Are MagicBands Needed?

[FarmerBill]

Are these bands a "nice to have", or actually needed? We are getting the Genie+ for the family (6 adults), so we plan on using the Genie app throughout the days.

 

[NelleBelle]

We are staying off property and I agree—for ease and not annoying the people in line behind you….please get either the physical cards or purchase magic bands when you get there! Tapping is so much easier than searching for ticket media in your phone. Before DLR, switched and we could pull up ticket media in our iPhones, it was super annoying to do that with just two people’s tickets, let alone trying to do it with a party of five! Don’t be “that guy”

 

[DisneyfanMA]

Are the physical cards given to us at the entrance or something ?

 

[Rob562]

Are the physical cards given to us at the entrance or something ?

Depending on where you buy your tickets you may be given the choice of getting physical cards mailed to you. Otherwise, you can stop by guest services or a ticket window outside your first park and pick them up. If you want to get them before your first morning, you can also stop by guest relations in Disney springs.

If you're staying at a Disney hotel, the front desk can give you cards that will be linked to your profile and work for both your room key and park entry.

-Rob

 

[DisneyfanMA]

Depending on where you buy your tickets you may be given the choice of getting physical cards mailed to you. Otherwise, you can stop by guest services or a ticket window outside your first park and pick them up. If you want to get them before your first morning, you can also stop by guest relations in Disney springs.

If you're staying at a Disney hotel, the front desk can give you cards that will be linked to your profile and work for both your room key and park entry.

-Rob

We're off property. So basically at the first park we go to, after we go in we have to get physical cards to be able to ride. If we want to avoid scanning my phone? My original plan was to just use my phone but others are saying its a huge pain for a party or more than 1 or 2 people. So lame all of this....

 

[Rob562]

We're off property. So basically at the first park we go to, after we go in we have to get physical cards to be able to ride. If we want to avoid scanning my phone? My original plan was to just use my phone but others are saying its a huge pain for a party or more than 1 or 2 people. So lame all of this....

It's no more "lame" than it has been for any off-site guest for the past decade. You're in no different place than you were before the pandemic trying to enter the park or use FP+ when you needed a MagicBand or a physical ticket.

The only thing that's changed is that the ticket-on-your-mobile-phone option that Disney is touting that's maybe a year old is not ready for primetime. That's it.

-Rob

 

[Jon81uk]

Also (although I've not visited myself) it sounds like using tickets on iPhone is fine if you have one phone per person, you just load your own ticket and tap. Its groups where all five tickets are on one phone that are the issue.
Imagine it like having paper tickets in a wallet, tapping your own wallet is fine. But having to get all five tickets out, work out which need to be tapped and then doing it one at a time putting the others away.

The technology is ready, but Apple have designed their systems to work per individial not really as a mechanisim for storing a groups worth of tickets.

Its also a bit like flying, you can scan boarding passes from your phone, or get paper ones. But if you tried to store the entire families boarding passes on your phone it will take a long time to scan them all. Much easier to have one pass per person.

 

[DisneyfanMA]

Also (although I've not visited myself) it sounds like using tickets on iPhone is fine if you have one phone per person, you just load your own ticket and tap. Its groups where all five tickets are on one phone that are the issue.
Imagine it like having paper tickets in a wallet, tapping your own wallet is fine. But having to get all five tickets out, work out which need to be tapped and then doing it one at a time putting the others away.

The technology is ready, but Apple have designed their systems to work per individial not really as a mechanisim for storing a groups worth of tickets.

Its also a bit like flying, you can scan boarding passes from your phone, or get paper ones. But if you tried to store the entire families boarding passes on your phone it will take a long time to scan them all. Much easier to have one pass per person.

Seems at odds with anything else. I scan for the family at every other venue and it takes 2-3 seconds per person usually.

 

[5thGenTexan]

We are planning WDW for 2023.
Been in 1985, 1987, 1992, 2012.

This thread sounds really complicated, even more than my worries about HOW to get to the parks staying offsite.

Maybe North Dakota instead.....

 

[Jon81uk]

Seems at odds with anything else. I scan for the family at every other venue and it takes 2-3 seconds per person usually.

Again, I haven't experianced it first hand, my last WDW trip was in 2016 with MagicBands.

But if you feel confident, tapping (not scanning, these are NFC passes at WDW not barcodes) all the passes from the Apple Wallet then go for it, sounds like you've made it work elsewhere.

 

[Jon81uk]

We are planning WDW for 2023.
Been in 1985, 1987, 1992, 2012.

This thread sounds really complicated, even more than my worries about HOW to get to the parks staying offsite.

Maybe North Dakota instead.....

Its not hugely more complicated than 2012.
Back then you would have got a plastic key to the world card (if onsite) with a magnetic stripe or a cardboard ticket if offsite.
Now you get either a plastic card with an NFC chip (like a contactless bank card) in it, or use the NFC feature of your phone to store the card in a virtual wallet (Apple Wallet or Google Pay). Or you can pay $12+ to have a MagicBand with the chip inside it.

The only other thing is the Photopass, on many rides it will automatically add photos to your MDE account by identifying guests using Bluetooth. This either uses the Bluetooth in the MagicBand, or a phone with the MDE app.

 

[DfromATX]

Even though we're staying offsite this year, I'm still planning on using a MB for our tickets, Photopass, DAS, and I guess Genie+ if we actually decide to use it. It's so much easier to have everyone use their bands instead of whipping out their phones, searching for the correct media on their phone, making people behind you annoyed because you're taking "forever" at the tap point. We'll likely get new bands at DS or at the first park we visit to get new ones. Even though we have old ones, I don't trust that the batteries are good for the on-ride photos (and I want those from my kids' bands if they split up).

We're planning a trip in January and staying at the Dolphin. It will be our first time staying at a non-Disney resort. I don't plan on buying Genie. Do you think Magic Bands would still be useful for us? I plan to buy our park tickets next week. We've already booked our hotel. I know I have to link everything. Will we be issued cards for our tickets? How does it work when you buy the tickets separately? Or is that a good reason to purchase the Magic Bands?

 

[lunchbox1175]

Are these bands a "nice to have", or actually needed? We are getting the Genie+ for the family (6 adults), so we plan on using the Genie app throughout the days.

They are optional, but I see more people struggling to get their families in when they use their phones as opposed to using Magic Bands. Personally I find them way more convenient for doing everything like park entry, opening room door, paying for stuff. I don't like having to have my phone out all the time, defeats the point of vacation and family time.

 

[Rob562]

We're planning a trip in January and staying at the Dolphin. It will be our first time staying at a non-Disney resort. I don't plan on buying Genie. Do you think Magic Bands would still be useful for us? I plan to buy our park tickets next week. We've already booked our hotel. I know I have to link everything. Will we be issued cards for our tickets? How does it work when you buy the tickets separately? Or is that a good reason to purchase the Magic Bands?

Since you won't be using Genie+ the only thing you'll be using the tickets for is park entry. In that instance just choose to either get physical tickets mailed to you if your ticket source offers it, or the Will Call option if direct from Disney.

If you end up buying e-tickets you can stop by Guest Services or a ticket window to pick up cards.

-Rob

 

[bhg469]

Again, I haven't experianced it first hand, my last WDW trip was in 2016 with MagicBands.

But if you feel confident, tapping (not scanning, these are NFC passes at WDW not barcodes) all the passes from the Apple Wallet then go for it, sounds like you've made it work elsewhere.

My job before I was laid off due to covid was designing and implementing the access control systems that allow you into MLB ballparks, although we did festivals, concerts and events as well. We were about to roll out touchless systems before the pandemic happened and were in the testing phase. This was in use at the All star game in cleveland then used for spring training the season after. People who use one single device across multiple tickets don't think they're holding up the line but they're most definitely holding up the line.

 

[5thGenTexan]

Its not hugely more complicated than 2012.
Back then you would have got a plastic key to the world card (if onsite) with a magnetic stripe or a cardboard ticket if offsite.
Now you get either a plastic card with an NFC chip (like a contactless bank card) in it, or use the NFC feature of your phone to store the card in a virtual wallet (Apple Wallet or Google Pay). Or you can pay $12+ to have a MagicBand with the chip inside it.

The only other thing is the Photopass, on many rides it will automatically add photos to your MDE account by identifying guests using Bluetooth. This either uses the Bluetooth in the MagicBand, or a phone with the MDE app.

Actually, I think it was 2013, but that really doesnt make a difference. We were on a DCL trip and had a "park day" as a shore excursion. We had to pick a park and I am not really sure what we got on the ship for admission to the park that day. Everything we did actually inside the park was on credit card.

 

[DisneyfanMA]

My job before I was laid off due to covid was designing and implementing the access control systems that allow you into MLB ballparks, although we did festivals, concerts and events as well. We were about to roll out touchless systems before the pandemic happened and were in the testing phase. This was in use at the All star game in cleveland then used for spring training the season after. People who use one single device across multiple tickets don't think they're holding up the line but they're most definitely holding up the line.

This is at odds with every concert and ballpark I've attended the last several years. I usually use the phone for everyone in my party- guests or children and have assumed most who are in groups do the same? Certainly most children get in this way.....The tickets are almost always sent to a single email or phone in the batch you bought them in anyway. I have the say 3 other people with me, and the 4 of us go through the magnetometer and walk up to the ticket guy, I say "its me and these 3 behind me", he scans the 4 barcodes and waves us all through. Takes seconds. Why is Disney so different?

I'm leaning toward just buying the magic bands. Don't want any extra hassle on this trip and don't want to worry about a pocket full of cards to handout and or lose.

last question for now on this topic....How do I actually get a magic band? disney's site cryptically mentions ordering at "pre arrival prices" but they make a big deal about saying "for resort guests, specifically at a "disney resorts collection" hotel. We're NON resort guests (off property). They also say something about ordering 10 days before your trip. So you have to wait to the last minute? I can hardly find the bands on amazon and the disney site has 1 tinker bell one for $35. Am I missing something? You need a PhD to navigate the mess they've turned this place into.

 

[bhg469]

This is at odds with every concert and ballpark I've attended the last several years. I usually use the phone for everyone in my party- guests or children and have assumed most who are in groups do the same? Certainly most children get in this way.....The tickets are almost always sent to a single email or phone in the batch you bought them in anyway. I have the say 3 other people with me, and the 4 of us go through the magnetometer and walk up to the ticket guy, I say "its me and these 3 behind me", he scans the 4 barcodes and waves us all through. Takes seconds. Why is Disney so different?

I'm leaning toward just buying the magic bands. Don't want any extra hassle on this trip and don't want to worry about a pocket full of cards to handout and or lose.

last question for now on this topic....How do I actually get a magic band? disney's site cryptically mentions ordering at "pre arrival prices" but they make a big deal about saying "for resort guests, specifically at a "disney resorts collection" hotel. We're NON resort guests (off property). They also say something about ordering 10 days before your trip. So you have to wait to the last minute? I can hardly find the bands on amazon and the disney site has 1 tinker bell one for $35. Am I missing something? You need a PhD to navigate the mess they've turned this place into.

Yes this is mostly the case with children in a group. When it comes to adults It is most often split up ahead of time and is by far more efficient. We dabbled in using a system that would check in your entire party with one scan but it just wasn't efficient. Too much has to happen in the background that the guest doesn't know or care about to make it instant.

 

[Jon81uk]

Takes seconds. Why is Disney so different?

WDW uses NFC not barcodes. So instead of bringing up the barcode and scanning, you need to bring up the right ticket, tap it, get the next ticket, tap and so on.
Not sure if it takes much longer or not, but it is different.

 

[Rob562]

last question for now on this topic....How do I actually get a magic band? disney's site cryptically mentions ordering at "pre arrival prices" but they make a big deal about saying "for resort guests, specifically at a "disney resorts collection" hotel. We're NON resort guests (off property). They also say something about ordering 10 days before your trip. So you have to wait to the last minute? I can hardly find the bands on amazon and the disney site has 1 tinker bell one for $35. Am I missing something? You need a PhD to navigate the mess they've turned this place into.

The worldwide chip shortage has really been giving Disney headaches for a while regarding MagicBands. Normally you'd have 50+ styles to choose from online, and even more in the parks.

Disney Magic Bands | Disney Store

With a MagicBand wristband. you can redeem FastPass selections. enter Theme Parks and more. Get a Disney MagicBand at Disney Store and unlock the magic of Walt Disney World Resort.

www.shopdisney.com

I see what you mean about the selection online. That's the slimmest I've ever seen it.

When we were in the parks in April we only saw at most 10-15 styles and maybe 3 or 4 solid colors that weren't the typical primary colors. The chip shortage isn't Disney's fault, and in the grand scheme of priorities a chip for a rubber band that is optional in a theme park is pretty low compared to other things in the world that need chips.

I'd keep an eye on the store, inventory fluctuates often. Or, just wait until you're there. Stop into the main store of your first park, or World of Disney or the pin store at Disney Springs and grab one then.

-Rob

 

[Pancho]

WDW uses NFC not barcodes. So instead of bringing up the barcode and scanning, you need to bring up the right ticket, tap it, get the next ticket, tap and so on.
Not sure if it takes much longer or not, but it is different.

not to mention the finger print scan needed with each tap at the turnstiles. that also slows things down.