New Magic Bands and "nicknames"

[mariak]

Hi all

My husband and I received magic bands when we went to Disney in 2014 - and we currently have a trip booked for November of this year. Will we receive new magic bands, or should we sniff out our old ones?

Additionally... his name is Robert, but he goes by Bobby. When we went originally, his profile/band was linked to Bobby on the Disney website. When I made our reservations this time around, I didn't realize that and I used his full name because I was worried for some reason that he might have problems if his ID says Robert instead of Bobby. (I guess I forgot all about originally booking him in '14 as Bobby).

So, his old magic band is linked to "Bobby" - not "Robert" - who the current reservation is for.

I know I should just call a rep, but I was just curious if anyone might know the answers.

Thanks!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

They're going to recommend new magic bands because supposedly the batteries don't last much more than a year.

The name printed on your magic band doesn't mean anything. We have started making different notations to distinguish which is our newest or what occasion it is. For example, my name on all the official paperwork is Anthony. I have a couple of magic bands with Anthony on them. I have one with Tony 2016. I have one with Tony 8th to commemorate our eight year anniversary.

 

[mariak]

Ah, okay! Thanks for the info! I can stop stressing now

 

[Rob562]

One note about the batteries inside the Bands... The battery only powers the long-range functions of the Band. (Currently only used for the automatic linking of on-ride photos to your account) All other tap-to-use functions of that Band (park entrance, FP+, room key, room charging, etc) are un-powered and will (theoretically) will work indefinitely.

So the earlier poster was correct that the name printed *inside* the Band doesn't matter, and as long as both the old Band and the new one are linked to the same MDE profile, they can be used interchangeably throughout your trip. (I currently have 4 Bands from 3 trips assigned to my profile and easily used all of them on my last trip)

-Rob

 

[TheMouseFan]

Hi all

My husband and I received magic bands when we went to Disney in 2014 - and we currently have a trip booked for November of this year. Will we receive new magic bands, or should we sniff out our old ones?

Additionally... his name is Robert, but he goes by Bobby. When we went originally, his profile/band was linked to Bobby on the Disney website. When I made our reservations this time around, I didn't realize that and I used his full name because I was worried for some reason that he might have problems if his ID says Robert instead of Bobby. (I guess I forgot all about originally booking him in '14 as Bobby).

So, his old magic band is linked to "Bobby" - not "Robert" - who the current reservation is for.

I know I should just call a rep, but I was just curious if anyone might know the answers.

Thanks!

If his old band is linked to Bobby, but the new reservation is under Robert, then his original band will not be connected to this reservation and won't work for anything on this trip. If it is just the name inside the band that is different, then they both should work for this trip. You will have to call to have the two profiles merged if they are truly under two different names.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

One note about the batteries inside the Bands... The battery only powers the long-range functions of the Band. (Currently only used for the automatic linking of on-ride photos to your account) All other tap-to-use functions of that Band (park entrance, FP+, room key, room charging, etc) are un-powered and will (theoretically) will work indefinitely.

So the earlier poster was correct that the name printed *inside* the Band doesn't matter, and as long as both the old Band and the new one are linked to the same MDE profile, they can be used interchangeably throughout your trip. (I currently have 4 Bands from 3 trips assigned to my profile and easily used all of them on my last trip)

-Rob

Yes, we always bring an old one as a backup in case we lose or misplace one of the new ones. They always work. I was just saying that if she calls customer service, they're going to recommend a new one and the reason they use is the battery.

 

[RonAnnArbor]

The name printed as a nickname makes absolutely no difference. The only thing the band "stores" is the id number attached to your MDE account. Every single old band that you have remains active and the number is "updated" on all of them. I name mine things like "Boss", "King", "Chief", etc and every time, the only thing that shows up on the scanner is RONALD...the nickname is meaningless except for your own tracking of the bands.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

The names on the inside of the band are mostly to tell them apart, if you have multiples in a particular color more than anything. I used initials for my family (despite different colored bands).

Although they're tied to the same account, each user can have a different PIN.