Question about reusing magic bands

[TeamSy]

Kids want to use the same magic bands they got last year for this years trip. I went into MDE and they are still listed as active under the correct person - do I have to do anything else?

 

[RanDIZ]

Worse case just bring them to check-in at resort and they’ll connect it for you.

 

[DJFan88]

Should be fine

 

[Mind27]

Ours needed an update but where otherwise good to go.
Enjoy!

 

[msmayor]

Other than maybe needing an update, they should be fine.

I have two different ones attached to my account and switch between them without any issues.

 

[BigOnDis]

We all reused our magic bands from the previous years trip during this years trip and didn't have any issues at all. I didn't even bother to charge them, just used them like the older Magic Bands.

 

[kiford]

I'm still using ones I purchased back in 2019. They work fine.

 

[Genie+]

They will work fine! Think of them as keys to unlocking your MDE account. They will always work for that. The battery inside the MB is not needed for most functions. It is WDW’s reader that reads a magicband to ‘unlock’ the associated MDE, so anything that you tap physically will work without the battery (park entry, photopass photographer, LL, purchases, etc). The battery is used for further away functions, like ride photos.

Since you bought last year they should still work fine for all functions.

 

[yaksack]

We have old magic bands well. As long as they say active, they should be, okay?

 

[Genie+]

We have old magic bands well. As long as they say active, they should be, okay?

Yes. They’ll still be perfectly fine for anything you need to tap.

You might still have some battery left but even without that MB will work for tapstyle to get into the parks, the tapstyle for LL queues, tapping photopass pics and even tapping for payment at food/merch places (IF you tied a credit card to your onsite room and you, your MB and room are all tied together in MDE). Should work for the room lock as well (this is the only time MBs ever gave me trouble but that was tied to issues at that resort, and in that case our phones have always worked as a good backup for room key.

If the battery is very low or dead, the only things that would affect are further away interactions (like ride photos or interactive name posters at Small World and RockNRollacoaster, etc).

 

[gottalovepluto]

… interactive name posters at Small World and RockNRollacoaster, etc…

Don’t think IASW even has those anymore

 

[elvispursley]

Don’t think IASW even has those anymore

Didn’t get to ride IASW last month but they were definitely there last Sept.

 

[Newsies]

No, nothing you need to do. They'll continue to work

Don’t think IASW even has those anymore

Correct, those are gone

 

[Mazz519]

We have been using the same Magic bands for years, as long as its listed as active on the Disney Experience site they are good

 

[bluezy]

We have been using the same Magic bands for years, as long as its listed as active on the Disney Experience site they are good

My magic bands from 15+ years ago were still listed as active until a few months ago when I removed them. I'm sure they still would have worked for touch points, but I doubt the long range battery (for photo pass pictures on rides that don't have touchpoints) would still work. I've seen reports that the long-range batteries might last 5 years, but not a whole lot longer (I've seen posts of people reporting that the long-range functions didn't work on their 5 year old and older bands). Just mentioning it for other people who may read this thread and think that if their old magic bands are listed as "active" that all functions will work the same way they did on day one.

 

[georgina]

My magic bands from 15+ years ago were still listed as active until a few months ago when I removed them. I'm sure they still would have worked for touch points, but I doubt the long range battery (for photo pass pictures on rides that don't have touchpoints) would still work. I've seen reports that the long-range batteries might last 5 years, but not a whole lot longer (I've seen posts of people reporting that the long-range functions didn't work on their 5 year old and older bands). Just mentioning it for other people who may read this thread and think that if their old magic bands are listed as "active" that all functions will work the same way they did on day one.

I think magic bands have only been around since 2013? We still use our old ones, ditched the first generation ones for the flatter 2nd generation.

 

[Best Aunt]

I think magic bands have only been around since 2013? We still use our old ones, ditched the first generation ones for the flatter 2nd generation.

That's what I saw when I googled it. Magic Bands were announced 01/07/2013.

 

[Miffy]

The only thing they may not work for is opening your resort room's door, and that's easily fixed by going to the front desk. We use our old MBs all the time.

 

[sheilafri]

I only have old MBs. They work fine as we don’t need them for much—just tapping in for admission and LLs. If you are all together, it won’t matter if they don’t work for the long distance photos as long as one of you has a newer band as you only need one to work. Frankly, they never did work for us to open our resort door, although one out of four worked. My understanding is that if you have to tap (like with a CC), the bands stay good, if there is long distance communication involved the battery will run down eventually. I’m a Luddite so don’t trust not having a key card.

 

[bluezy]

I think magic bands have only been around since 2013? We still use our old ones, ditched the first generation ones for the flatter 2nd generation.

That's what I saw when I googled it. Magic Bands were announced 01/07/2013.

Yes, that's a typo...or I was having trouble counting...not sure which. My oldest magic band was from our trip in 2013 (which I dug out of the basket of old magic bands in our family room yesterday specifically to check the date.) I have the date on each of them so I can keep track of how old they are.