Price increase on MagicBands for resort guests

[jcarwash]

I just booked today and I was looking at the Magic Bands. At the time I'm posting, none of the basic colors (the old free ones) are available -- red, blue, gray, yellow, orange, regular purple, lime green.

I was sort of thinking those basic ones would be $5, but they aren't there (right now?)

 

[jo-jo]

"Starting later in 2021, we plan to unveil an innovative new offering as part of the My Disney Experience app that will bring features of a MagicBand to your smart devices."

Some people don't have smart phones but they can either buy a MB or get a plastic ticket at guest services.

How would you use a phone for a family? Mom, Dad, 14 year old has phone, but not the two little kids.

My DH barely knows how to answer his phone. And I take ten mins to order a pizza. I'm sure there would be 100 people behind us while we try to scan in something for a ride. We would definitely want a card to use.

 

[niccikatie]

I just booked today and I was looking at the Magic Bands. At the time I'm posting, none of the basic colors (the old free ones) are available -- red, blue, gray, yellow, orange, regular purple, lime green.

I was sort of thinking those basic ones would be $5, but they aren't there (right now?)

View attachment 577273

I don't know when they left, but I haven't seen them in a long time. The plain bands on your picture were $5.00 until last week - now they are $10.00.

 

[mouschievous]

How would you use a phone for a family? Mom, Dad, 14 year old has phone, but not the two little kids.

My DH barely knows how to answer his phone. And I take ten mins to order a pizza. I'm sure there would be 100 people behind us while we try to scan in something for a ride. We would definitely want a card to use.

We've been using phones at DL for a while. It's really not hard to scan, probably essentially the same as scanning a Magic Band. However, we don't use them for ride photos - for rides, you or a code in to access your photo. That said, I was really looking forward to Magic Bands. Seems like my phone battery would last longer. But at 10 bucks a piece... phones it is.

 

[MomOTwins]

Meh, it’s still like half off retail, with free shipping. How often does disney offer half off anything? I was kinda surprised they even did a $5 offer.

 

[Dave006]

But at 10 bucks a piece... phones it is.

You can still get a free RF Chip plastic card at your resort or at Guest Services windows at all the parks and DS to link to your MDE account for most of the MB features except the long range readers where a battery is needed in the MB.

Back to the lanyards and clear card holders are always an option.

Dave

 

[Eastern]

How would you use a phone for a family? Mom, Dad, 14 year old has phone, but not the two little kids.

My DH barely knows how to answer his phone. And I take ten mins to order a pizza. I'm sure there would be 100 people behind us while we try to scan in something for a ride. We would definitely want a card to use.

I don't know what Disney's plans are, just quoting the message. Personally, I don't like using my phone for everything, but a lot of businesses are encouraging app use. I'm sure you would always have the option of a plastic card to scan because everyone does not have a cell phone. Or buy a magic band.

 

[Best Aunt]

If the people in your group are planning to stick together, and you want ride photos, couldn't you get a new Magic Band for one person in the group? If you're all on a ride together, you don't all need to be wearing Magic Bands to get the ride photo.

 

[empedocles]

I just booked today and I was looking at the Magic Bands. At the time I'm posting, none of the basic colors (the old free ones) are available -- red, blue, gray, yellow, orange, regular purple, lime green.

I was sort of thinking those basic ones would be $5, but they aren't there (right now?)

View attachment 577273

Why the heck are the resort stay and Shopdisney band inventory so different? Right now, Shopdisney only has 15 normal bands (only 2 solid color- both blue) and 5 slap bracelets.

 

[Mike Marzano]

If the people in your group are planning to stick together, and you want ride photos, couldn't you get a new Magic Band for one person in the group? If you're all on a ride together, you don't all need to be wearing Magic Bands to get the ride photo.

Yes, this is correct.

My family and I have older special edition graphic bands that we like to use (for me, it's my MK45th Tiki Room band, my wife a Run Disney band, our son a Stitch band he made at a D-Tech kiosk). Because of their ages, I assume the batteries are dead, and we use them for tapping.

For "long range" (I. E. Auto linking of ride photos and videos, etc), since we are always together, I take the Icon (or puck) From a less than 2 year old band, and put it in a Magic Keeper attached to my park bag via a carabineer. We do get all our pictures/videos, and no new bands purchased (well, until Disney started charging resort guests and APH for the solid colors).

But this can get tricky on rides like Mine Train with an auto linked photo/video, where they might split us between cars resulting in two different pictures.

 

[Frozen2014]

Basic question but are magic bands not free anymore for resort guests? I don't think we had to pay when we came last time (but that was around 7 years ago)

 

[Mike Marzano]

To revisit the topic of active vs inactive bands, or older bands not working on doors or other tap points..

As long as a band is active and assigned to you, it should continue to work to tap based on your resort stay or active ticket. I. E. You must be currently staying onsite, and have the reservation linked to your MDE account to tap to pay, open resort door, etc. And You must have a valid ticket linked to your MDE to tap for park entry, etc.

One RUMOR I've read is that when you have a larger number of active bands/cards in your MDE account, it can cause problems or delays with bands working/registering when tapped.

While I've seen people reply this isn't true (including purported Disney employees), I can say that I have 45+ bands and cards linked to me, our son as over 35, and we have had experiences with bands randomly not working for tapping, even new ones. But after I went into my MDE account and deactivated all but about 10 or less of our bands and cards (each), we haven't had that happen.

Now, as we continue to collect new bands, prior to every trip we activate only the bands or card we'll use that visit and deactivate the rest, and we have not experienced any issues Tapping since, even with our older bands.

I'm not saying it proves the rumor true, just that it seems to have helped us, and others. Nor do I know if there is a "magic number" where this might start happening, or to stay below.

As explained earlier in the thread, to see your bands and cards, and activate/deactivate them...

In the MDE app on your mobile device, go 3 Bar (aka "hamburger") meny button -> My Profile -> MagicBands and Cards -> Your MagicBands and Cards. It will show a list, indicating if it's a band or card, with the code on the back, showing if each is active or inactive. Tap the one you want, and you'll have a button to activate or deactivate it.

Doing this from the Web is better because it shows a picture of each band next to the listings, so you know what color it is (if solid) or what it looks like (if graphic band), as well as the code on the back.

From the Web... go to the Disney World web site, use the menu for My Disney Experience and select MagicBands and Cards. Or visit https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/bands-cards/

Click to expand the twisty (little arrow or Chevron) next to you or the other person on your account. You'll see a list, with a picture of each and the code on the back, usually in chronological order from newest to oldest,. Bands at top, cards at bottom. The bands and cards will be marked Active or Inactive, with a Deactivate or Activate button.

 

[Mike Marzano]

Basic question but are magic bands not free anymore for resort guests? I don't think we had to pay when we came last time (but that was around 7 years ago)

Correct. They changed it from free to discounted for resort guests. But you can choose from solid colors and select graphic bands.

With Disney recently raising the retail prices of bands, that also means the discounted price for resort guests also increased.

 

[Wandering Oaken]

If you want to have a wider variety.... https://www.amazon.com/disney-magic-bands/s?k=disney+magic+bands

 

[karen4546]

I ordered on Thursday May 20,2021 and the white, black, and olive green were $5 each. The sparkly silver was $10. I ordered them around 11:30 am central time. I guess I just squeaked by before the price change.

 

[Eastern]

I ordered on Thursday May 20,2021 and the white, black, and olive green were $5 each. The sparkly silver was $10. I ordered them around 11:30 am central time. I guess I just squeaked by before the price change.

ooh sparkly silver, I had to go check that out. The sparkly ones are nice.

 

[Best Aunt]

For "long range" (I. E. Auto linking of ride photos and videos, etc), since we are always together, I take the Icon (or puck) From a less than 2 year old band, and put it in a Magic Keeper attached to my park bag via a carabineer. We do get all our pictures/videos, and no new bands purchased (well, until Disney started charging resort guests and APH for the solid colors).

But this can get tricky on rides like Mine Train with an auto linked photo/video, where they might split us between cars resulting in two different pictures.

Oh, I didn't even think of the possibilty of a group getting split into different cars.

 

[Dave006]

Basic question but are magic bands not free anymore for resort guests? I don't think we had to pay when we came last time (but that was around 7 years ago)

Yes last June 19th they announced that for new reservations for stays after Jan. 1, 20201 the basic resort bands would be $5 per basic band.

Correct. They changed it from free to discounted for resort guests. But you can choose from solid colors and select graphic bands.

With Disney recently raising the retail prices of bands, that also means the discounted price for resort guests also increased.

This month Disney raised the prices for retail MBs so the now discounted $5 bands for Resort reservations are now $10 per band with specialty bands priced higher but still discounted from retail locations.

Disney also is rolling out a new service know Disney MagicMobile Service. It is a feature for the MDE app on the iPhone and Android smart phones.
More details: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/magic-mobile/

Highlights: When to use it

Disney MagicMobile features will launch throughout the year. Right now, you can use it to:

• Enter theme parks (with a valid theme park reservation and valid admission)
• Connect Disney PhotoPass images to your account
• Gain access to join a virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• Coming soon – charge to your Disney Resort hotel folio during your stay

Just ensure you link your tickets, reservations or other entitlements to your account.

From within MDE you can now generate a MagicMobile pass that is stored in your smartphone's wallet. In addition Apple watches are also support to sync a MagicMobile pass to it's Wallet.

You can use a MagicBand, a Disney MagicMobile pass or a RF ID card during your vacation. Just choose whichever works best in the moment.

Dave