News Disney will be ending complimentary MagicBand distribution to Disney Resort hotel guests and moving to smart devices

[RSoxNo1]

Technically speaking you can dissolve a card in acetone and implant the chip..... there are guides online for it, though none specifically for MagicBands but the process is the same for most of not all RFID tags.

The best approach is to mix turpentine, acetone, and benzine. Also a good way to kill toons.

 

[ChanceH]

I hope they don’t get rid of MB all together. My family and I love them. They are what we get for souvenirs when we go to the parks. We have a Mickey head made out of MB hanging on our wall.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I hope they don’t get rid of MB all together. My family and I love them. They are what we get for souvenirs when we go to the parks. We have a Mickey head made out of MB hanging on our wall.

They won’t get rid of magic bands, they are just getting rid of the FREE Magic bands.

The system cost almost 2 Billion dollars to put in. It’s not going anywhere, and it would be a disaster if they eliminated magic bands and forced you to use your phone at tap point!!! There would be tons of lost/broken phones as a result.

 

[jaklgreen]

This is fine with me. I never understood the big undertaking of the wristband anyway. I assume Disney want to track everyone for movement in park for their data analysis. The card was great and still prefer it today. The wrist band ended up going in my backpack all the time anyway and used my card for the fast pass, park entree, and room. The card is small and can be kept in your pocket, anything on my wrist makes it sweat, its Florida, I rather not have anything on my wrist. I don't always have my phone, especially at the other guys park where they x-ray for anything in your pockets and make you put things in a locker which I don't want to do either. The card has it all.... room key, park ticket, fast pass, charges. You can put it in your swim suit pocket for the pool, etc. Just too dam convenient. Bye bye wrist band, glad to see it go.

How does your back not get all sweaty with a backpack? Personally, I would rather have a loose magic band on then carry a backpack. And alas, if only all woman's swimsuits had pockets. As a woman, I have to take my safety more seriously then men usually do. It always made me uncomfortable to leave my room key on the chair when I went into the water, and as I stated, not too many swimsuits have pockets in them. What I would do occasionally is loop my MB on my belt loop if I did not want it on my wrist for a while. But I also found that if I kept it loose, it did not bother me.

 

[doctornick]

They won’t get rid of magic bands, they are just getting rid of the FREE Magic bands.

Well there is this statement earlier this thread...

If this were only about saving money they would have simply discontinued providing “complimentary” magicbands and would not Be investing in additional infrastructure. This project began long before 2020 and Covid and ultimately will lead to magicbands being a thing of the past someday.

Personally, I have found MB to be one of the best park enhancing things in the past decade or two. An all in one that is wearable and kid friendly was a huge step forward. Especially for the pool and water parks. I’ll be sad if they ever discontinue them entirely unless they replace them with another alternative with the same functionality

 

[Rumrunner]

I am one of those from the stone age that does not own a smart phone. Oh well will just have to purchase a Magic Band- it is just another added cost to go to Disney. I will put in in the category of the ridiculous resort parking fee.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I am one of those from the stone age that does not own a smart phone. Oh well will just have to purchase a Magic Band- it is just another added cost to go to Disney. I will put in in the category of the ridiculous resort parking fee.

You will be able to use the key to the world card for free. The magic band charge will be completely your choice.

My mom doesn’t have a smart phone either. I make reservations for her and she uses her AP card to scan in to attractions.

 

[Rumrunner]

You will be able to use the key to the world card for free. The magic band charge will be completely your choice.

My mom doesn’t have a smart phone either. I make reservations for her and she uses her AP card to scan in to attractions.

Appreciate the info but to be honest I don't know what a world card is and assume AP is annual pass. Neither situations will help me. Thanks for info anyway.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Appreciate the info but to be honest I don't know what a world card is and assume AP is annual pass. Neither situations will help me. Thanks for info anyway.

Do you stay on property or off?

If on property- a key to the world card is a hotel key card but like your magic band can be set up for charging privledges, tickets, etc.

If off property than you can just use your ticket that you purchase at the ticket booth which is the exact same thing as an annual pass (an ap is just a 365 day ticket, it’s not a special card other than the fact it says annual pass on it).

 

[Rumrunner]

Do you stay on property or off?

We stay on property

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

We stay on property

Perfect. So if you don’t want to pay for a magic band you just ask for a key to the world card. It’s a hotel key card that will do everything your magic band does.

The key to the world card pre-dates the magic bands and has always been available if you don’t want a magic band for whatever reason.

 

[21stamps]

Each person is still supposed to click themselves through, regardless of media.

Really? That sounds backwards.

 

[21stamps]

So your saying this is primarily a money grab with a side dish of environmentalism thrown in?

I think it’s following consumer trends at this point. A lot of people are always with either their mobile phone or smart watch, why not save money, the environment, and make things more convenient for a large portion of your customer base?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I think it’s following consumer trends at this point. A lot of people are always with either their mobile phone or smart watch, why not save money, the environment, and make things more convenient for a large portion of your customer base?

I always felt like it was similar to the office where Ryan made everyone use his “infinity” system to justify the high cost of his system to corporate. I can see it now-

Ryan - “look - 98% of on property guests are using magic bands. Huge success”
Stanley - “but 98% of on property guests don’t know they have a choice”
Ryan - “exactly! I love your enthusiasm. Keep up the good work.”

 

[doctornick]

Perfect. So if you don’t want to pay for a magic band you just ask for a key to the world card. It’s a hotel key card that will do everything your magic band does.

True, though it is certainly less convenient than having something wearable. Not only is there the extra step of having to take out such a card from whatever holder but also with going to the pool/waterpark (especially for women who don't generally have pockets in a bathing suit). It's also less ideal for children to be able to carry their own. The card also doesn't allow for the distance function to automatically work with ride photos, etc.

I'm curious as to what the price will be for the MBs staying at a resort. If it's cheap enough, I suspect my family will just bite the bullet any buy them because they are so convenient. Or maybe we'll go with the KTTW cards and wear lanyards like we do at Uni.

 

[doctornick]

I think it’s following consumer trends at this point. A lot of people are always with either their mobile phone or smart watch, why not save money, the environment, and make things more convenient for a large portion of your customer base?

I don't see how it makes it "more convenient" though for most people. Maybe equally as convenient for many but outside of those who just don't like wearing the band, this wouldn't be much better just different.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

True, though it is certainly less convenient than having something wearable. Not only is there the extra step of having to take out such a card from whatever holder but also with going to the pool/waterpark (especially for women who don't generally have pockets in a bathing suit). It's also less ideal for children to be able to carry their own. The card also doesn't allow for the distance function to automatically work with ride photos, etc.

I’m one of the few who prefers the card but I can see why some would prefer the magic band. Which is why it’s great that it’s still an option! Or if you already have an Apple Watch... there’s another option.

MB’s currently start at $14.99

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'm curious as to what the price will be for the MBs staying at a resort. If it's cheap enough, I suspect my family will just bite the bullet any buy them because they are so convenient.

Why not just use ones from previous trips? The only way people know they prefer a MagicBand is because they have one.

 

[doctornick]

Why not just use ones from previous trips? The only way people know they prefer a MagicBand is because they have one.

We don't go that often so my concern is that our old bands will no longer work for the distance functions. So we'll have to take the extra step to find out whether that works once we get there. Also, for my kids' bands, they are starting to get bigger and we had removed the extra length for them to wear, so they may no longer fit.

That said, we surely will bring old bands with us to try to use.

 

[disneygeek90]

We don't go that often so my concern is that our old bands will no longer work for the distance functions. So we'll have to take the extra step to find out whether that works once we get there. Also, for my kids' bands, they are starting to get bigger and we had removed the extra length for them to wear, so they may no longer fit.

That said, we surely will bring old bands with us to try to use.

They typically range from $15-35. Lower end being the basic solid colors and higher end being special editions. Character based open releases being somewhere in the middle.