Magicband-dumb question

[disneyland fan]

Sorry if this is a dumb question. Disney World veteran here with a drawerful of old magicbands. We are going to DL for the first time in many years next month (super excited!). We’ve purchased magic band plus and linked to our tickets. I had no idea that you had to turn them on to link them. Will we have to physically turn them on before approaching the turnstiles or will they be ready to go like the old Disney World ones?

 

[dina444444]

If they are linked they do not need to be charged/turned on to use for scanning in for entry to the parks, entry to rides, or the PhotoPass photographers. They do need to be charged/on for all interactive elements.

 

[TinkAgainU]

I'm not sure about turning them on, I believe they do "basic" functions even with a low battery so that might include the off position. They Do need to link to your phone at some prior point to pick up your MDE account info. Disneyland and California Adventure Only use the newer Magic Band+ (large pucks with a more oblong, than round face).

 

[Bound4DisneyWorld]

I'm not sure about turning them on, I believe they do "basic" functions even with a low battery so that might include the off position. They Do need to link to your phone at some prior point to pick up your MDE account info. Disneyland and California Adventure Only use the newer Magic Band+ (large pucks with a more oblong, than round face).

This is correct. Whether or not powered on, MagicBand+ devices can be used for park entry and Lightning Lane redemption.

 

[MonocularVision]

My guess is that Bluetooth is used for communication between the band and phone for setting up but NFC is used for park entry and LL redemption. Bluetooth needs a power source while NFC is basically powered through electrical induction: meaning the scanning devices provides power wirelessly to the band. If you have ever tapped a credit card’s chip to a terminal, it is the same thing.

 

[cinabc]

I'm not the OP but I have magicband questions, too. I bought a bunch of magicbands for my party and linked them to my account and paired them to my phone. Should I unlink them and let everyone link/pair to their own phones? What does pairing to a phone allow you to do besides linking a ticket?

 

[BrianL]

I'm not the OP but I have magicband questions, too. I bought a bunch of magicbands for my party and linked them to my account and paired them to my phone. Should I unlink them and let everyone link/pair to their own phones? What does pairing to a phone allow you to do besides linking a ticket?

Pairing to the phone as a device lets you control the lighting paterns and play the interactive games, like the Bounty hunter thing at Galaxy's Edge. For tickets etc. It is only linked to the profile in the app, so that wouldn't matter if it's paired with a phone.