Magic Bands - "out of stock" in 13 seconds . . . .

[DavidNYC]

Have followed some advice from other threads on trying to order the upgraded magic bands. I've at least been successful in getting on the page at :43 past the hour when, as someone else noted, they refresh. However, the last two days in about 10 attempts I have not been successful in getting anything. This last time I added 2 bands that JUST showed up and clicked checkout within 15 seconds of them appearing after a refresh and they were both "out of stock". I have a very hard time believing that a supply was actually available and that many people added them to their carts and checked out in those 15 seconds. It just defies logic.

Am I missing anything here? Many of the bands that showed up now were the same ones that I saw a few hours ago, or yesterday or whenever. They rotate the same group of bands in and out but a large number of the customized ones are NEVER in stock even immediately after being put on the system.

Does anyone have any insight as to whether this is legit? There are a few bands (the blue or red mickey/minnie heads and stars or the star wars one for example) that do stay there and are available, but those are the exception. I tried 7 bands last time within 2 minutes of them being placed on the website and all were "out of stock".

Is it time to just give up? Not sure why Disney is trying to make it harder to actually spend money.

 

[Miffy]

I can only tell you my experience. My sister and I both tried to get the 2 different bands we wanted for our upcoming trip. It seemed several times that both our bands were available, but mine (the iasw band) was out of stock every time. My sister wanted the Minnie dots band, which kept showing as available. Perhaps they had a lot of them!

We worked on this--I'd try, then she'd try--for maybe 20 minutes on the day we booked our FP+s and then we both kinda gave up. But later that morning, I tried again and had instant success. Unbelievable. I have no idea what the circumstances were that allowed me to actually order the bands we wanted.

Of course, since this is Disney, there was a glitch. The program asked me what shipping address to use and it displayed my sister's address, which is not my address. However, it didn't show the name associated with the address--I mean it didn't show this anywhere on the page, much less where they showed the address. So I just left it, thinking they'd mail them to my sister at her address, especially since she's the lead on the reservation.

When I got my confirmation email, I found out--finally--that they were mailing the bands to me at her address. I could not get Disney to change this, so instead my sister put my name on her mailbox. When the package came, not only was it addressed to me at her address--my name was listed twice!

But we did get the bands we wanted. I think the trick--if it would work again--is to persevere. We ordered only 2 bands, so that might've helped as well. The process was extremely frustrating, as you've found out.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Honestly. The majority of the bands there I don't even really care for most of the designs. Flynn Rider was really the only one that spoke to me and I got my dad the A Goofy Movie band because it was at the time the only one that literally had Goofy and wasn't that "design inspired by goofy" band.

I had the opportunity to go through it again since I changed my reservation, but after a series of no successes I'd rather go to a place that makes magic band decals. It costs a little more after shipping but worth it to get a design I want instead of going through the hassle of getting something pre-made by Disney I don't really like anyway.

 

[clayfolks]

Sunday afternoon I was able to order 2 Small World, 1 Vanelope, and 1 SWGE with no problem. Received the email saying they shipped yesterday.

 

[courtky]

Just keep trying, really. It took me a month of constantly checking the website multiple times a day to get the Vanelope band I really wanted. I had it a few times only for it to say "out of stock" during check out. I checked back the same day a few hours later and it was there and FINALLY got it. It's a pain in the butt.

 

[button409]

This is taking over my life! I need 5 bands, two princess/tink/Minnie/daisy, one Toy Story, one Star Wars and I will literally take anything. I have tried multiple times daily for months, and can never ever get5 bands. Once I managed to add a band to each person but when I went to check out 3 had sold out! I have a 1 year old who is teething so am often up at strange times so have literally tried every hour of the day and night but no luck!

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

This is taking over my life! I need 5 bands, two princess/tink/Minnie/daisy, one Toy Story, one Star Wars and I will literally take anything. I have tried multiple times daily for months, and can never ever get5 bands. Once I managed to add a band to each person but when I went to check out 3 had sold out! I have a 1 year old who is teething so am often up at strange times so have literally tried every hour of the day and night but no luck!

I don't know why they couldn't have just done a system where if you get the upgrade, you pick it up at the hotel. Then they could just do a back order and send them to the resort

 

[courtky]

This is taking over my life! I need 5 bands, two princess/tink/Minnie/daisy, one Toy Story, one Star Wars and I will literally take anything. I have tried multiple times daily for months, and can never ever get5 bands. Once I managed to add a band to each person but when I went to check out 3 had sold out! I have a 1 year old who is teething so am often up at strange times so have literally tried every hour of the day and night but no luck!

Oh god, 5 bands. Good luck. I had a hard time just getting two for me and my boyfriend. When I finally got my Vanelope, he had to settle for Groot as it was the only other available. Thankfully he didn't really care too much about which band he got. I can't imagine trying to get several kids one... Disney really needs to get a better system.

 

[rteetz]

The bands are all over the place. One hour there is 32 the next 14 and then the next 26. Its so weird.

 

[Harambe]

As much as I said I wasn't going to bother any more (we aren't going till 12/20) I keep peeking in there at odd times. One time they had the Daisy I wanted, and when I checked an hour later, Daisy was gone, but Donald(for DH) was there! Ridiculous!

I keep telling myself they will figure out why this is so badly done and soon they will only offer those bands they have, and also offer MORE. I have plenty of time.

Good luck to all, hoping you can get what you want.

 

[Miffy]

Sunday afternoon I was able to order 2 Small World, 1 Vanelope, and 1 SWGE with no problem. Received the email saying they shipped yesterday.

Vanelope!!??!? I didn't even see that one. I'll have to keep that in mind for the next trip.

 

[Ellie Webbs]

I've had enough trouble getting ones for me and DH. Finally sorted but we are coming from UK, so let's see what we are faced with in 6 months shall we. If they aren't the right ones I can honestly say I would just take what we're given, after a 9 1/2 hour flight I am done. (Disney if you are reading this, I don't mean it, I will fight you tooth and nail for my small world magic band! *shakes fist*)
Yeah, I won't.

 

[buzznina]

By the time most people succeed, and if their time spent was, let's say was just $5 an hour, the MBs would probably cost $50

 

[krayzie]

I keep telling myself they will figure out why this is so badly done and soon they will only offer those bands they have, and also offer MORE. I have plenty of time.

It's been a few months since this started and they still haven't figured anything out. I am wondering if they are just planning on increasing their inventory and not doing anything about the functionality of the site.

 

[Toonses]

My group is 4 adults in three different rooms. The two in our party with their own rooms I was able to get upgraded bands within a week of making the reservation. In my case (shared room), we decided there weren't any bands we were particularly in love with, and that we'd just wait a bit to see what options might be available. A Sleeping Beauty one would have been ideal.

Anyway, within a month of the 'drop dead' lol date in terms of mailing the bands, I start making decisions and trying to order. I had zero luck. The other adult in my room decided they liked a solid color better than the upgraded ones, so it was only me trying to get one. I tried to get the Figment, Small World, Castle, and I think one of the Christmas ones on multiple occasions, only for it to tell me it was out of stock every time. I lost count of how many times I tried - sometimes I even got it added to the cart, only for it to give me the same message. I finally decided it was a waste of my time, and went with a free solid color one. I've considered the decals, as there's one I like on Etsy with a stained glass Beauty and Beast (hint hint @ Disney since it's way prettier/cooler than Belle's yellow dress on a yellow background), but I don't know how well those stay on.

I think the take away here is how much time is a patterned band worth to you?

 

[wdw4rfam]

I hear you. My poor son, who’s autistic just wants a vampirina band. As soon as it pops up- gone. My daughter wants the small world one, DH wants pirates and I don’t care about mine. Luckily we have a split stay and our AP band order, so 3 orders. So as soon as one of them pop up, I’m going to order that one and 3 plain color ones, so I don’t lose it. I figure I can do that 3 times and I will most likely see something I like in one of those.

 

[DWillowBay]

Got DS's Stitch, DD's Vanellope and my IASW with no trouble. They came today and are so great!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Does anyone know what would happen if I ordered some of the upgraded bands and then we changed to a different resort? I’m going to assume that they don’t mail out these bands outside of the USA...same as the basic ones.

 

[kirstie101]

I’ve been trying for a few weeks and finally just this morning got the castle band for all 3 of us. I had everyone in my party give me a few choices and that one was on everyone’s list. Fingers crossed I get a shipping notification now.

 

[Toonses]

Does anyone know what would happen if I ordered some of the upgraded bands and then we changed to a different resort? I’m going to assume that they don’t mail out these bands outside of the USA...same as the basic ones.

We had this happen where bands were ordered for two of my folks, and then we changed reservations. They both got the bands they originally ordered, but then there was an error out thing happening in regards to the bands connection due to the site wanting them to order new bands for the new reservation. I think they had to call tech support to get it straightened out, but everything should be good at this point. We travel in November, so I can't yet speak to any issues that may crop up on the ground, so to speak.