Who has successfully reused old Magic Bands & how old were they?

[maxsmom]

we have some from last summer and the summer before. I cannot remember how long they are supposed to work for. We are getting ready to pick this yrs colors. Last yr we had to have the front desk "activate" all of our bands when we got there. Not sure exactly if that's what they did but they had do something with all three for each of the 4 of us. Wondering if they will just work this year or if they will have to do that again with the old ones and the new ones. Thanks.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

All old ones should work unless you've deactivated them. The operative word is "should" though. We've had to go through the CM scanning everyone's MBs to get them to work on our room doors each time we've visited, including on our visit earlier this month. The CM who checked us in said that I didn't have a credit card or email on file, which was totally not the case...I'd checked in online and verified my credit card information was up to date. So after entering our method of payment she then had to activate the bands to work on the room door, or something.

That's the long way of saying...MDE is super glitchy and the way it's supposed to work vs. how it actually works doesn't always align. You shouldn't have to do anything with any of your bands. But you might have to.

 

[Princesspolly0110]

I used a magic band from jan 2014 on our trip, may 2015 with zero issues what so ever.

 

[animalkingdom15]

I was told magic bands are good for 2 years (i.e. their battery life).

 

[Robo]

I was told magic bands are good for 2 years (i.e. their battery life).

And, even with a dead battery, they will continue to work for park entry, FP+ use, point-of-sale touch-point, opening resort room doors...
anything where the guest must touch the band to the scanner.

 

[DekrRini]

If the bands will work with a dead battery, what's the point of having a battery in the first place?

When I went in May, I was able to use my Magic Band from the previous year. Since I automatically got a new one at the front desk, the CM had to change everything over to the old band and put in my credit card information again. The old Magic Band worked fine for getting on the ME, though. It would have been easier just to get a new band, but I don't need a drawer full of the things.

 

[supersnoop]

If the bands will work with a dead battery, what's the point of having a battery in the first place?

When I went in May, I was able to use my Magic Band from the previous year. Since I automatically got a new one at the front desk, the CM had to change everything over to the old band and put in my credit card information again. The old Magic Band worked fine for getting on the ME, though. It would have been easier just to get a new band, but I don't need a drawer full of the things.

The battery is for long-range functions where the band transmits information. The only end-user experience that uses the long range function at this time are ride photos. Everything where you touch the band to a device is passive and does not require power.

 

[DekrRini]

Thanks. Now I don't have to worry about a dead battery.

 

[Lisaloo]

If the bands will work with a dead battery, what's the point of having a battery in the first place?

When I went in May, I was able to use my Magic Band from the previous year. Since I automatically got a new one at the front desk, the CM had to change everything over to the old band and put in my credit card information again. The old Magic Band worked fine for getting on the ME, though. It would have been easier just to get a new band, but I don't need a drawer full of the things.

Is there any other reason to bring our bands from 2 years ago (that are stuffed in a drawer, lol)? I wasn't planning on everyone having more than one band on our trip, but I see where a lot of people take old ones and have multiples.

 

[gkrykewy]

The battery is for long-range functions where the band transmits information. The only end-user experience that uses the long range function at this time are ride photos. Everything where you touch the band to a device is passive and does not require power.

Ride photos and Be Our Guest lunch food delivery to your table, I think.

 

[bumbershoot]

If the bands will work with a dead battery, what's the point of having a battery in the first place?

All the long range stuff mentioned in the MB privacy policy/t&c stuff.

When I went in May, I was able to use my Magic Band from the previous year. Since I automatically got a new one at the front desk, the CM had to change everything over to the old band and put in my credit card information again.

Oh that silly cm. Glitches happen, and it's possible you cc info just didn't come through to your MDE. That happens about half the time for me, since we've been traveling to wdw since late 2010. (And there was a version of online checkin back then)

Info is attached to your account. MBs are attached to your account. Scan the band and he info from MDE is retrieved. There's nothing but access to MDE attached to the band.

Silly cm....


Op I have 9 just for me (4 for DH and 7 for DS), we use them interchangably. Last visit was January with bands from as far back as 2013.

One thing I've never seen addressed is if it's 2 years no matter the usage, or 2 years of regular use. Also it was 3 years when they were first being talked about lol. So I'm not sure anyone knows.

 

[disneygal55]

We have many bands, some dating to when WDW first started using magic bands. During our last trip, we were unable to get into our room and waited out in the hallway for a very long time while they "fixed" things. They informed us that we had way too many bands in our account...Hello, you keep sending them Disney! They never told us but they inactivated two (each) of our older bands. I only found out a month later when checking out our magic bands for our next trip in October. We also have all kinds of "cards" (passes?) listed in our accounts so I think I'll check and see which ones are current and inactivate all of the old passes listed. Too bad they just didn't disappear when they expired.

 

[disneygal55]

We have many bands, some dating to when WDW first started using magic bands. During our last trip, we were unable to get into our room and waited out in the hallway for a very long time while they "fixed" things. They informed us that we had way too many bands in our account...Hello, you keep sending them Disney! They never told us but they inactivated two (each) of our older bands. I only found out a month later when checking out our magic bands for our next trip in October. We also have all kinds of "cards" (passes?) listed in our accounts so I think I'll check and see which ones are current and inactivate all of the old passes listed. Too bad they just didn't disappear when they expired.

 

[delmar411]

We have many bands, some dating to when WDW first started using magic bands. During our last trip, we were unable to get into our room and waited out in the hallway for a very long time while they "fixed" things. They informed us that we had way too many bands in our account...Hello, you keep sending them Disney! They never told us but they inactivated two (each) of our older bands. I only found out a month later when checking out our magic bands for our next trip in October. We also have all kinds of "cards" (passes?) listed in our accounts so I think I'll check and see which ones are current and inactivate all of the old passes listed. Too bad they just didn't disappear when they expired.

IT can clean up the old cards amd remove from your account, but for the bands just deactivate what you are not using.

My kids have a lot of issues opening room doors and resort gates now but deactivating all but a few seems to have helped a ton.