Deciding on magic band colors

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
What do you all do in terms of getting your next magic band? I already have my favorite color and am wondering if i should order another one in that color or whether i should collect a rainbow of colors? I’d love to get a character one but you can’t get those ahead of time, can you?
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
What do you all do in terms of getting your next magic band? I already have my favorite color and am wondering if i should order another one in that color or whether i should collect a rainbow of colors? I’d love to get a character one but you can’t get those ahead of time, can you?

Bands can be used interchangeably throughout your trip. Just put on whichever you want each morning. I have 5 or 6 in various colors now, some with decals I bought online, and I grab whichever coordinates with my Tshirt or park destination that day.

Character bands can be purchased ahead of time in the Shop Disney Parks app or online. (Assuming you're in the US)

-Rob
 

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Bands can be used interchangeably throughout your trip. Just put on whichever you want each morning. I have 5 or 6 in various colors now, some with decals I bought online, and I grab whichever coordinates with my Tshirt or park destination that day.

Character bands can be purchased ahead of time in the Shop Disney Parks app or online. (Assuming you're in the US)

-Rob
I am in the US. How do you use them interchangeably on the same trip? Do you have the front desk link your stuff to them? Thanks, I had no idea this was an option.
 

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If you have a magic band, it’s already linked to you. Until the battery dies, you can use it whenever you like.
So if i have three different magic bands, i can wear purple on Monday, blue on Tuesday and yellow on Wednesday and they will all have my ADRs, FP+, etc. already on them?
 

donsullivan

Premium Member
So if i have three different magic bands, i can wear purple on Monday, blue on Tuesday and yellow on Wednesday and they will all have my ADRs, FP+, etc. already on them?
All of your entitlements such as admission fp’s, room access, etc are tied to your MDE profile. The Magic band is just a way to access those entitlements. Nothing is stored on the band. If you purchase additional magic bands, you can either add them to your profile yourself or if you’re in park, a CM can add them for you. All Magicbands assigned to your profile have the same privileges and can be used interchangeably
 

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
All of your entitlements such as admission fp’s, room access, etc are tied to your MDE profile. The Magic band is just a way to access those entitlements. Nothing is stored on the band. If you purchase additional magic bands, you can either add them to your profile yourself or if you’re in park, a CM can add them for you. All Magicbands assigned to your profile have the same privileges and can be used interchangeably
If you have a magic band, it’s already linked to you. Until the battery dies, you can use it whenever you like.
Had no idea they used batteries lol
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
I pick whatever color best goes with the outfits I plan to bring. As far as collecting the different-color bands as souvenirs, though, I've found that if I try and hold onto them, after about a year the colors tend to fade and develop a "dusty" appearance (even if kept in a drawer), so I end up throwing them out.
 
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Janir

Well-Known Member
I am in the US. How do you use them interchangeably on the same trip? Do you have the front desk link your stuff to them? Thanks, I had no idea this was an option.
MDE app or online account. Buy a band and you link it to the account and tickets for that account and whomever that account manages. Open the package and enter the ID code. You can have more than one active or deactivate any that are lost etc...
 

donsullivan

Premium Member
Had no idea they used batteries lol
Yup. There are two types of radios in the bands.
  1. RFID is a passive technology (no battery) that is used for park admission, fastpass, room access, payments, etc.. That technology requires the band to be essentially in contact with the active reader to work. because the power is in the reader and it covers a very short distance.
  2. The other is Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) which is the active radio that uses the battery. This is used for some of the more passive activities like on-ride photos. It's also used by Disney in an anonomized way to monitor crowd patterns flowing through attractions. It's also the tech that is being introduced to measure actual wait times without the older red card system as a guest moves through the line. There were a lot of other things they hoped to do early on but privacy concerns and other operational issues/concerns pushed those to the back burner.

The battery in a Magic Band will eventually wear out in ~3 years and when that happens the proximity things like on-ride photos stop, but the active contact things like room access, park admission etc keep working because the power for that is in the reader, not the band. So you could theoretically use any MB forever as long as you understand that the passive functions would stop working somewhere around 3 years after activation.
 

jaklgreen

Well-Known Member
So if i have three different magic bands, i can wear purple on Monday, blue on Tuesday and yellow on Wednesday and they will all have my ADRs, FP+, etc. already on them?

Think of them as you house key, you can have several copies of your key, but they are all the same key. You magic band just gives you access to your account. Just like the old key cards did. They are exactly the same as those, except now they are in the form of a bracelet.
 

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Think of them as you house key, you can have several copies of your key, but they are all the same key. You magic band just gives you access to your account. Just like the old key cards did. They are exactly the same as those, except now they are in the form of a bracelet.
Never thought of it this way. Thanks!
 

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