MagicBands at Walt Disney World
What they do, how they work and if they’re worth adding to your Disney day
Although a little clunky, sometimes sweaty and always leaving super sexy tan lines, MagicBands prove to be a quick and convenient addition to your Walt Disney World experience.
What Is a MagicBand?
A MagicBand is a waterproof wearable that connects to your My Disney Experience account. It can hold your park tickets, Disney Resort hotel room key, Lightning Lane selections and more, all in one place.
The newest version, MagicBand+, adds interactive features throughout Walt Disney World, but even the original MagicBands are still perfectly usable for many vacation essentials.
And yes…they can still leave some pretty impressive Disney tan lines.
If you’re not into wearing one on your wrist, plenty of guests clip them to a backpack, belt loop or stroller using accessories designed to hold the removable center puck.
How Do I Get One?
Disney no longer includes complimentary MagicBands with Disney Resort hotel stays. If you’d like one, you can purchase a MagicBand+ before your trip via My Disney Experience or once you arrive at Walt Disney World. Additionally, we’ve run across them at the outlets.
Ok, so what do they do?
One little band can handle a surprising number of vacation tasks.
With a linked MagicBand, you can:
- Enter the Walt Disney World theme parks
- Unlock your Disney Resort hotel room
- Tap into Lightning Lane entrances
- Link Disney PhotoPass attraction photos and photographer photos
- Charge food and merchandise purchases to your Disney Resort room account
- Check in for Virtual Queue or other eligible experiences as available
- Interact with select experiences throughout the parks using MagicBand+
Is MagicBand+ Worth It?
MagicBand+ includes everything guests loved about the original MagicBands while adding a few fun extras.
Depending on where you are, your band can light up, vibrate and interact with nighttime spectaculars, the Disney Fab 50 Character Collection statues and games like Batuu Bounty Hunters in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
None of these features are essential to having an amazing Disney vacation, but they do add a little extra magic, especially for kids (and Disney adults who refuse to grow up…no judgment here).
Our Take
We’re fans.
Not because you need one, but because it’s one less thing to dig out of your bag fifteen times a day. At the end of a long park day, there’s something satisfying about tapping your wrist to open your resort room instead of balancing a backpack, a refillable popcorn bucket and an exhausted kid while searching for a room key.
Would we skip a MagicBand if we had to? Absolutely.
In fact, we’ve forgotten them on our last several trips and ended up using our phones. Well, my phone. And, honestly, I missed it a little bit, and my phone battery prefers when we have them, as well.
We definitely think it’s one of those little Disney extras that makes the vacation feel just a bit smoother.
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