Recap of some frequent questions....
1. MagicBand, MagicBand 2.0, or MagicBand+? Technically there are three "generations".
- The initially released MagicBands (aka Gen 1) were initially released in 2013 or 2014. There was a "darker gray part" of every band that could be removed to resize the band, the band was otherwise one piece. The bands are water proof, and allow for Short Range or Tapping (open your room door, charge items to the room, enter the parks, enter fastpass queues, claim Photopass photos, etc.), as well as Long Range (used to auto-link ride photos and videos to your My Disney Account, show your name at the exit of It's A Small World, etc., and pre-covid to locate you with food at Be Our Guest lunch). An internal battery with a finite life span is used to power the long range features. When the battery is dead, the long range features stop working. The short range features do not require a battery and will keep working.
- The MagicBand 2.0 bands (aka Gen 2) came out in late 2016. The MB2.0 bands have the same features and functions as the Gen1 bands (both short and long range). The MB2.0 bands are slightly larger, and the ICON (or puck) part with the Mickey Head was removable. The internal battery still has a finite life.
- MagicBand+ (or Gen 3) came out in Mid-2022. In addition to the features and functions of the Gen 1 and Gen 2 bands, The MB+ bands also offer an LED that provides "Glow with the show" type functions as well as haptic (vibrating) feedback. These bands also allow for some interactivity with in park experiences like Fab50 Statue Quest in the four theme parks and Batuu Bounty Hunter in Galaxy's Edge in Hollywood Studios. The battery is now rechargeable. A charging cable is included. NOTE: Disney Band+ from Disney Cruise Line is exactly the same device as MagicBand+, See the last entry in this post about interchangeability.
2. I see mention of Short range vs Long range, what is that about?? There are two ways your MagicBand works. Short Range (where you tap, like park entry, entry into Lightning Lanes, opening your Disney room door, etc. ) and Long Range (where you don't tap, like getting your ride photo/video on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, or Tron, or Frozen,etc.) Long range requires a battery. For more details about this see please See
Post 341
3. I don't want to buy a new MagicBand, what are my Options? Rather than retyping or copying, please See
Post 341 for your options, and how they work.
4. Will my old MagicBand (gen 2.0 or 1.0) bands still work? The short answer is, for Tapping yes. For auto-linking ride photos/videos and other long range features, it depends on the band's age or more importantly if its internal battery still has power. So if your band is about 2 years old or older, consider a new band. For more details see the next question and ->
Post 341
5. My band is a MagicBand 2.0 or 1.0 and is more than 2 years old. I still want to use it. Is that ok? For tapping features yes! Its the long range functions that rely on a battery. On the 1.0 and 2.0 Bands (bands that have no lights or haptic feedback), the battery is built in, has a finite life, is not replaceable, not rechargeable, and the only way to "test it" is to use it, make note of the time you exit the ride just in case, and see if your on-ride photos for rides like Tron, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Pirates of the Caribbean, or the like, show under My Photos in your My Disney Experience account, or the Disney World mobile app. If your ride photos/videos show in your MDE account, the battery is good so keep using it (again keep track of ride times just in case). If you don't get your photos/videos, the band's battery is dead and can only be used to TAP. For more see ->
Post 341
6. I have a less than 2 year old Magic Band 2.0 style band, do I need a MagicBand+ band? If your MagicBand 2.0 band is less than 2 years old, its battery should still be good, so then you only need a MagicBand+ if you want lights, haptic feedback, and to play the FAB50 Quest or Batuu Bounty Hunters games in the parks. Otherwise you can stick with your current band. For more details see ->
Post 341
7. I read that I can use my phone for long range photo linking if I'm using an older MagicBand, is that true? Yes, but... The Disney World (aka My Disney Experience) phone app includes a new Magic Mobile feature. (In the app, use the 3 bar menu in the lower right, find the Disney MagicMobile tile, select it and follow the instructions to set it up. Leave your phone's bluetooth on). Once Magic Mobile is setup on your phone, you can try it. Unfortunately, its not completely reliable. Others have also posted similar in this thread. So if you want to use it, make note of the time you exit the ride just in case your photos didn't auto-link and you need to work with Guest Services later to find your photos. When I've tried it, its hit or miss as to my ride photos auto linking. My friend had the same experience. Others have posted in this thread of the same. For more, see
Post 594
8. Do I still get a MagicBand free with my resort stay, annual pass or DVC? Unfortuatnely Disney discontinued that. Now Disney Resort Guests and New/Renewing Annual Passholders are eligible for a pre-arrival discount for MagicBands orded via the MagicBands and Cards section in My Disney Experience,
after you have linked your Resort reservation (or Annual pass). For MB+ bands its currently a $10 discount. For MB2.0 its $10-15 depending on the band (as of when I type this, there are 55 MB+ bands and 13 MB2.0 bands to select from)
9. I don't live in the USA, do I still get a discounted MagicBand? I can't answer that as I am based in the USA, and Disney's FAQ isn't clear. I know Disney does not ship MagicBands internationally. In the past, they used to deliver to the resort front desk for international guests, but I do not know if that is still an option.
10. I'm staying off site, can I buy and use a MagicBand? Yes. You can purchase a band from
ShopDisney dot com, or one of the many shops on Disney property. You will have link and assign the band in My Disney Experience before you can use it. Also If you have an older band still linked and assigned to you in My Disney Experience, you can use that band (be sure to read some of the questions above re: long range features) for park entry, Lightning Lane entry and PhotoPass. For "Pay With MagicBand" no, see the next question.
11. Can I give my band to someone else? No. Once linked and assigned to a person in My Disney Experience, the bands are not transferrable. On MB2.0 and MB+ bands the ICON (aka the Puck) is removable. That is the part that is linked to the person. So you could swap "straps" but you have to keep the ICON.
12. Can I link a credit card to my MagicBand and charge purchases to it, even if I'm staying off site? Not exactly. Every generation MagicBand so far supports the "pay with MagicBand" feature. And yes you link your MagicBand to your My Disney Experience account, and you can enter a credit card in your MDE profile, so it would be great if you can "pay with MagicBand" no matter where you stay. Unfortunately, Disney's system is not setup to use your MagicBand as a direct credit card replacement at this time. Instead, it is setup such that when using a MagicBand to "pay" you are really just using the MagicBand as a fancy way of saying "charge it to my room". The purchase is added to your Disney Resort Hotel's room charges. Disney then bills any remaining room charges to your credit card on file before you check out. Therefore only Disney Resort Guests can use the MagicBand to "pay" for purchases, off-site guests can not. For now, off-site guests will have to use other "tap to pay" methods.
13. Do I need to Bluetooth Pair and connect my MagicBand+ band to phone phone? Yes, at least for initial setup, so the band can download and install any software updates. After that, it only needs to be paired/connected if you want to check the band's battery level, change settings such as the Band's LED Color Scheme, Brightness, or vibration intensity, OR you want to play Fab50 or Batuu Bounty Hunter.
14. What do I need to know about playing Fab 50 or Batuu Bounty Hunter? How do I play with multiple people and only 1 phone? Ideally each person should have their own phone with internet, own Play Disney account (any one can have one), and My Disney account (must be 13 and up), and have the MB+ band paired and connected to the phone, with each of those apps installed and signed in. For more details see ->
Post 179 and additional info in
Post 242
15. What do I need to know about charging my MagicBand+ bands? A few things. Plan on charging them over night just to be sure they are "full" when you start your day. Expect Batuu Bounty Hunters to drain the MB+ battery FAST!! The band's batery likely wont make it through the day playing Batuu Bounty Hunters. IF you have a Power Bank with USB-A port on it, you most likely can use it to charge the band (if you bring the cable with you). If the charging cable/clip doesn't snap onto your band, it wont charge correctly. Some generic or "less known brand" chargers might not charge your band properly. If your band is completely dead, it may not immediately light up and charge when plugged in, try waiting about 10 minutes or so before you try another charger. For more details, see ->
Post 432
16. Are there any known issues with MagicBand+ bands? The bands might have only a minimal charge when you take them out of the box. When you first connect the band, they will update their software, BUT the band needs to be near fully charged for the update to start. (so fully charge the band prior to attempting initial setup) The bands can sometimes give troubles with the initial bluetooth pairing and connecting process, they might require multiple attempts. Sometimes the band will drop bluetooth connection to the phone (my friend experienced this with his iPhone, I didn't see it with my Android). As mentioned above, sometimes the band doesn't completely click into the charging cable/clip, and some wall chargers might not work. For more details, see ->
Post 432
17. Are MagicBand+ bands still water proof? Can I swim with them? Yes. Just like older bands, you can wear them to swim, in the rain, etc.
18. Are MagicBand+ bands still able to be made smaller for "kids" or people with smaller wrists? Yes, just like older bands, there is that removable part of the strap to make the band smaller. Just like the older bands, once you remove it, you can't put it back on to make the band bigger again.
19. Can I have more than one MagicBand+? OH YEAH! Including the bands for our upcoming cruise and resorts stays, I have 8 MagicBand+ bands now, and 56 MB2.0/MB1.0 bands
Most of them are linked to my account and assigned to me. Yes, I have an addiction!
That being said, there might be a limit of how many can be marked "active" in your account before problems could arise. For more details see the LAST PARAGRAPH of
Post 432
20. Troubleshooting steps:
- How do I power the MagicBand+ band Off? When the band is on (tab the button on the back and it should light/vibrate), To power off, press and hold the button on the back of the band for about 6 seconds, until it buzzes twice. The LED light will turn red and rotate once in reverse.
- How do I power the MagicBand+ band on? Press and hold the button for one second to power it back on. If successful, you will see a solid green light.
- I tried everything else, how do I factory reset the band? A single press of the button, quickly followed by a second press that you hold for 15 seconds. After 3 haptic buzzes, your MagicBand+ will glow with rainbow colors. This indicates that your band is restarting. The lights will turn off and then flash green once the factory reset is complete. You will need to reconnect the band to your phone, but it will still be linked and assigned to you so you can skip that part.
21. Does Disney have any information about MagicBand+ available? Yes see ->
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/magicband-plus/
22. I'm going on a Disney Cruise, can I use my MagicBand+ on the cruise, or must I buy a DisneyBand+ for the cruise? Can I use my DisneyBand+ from the Cruise in the parks? Currently DisneyBand+ is available on select sailings of the Wish, Fantasy and Magic, and soon the Dream. If your Disney Cruise Line account and My Disney Experience accounts are linked, you can use your MB+ or Disney Band+ interchangeably on the Cruise and in the parks!
How do I link those accounts? In your browser visit ->
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/my-disney-cruise/my-reservations/ scroll down. If it says "Guests connected!" then you are linked. If not, there will be a button to connect/link accounts. Once your accounts are connected, you'll see all your MB+ and Band+ bands under
(Cruiseline web) Already Booked -> DisneyBand+ and More as well as under
(Disney World web) My Disney Experience -> MagicBands and Cards For more on DisneyBand+ see ->
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/why-cruise-disney/disney-band-plus/
23. I used an old band, or Magic Mobile in the app, and didn't get my ride photos/videos from Seven Dwarfs, Tron, Guardians, etc. Now what? If you know your approximate ride time, you can visit the "Memory Maker Sales Center" in the parks (Town Square Theater in MK, Pin Traders/Camera Center in EP, Sid Cahuenga's One-of-a-Kind in DHS, Garden Gate Gifts in AK) and ask them to search for and link your photos. Of course this means potentially waiting in line, and the time to search through the pictures. They can also give you a number to call, you can describe what you look like, what you were wearing and the approximate ride time, they can search and if they find it, they will link them.
