Old Magic Band question (staying off site)

[lauracitawita]

We are staying off-site for the first time. We have magic bands from three years ago and I believe we kept them from last year as well. All of our bands are kind of spread out in different drawers in our house. Lol. I have no idea what year they are from. Will they all work or do we need to buy new ones?

Also, if we can use the old ones, how do we get them activated?

Thanks!

 

[Robo]

All will work.

MBs do not need to be activated.
Unless YOU went into your MDE account and intentionally deactivated your MBs, they will still be active.
(If you ever DID deactivate a MB, you can go back into your MDE account and reactivate it, yourself.)

And, as long as we're discussing MBs...
There is no overriding "need" to have or use MBs at WDW.

Nearly everything that most guests want or need for park admission and FP+ can be accomplished by just using a regular plastic ticket.

 

[lauracitawita]

Wonderful!

Thanks!

 

[ksueboo]

All will work.

Unless YOU went into your MDE account and intentionally deactivated your MBs, MBs do not need to be activated.

And, as long as we're discussing MBs...
There is no real "need" to have or use MBs at WDW.

So assuming old MB's are still active and you want to reuse them... If you have UT tickets linked to the MDE app for each ticket holder, can you link them to the old MB? Is it better to wait until you are at a park and let the customer service CM do it?
(Offsite guests)
Thanks in advance @Robo!

 

[Alesia]

One thing: the batteries in your bands are probably dead. They'll still work for park entry and fastpasses, but your ride photos will not be automatically added to your photopass account. Also, you will not be able to get the ride photo and video from 7DMT. If either of those things are important to you, you should buy a new band for 1 person in your party.

 

[Alesia]

So assuming old MB's are still active and you want to reuse them... If you have UT tickets linked to the MDE app for each ticket holder, can you link them to the old MB? Is it better to wait until you are at a park and let the customer service CM do it?
(Offsite guests)
Thanks in advance @Robo!

Tickets are not linked to your magic band. The band is just a way of accessing your MDE account. As long as your tickets are linked to your account, you're good to go.

 

[lauracitawita]

Thanks everyone. I was just going to ask how my tickets get linked, but you answered that question for me!

We are not worried about ride photos or the video. This is our first trip without our daughter and I don't want too many pictures to rub it in. I feel guilty enough already. Hahahaha.

 

[Robo]

So assuming old MB's are still active and you want to reuse them... If you have UT tickets linked to the MDE app for each ticket holder, can you link them to the old MB? Is it better to wait until you are at a park and let the customer service CM do it?
(Offsite guests)
Thanks in advance @Robo!

You don't link anything "TO" a MB.

You can put the new ticket numbers into your MDE account (in the "tickets" section.)
When those tickets are shown in your MDE account, any MB you have will automatically be able
access those tickets.
--------------

Just to keep things as clear as possible-

There is no reservation info, or ticket info, or credit card info,
or FP+ info "put onto" a MagicBand.

A MagicBand just contains (and weakly "transmits") a unique serial number that is used to access the information that is stored in your MyDisneyExperience computer file.

So, even if you were to lose a MagicBand, the info stays locked in your file.
Disney can just set up a new band (different serial number)
to access the info in your MDE file.

So, yes, there can be multiple MB's per person, and each of them can be used by that person, but their entitlements will all be common and identical.

The MagicBand works like the combination to a locked safe, or a key to a locked door.

The MB, itself, is not the file of info or the container of the info.

The MB just unlocks the file of info, allowing it to be accessed from your MDE account when needed.

 

[ksueboo]

You don't link anything "TO" a MB.

You can put the new ticket numbers into your MDE account (in the "tickets" section.)
When those tickets are shown in your MDE account, any MB you have will automatically be able
access those tickets.
--------------

Just to keep things as clear as possible-

There is no reservation info, or ticket info, or credit card info,
or FP+ info "put onto" a MagicBand.

A MagicBand just contains (and weakly "transmits") a unique serial number that is used to access the information that is stored in your MyDisneyExperience computer file.

So, even if you were to lose a MagicBand, the info stays locked in your file.
Disney can just set up a new band (different serial number)
to access the info in your MDE file.

So, yes, there can be multiple MB's per person, and each of them can be used by that person, but their entitlements will all be common and identical.

The MagicBand works like the combination to a locked safe, or a key to a locked door.

The MB, itself, is not the file of info or the container of the info.

The MB just unlocks the file of info, allowing it to be accessed from your MDE account when needed.

Thanks!

 

[morrismhs]

Probably a stupid question but is there any way to know how old a MB is?

 

[Xennia]

We are staying off-site for the first time. We have magic bands from three years ago and I believe we kept them from last year as well. All of our bands are kind of spread out in different drawers in our house. Lol. I have no idea what year they are from. Will they all work or do we need to buy new ones?

Also, if we can use the old ones, how do we get them activated?

Thanks!

The battery may have died. They dont last long.

 

[bumbershoot]

The battery may have died. They dont last long.

The ONLY thing that will impact is the long range RFID stuff. The things that you put your MB against a mickey head for will still work, because it doesn't use that battery.

And they were estimated, at the beginning, to last 3 years for long range. I don't know of many who have kept and continued to use their MBs for the long range stuff.