Magic Bands - First Time Staying Offsite

[baivasps]

We have been to Disney many times and this will be our first time staying offsite. The last time we were there was 12/16. I have at least 3 sets of Magic Bands in my closet from previous trips. I don't know which are from the most recent trip. I know the redesigned them. Do the old ones still work?

If not, can I purchase them in advance of the trip and how do I attach our tickets to them. I'm planning to reveal the surprise on Christmas morning and one idea I had was to wrap up new Magic Bands (if I need new Magic Bands). I see them all of the Disney Resort but wasn't sure how to get them in advance and attach them to tickets.

 

[rwdavis2]

The old ones should work. They should still be listed in MDE.

All MBs have id numbers on the inner part in small numbers. They can be added to MDE if you buy new ones.

 

[Miffy]

Emphasis on should. They may not--not because they're not the current style but because the chips don't last forever. You can easily buy new bands through the Disney store and link them to your MDX account. As long as both the bands and the tickets are linked to the MDX account, the MBs will work.

 

[CAS239]

Yes they'll still work

 

[rwdavis2]

The chips that let you into the park, FP+, etc, should work almost indefinitely. The one that sends a signal for Photo Pass does have a life time.

 

[connorlevismom]

Emphasis on should. They may not--not because they're not the current style but because the chips don't last forever. You can easily buy new bands through the Disney store and link them to your MDX account. As long as both the bands and the tickets are linked to the MDX account, the MBs will work.

^^^This^^^ if you want new ones, you can purchase them online at Disney store and link your tickets to them. Your old ones should work, but I have head they run out after a while. I have had my band for about 3 years now and it is still going strong. If you cannot get the tickets to link, you can also have guest services do it once you get to the parks.

 

[deedubb]

The batteries in the ones from 12/16 should still work. You should be able to identify which MB are the newest in MDE under the "My Magicbands and Cards" link.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Emphasis on should. They may not--not because they're not the current style but because the chips don't last forever. You can easily buy new bands through the Disney store and link them to your MDX account. As long as both the bands and the tickets are linked to the MDX account, the MBs will work.

Kind of. The short-range functions (FP, park entry, tapping for photos, etc) will work forever, or at least a long time. The long range (on-ride photos, special effects on rides like IASW) do die after a while.

 

[motherof5]

We have been to Disney many times and this will be our first time staying offsite. The last time we were there was 12/16. I have at least 3 sets of Magic Bands in my closet from previous trips. I don't know which are from the most recent trip. I know the redesigned them. Do the old ones still work?

If not, can I purchase them in advance of the trip and how do I attach our tickets to them. I'm planning to reveal the surprise on Christmas morning and one idea I had was to wrap up new Magic Bands (if I need new Magic Bands). I see them all of the Disney Resort but wasn't sure how to get them in advance and attach them to tickets.

My old ones still worked and we just got back this week. Good thing since my son lost his on day 2 so we had to use a old one. I found out they don't issue new magic bands but they can be purchased or use old ones. I will continue to use old ones as I eventually want to do a wall decoration with them anyways.

 

[Tomh]

As others have said, for FP, PhotoPass Photographers and park entry, they will work just fine. For the long range stuff (like getting ride photos) they may work, or they may not. If you are going to have Memory Maker, and the on ride photos are important to you, then I would suggest getting new bands.

You can purchase Magic Bands from ShopDisney and they can be linked to your account (thereby connecting them to your tickets) right on the My Disney Experience website.

 

[shocker]

We took all of our old MB's many from 2013-2014 AP year, in case one didn't work, in July 2018. They all worked no problem. We also carried our tickets on us in case the MB failed and you can just tap your ticket at any touchpoint where you would tap your MB (my son had to use his ticket one day when he didn't realize he put on one of Dad's old MB's so Dad had 2 MB's there and DS had none).

 

[LauraLap]

Mine still work from 12/13 (back when we were just testing them out).