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Old Magic Bands
- Thread starter xpanmanx
- Start date
nickys
Premium Member
They will work for everything except the on-ride photos.
You can check in MDE that they still show as Active, and you can reactivate them if necessary.
Yellow Shoes
Well-Known Member
My understanding of the "active" label in MDE is that the bands are still linked to your name, account, and reservation. The app would have no way of gauging battery strength.
That said, you're probably OK with the old bands. I'm headed out next month with bands from 2019. We're over needing ride photos, so all I'm after is getting into the parks and my room.
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
The only problem is the battery in the Magic bands may be weak or dead I know they are good for 2-3 years --7 years maybe pushing it. Forget trying to change the battery, I tried it and you have to destroy the magic band to get to it.
nickys
Premium Member
The battery is only needed for ride photos. Tapping into a park, opening your resort room door c will still work just fine. The RFID operations don’t need a battery.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
I wonder how many people think there's a tiny little battery hidden inside an RFID keycard somewhere.
Yellow Shoes
Well-Known Member
Lots of them. A brief, non-technical explanation would be helpful.
Let me try, and please correct me.
Your Magic Band is like the chip on your credit card. You hold it near a reader and the information is read by the hotel door panel, admission kiosk, or card reader at point of sale.
The reader needs a power source; your band (containing the chip) does not. Therefore, your old bands can work ?how long? In perpetuity, or until the tech changes.
Photo Pass is a different tech and does require a power source.
All I want is to get into the parks and into my hotel room. And I'm not keen on a $35 band every time I go.
Is my understanding correct?
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Yep, pretty much. PhotoPass linking actually runs on multiple technologies. Long-range RFID requires a live-battery MagicBand, but there's also Bluetooth low energy which enables photo linking using your phone.
A Key to the World card, a permanently dead MagicBand, and a temporarily dead MagicBand+ all essentially work the same way. They can tap the touch points but can't be read from a distance.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
It is my understanding that - when using an old band- you can still obtain most of the ride photos if you so desire by tapping the band to the station at the end of the ride. Another option is to link your phone via Magic Mobile. (plus still use the old band). In some cases it is also an option to stop by the end-of-ride photo counter and CM's can manually find your ride photo, but that takes time.
A few ride photos do not have a station at the end of the ride. The Mine Train, for example.
A few ride photos do not have a station at the end of the ride. The Mine Train, for example.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Slinky, Mine Train, Frozen, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Guardians.
Rodj
Well-Known Member
One time after getting off Tower of Terror, I saw that the other side had an empty cab. Out of curiosity, I went to tap my MB2 on that side to try to get the Memory Maker video to show up on the app later to see if the work lights were on. Not only did I not get the photo or video of that side, but it gave me the photo/video of the one I actually went on even though I didn’t tap on that side.
TheGuyThatMakesSwords
Well-Known Member
We've inactivated all of ours - and will be shredding them this week. DVC sold or given away to our children (I still don't know why they wanted that junk).... Done with WDD (Walt Disney Dump). Their behavior has, in just our case, resulted in about a $12,000 reduction in yearly income. I doubt that we are the only ones...