Disney sent me a second set of magic bands

[shipley731]

My husband & I went to WDW last month & were part of the magic band test at AKL. We have an upcoming stay for next week Oct. 24-27 & are staying at POFQ - also now in magic band testing. I got the same e-mails about signing up for magic bands & being part of the test at POFQ. I didn't go in & re-register as husband & I already have bands. I know they still work as we went to AK two Saturdays ago & was able to make some FP+ reservations & they worked to get in the park. I got an e-mail this morning saying my new bands had shipped. Didn't ask for them & as I didn't go in to personalize them, they are both gray. My question is, will the original bands that I got last month still work when we go down next week or am I stuck with the crappy gray ones now?

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

My husband & I went to WDW last month & were part of the magic band test at AKL. We have an upcoming stay for next week Oct. 24-27 & are staying at POFQ - also now in magic band testing. I got the same e-mails about signing up for magic bands & being part of the test at POFQ. I didn't go in & re-register as husband & I already have bands. I know they still work as we went to AK two Saturdays ago & was able to make some FP+ reservations & they worked to get in the park. I got an e-mail this morning saying my new bands had shipped. Didn't ask for them & as I didn't go in to personalize them, they are both gray. My question is, will the original bands that I got last month still work when we go down next week or am I stuck with the crappy gray ones now?

We got bands last month as well and were chosen to customize and test magic bands again next month. So we also have 2 sets of magic bands. I belive for every trip, you get a new band. At least, that's what I am hearing. I wish you had the option to order certain bands for people in your party if others already have them. Seems like a huge waste of money to me to keep sending people bands. We have another trip in February so that means after that trip we will have 3 sets of bands each.

I think you can keep your old band active in your MDE and use that one. You might want to try it out and see though as I have not actually tried it but rather just heard that info on the rumor mill.

 

[TheMouseFan]

My husband & I went to WDW last month & were part of the magic band test at AKL. We have an upcoming stay for next week Oct. 24-27 & are staying at POFQ - also now in magic band testing. I got the same e-mails about signing up for magic bands & being part of the test at POFQ. I didn't go in & re-register as husband & I already have bands. I know they still work as we went to AK two Saturdays ago & was able to make some FP+ reservations & they worked to get in the park. I got an e-mail this morning saying my new bands had shipped. Didn't ask for them & as I didn't go in to personalize them, they are both gray. My question is, will the original bands that I got last month still work when we go down next week or am I stuck with the crappy gray ones now?

I was just reading a blog post on Touring Plans that said she was able to use her two bands interchangeably for her entire trip. They worked for the room, charging, and FP+ the entire trip. Not sure if that will be the case for you, but it sounds like it should. Have a great trip and let us know how it works out!

 

[dreamfinder]

If you look at your MDE account, you should be able to see the media that is tied to your account. You can activate/deactivate the bands at will, but as long as they all point back to the same account (which is you) any of them should work.

 

[shipley731]

I did go in & check my MDE account & it does show that both sets of bands were active. I figured I would just take both sets of bands with me when we go next week & see what happens. Hopefully one of the MDE folks will be in the check in area and if there's a problem, it gets straightened out.

I like my green band, but won't be devastated if I have to use the gray one next week.

 

[wdwmagic]

You can assign multiple media (bands, cards) to an account, so having multiples wont be a problem.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

I heard somewhere on these forums in the myriad of posts on MM+ that you can't reuse magic bands on multiple trips. Did that change? If so, that's great to hear as I thought new bands for folks each trip was sort of a waste of resources. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the above but it sounds like folks are saying it should allow it!

 

[Rob562]

I heard somewhere on these forums in the myriad of posts on MM+ that you can't reuse magic bands on multiple trips. Did that change? If so, that's great to hear as I thought new bands for folks each trip was sort of a waste of resources. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the above but it sounds like folks are saying it should allow it!

If anyone hasn't been able to re-use Bands on subsequent trips it's most likely been because of system glitches rather than not being allowed.

As for the "waste" of money, I'm sure the bookkeepers have already crunched the numbers and found that the extra cost of sending new Bands with each reservation automatically is significantly cheaper than having to pay CMs to manage the inevitable complications of "Well I have my Band from before, but my husband wasn't on that trip so he needs one, oh and little Jimmy lost his so he'll need a new one, and Aunt Betty *thinks* she has hers but she's not sure so can I get back to you on that one?"...

-Rob

 

[ExtinctJenn]

If anyone hasn't been able to re-use Bands on subsequent trips it's most likely been because of system glitches rather than not being allowed.

As for the "waste" of money, I'm sure the bookkeepers have already crunched the numbers and found that the extra cost of sending new Bands with each reservation automatically is significantly cheaper than having to pay CMs to manage the inevitable complications of "Well I have my Band from before, but my husband wasn't on that trip so he needs one, oh and little Jimmy lost his so he'll need a new one, and Aunt Betty *thinks* she has hers but she's not sure so can I get back to you on that one?"...

-Rob

All excellent points for sure. Plus aren't there are batteries in them that I assume someday would die and CMs would have to be dealing with that. Still it sounds like if you DO have them already you can just link them to reuse them and the battery issue could be an issue anyway. LOL

 

[Tuvalu]

I have two sets of MagicBands (one from August and one from October) and was able to use both interchangeably.

 

[Rob562]

All excellent points for sure. Plus aren't there are batteries in them that I assume someday would die and CMs would have to be dealing with that. Still it sounds like if you DO have them already you can just link them to reuse them and the battery issue could be an issue anyway. LOL

The battery in the Bands is only for the broadcast RFID portion (where they'd want to read the Band from 10-20' away) which is really only a minor portion of the Bands. (It's said the battery will last at least 3 years)

The main parts (room key, charging, park tickets, FP+, etc) are un-powered (which is why you have to touch them to the readers) and theoretically will work indefinitely, even after the battery has died.

-Rob

 

[ExtinctJenn]

The battery in the Bands is only for the broadcast RFID portion (where they'd want to read the Band from 10-20' away) which is really only a minor portion of the Bands. (It's said the battery will last at least 3 years)

The main parts (room key, charging, park tickets, FP+, etc) are un-powered (which is why you have to touch them to the readers) and theoretically will work indefinitely, even after the battery has died.

-Rob

Ah excellent to know and that clears up my earlier confusion as to how the KTTW cards work when they obviously don't have a battery. Thanks Rob!

 

[dreamfinder]

Ah excellent to know and that clears up my earlier confusion as to how the KTTW cards work when they obviously don't have a battery. Thanks Rob!

The difference between KTTW & MagicBand is kinda like the difference between the badges lots of people need to get into their office buildings, and the EZPass/SunPass/whateverPass transmitters. Working on the short range vs long range.

 

[lostpro9het]

I heard somewhere on these forums in the myriad of posts on MM+ that you can't reuse magic bands on multiple trips. Did that change? If so, that's great to hear as I thought new bands for folks each trip was sort of a waste of resources. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the above but it sounds like folks are saying it should allow it!

We were told this when we visited a few weeks ago, my story is here:[ http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/mymagic-fp-convert.874958/ ]
Snippet:

.....
Checking in: what should have been a quick process drug on for over 20 minutes. We were told our bands had been deactivated, the bands we have had for only a week and never used had been deactivated. We were told there was no way or reactivate them so they went to the back and got new bands. Ok, so this was really annoying and frustrating but I would expect this type of issue to be resolved by full roll out.....

 

[ExtinctJenn]

We were told this when we visited a few weeks ago, my story is here:[ http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/mymagic-fp-convert.874958/ ]
Snippet:

Yep I remember reading that... in fact yours was one of the threads I was referencing when I said that.

 

[docdebbi]

I HAVE 30 MAGIC BANDS!!!!!!
I DON'T WANT 30 MAGIC BANDS!!!!
I have been dealing with IT for weeks trying to straighten this out, apparently the computer doesn't like the way the reservation was made, so it keep kicking it out and changing the names on it, and everytime it does, we get new magic bands. there are only 7 of us going, some of us have 6 bands, some only one.
after pulling my hair out for weeks, i finally realized that there is a link under "magic bands and tickets" where you can deactivate those that you don't want to use. i only want one per person or it is too confusing. i deactivated all but one per, guess what............today they gave me more magic bands, but said i have to pick them up at check in because it is so soon. so now, i have to pick them up and have them deactivated at the same time
this all got better after my daughter bought me a voo doo doll- somebody down there has a very bad back right now.....and a couple have bad knees....and maybe a headache or two. But I feel better- sorry CMs !

 

[ExtinctJenn]

I HAVE 30 MAGIC BANDS!!!!!!
I DON'T WANT 30 MAGIC BANDS!!!!
I have been dealing with IT for weeks trying to straighten this out, apparently the computer doesn't like the way the reservation was made, so it keep kicking it out and changing the names on it, and everytime it does, we get new magic bands. there are only 7 of us going, some of us have 6 bands, some only one.
after pulling my hair out for weeks, i finally realized that there is a link under "magic bands and tickets" where you can deactivate those that you don't want to use. i only want one per person or it is too confusing. i deactivated all but one per, guess what............today they gave me more magic bands, but said i have to pick them up at check in because it is so soon. so now, i have to pick them up and have them deactivated at the same time
this all got better after my daughter bought me a voo doo doll- somebody down there has a very bad back right now.....and a couple have bad knees....and maybe a headache or two. But I feel better- sorry CMs !

Please tell me the 30 is an exaggeration? LOL! I'll take 'em! HAHAHA!

 

[docdebbi]

Please tell me the 30 is an exaggeration? LOL! I'll take 'em! HAHAHA!

no it is NOT an exaggeration, although it does include the three i have to pick up at the front desk at check-in! I WISH I was exaggerating.