Dean Ayres
New Member
We have a trip in 5 weeks. Tickets purchased and all set to go. My DW just found Magic Bands from a 2017 trip. Will they still work? Interested to know if their life span is over 5 years.
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Life Span of Magic Bands
- Thread starter Dean Ayres
- Start date
FeelsSoGoodToBeBad
Well-Known Member
I tried to find an answer for this a year or so ago; I'll be interested to see the responses.
The general consensus I saw was don't plan on them working longer than 2 years. I think at five years it would be a small miracle if they still functioned entirely properly. For example, they MIGHT still be able to function as a room key, ride tap-in, or payment, where you're physically touching the receiving side of the transaction, but for something like pictures on rides, I don't think they'd work.
ETA: I hope you have a fantastic trip!
The general consensus I saw was don't plan on them working longer than 2 years. I think at five years it would be a small miracle if they still functioned entirely properly. For example, they MIGHT still be able to function as a room key, ride tap-in, or payment, where you're physically touching the receiving side of the transaction, but for something like pictures on rides, I don't think they'd work.
ETA: I hope you have a fantastic trip!
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donsullivan
Premium Member
There are two separate technologies inside a Magic band with different “lifespans’. RFID, which is used for park admission, room charge payment and Lightning Lane redemptions is passive on the band and has no practical expiration. It relies on an active reader and close proximity to operate. The bands also include BluetoothLE which is used for things like on-ride photos, etc that relies on a battery in the band that is estimated (YMMV) to last roughly 2 years. After that battery expires, your band will still work normally for park admission and Lightning Lane redemption but some other functions may be a bit more inconsistent or no longer work at all.
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HRHPrincessAriel
Well-Known Member
My husbands from June 2014 still worked on our Dec trip
My moms from June 2017 worked this past Sept
My moms from June 2017 worked this past Sept
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Thanks for the MB info @donsullivan. Now I think I know why we didn’t receive our photos from the HM and POC when we were there in December. I think we’ll order new MB for our upcoming May trip. Everything else worked perfectly.
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Gillyanne
Well-Known Member
That's why I swap out my puck every couple years with a new one. I also text myself/family the ride and approx time stamp (if not right as I'm getting on/off), and usually just go to the photo pass "missing photo request" form if they didn't show up. Texting helps me keep track of what we did when so I can go back to look at it a week+ later to put in the request.
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