MagicBand help

[TinkerbellTris]

We had MagicBands that WDW sent us in 2016 when we went. It’s the only time we’d ever had the magicbands. They were of course the free ones you get with your vacation package, where we pick a color and our names go on it. Once we got to WDW I kept seeing all these super cute character magicbands and totally did not understand why we didn’t get a cute band, ours were plain. I never once asked anyone but always wondered about the cute ones. Now we are going in October this year and I saw the plain color ones on my reservation and I want a cute one this time. How can I get a cute one before I go and how do I get our reservations loaded onto the cute band? I did see the cute ones cost money, which that’s fine with me, I just want one with a character on it. Also do the ones you buy do anything special, or are they just cute?
Thank you in advance for any help and insight you can give me.

 

[lookame]

I can’t speak about how to load reservations and such but you can buy a cute magic band on disneystore.com search magic band. Or you can buy them on the shop parks app. They send along a little book that tells you how to link it to your account.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If you purchase a magic band from the Disney Store or the Disney Shop Parks app, once you receive it, you can link it to your My Disney Experience account. You will find the numbers needed to link it on the back side of the band. You can also purchase special MB's at the resort and can even customize bands at certain locations (I know you can do it in the Space Mountain gift shop and also create Star Wars ones in DHS. There are probably other locations, as well, that I'm not aware of). If you have trouble linking it, a CM at WDW guest services or ticketing can help you link as well.

 

[Robo]

We had MagicBands that WDW sent us in 2016 when we went. It’s the only time we’d ever had the magicbands. They were of course the free ones you get with your vacation package, where we pick a color and our names go on it. Once we got to WDW I kept seeing all these super cute character magicbands and totally did not understand why we didn’t get a cute band, ours were plain. I never once asked anyone but always wondered about the cute ones. Now we are going in October this year and I saw the plain color ones on my reservation and I want a cute one this time. How can I get a cute one before I go and how do I get our reservations loaded onto the cute band? I did see the cute ones cost money, which that’s fine with me, I just want one with a character on it. Also do the ones you buy do anything special, or are they just cute?
Thank you in advance for any help and insight you can give me.

Nothing is ever "loaded onto" any MagicBand.
A MB just comes with a digital number permanently loaded inside it.
That number gets connected to your MyDisneyExperience account and every time the MB
gets scanned, it accesses all of your ticket and other info that is in your account.
The MB acts like a "key" to unlock your account info.
You can buy any MB you like and it once it is connected to your account,
it can be used at WDW for all MB related functions.

 

[TinkerbellTris]

Ahhhh ok, thank you. I will go check them out at disneystore.com.

 

[dreamit]

You can purchase on site or online from Disney. Another option is Etsy. For our last trip, we decorated our band with magic band decals purchased from Etsy. The decals were waterproof, held up perfectly, easy to apply, inexpensive, and relatively unique. When applied, they didn't look like decals-- they looked like they were part of the band. If you go the Etsy route, look for the shops with a significant number of reviews. Oh-- they even have ones that are glow-in-the-dark.
***Edited to add that if purchasing from Etsy be sure you're purchasing decals sized for the current Magic Band 2-- not the original bands.

 

[TinkerbellTris]

Nothing is ever "loaded onto" any MagicBand.

I did not realize that. So you just link it to my reservation and the MagicBand then knows what I paid for like dining, room, etc?

 

[Robo]

I did not realize that. So you just link it to my reservation and the MagicBand then knows what I paid for like dining, room, etc?

In a way, that's true.
It's just a key to the information that is all in your MDX account.

 

[CAS239]

The character and limited edition magic bands are only available for purchase. Only plain colored bands are available for free for on site hotel guests and AP's

You can buy one ahead of time from the Disney site but you'll have a bigger selection in the parks.

You buy the band, turn it over and it'll be about a 16 digit code. You go on MDE, click magic bands and passes, add new band, type in the code to the band, then select who you want the band to be paired with. That's it.

Only a select few limited edition bands light up different colors at the touch points and/or make noise

This site below has good info on basically every magic band.
http://www.magicbandcollectors.com/