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If you are planning a trip to Walt Disney World, you have probably heard about Magicbands. But what are they? Where do you get them? And do you even need one? While Magicbands aren’t absolutely necessary, they do make your time at Disney World so much more convenient. Not having them is like not having a cell phone or a car in your day-to-day life. It’s possible to live without, but why would you want to make life harder? Here, I will explain everything you need to know about Magicbands so you can experience Disney World like a pro.
What are they?
A Magicband is a plastic band that you wear on your wrist. It is about the size of a watch. It contains a chip that stores all of your Disney World trip data. That’s right! That little band on your wrist holds your park tickets, dining reservations, Fastpasses, Memory Maker, and even your onsite room key. You no longer need to continually pull out your wallet for your park tickets or room key. Your entire trip is contained on your arm. You can even link your credit card (if staying on property) to your band to easily charge purchases while in the parks. Additionally, you will find some extra magic throughout the parks when you wear your Magicbands, such as a personalized goodbye message on It’s a Small World.
Where do you get them?
If you are staying at a Walt Disney World hotel, you will get a Magicband for free with your reservation. These Magicbands will be shipped to your home approximately ten days prior to your trip or you can pick them up at the front desk of your resort upon check-in. If you are not staying onsite, you can buy a Magicband in any of the gift shops around Disney World. Once you’ve bought your Magicband, you can use the My Disney Experience app on your phone to link it to your tickets and reservations. The basic solid colored Magicbands are $13 each. The ones with characters or attractions on them range from $15-30 apiece.
Customizing your Magicbands
If you are staying onsite, you have until 11 days prior to the start of your trip to “customize” your Magicbands on Disney World’s website. Customizing them on the website, however, is limited to choosing one of eight colors for each member of your family and adding each person’s name to the back of the band. For ideas on how to take your Magicband decorations to the next level yourself, check out Pinterest.
Tips for using your Magicbands
As convenient as Magicbands are, they can be frustrating if you don’t know how to use them. So, here are some tips to make sure using your band is all magic and zero irritation.
- When scanning your band, touch the Mickey head on your band to the Mickey head on the scanner.
- Leave your band in contact with the scanner until the scanner turns a solid color.
- If the scanner turns blue instead of green, see a cast member for help.
- The Magicbands are one size fits all. To make them fit smaller children, peel the colored part away from the grey part of the band.
- If you are concerned about your younger children taking off their bands or losing them, have an adult wear them instead.
- The battery life of Magicbands is about two years, so if you visit again during that time, you can use the same bands or get new ones.
- The bands are waterproof, so no need to take them off while swimming.
- If flying to Orlando and using Magical Express to get to your onsite hotel, be sure to pack your Magicbands in your carry on bag because you will need them when you get to the Magical Express counter at the airport.
Conclusion
Magicbands are one of the greatest additions to Disney World trips ever. They make the entire vacation so much more convenient by keeping all of your trip details right on your wrist. And opening a hotel room door while carrying a sleeping child at the end of the night has never been easier! Have you used Magicbands before? What are your thoughts on them? For help planning your Disney World trip, see my step-by-step guide, quick tips, and best resources. Happy travels!
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