Magic Band life span

[m steve]

Hello!

How long will the features/capabilities of a Magic Band work? When we next visit WDW, our Bands will be two years old and I am not sure if they will be fully functional after that much time. I am not sure if we will need to have new ones.

Thanks for your help!

 

[JaxFLBear]

Most functions will work as long as Disney supports the technology. The functions that should work indefinitely are: Touch to Enter (theme park, hotel room, FP+ return queue), Touch to Pay (room charging), manual photo linking.

Automatic linking of ride photos/videos will stop functioning once the internal (and non-replaceable) battery has died.

 

[m steve]

Most functions will work as long as Disney supports the technology. The functions that should work indefinitely are: Touch to Enter (theme park, hotel room, FP+ return queue), Touch to Pay (room charging), manual photo linking.

Automatic linking of ride photos/videos will stop functioning once the internal (and non-replaceable) battery has died.

Thanks for the response. Any idea how long that battery lasts?

 

[Rob562]

Most functions will work as long as Disney supports the technology. The functions that should work indefinitely are: Touch to Enter (theme park, hotel room, FP+ return queue), Touch to Pay (room charging), manual photo linking.

Automatic linking of ride photos/videos will stop functioning once the internal (and non-replaceable) battery has died.

Certain other "magical" personalized interactions in some rides and queues also will stop working once the internal battery dies, since the Bands need to be read from a distance.

Thanks for the response. Any idea how long that battery lasts?

They say at least two years. Unfortunately there's no real way to know whether the battery is still alive.
I suppose you could ride an attraction with on-ride photo your first day and a few minutes after you get off see if the photo shows up in your account.

-Rob

 

[totaldisneygirl]

I was at the parks Tuesday with my first generation Magic Bands and they worked perfectly (yes, the ones that are straight rectangles, not the ones with the circular piece).

 

[Weather_Lady]

We've used ours as long as 4 years later with no issues.

However, I find that at some point between 3 and 6 years out, the rubber starts to fade and takes on a "dusty" appearance that can't be buffed out, so we've thrown most of the older ones away. I'm not sure why: maybe because ours were exposed to chlorine or something?

 

[pixiemagicwdw]

We've used ours as long as 4 years later with no issues.

However, I find that at some point between 3 and 6 years out, the rubber starts to fade and takes on a "dusty" appearance that can't be buffed out, so we've thrown most of the older ones away. I'm not sure why: maybe because ours were exposed to chlorine or something?

I've had the same thing happen, that "dusty" appearance, but those bands were never exposed to chlorine. I think it's just age.

 

[Ldno]

I've had the same thing happen, that "dusty" appearance, but those bands were never exposed to chlorine. I think it's just age.

There’s people who throw them out? i just wiped them with baby wipes and they Went back to normal again!!!

 

[Buck Wheelie]

There’s people who throw them out? i just wiped them with baby wipes and they Went back to normal again!!!

We've threw ours away after every trip. Since they always sent new ones we didn't feel a need to keep the old. I think a lot of people were like that and probably why Disney has done away with free ones. It cost them a lot to send new bands all the time.

 

[JohnD]

There’s people who throw them out? i just wiped them with baby wipes and they Went back to normal again!!!

Yeah. I've held onto mine. I have free solid-color ones and also some that I bought including Generation 1.0.

 

[MisterPenguin]

You can get overlays for new and old MBs. Even create your own designs. I was rockin' an Iron Man MB in WDW!!

magicyourbands.com

 

[Djsfantasi]

I have a half dozen MBs, from 1 to 3 years old. I’m returning to WDW in April and decided to buy two new, basic MBs. I was afraid of picking the 3 year old ones and they wouldn’t work in all cases. Since I’ve missed a few trips, due to the pandemic, I didn’t want to risk having a problem. I bought one on sale and another at full price ($16). I always bring my old ones in case I lose a MB.

 

[BWW]

Thanks for the response. Any idea how long that battery lasts?

We're still using the ones we bought in 2013.

 

[HM GhostHostess]

Certain other "magical" personalized interactions in some rides and queues also will stop working once the internal battery dies, since the Bands need to be read from a distance.



They say at least two years. Unfortunately there's no real way to know whether the battery is still alive.
I suppose you could ride an attraction with on-ride photo your first day and a few minutes after you get off see if the photo shows up in your account.

-Rob

I wonder if on-ride photos sporadically show up in your account if the battery is low, but not dead. During my most recent trip, my family and I were using magic bands that are about 2.5 years old. Only about half of the on-ride photos showed up in the account.

 

[JaxFLBear]

I wonder if on-ride photos sporadically show up in your account if the battery is low, but not dead. During my most recent trip, my family and I were using magic bands that are about 2.5 years old. Only about half of the on-ride photos showed up in the account.

Even with a brand new MagicBand, linking of ride photos is iffy.

 

[91JLovesDisney]

I don't know about the lifespan, but I do know they're relatively delicate.
Opened one of mine up and moved the entrails into a gutted casio watch. The watch did not work at the parks, and let me tell you, it was rather embarrassing trying to scan a watch repeatedly in front of a cast member with nothing happening LOL.

I didn't damage the electronics at all, except I very-lightly scratched a part of the board, but it wasn't a component that would have made the whole thing stop working.

 

[John park hopper]

I was told by guest services the MB battery last about 3 years. Tried taking one apart to get to the battery to try and change it next to impossible without destroying the MB. BWW poster said they are still using ones from 2013.WOW

 

[ArmoredRodent]

I have a half dozen MBs, from 1 to 3 years old. I’m returning to WDW in April and decided to buy two new, basic MBs. I was afraid of picking the 3 year old ones and they wouldn’t work in all cases. Since I’ve missed a few trips, due to the pandemic, I didn’t want to risk having a problem. I bought one on sale and another at full price ($16). I always bring my old ones in case I lose a MB.

To find out which ones are oldest, you should be able to check your magic bands in your MyDisneyExperience app profile. In the app home page, scroll down to My Profile, click on MagicBands & Cards, then Your MagicBands and Cards. Check the back of each band for the number. They should be in order. To check other people's you have linked, check the "friends" bands option.

And, yes, I found it impossible to change the batteries ... and lost one of those teeny, tiny screws in the process. Not my favorite band, but still.

 

[dreamfinder]

We've used ours as long as 4 years later with no issues.

However, I find that at some point between 3 and 6 years out, the rubber starts to fade and takes on a "dusty" appearance that can't be buffed out, so we've thrown most of the older ones away. I'm not sure why: maybe because ours were exposed to chlorine or something?

I think that's just a quirk of the material used. Kinda of like how some silicone rubbers get tacky when they haven't been used for a while. I think if you constantly use/handle it the natural greases from your body help to keep it in better shape.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I think that's just a quirk of the material used. Kinda of like how some silicone rubbers get tacky when they haven't been used for a while. I think if you constantly use/handle it the natural greases from your body help to keep it in better shape.

Some colors get especially jacked up from sunscreen.