AP with magic bands while offsite

[CaryHaven]

It's been a while since we've been back to DW. And although we have had annual passes in the past, we used to stay on site. I really have no desire to stay on site anymore, especially with the parking fees. From what I understand on the magic band post, you can still get your free magic band as an annual pass holder but must wait till you arrive to activate it. Can we not activate our passes, go to customer service or a store or wherever and pick colors and Link an MB then? I'm sure my daughters won't want gray ones. LOL Not sure how it actually works. Thank you!

 

[Robo]

It's been a while since we've been back to DW. And although we have had annual passes in the past, we used to stay on site. I really have no desire to stay on site anymore, especially with the parking fees. From what I understand on the magic band post,

1. you can still get your free magic band as an annual pass holder but must wait till you arrive to activate it.
2. Can we not activate our passes, go to customer service or a store or wherever and pick colors and activate it then?
3. I'm sure my daughters won't want gray ones. LOL Not sure how it actually works. Thank you!

1. Do you mean "activate the AP," or "activate the MagicBand?"
2. That's not quite how it works for APs and MBs.
(Ans must be "activated," (in person, and with a legal photo ID) with a trip to any ticket booth or Guest Relations.
3. They don't automatically assign gray MBs.
But, in general, you will not receive an AP MB on the trip on which you first activate a new AP.
You will go home from that first trip and THEN, in your MDX account, you can "customize" (choose a color and add a name to) a new AP MB that will be then mailed to your home. (Yes, that means that you can't use that MB on the first trip in which you activate a new AP.

HOWEVER- It has been said (but not affirmed by many actual reports) that a guest with a newly-activated AP can go to the Liberty Square Ticket Office in MK and there instantly choose a new MB to go with the new AP.

 

[Tomh]

I meant to try the Liberty Square ticket office, but alas, never thought of it while I was there. OP, you could purchase Magic Bands for your daughters ahead of time, and link them in MDE, and they will be ready for your trip.

However, if you don't want to pay for them, the only way I know that you can get them is to order them through MDE after your trip. You could, of course, attempt to get them at Liberty Square. As Robo said, there have been a spattering of reports that this can be done, but not enough for us to really be certain that it will work.

 

[MinnieMSue]

This past summer we went to liberty square to check on this. We couldn’t get magic bands for our AP but they did look for sliders for them. They were out but called the main Guest Relations on Main St and they had some sliders where we went and got them. We already had magic bands for our hotel so we didn’t really care about getting our AP ones at the time. We didn’t ask at the main guest relations office about getting them.

 

[georgina]

Slightly off-topic, my AP expired in August. I had never gotten the magic band that comes with an AP but noticed last week it was still listed on MDE. so I picked a color and they shipped it right away, including the slider! Now I have a new purple one to replace my old style purple band.

 

[vinotinto]

If you stayed onsite before, you can just reuse those magic bands (how long ago was your stay? Did you have MBs that trip? The've been around since 2013). They will access the AP from MDE without any issues. Only issue is that if they are older MBs (3-4 years), they may not pick up the long-range frequency for photopass and you may have to tap to add the pictures.

 

[tjmw2727]

It's been a while since we've been back to DW. And although we have had annual passes in the past, we used to stay on site. I really have no desire to stay on site anymore, especially with the parking fees. From what I understand on the magic band post, you can still get your free magic band as an annual pass holder but must wait till you arrive to activate it. Can we not activate our passes, go to customer service or a store or wherever and pick colors and activate it then? I'm sure my daughters won't want gray ones. LOL Not sure how it actually works. Thank you!

You don't really "activate" magic bands, they are all active you just have to link them to your MDE, think of them as a key.

You do need to activate your Annual Pass prior to entry, at that point they will give you your annual pass card, this can be used to enter the park and access FP+ just like a MB.

So - if you have old magic bands you can use them in addition to/instead of the AP card. If you want to purchase magic bands you can do this prior to arriving at the parks or in the parks and then link them to the appropriate profiles in MDE. There is a number inside the band and this is fairly easy to do. As long as one person in the party with an AP has a MB you will get all the memory maker pictures and videos.

As far as the magic band for AP holders, generally the option to customize and ship home shows up on your MDE a few days after you activate your AP but some have reported the option to pick this up at MK.

 

[CaryHaven]

Thank you! yes I misspoke I meant activating the AP. And I have thought about using our old bands but my concern was about the battery life. Our most recent ones wIll be over two years old during our next visit, and it is pretty important to me that I get our photo pass ride pictures. I will definitely try the Liberty Square idea though. Seems like it should be an obvious thing that AP holders would like to use them on the first trip without buying extra. We probably have 50 at home already and I'm really not trying to get any extra!

 

[wgeo]

FWIW we used our old magic bands on our first trip using our APs and depending on which color my daughter wants to wear she changes around between her old ones (which are the older style) and the new ones and she's never had any problems. She does tend to go up to a ride picture and tap it with her band after just to make sure she gets it - but I imagine you'll be just fine using your old ones for awhile.

 

[Robo]

FWIW we used our old magic bands on our first trip using our APs and depending on which color my daughter wants to wear she changes around between her old ones (which are the older style) and the new ones and she's never had any problems. She does tend to go up to a ride picture and tap it with her band after just to make sure she gets it - but I imagine you'll be just fine using your old ones for awhile.

There are some ride photos and/or videos that don't "activate" without the long-range RF function of a MagicBand.

 

[CarrieR]

If Liberty Square isn’t able to help you, you might consider using your old MB for most of your party, but purchasing just one new MB for the long-range for ride photos. Tapping old MB is well and good, but there are several rides which don’t have tap-spots and are long range only (SDMT, Frozen, Pirates - off the top of my head).

 

[bumbershoot]

Our most recent ones wIll be over two years old during our next visit, and it is pretty important to me that I get our photo pass ride pictures.

Have everyone bring an old band and plan to buy one for the automatic photo linking. Stop at Liberty first to see if you get a cm who will let you get the AP-included band but if not just buy one. That way you’re not spending a ton on bands for everyone, but will get the pictures you want.

 

[browning02]

On August 18 I upgraded to an AP at MK will call, then walked to Liberty Square to inquire about getting the MB and slider. They had a selection of colors. I picked purple and also got my slider there. Hope this is helpful.

 

[CaryHaven]

On August 18 I upgraded to an AP at MK will call, then walked to Liberty Square to inquire about getting the MB and slider. They had a selection of colors. I picked purple and also got my slider there. Hope this is helpful.

Yes very helpful! Thank you

 

[Mckymousefn]

Where in Liberty Square?? I will be activating my AP in Feb and would like to know.

 

[Robo]

Where in Liberty Square?? I will be activating my AP in Feb and would like to know.

Liberty Square Ticket Office.

 

[karrit2000]

On August 18 I upgraded to an AP at MK will call, then walked to Liberty Square to inquire about getting the MB and slider. They had a selection of colors. I picked purple and also got my slider there. Hope this is helpful.

What color is the slider they gave you?

 

[chicagoshannon]

If your old magic bands are the new style they will still work with the photos.

 

[Robo]

If your old magic bands are the new style they will still work with the photos.

Possibly true.
It depends on if your particular MBs' batteries are still strong enough.

 

[browning02]

What color is the slider they gave you?

It’s an orange slider.