Old Magic Bands question

[CrowleyFam]

We visited the parks a few years ago and have 5 magic bands that are sitting in MDE. They are assigned to each one of us but were never used to enter a park, just get FP+. Park entry tickets were assigned to another name on the account. So lets say John has 2 entries. One with his park ticket and another with a magic band. This was for back in the day when you could add more FP+ to magic bands that were not used for park entry. I understand that is no longer the case and I know that I cannot transfer Sue's magic band to John.

Can I just use the entry that has the magic band on it and assign John's new ticket to that entry? I am not trying to get extra FP+, I am just trying to reuse the magic bands for our upcoming trip.

 

[bfost87]

I'm not sure what you mean by entries, but Magic Bands are assigned to a person, not a purpose. That is to say, if, say 'John' has a Magic Band assigned to him, any Tickets, FP+, etc also assigned to him will be accessible by that Magic Band. If John has 6 active Magic Bands assigned to him, he can use any or all of the six.

 

[CrowleyFam]

I'm not sure what you mean by entries, but Magic Bands are assigned to a person, not a purpose. That is to say, if, say 'John' has a Magic Band assigned to him, any Tickets, FP+, etc also assigned to him will be accessible by that Magic Band. If John has 6 active Magic Bands assigned to him, he can use any or all of the six.

What I mean is that these MDE entries have never had tickets assigned to them. The magic bands were simply to get more FP+. So each person in the family had 2 entries. One with park tickets and one with magic bands. Can I just use the magic band entries as their offical account and add their new ticket to that account so the magic bands work for park entry, etc?

 

[mountdew1]

The Magic Bands are all assigned to MDE accounts. If those are the accounts you are using for planning, then yes, you would be able to use those old bands instead of buying new ones by linking your new park tickets to those accounts. If you already have a different account you are using for reservations, then a) those accounts would be eligible for new free bands if you are staying on property and b) it's probably easier to just forget about the old bands.

Bands cannot be transferred between accounts regardless of if the band was ever used to enter a park. Once it's assigned to a MDE account, it is there forever (until Disney changes their mind). And the batteries in the bands do have a shelf life of around 2 years. They will work at tap points forever, but any long range sensors (IE on ride photos) will potentially stop working for those bands after 2 years. Some people have reported them still working, others have said they stopped working.

 

[bfost87]

The Magic Bands are all assigned to MDE accounts. If those are the accounts you are using for planning, then yes, you would be able to use those old bands instead of buying new ones by linking your new park tickets to those accounts. If you already have a different account you are using for reservations, then a) those accounts would be eligible for new free bands if you are staying on property and b) it's probably easier to just forget about the old bands.

Bands cannot be transferred between accounts regardless of if the band was ever used to enter a park. Once it's assigned to a MDE account, it is there forever (until Disney changes their mind). And the batteries in the bands do have a shelf life of around 2 years. They will work at tap points forever, but any long range sensors (IE on ride photos) will potentially stop working for those bands after 2 years. Some people have reported them still working, others have said they stopped working.

This is a perfect explanation

 

[CrowleyFam]

The Magic Bands are all assigned to MDE accounts. If those are the accounts you are using for planning, then yes, you would be able to use those old bands instead of buying new ones by linking your new park tickets to those accounts. If you already have a different account you are using for reservations, then a) those accounts would be eligible for new free bands if you are staying on property and b) it's probably easier to just forget about the old bands.

Bands cannot be transferred between accounts regardless of if the band was ever used to enter a park. Once it's assigned to a MDE account, it is there forever (until Disney changes their mind). And the batteries in the bands do have a shelf life of around 2 years. They will work at tap points forever, but any long range sensors (IE on ride photos) will potentially stop working for those bands after 2 years. Some people have reported them still working, others have said they stopped working.

That settles it for me. I am just going to toss them out and keep the original family in MDE.

mounrdew1 and bfost87, thanks for your help!

 

[hiroMYhero]

@CrowleyFam and others reading along: Any MDX Profile where a MagicBand is linked can also have any type of ticket media linked to it. Once a ticket is linked, the linked MB provides the link to the ticket and FP data.

MBs will always function at entrance and FP touchpoints and will provide the link to all MDX data.

IT CMs can Reassign MBs to other Profiles if requested by a guest.

 

[gap2368]

What I mean is that these MDE entries have never had tickets assigned to them. The magic bands were simply to get more FP+. So each person in the family had 2 entries. One with park tickets and one with magic bands. Can I just use the magic band entries as their offical account and add their new ticket to that account so the magic bands work for park entry, etc?

Yes you can add tickets to the account. If someone has two accounts. I would call Disney IT and have them added as one ( they can do this and have all MB assign to the person that you wish). You can reassign MB but someone at Disney or GR must do it ( unless this has changed )