates. (Still haven't had it for fireworks or played the Bounty Hunger game, so looking forward to trying both.)

I don't stay onsite, so don't care as much about the room access, though can definitely see why that feature would be appreciated. And I'm hopeful they'll introduce the ability to use it at parking sooner than later. Even without that, I'm glad I bought the band, but absolutely can see why it might not be worth it now for a family. With my Magic Key discount the price was quite reasonable, but multiply that by a family of 4, 5, the price does add up!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I recently bought a Magic Band + to use at Disneyland over Thanksgiving. It was nice not having to use my phone to scan lightning lanes, photopass, and tickets but like you said it could have been done on my phone too. It was just more convenient. My husband also wanted to play the Bounty Hunter game so I thought I would try it too, turns out the Bounty Hunter game is not for me. It was more of a luxury to have, but I am a frequent visitor to WDW and since that same band can be used there I guess I will get my use of it. I will say that in comparison to the Magic Bands I have had since the start of their use in WDW the Magic Band+ are the most comfortable version.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

I got them because we’re so used to them. We wear them non stop in WDW and always get new one for each trip. So, it’s more tradition and what we’re used to than anything else.

 

[RoseColored97]

We're going over NYE and I plan on purchasing these for Christmas. The additional perks will eventually show up, but for now being able to scan into the park and scan for Genie+ is a huge benefit or us. Anything to make things more efficient or easier is a win for us.

 

[jcatron243]

I got one in our Thanksgiving trip. (1 out of 5 of us). By our second day my husband and daughter got one. We all got the 34.99 ones. The convenience was very nice… and the CMs loved that we had them.

Was it worth it?? Yes. It was for us. My 17yo twins didn’t get them and they were fine without them. I will use my magic band as often as I use my Minnie ears, or my lanyard. (We are 1 time per year visitors.) My point is, “worth it” is all in the eye of the beholder.

 

[GoldeneyezCA]

As locals and MK holders who enjoyed using them at WDW in the past, we were excited to get them. It’s true that their functionality is much more limited than in WDW, but the more we wear them, we are really enjoying them.

We like the convenience for scanning into parks and LL’s. Honestly, I thought the light-up and tactile features were gimmicky before I bought it…but it’s really kinda cool to have it light up different colors in different parts of Avengers Campus, Haunted Mansion, Buzz, etc. They were also fun during Fantasmic without being obnoxious.

All that said, given the price, I wouldn’t buy them for a single trip to DLR, unless you’re also going to WDW within the next year or so.

 

[DLgal]

I'll be honest, the requirement to charge them turns me right off. I already have enough devices that need to be recharged after a day at the parks. I feel like I would always forget to charge these.

 

[bwvBound]

Having been used to wearing various generations of MB at WDW, I bought one for DLR ... and am greatly disappointed.

• I hate having to keep it charged. It doesn't hold a charge for more than one day ... so I must charge it literally the night before visiting. The charging is super slow ... up to 3 hours from red (low) to green (topped off).
• It doesn't work for parking. (It needs to do this ... soon!)
• While I do like having it for scanning park entrance ... I've since learned that I can do that with my Apple Watch and don't need the Magic Band. (Just create a watch face from a screen grab of your ticket ... )
• It failed me for PhotoPass. We visited a special MagicKey photo location ... and used the MB to link the photos to my account. Later that day we discovered that the band linked someone else's photos to my account ... so we had to spend time visiting the Photo Concierge finding our photos ... but lost our anticipated "Magic Shot" from that session.
• The Bounty Hunter game is a fail for me. Either use the Band or use the phone app ... but why both? That makes no sense to me and I'm frustrated by it.
• "Light up" stuff is lost on me. (I just don't care.)
• It pops off easily. The band isn't secure ... needs a "keeper" like they used to give at WDW? and it is too "fat" to wear on the same wrist as my watch ... ugh.

So, I carry it in my purse and have to fish it out when I need it. This alone is a "fail" for me.

 

[GoldeneyezCA]

I'll be honest, the requirement to charge them turns me right off. I already have enough devices that need to be recharged after a day at the parks. I feel like I would always forget to charge these.

Yes, this is much less convenient than the original ones. We have a billion devices to charge, so adding a few more hasn’t been an issue. We just charge them overnight like everything else.

Before purchasing, I researched and learned that they can still be used if they aren’t charged. From ShopDisney: “For the best experience, fully charge your MagicBand+ prior to use. Interactive experiences, lights and vibrations require a strong battery charge, but access features like tapping to enter theme parks, Lightning Lane entrances and Disney Resort hotel room doors at Walt Disney World Resort do not require a charged band.”

Again, not as functional or reasonably-priced as the original ones, but to OP’s question - we don’t regret them…and actually like them. YMMV.

 

[dina444444]

I have 2 of them, but I bought them for WDW back in august when they first launched. I’ve used it for entry at DLR since it launched there. It goes faster then trying to pull my pass up on my phone. However, I wouldn’t have specifically bought it for DLR.

 

[Epicnemesis]

My family has them. Totally not worth it if you don’t have a magic key/go really frequently. Even then probably not worth it. It’s use case is convenience or gimmicks.

And yes, the charging is kind of annoying but not that big a deal.

 

[Lillebelle]

The charging is annoying but I personally was so happy to have the MagicBand on our last trip. The biggest use case for me is the PhotoPass scanning - I hate having to pull out my phone, make sure I have the QR code up quickly, then inevitably having to adjust the screen brightness because it's so dang sunny there, then my phone dies halfway through the day because the screen is set all the way up...for others it might not be worth it but for me, it was way more helpful than I anticipated. I also liked picking out my design and such, which may not be of value to you, but was to me.

 

[Pluto468]

Shopdisney had a good sale this week so I bought some for my family of 4 and will give them as Christmas gifts since we're going to Disneyland in May. We generally go every couple of years so will use them over time, too. Hopefully they aren't like phones and you HAVE to upgrade when Disney adds more features. I guess we'll see about that.

I love the design of the DL ones, I ordered the castle one for myself. I really like collecting Disneyland items, and will probably keep it on my desk all the time just to look at it

When we go to the parks I am always the keeper of tickets, LL etc on my phone. For me it will be great that the rest of my family can use the magic bands to go one rides or park hop without me.

I do hope that over time they will add more features, but even as they are now I think they'll be fun to have. I'm sure you can get along perfectly well without them, though.