Simple Question: Can a person refuse to use a Magic Band?

[barbaraann]

Simple Question:

Can a person refuse to use a magic band, and ask for a regular park ticket, and a regular room key? Personally, I am not thinking about doing this. I am curious to see how this entire process is going to work for my trip, which is just 50 days away for me.

Some might have that idea though, and will Disney accomodate them, or will they tell that guest that they have to use a Magic Band?

 

[Chickkypoo]

I e-mailed guest services before my last trip to find out if I could get a room key instead of the magic band, as wearing watches and other things around my wrist often irritates my dermatitis. I received an e-mail response back that it would be no problem.

When I checked in, the guest service agent flat out refused to give me a room key. He said they were only given under "special circumstances", and apparently having a possible reaction to wearing the band wasn't one of them????

I wound up wearing the band for the week and luckily had no issues. I just made sure to keep it loose, and took it off from time to time if I felt it was bugging me.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

You don't need to use a Magic Band. If you have an issues during check in, ask for a manager. You can get a regular room key

 

[Disneylover99]

I e-mailed guest services before my last trip to find out if I could get a room key instead of the magic band, as wearing watches and other things around my wrist often irritates my dermatitis. I received an e-mail response back that it would be no problem.

When I checked in, the guest service agent flat out refused to give me a room key. He said they were only given under "special circumstances", and apparently having a possible reaction to wearing the band wasn't one of them????

I wound up wearing the band for the week and luckily had no issues. I just made sure to keep it loose, and took it off from time to time if I felt it was bugging me.

I'm glad it didn't bother you, but what a pain.....you took the time to email them and they responded that it would be no problem, then you get stuck with mb's anyways.

Maybe next time, present them with the email response at check in.

 

[Gracie09]

I e-mailed guest services before my last trip to find out if I could get a room key instead of the magic band, as wearing watches and other things around my wrist often irritates my dermatitis. I received an e-mail response back that it would be no problem. When I checked in, the guest service agent flat out refused to give me a room key. He said they were only given under "special circumstances", and apparently having a possible reaction to wearing the band wasn't one of them???? I wound up wearing the band for the week and luckily had no issues. I just made sure to keep it loose, and took it off from time to time if I felt it was bugging me.

You don't actually have to wear it on your wrist. You can attach it to a belt loop, hold it in you pocket, someone else can hold it etc. I'm planning on having four at some point of my trip since I have two young kids and a husband who doesn't wear anything on his wrists

 

[LucyBC80]

I don't wear anything on my wrist, I don't like the feel of wristbands around them. I plan on attaching the bands to my purse and keep them there for the whole trip. I'm even taking hair bands with me to securely attached them to my cross bag strap.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

I don't like wearing things around my wrist either. I carried my band in my purse as I would a ticket and took it out as needed. It would have been easier to have a card though, as I just could have slipped it in my wallet. I will ask next time!

 

[mcconnellfam96]

We were also refused a card during check-in at POFQ earlier this year. We were actually told they "can't make them anymore", which I know isn't true.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

DH and I were there first week of May. We hadn't done anything about "customization" or doing pre-planning for FP+ prior to our trip. I figured they'd offer us the gray bands when we checked in. We did check-in online before arriving at Caribbean Beach.
They brought out a box with our completed paperwork and I asked if getting a key card was still an option. The CM looked at me a little funny, but then I said that we'd been doing Disney since 1982 and kind of liked the OLD way of doing things.
Another CM (manager type) working at the next window (which wasn't open) looked over at me, smiled and nodded. She had nothing to do with the transaction, but he said, yes he guessed we could have cards instead. He checked with a more senior worker and we got our cards.
They worked fine for the door and we didn't plant to do any charging to our room, we never did do that.
We had some glitches trying to get into the parks -- each park, each day except our last day............. However, we saw LOTS of people with bands and cards having the same difficulty. It appeared the magic (?) bands didn't assure you of a smooth entry into the parks. People with multiple children in their party had the most difficulty, with one parent seeming to scan each of the bands.
We also saw more than one group heading toward Guest Services with a CM assisting them. There were LOTS of CMs raising their hands -- like we used to do in school?? -- and calling over the CMs with laptops, etc. It was more complicated than any time we used tickets or APs. We had APs for 5 years when we lived down there and never a minute's trouble.
Magic my foot.

 

[supergoofy]

OP I hope you get cards like you wish personally I think this should be an option still.


Thank you to all who said you can attach to your belt or other places. I work with my hands and always have so no rings or watches.

 

[mousemoose]

Yes - you can get a regular plastic card to use instead of a band. I just did this in April.

When I got my card, the cast member was being a real stinker and said the card would only be good to open the room. She kept repeating that "everything's on the band" in an annoyed voice. I think she wanted me to just go away and not bother her. I insisted that I get the card anyway and she finally made it. The card ended up working great for everything (rooms, park entrances, fastpass+s).

On the official Disney site, it says in black and white, that you can always get a card on the bottom of this page:

disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/my-disney-experience/frequency-technology

If you prefer, you may elect to use a card instead of a MagicBand.

 

[Kalea]

Last year, neither of my children wore MagicBands after the first day. I didn't like the way it felt on my wrist and stopped wearing mine as well.

We just kept them in my bag. No one cared.

 

[Suvadoo]

.
We had some glitches trying to get into the parks -- each park, each day except our last day............. However, we saw LOTS of people with bands and cards having the same difficulty. It appeared the magic (?) bands didn't assure you of a smooth entry into the parks. People with multiple children in their party had the most difficulty, with one parent seeming to scan each of the bands.
We also saw more than one group heading toward Guest Services with a CM assisting them. There were LOTS of CMs raising their hands -- like we used to do in school?? -- and calling over the CMs with laptops, etc. It was more complicated than any time we used tickets or APs. We had APs for 5 years when we lived down there and never a minute's trouble.
Magic my foot.

I was hoping that the cards would work better than the bands, but I guess it's a Disney crap shoot. I just wish this update didn't interfere with valuable vacation time! I spend a lot of time Disney dreaming and planning. No, I don't expect everything to be perfect, but I don't want to be thwarted by computer glitches.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I on the other hand would love to get my hands on some of the ziptie locks they are using on the cruise line for the magic bands for kids there.

 

[disnut8]

I was hoping that the cards would work better than the bands, but I guess it's a Disney crap shoot. I just wish this update didn't interfere with valuable vacation time! I spend a lot of time Disney dreaming and planning. No, I don't expect everything to be perfect, but I don't want to be thwarted by computer glitches.

I know this is your vacation but computer glitches happen every single day to businesses all over the world. I just posted that my husband and I were on vacation, not to Disney World, and we walked into a fast food restaurant whose internet was down. They could only accept cash for that time. So a glitch can happen anywhere anytime to anyone.

 

[disnut8]

I don't wear my MagicBand on my wrist, I just put it into my bag and pull it out when needed. My husband really, and I mean REALLY grumbled about wearing something on his wrist but ended up doing that and liking it. He said he didn't have to reach for his billfold all the time so he was quite happy. Everyone is different so go with what works for you.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I don't wear my MagicBand on my wrist, I just put it into my bag and pull it out when needed. My husband really, and I mean REALLY grumbled about wearing something on his wrist but ended up doing that and liking it. He said he didn't have to reach for his billfold all the time so he was quite happy. Everyone is different so go with what works for you.

I want a clip on watch for it or a built in NTP synced to WDW Time, for my magic band. I can't tell you how many times I look at it expecting it to tell me the time.



and syncing the time with the intime park time would be simple with the hardware in them already. it would be awsome for it to have the time, and "In your next FP window" indicator or show time till the next FP window.

 

[KCSherri]

I ended up looping my Magic Band around my purse strap - it worked great.

 

[barbaraann]

I will probably wear the Magic Band on my wrist, but I also wear one of those travel wallets around my neck, and I have a small camera bag that I wear as well, I look like a real tourist. Trying to figure out how to ditch the small drawstring backpack on my back, but my system works for me, and it distributes the weight, and everything has a place and for the most part is easily accessible.