Tell me about "Magic Bands"

[hsmytwins]

HELP - I'm on the app right now to choose Magic Bands - Might as well get "fun" ones.

If we do nothing.....we get plain grey ones for free? If I want -for example - the purple one - I pay for that? I think my dd wants the Olaf one.

 

[4077]

HELP - I'm on the app right now to choose Magic Bands - Might as well get "fun" ones.

If we do nothing.....we get plain grey ones for free? If I want -for example - the purple one - I pay for that? I think my dd wants the Olaf one.

You can get gray, red, yellow, blue, orange, or green (I think) as your "free" magic band with a name of your choice on each. The "fun" character ones, etc. are the extra fee.

Re: calling back for CSR...that is always the best idea...if you are speaking with someone not helpful or who doesn't seem to know, it is best to nicely end the call and try back (at least that is what I see reported most around the DIS. I like to think
there are more nice than "naughty"....

If you do nothing, you get plain gray ones....not sure if those still get sent or of you pick them up at arrival..

 

[G719]

HELP - I'm on the app right now to choose Magic Bands - Might as well get "fun" ones.

If we do nothing.....we get plain grey ones for free? If I want -for example - the purple one - I pay for that? I think my dd wants the Olaf one.

If you want special ones, you'll have to buy those from the disney store, or the shop disney parks app, or buy when you get to disney. You can't do that through the MDE. Pink, red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and gray are your free choices.

 

[4077]

If you want special ones, you'll have to buy those from the disney store, or the shop disney parks app, or buy when you get to disney. You can't do that through the MDE. Pink, red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and gray are your free choices.

Ahh yeah...the pink...

 

[bama_ed]

And for the record,

I hate all this FP+, Magic Bands, and MDE stuff with a passion. It creates much more work and stress for something that should be fun and relaxing. I shouldn't have to lock in what day, what park, 6 months in advance for my crappy restaurant ADRs or my 2 month FP+.

I love the Fort but I hate all this preplanning for the parks. With the old paper FP, it was "whatever park you were in that day", get one, use one, get another. Back in the old days before paper FP, if the line was long, it was long. You waited or you didn't. Pretty simple.

My DD is the reason I will be there next month but this is my third trip with MB and I'm kinda sick of it, to tell you the truth. I might be back at the Fort in the years to come but the theme parks, it might be a while.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

If you want special ones, you'll have to buy those from the disney store, or the shop disney parks app, or buy when you get to disney. You can't do that through the MDE. Pink, red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and gray are your free choices.

And if you buy some special ones, you need to link those to your individuals in MDE and then DECLINE the free MBs that are automatically assigned to you in MDE.

Bama Ed

PS - well, you don't HAVE to decline but they will ship to you and then you'll have two sets. All will work and link to you and your tickets in MDE so why bother with two if one will do?

 

[hsmytwins]

Ed - I agree. This is far too complicated for a VACATION. This is why we don't do Disney restaurants. We like to be impromptu....not book a dinner reservation 180 days out! We are ok with cooking ourselves or driving to the place of our choice based on our mood *that day*.

Good tip on linking the special ones. I'll watch for that if we go that route. My son probably won't care what his looks like, but my daughter likes Olaf. Or purple.

 

[bama_ed]

Well you can see by my signature that we have been to WDW almost annually for 16 hrs. My 3 kids have aged out (2 in college) and i only have the last one (a HS Senior) left. DW asked for some more restaurant meals (easier to pay for 3 than 5 but 2 are even easier) so we will have sort of a Blow Out trip next month which will be a big One Off.

If DW is happy I am happy but even she knows this is not a sustainable path forward.

Bama Ed

 

[G719]

Well you can see by my signature that we have been to WDW almost annually for 16 hrs.

Bama Ed

Good thing you went every year since it was only for 16 hrs.

 

[bama_ed]

Ya got me, G719.

 

[mtnminnie]

I have no idea if it will work or not...but we plan to just get the free ones and I might pick up some puffy stickers of some sort and let the kids "disneyfy" the thing themselves.

I really don't feel like keeping up with one more thing for the kids. I think keeping the band on my littles is going to be a pain in the rear and by the end of the day, I am going to be sporting more than one band on my arm.

and, I totally agree..having to plan so far in advance has made me put off the trip for quite some time. I would rather plan some, but it seems as though I am putting more effort into planning the Disney vacation than I am into planning for grade levels of homeschool curriculum...and, I am very detailed oriented concerning the children's education.

at some point, I am going to reach burnout and I hope it is not too close to the trip. I am seriously stressed about getting the kids to meet Anna and Elsa....I feel like our next vacation after this one will need to be to Key West just so we can chill.

 

[mtnminnie]

ps..to save on my sanity and pocketbook, we are skipping all ADRs. But, I might splurge on a mickey waffle iron.

sorry about seriously derailing your thread...but it all started with a little magic band vent...and went from there.

 

[peg110]

"MDE app" ... downloaded to my iphone. of course, it won't work. had to call the "customer service", which is an oxymoron. Still doesn't work.

Customer service person told me I don't need to manage anything ahead of time....I can just do it all at check in. Guess that's what it'll be for me. (I don't really understand y'alls love affair with Disney. My reservation experience was awful and this experience is sub-par too.)

Well the customer service person is right. You don't need to manage anything ahead of time, but if you don't and there are specific things you want to do, you may not be able to do them.

Depending on the time of year, many Sit down restaurants fill up quickly. If you don't have an ADR, you may not get to eat at that restaurant. Same with some Fast Passes. As Bama_Ed points out though, You can always go the old fashion route and just wait in line.

For me the Magic Bands are a double edge sword. I like them and I hate them. They do offer convenience as far as entrance to facilities, fast pass controls, charging (if enabled) etc... but I'd prefer the old fast pass (paper tickets). It's nicer to be able to change your mind about what park you want today and still be able to get the Fast Pass. Now, fast passes are given out months in advance. So if you decide you want to go to HS instead of MK, your chances of getting a FP for Tower of Terror are slim.

Now on the planning side, my DW LOVES to plan this stuff out well in advance. For her it's almost as much fun. She consults me (a little) and I just mostly nod in agreement. (Well except when she wants to stay at MK during late EMH until midnight or 1 AM and then have Crystal Palace reservations the next morning at 8AM... Then I speak up...... queitly..... and hope she agrees with me. )

 

[tltay2005]

All hours. Comfort stations (and laundry facilities) are always locked, so you'll need your magicband (or card key)

Bathrooms and showers are open during the day. Only locked between the hours of 12am and 6am. We were just there in December. Laundry rooms are locked all the time.

 

[Flametamr]

Did not see it covered but the bands will open the security gate if you drive into the Fort. For the record I have one of the first sets from 2013 and they definitely lasted 2 years. I will try again in April and October to see if I can get 3 years. I like the bands for convenience sake but they are not all that comfortable to wear all day.

 

[peg110]

Did not see it covered but the bands will open the security gate if you drive into the Fort. For the record I have one of the first sets from 2013 and they definitely lasted 2 years. I will try again in April and October to see if I can get 3 years. I like the bands for convenience sake but they are not all that comfortable to wear all day.

When we were there in 2014, the bands were not all that reliable at opening the gate. They did give us a Card as well just in case.

As for comfort of wearing the MB, I didn't find them all that uncomfortable personally. Obviously, though, this is a very subjective thing. I normally wear a watch (home made watch band made from Paracord) and I usually wear another "Bracelet" (also made from paracord) on the other wrist, so the MB was not an issue (except that I had to ditch my paracord bracelet). The funny thing is, is that I was the only one in my family who would wear it even not in the park (even at night in bed). The DW was giving me grief one night so I took it off. Unfortunately, next day going to the park, I forgot to put it back on and, well.... I got a little light jog that morning to get from the Settlement to our site (1401) and back. DW was kind of shocked that I made it as quick as I did but I had to catch my breath to respond. I made good time particularly when you consider that my "Physique" isn't what it used to be.

 

[sirenia88]

Big fan of the MB personally. Here is a tip. Use Disney Gift cards for your account. Most warehouse stores have them on discount. Watch which ones you buy as they discount varies per store and package. You load all your gift cards to your account either prior or when you get to your resort. This way you have a "cash on hand" account with a CC backer. We found this out the last trip when the CC got hit for the golf cart when we wanted to pay with the gift cards. the front desk reserved the charges and the CM on the desk said why not just add the cards to the account then you don't have to come down every few days to settle up. We did. It was perfect. The last time we had enough gift cards to pay for the site and tickets in advance. I think the CC got an additional 500 for everything afterwards less fuel to get there. Most of the gift cards were weekly purchases during trips to the warehouse type places with a good chuck coming from point rewards programs. Here in my earlier posts on this matter, the golf cart was "free" for us. I digress.

The only thing I don't like is the fact you are unable to set a spending limit on the band for members within your party. My DD likes using it since we use it as an opportunity about using money. Somehow the mouse cannot figure out how to enable that function. My DD loves being able to use it to make her purchases at the gift shop. I like it when I am at the pool and I can get a beer without getting cash or a card out.

ADRs and planning is another story.

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

Big fan of the MB personally. Here is a tip. Use Disney Gift cards for your account.

My concern with using gift cards is that when something needs to be refunded it is refunded to the gift card used to pay for it... so you have to keep all the empty cards on hand until you are sure you aren't getting anything refunded. It's a bit of a hassle, IMO.

 

[parrothead64]

My concern with using gift cards is that when something needs to be refunded it is refunded to the gift card used to pay for it... so you have to keep all the empty cards on hand until you are sure you aren't getting anything refunded. It's a bit of a hassle, IMO.

You can consolidate all your gift cards up to a $1000 on each card, so you don't have to have a lot of individual cards.
a little time consuming but a lot easier to handle 1 or 2 cards than 30. Go to disneygiftcard.com than go into your account , manage cards, transfer balance.

 

[sirenia88]

My concern with using gift cards is that when something needs to be refunded it is refunded to the gift card used to pay for it... so you have to keep all the empty cards on hand until you are sure you aren't getting anything refunded. It's a bit of a hassle, IMO.

You add the cards to your magic band account. You can do this any time like prior to arrival or at arrival or when ever. It basically gives you a balance to work with. If you pay with something on the MB it should be going back to that account. I find the gift cards a great way to save for a vacation while saving on vacation.

You can consolidate all your gift cards up to a $1000 on each card, so you don't have to have a lot of individual cards.
a little time consuming but a lot easier to handle 1 or 2 cards than 30. Go to disneygiftcard.com than go into your account , manage cards, transfer balance.

Great point. One of the CMs on the front desk suggested this if needed with the amount of gift cards we had. We also learned about adding the cards to our MDE account before and during out stay. If was better than what we planned to do which was a stop every couple of days.