New MagicBand Upgrades at Disney World & Free Option Removed
Premium MagicBand upgrades are available for pre-arrival Walt Disney World resort hotel guests and Annual Passholders. In this post, we’ll walk you through the process via the My Disney Experience app and DisneyWorld.com with screenshots–and show you all of the 40+ themed designs that are available when the inventory is restocked. (Updated January 1, 2021.)
The new upgrade process is now available in My Disney Experience, and gives guests the option to pay for an upgraded MagicBand design. The styles rotate with some regularity, and there are typically more than 30 choices featuring favorite Disney characters and designs at discounted price points.
Walt Disney World started with a total of 43 paid options, but new options have been added to the inventory since then, while others have seemingly vanished. Most of these cost $5-$10, while others are $15-20. We’ve now updated this post a few times with screenshots of the new MagicBands, plus info, and troubleshooting tips for what has proven to be a frustrating process…
January 1, 2021 Update: As previously announced, Walt Disney World has eliminated the complimentary solid-color MagicBands that were sent to guests pre-arrival. Here’s the new note that has appeared on the MagicBand customization page:
“Starting in 2021, we plan to unveil an innovative new offering as part of the My Disney Experience app that will bring features of a MagicBand to your smart devices. Guests staying at Disney Resort hotels with an arrival date through December 31, 2020 will continue to receive complimentary MagicBands. With the new My Disney Experience offering, MagicBands will no longer be provided on a complimentary basis with new reservations for Disney Resort hotel Guests with arrivals beginning January 1, 2021 and beyond.”
For resort hotel room entry, park admission, and charging privileges to the hotel room with a valid credit card, Walt Disney World has reverted to the old system of using a Key To The World card. This can be provided at the hotel front desk, and is how things worked prior to the debut of MagicBands several years ago.
Alternatively, guests can receive standard ticket media and use the My Disney Experience app for unlocking their hotel room door. For those who already have MagicBands, you can still use ones from past visits.
Yet another option is the pre-arrival purchase, which works more or less as before, and as described in the remainder of this article. The only difference is that the solid color MagicBands are now $5 each, as opposed to free.
Whether you should pay to purchase a MagicBand pre-arrival is a personal decision, but there’s one big upside in that it makes the vacation experience seamless and streamlined. You don’t have to wait in line for your reservation to be manually retrieved at Disney’s Magical Express, you can bypass your hotel’s front desk, and don’t have to hassle with separate payments, keys, etc. So there’s definitely an element of convenience for on-site guests.
As such, we still recommend that on-site guests purchase pre-arrival MagicBands. It’s simply minimal expense for the potential headaches it saves. The same recommendation does not apply to off-site guests or Annual Passholders.
Note that you have until 10 days before your arrival at Walt Disney World to customize and order your MagicBand if you want to have the MagicBand shipped to your home. If you order in under 10 days, you’re eliminating two of the biggest advantages in buying MagicBands. (Due to postal service delays, we recommend placing your order at least 14 days in advance to play it safe.)
To our knowledge, the last update with new designs occurred during the holiday season, which added a few new pre-arrival exclusive Magic Bands. We haven’t spotted any new 2021 designs yet, but those should be coming soon.
In terms of MagicBand availability, there were 37 options the last time we checked on January 1, 2021. This number fluctuates regularly, ranging from about 35-40 most of the time. What you see below may not be available when you go to place your order.
It’s also worth noting that in the last few months, the MagicBand upgrade process has been working really smoothly. (Perhaps due to less strain on the system?) We haven’t purchased anything, but every step through the checkout process before that has gone off without a hitch.
With that said, here are our troubleshooting tips in case you don’t have the same success…
TROUBLESHOOTING
It’s hard to believe, but the MagicBand upgrade option went live over one full year ago. Part of the reason that it’s hard to believe is because MagicBand inventory remains hit or miss. The system is also frustratingly glitchy, with problems requiring private or antiquated browsers, plus errors throughout the process–even after submitting payment.
We assumed the kinks would’ve been ironed out by now, but sadly, that is not the case. (How naive of us given the constant issues with My Disney Experience years after its launch.) Unfortunately, beyond this troubleshooting advice below coupled with persistence, there’s no good resolution. If reader reports are any indication, contacting Disney is unlikely to yield favorable results. (We’d love to hear your experiences in the comments!)
We cannot stress enough that this system is still having a tremendous amount of problems. If you’re having trouble completing the selection process, or getting this to work, we’d recommend using the desktop site instead of the My Disney Experience app or mobile site.
Additionally, if the desktop version of DisneyWorld.com won’t work for you, try private browsing, incognito mode, or a different browser entirely. Usually, we first try private browsing on Chrome, and that resolves the issue. However, a couple of times we’ve received a message that we do not have access to a certain page, or that our payment couldn’t be processed–both of those issues can be resolved by time-traveling back to Y2K and using Internet Explorer. (Don’t worry, you won’t have to use AOL or dial-up, too.)
We’ve found that this process gets hung up on several different pages, including on the selection and checkout process. Having a ‘clean’ browser will often resolve these issues. It’s not foolproof, but if you’re finding that things become unavailable right after you select them, that’s one explanation as to why.
If you’re having issues with inventory…there’s no great solution to that. We’d recommend watching the site, checking each morning at around 8 am for the day’s restocks, and ordering your MagicBands when you see a ‘good enough’ selection of MagicBands that appeal to you. Additionally, people are reporting issues with their orders actually shipping, but this seems to be a sporadic problem.
If your Walt Disney World vacation is not in the near future, we’d recommend being patient and waiting for a design you actually want. Now that Disney has a more accurate understanding of demand, they are (hopefully) more likely to increase the inventory to an adequate level to satisfy the incredible demand.
While we aren’t huge into Magic Bands, this will undoubtedly have collectors and character fans excited, as it means acquiring a new design for what amounts to $15 off. If you liked unique designs and already have a drawer full of the ‘standard’ colors from past Walt Disney World trips, jumping at the up-charge certainly makes sense.
Personally, I’ll probably just stick to the single, solid blue MagicBand that I’ve been using for the past several years…which itself replaced a different blue one that had to be “retired” because it was too dirty.
Not that you care about that. Anyway, here’s how the process works…
After clicking the “My MagicBands and Cards” link below the My Disney Experience drop-down on DisneyWorld.com or the “Choose MagicBands” button on your resort reservation, you’ll see the above screen.
As you can see, there’s a message on the screen indicating that the new upgrade options can be shipped to guests’ homes (U.S. addresses only) if ordered 11 or more days ahead of arrival. They can be personalized if done so at least 6 or more days ahead of arrival.
Once you click the “Choose My MagicBands” button, the above screen appears…once. I started this on my phone and continued via desktop (where I didn’t see it again), which is why it’s the only mobile screenshot here.
This is what appears next, and once you hit “Select” the screen scrolls down on the same page, revealing all of this:
Through the magic of Photoshop, I combined every single page into a single view, so you could see each character and attraction-themed MagicBand.
Above is closer look at a single page, along with what you see when you hover over the MagicBand you want to select.
No Country Bear Jamboree, but ya can’t win ’em all. Hopefully, over time new designs will be added as part of special promotions, seasonal events, and that sort of thing. (I presume the ‘best’ designs that Walt Disney World believes will sell to collectors and enthusiasts will remain exclusive to stores, where they can be sold at full price.)
If I were going to order anything, it’d be this Spaceship Earth design. It goes nicely with my collection of ~372 grey Magic Bands.
Once selected, you arrive at this complete purchase screen where you can change your name. From there, you’ll enter payment info, a shipping address, and finish the checkout. Assuming the system works!
One of the upsides is that a range of new MagicBand choices are also being added on a regular basis. Newer options include a chic voyageur Mickey Mouse design for Disney’s Riviera Resort, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Toy Story Land, Figment, Spaceship Earth, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, and various movies.
In addition to these MagicBands, we’ve seen a variety of other options coming in and out of stock. On a “good” day, there are around 30 options in stock. These include it’s a small world, Disney Vacation Club, Haunted Mansion, and a variety of other movie and attraction designs. If you don’t see options you like and you have plenty of time before your Walt Disney World trip, keep checking back!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the new MagicBand upgrade options? Will you be paying the $10 to $20 premium for one of these themed designs? Any specific design catch your eye? Do you cynically think this is just a lame cash-grab? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I noticed that some of the bands in this post are not available on Disney’s shop website, including the Frozen ones. Are the ones you choose through your park reservation different than the ones you can buy any time on their online shop?
We love Magic Bands, they are hugely convenient and fun. What I didn’t love was getting a new one for every member of my family everytime we went. I don’t want boxes full of them in my house haha. We used the upgrade option as soon as it came out. Everyone got a new band they loved and we deactivated and tossed the old ones. We then opted out of receiving bands on future trips. Seemed like such a waste to get one every trip.
Nothing is free, it’s all built into the resort costs. Transport, Magic Bands, cucumber water it’s all built in. Hopefully this makes way for something more valuable.
Would an AP holders Magic Band be active during their entire year or would some action need to be taken prior to each visit to a Park? This is assuming I’m a local BTW. Minus blackout dates.
As long as your pass is valid and linked to your mydisneyexperience.com account, all MB’s in your account will work. I’m going to try my really old ones next week just to confirm they still work but I’ve never had an issue in past. The only things tied to a specific band as far as I know are the in-park games like Pirate Adventures, Sorcerors of Magic Kingdom, and then Disney Magical Express and charge privileges tied to a room.
Unless you deactivate a band, it is linked to your account and all the information therein, and they can all be used interchangeably, except for Sorcerers of Magic Kingdom, which is tied to a specific band. Otherwise, you can use them for all other access, including opening Disney hotel rooms, charging to a credit card linked to the room booking, Magical Express boarding, and of course, your AP.
Hi all – we as a family are booked to travel from the UK in April. Now looking very unlikely ( after having moved 2020’s booking to 2021)
We would love to get tbe wrist bands – old ones lost etc. Can we pre order and get them delivered to our hotel ??
Love the blog – keeps the magic alive x
You certainly can pre-order and have them available for pick up at your Disney resort. We have done this each trip as we travel from outside the US and it has always been seamless.
I noticed that some of the bands in this post are not available on Disney’s shop website, including the Frozen ones. Are the ones you choose through your park reservation different than the ones you can buy any time on their online shop?
So sorry! Didn’t mean to reply to this comment.
Are magic bands still available for purchase on site or just online?
It’s almost a guarantee they will be available for sale throughout property for a long time. Too much money to be made off of them. A much better use of limited retail space than those phone cases that only fit iJunk and not real phones.
I will definitely use a previous magic band when we go next. Having to use NFC which uses more battery power, the band is a simple and easier option. I wonder if they can list your old bands you used when making your reservation so it is activated before you arrive.
You can register your old bands to your reservation on your My Disney Experience page. If you use the same account you used for a previous trip, the bands may already be registered to the account. If not you can click on the register a ticket or magic band button and use the serial number on the back of the band to register it to the user.
Al, I’ve been using bands since they came out. All are still listed in My Disney Experience, Magic Band section, even the deactivated ones. I deactivated several because a castmember at check-in told me the computer was having problems due to too many active bands. I don’t know how long the batteries last but it seems to be a lot longer than anyone thinks. I bring several with me on Disney trips just in case the battery dies.
You shouldn’t have any issues using old bands. I have like 23 in my list. All of them listed in your account should work for park tickets and pretty much everything else. The exceptions to this are the in-park games, such as Pirate Adventures and most likely Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom (which I haven’t tried yet) where you must use the same band you started with throughout as those are tied to one specific band or card.
I still see references to batteries in bands. I don’t think the newer ones even have any batteries in them. They don’t need them. The system uses RFID chips which scanners can read from within a few inches to several feet away. That’s how your ride photos are linked automatically and why you no longer need to scan your card or band at the photo stations as you exit the ride. MBs do not store any of your personal or credit card info in them. It’s all in the big computer under Cinderella Castle!
The original bands had short and longer range antennae in them which used a coin-type battery, similar to your car key remote. I believe they were testing crowd pattern monitoring and then determined it was not necessary and just the RFID was good enough. I plan on trying my oldest bands out in 12 days when we go just to confirm. They are from the first few months of the program, so are fairly old!
Good info, thanks all.
Hi Tom, Thanks for all the information. We are planning a trip in September 2021 (fingers crossed). We are renting through VRBO. Can we purchase wrist bands for Disney World without staying at a Disney resort? I know I can buy them on Amazon but they are more expensive. I should probably wait until later in the year to purchase. Thanks.
How do you know if your old bands still work and can have current information?
As far as I know, the original bands still work just fine. The band has a tiny RFID chip in it. Your info is stored in the magic computer located under Cinderella Castle, not in the band. The batteries in the original bands were for an experimental long-range transmitter/transponder. Disney figured out that it isn’t necessary or useful to them, and simple near-field equipment can read the chip to verify your park tickets, Fastpass-minus, room key, charging to rooms, etc.
Since this question keeps popping up, I will try to take and use a couple of my oldest ones when I’m there in14 days.
Manicotti, thanks. Have fun on your trip and let us know how they work!
Sorry, I typed mrnico and got manicotti!
That’s what she said…
I like having an option that sits on my wris, frees up my hands and serves as a fashion statement.
Magic Bands forever.
Ah joy, another thing to put on my phone. I guess I do always bring it to the parks with me so I can check the wait times on rides, but having to get it out for *everything else* seems like it would get annoying pretty fast. Doubly so, because not everyone in my party always has a phone on them. Which…would also mean anyone who doesn’t have a phone in their group wouldn’t get their ride photos (which would have been me as a kid, because I ran everywhere alone). Hm. I’m sure they’ll work out the kinks in time, but at the moment I’m leaning heavily towards the bands. They really are a one-stop shop and double as a pretty memorable souvenir.
All of this seems so confusing for someone who has never been to Disney. I’m not sure of anything but the flight. Once I get off the plane who knows? It seems like you need an itinerary with step by step instructions on what to do and where to go. Is there anything available? I would appreciate any and all information.
Confused & bewildered in St. Louis
Lots of itineraries and easy to follow plans on this website so don’t get too overwhelmed. Definitely plan ahead to etch out the basics before you go. Going to Disney world is more like pre-planning for a trip to NYC then free-ranging it sitting at the beach. With the park pass system you are forced to commit to which day in which park so that helps. Then tailor your plans according to your style. If you’re early risers, then go with it and get to the parks 45 min before official open. If later people, go with that. Either way you’ll have a blast!
Donna, I feel your pain and want to tell you not to worry! I felt the same way planning my first trip and the key is to remember that this is a vacation. There are lots of planning resources online which you can choose to follow if you are into that sort of thing, but don’t buy into any kind of hype that says your vacation will be ruined if you don’t do things a certain way. These resources are written by people who have been to the park many, many times, so while they are certainly experts they can kind of lose sight of what it is like in the parks as a first timer. Chances are, unless you are both incredibly unlucky AND go in with unrealistically high expectations, you will have a great time even if you don’t follow all the tips.
This sight has fantastic information for planning (it was my primary, almost exclusive resource when planning my first trip). It also has a great piece about spontaneity at Disney World that I think anyone feeling stressed should read. https://www.disneytouristblog.com/spontaneous-disney-world-tips/
My advice would be take things one step at at time. Plan the broad strokes of your trip in advance and fill in the details when you arrive. Decide what park you’ll visit which day and 2-3 attractions to prioritize as must-dos. Make a couple advanced dining reservations but unless table service dining is the primary concern of your trip, don’t try to schedule every meal in advance (that way lies madness). Know going in that unless you are staying for several weeks you will be unable to do everything, and that is fine! Go to the parks with some flexibility and a positive attitude and you almost can’t help but have a great time.
Kyle & Jared
Thank you so much for your information. I appreciate it. I feel better about Disney. I’m sure everything will be great. You’re right one step at a time. I know my 6 year old grandson will love every minute of every day!
Hello Donna, it is a little overwhelming, butthere are levels to it. No need to go extremist jihad on planning. You’ve already made a huge step just by looking things up ahead of time. I just shake my head at those who just show up at the gates without any research and then complain incessantly about how much they spent.
Read a bunch of Tom’s articles, and the Mousepad forum on Mouseplanet.com has tons and tons of info, although with the proliferation of Farcebook groups it’s been quieter there of late. Also look up the Disney Moms Panel. It’s a group of women and a few men that are selected for their frank but polite advice for newbies. Real experts on things. While I’ve been on trips with friends and their kids as well as my nieces, it’s not quite the same as if they were my own.
I guess “The Mouse” is trying to recoup lost revenue in every way possible.
With charging guests for resort parking, opening up Fastpass+ windows to non WDW resorts, and now charging for Magic Bands, please tell me why I should pay a premium over off site lodging to stay on site..
We always change the color of our Magic Bands (and since I have a short name, the name in mine) for each year we go.
I don’t mean to pick bits with Disney. But here I go. The so called “complimentary” were not complimentary. They were in my opinion built into the price of the reservation. Of course I maintain parking was also. And taking that “perk” away was spiteful and in my opinion greedy and stupid to alienate people. Next they will add the ubiquitous resort fee, because everyone else is doing it. And as my mother says if everyone else was jumping off a cliff would you?
Yeah probably but then I was a dumb teen then. Not a 50 year old grown-up.