Discount Pre-Arrival MagicBands & MagicBand+ at Disney World (Fall 2022)
Discounted MagicBand designs are available for pre-arrival Walt Disney World hotel guests and Annual Passholders. This buying guide covers the upgrade purchase process, inventory shortages, Magic Band+ styles, and new options. (Updated September 19, 2022.)
To upgrade your Magic Band, use the My Disney Experience app or DisneyWorld.com, which allows you to choose from a variety of colors and designs inspired by characters, resorts, attractions, nighttime spectaculars, and more. The styles rotate with regularity, and there are dozens of MagicBand choices at discounted prices.
Walt Disney World typically offers dozens of MagicBand upgrade options, with new looks added as others sell out. As discussed below, the “new looks added” part of that has not been happening as much lately. Pricing varies, with options starting at $10 and costing as much as $30. 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…
Let’s start with all of the updates, as much has changed since this program launched. Last year, Walt Disney World eliminated the complimentary solid-color MagicBands that were sent to guests pre-arrival. Disney also stopped offering free MagicBands to Annual Passholders.
This means that all MagicBands now cost money–you don’t get free ones with resort reservations or for being an Annual Passholder. Upgrading to these designs, buying MagicBands in the parks, or via shopDisney.com is your only option.
As always, MagicBands are not required at Walt Disney World. For room entry, park admission, Lightning Lanes, and charging privileges to the hotel room, Walt Disney World offers plastic Key To The World cards. 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 that for park entry or using Lightning Lanes.
Additionally, MagicMobile service is available at Walt Disney World via the My Disney Experience app. This can be added to your Android, iPhone, or Apple Watch digital wallet once enabled. This works just like a MagicBand with most features working by simply holding up your smart device near an access point. It can be used to enter theme parks, connect Disney PhotoPass images to your account, enter Lightning Lanes, and more.
In other news, MagicBand+ has debuted at Walt Disney World! The MagicBand Plus comes alive at various times with color-changing lights, haptic vibrations, and gesture recognition, and has the ability to participate in two in-park minigames.
MagicBand+ is now included in the pre-arrival purchase program, and there’s actually a lot more inventory for the new device than the regular MagicBand 2.0, as we’ll discuss below. For everything we know plus answers to common questions, see our FAQ to MagicBand+ at Walt Disney World.
We’ve also published our comprehensive and brutally honest MagicBand+ Review: Good, Bad & Ugly. If you’re on the fence about MagicBand Plus, that post should help you determine whether it’s for you.
If you’re really excited about the MagicBand+ and have already ordered one for each member of your family, you might not want to read that. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. 😉
When it comes to the regular MagicBand 2.0 (which is what we recommend for most people), options have been dwindling over the last several months. In fact, Walt Disney World has warned of Limited MagicBand Upgrade Availability.
In a statement, Walt Disney World says the problems are “due to ongoing, industry-wide supply chain challenges, MagicBands may have limited availability or be unavailable in some styles. Our teams are working to improve our selection over the coming weeks and recommend Guests continue to check back to see if their preferred style is available.”
Speaking of which, here’s a current look at MagicBand 2.0 and MagicBand+ inventory as of September 19, 2022:
Currently, there are 52 pre-arrival options, which is the most we’ve seen at any point in 2022.
Of those, 35 are MagicBand Plus and 17 of which are regular ole MagicBands (officially known as MagicBand 2.0). Honestly, there’s not much worth discussing when it comes to the regular MagicBand. There are more than usual, but most are solid colors or bland designs. Only the WDW 50th Cinderella Castle and Bantha Blue Milk designs are cool and unique.
When it comes to MagicBand Plus, there’s a new design for Halloween.
This features skulls and candy on it, which is certainly a choice. Definitely not what I was hoping for in terms of a Halloween design, but perhaps others will like this. Here’s hoping the MagicBand+ for Christmas 2022 is better!
If you don’t like any of these designs–or there isn’t something for everyone in your party–there’s no harm in waiting until you arrive at Walt Disney World to purchase your MagicBand. The only downside is that you won’t be able to immediately use your MagicBand to open your hotel room door, enter the parks, etc–but the actual process of buying a MagicBand and linking it to your My Disney Experience account is simple and easy.
Speaking of which, you could walk into a Walt Disney World gift shop right now and find shelves and shelves of MagicBands. There is ample availability in the parks & resorts…but these are not the same product lines and the logistics of delivering to the parks is different than the fulfillment center for these MagicBand upgrade options. (A more resourceful company might figure out a way to reallocate supply, but Disney is no Amazon!)
Those opting for a pre-arrival purchase should know that the system works the same as before, and as described in the remainder of this article. The only difference is that the MagicBands upgrades now start at $10 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 can bypass your hotel’s front desk, don’t have to hassle with separate payments, keys, etc. So there’s definitely an element of convenience for on-site guests.
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. Anecdotally, we’re also hearing of more guests having their orders delayed or cancelled completely, so even ordering far in advance doesn’t guarantee that your MagicBands will arrive on time–or at all.
With that said, here are our troubleshooting tips and the step-by-step process for ordering. (Just keep in mind that this was written when supply chain disruptions were not a thing–so you’re going to see a lot more inventory n the screenshots below that is NOT currently available!)
TROUBLESHOOTING
It’s hard to believe, but the MagicBand upgrade option went live a few years 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 colors or 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!
The new magic band + seem to be longer . They wrap 1 and a half times around my small wrist and don’t stay on well. Lost my Blue 50th band on the 2nd day of our trip. My pink one fell off twice but I caught it I’ll only be using them with the little metal buckle that came with my 50th mb2 last year from now on. I can’t be the only one this is happening to.
I am not sure if this is a real comment or not. There are two ways to help with this issue. 1. The bands are adjustable. They can be sized down by separating the band at the perforation. Or if that will make it too small, just cut the end until it fits securely.
Yes, it was a real comment and I did exactly that. On the 2nd day I shortened it but that obviously didn’t help despite me being conscious of it most of the time it still disappeared. Like I said I’ll never use a magic band without that little clip thing that came with one of my old mb2’s. I disabled it right away and reported it lost. It had my name engraved in it so I don’t know what anyone else would want it for. My husband had the same problem and put a twisty around his. Same with the pink one but I caught it each time it fell off so I just carried it in my bag the rest of the trip.
If sizing it down and cutting it doesn’t make it small enough, then that band is not for you. Purchase the older bands with the removable puck in the center. Take out the puck and purchase the super cute holder for it. It has a clip in the end and you can attach it to anything. I would also call Disney, take the size of your wrist and tel them that even after sizing down and cutting it it won’t fit. Ask if they will refund your money. By the way, what is the size of your wrist? I have small children and it fits them.
Ann, Thanks for the advice. I already said I would only use one with a clip or puck or whatever it’s called from now on. I have many mb’s and used them for years without a problem. Now I have to wonder, are you really asking if my wrist is smaller than your child’s or was this just more unnecessary snark?
I shared my experience to perhaps warn others.
Have a nice day.
I typically rubber band or tape mine down. For me they always seem to pop off easily and I’ve accepted the knowledge that the strap doesn’t work as well as I would like.
Do you need magic bands??
Need? No. You can get a ticket card at the gate, or use Magic Mobile. The Magic Bands are just super convenient.
Thank you. Ir’s so frustrating all the extras you need to feel magical. We just want to enjoy our vacation with our family with what is needed!
Can I use my phone for my whole family’s (6 people) LLs and park entrance? or should we get magic bands?
Magic Band 2.0 Question for the group… We are returning to Disney World for the first time since 2018. We have two young kids (6 and 3). We don’t see a need to get Magic Band+. We still have our Magic Bands from 4 years ago. Will those still work for all the current 2.0 features? Also, looking at Shop Disney for 2.0 Magic Bands, and the selection is underwhelming. Are there a lot of different 2.0 styles (not just plain colors) available in the parks or Disney Springs? Looking to get one for my 3YO and maybe a new one for my 6YO as well. Just don’t feel like dropping almost $200 ahead of time when the only stylish ones available are Magic Band+ options for $45.
TIA!
Your old Magic Bands will work for direct tap functions – opening the hotel room door, the tapstiles at the gate, redeeming Genie+, charging purchases to your room account, and direct tap to get ride photos. They might not work for ride photos that do not have a tap function, like Mine Train and Haunted Mansion. They will not have any of the new interactive functions in the parks – such as interacting with the 50th Anniversary statues or the bounty hunter game in Galaxy’s Edge. .
Tom, You only answered part of her question. Do we want or need magic bands for our toddlers? All adults have their old ones from other trips but how do we know which ones will work? They are just piled in a drawer.
Hello Tom
I will travel in February 2023.
Today I tried to buy the magic bands for said trip but there are very few in stock, less than half of the ones that appeared to you.
Do you know if the stock is replenished weekly or will I never be able to get the magic bands 2.0 again?
Greetings and congratulations for the blog!
Hi Santiago,
I show 23 out of the 50 magic bands at Shop Disney to be magic band plus. They seem to have plenty available with more coming in all of the time.
February is still 5 months away. If you’re not happy with the ones you see now, I would wait and check back every few weeks. Disney likes to swap them out as the seasons and movies change.
Hello, if you a guest staying at a disney world resort and are from Europe is it possible to pre order a magic band to your resort hotel or is pre purchase only available for US and Canadian residents,?
Thank you Caroline
If you are from Europe you can still order Magic Bands, but make sure to use a VPN connection. Otherwise, the option to select a Magic Band won’t appear when logging in to your account. The Magic Band will be delivered to your hotel’s front desk.
How far in advance are you allowed to pre order MagicBands? I have a reservation at the Dolphin for mid-November but when I click Choose MagicBands from the reservation in the app, I only have the capability to Manage my old MagicBands (inactive) and I don’t have an option or pop up to buy new MagicBands.
I could. Be mistaken but the Dolphin and Swan are affiliated hotels. They are not Disney properties. You will need to go to the ShopDosney website to purchase your bands.
According to planDisney, the Dolphin IS included as a Disney resort eligible for pre-arrival discounts on MagicBands. But it may be a consequence of my resort reservation starting halfway through my park reservations (we’re staying the first half of the week off property). I may call to see what’s up.
This is from PlanDisney ftom Nov. 2021 maybe it’s changed since then.
https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/discounted-magic-bands-resort-guest-disneys-dolphin-474163/
I’m also having the same problem ordering magic bands from “my Disney experience” app but I’m staying at a value resort.
I tried contacting Disney but got nowhere.
There is hope folks!
Just received the last of our 4 MB+’s today. They were ordered on July 27th for arrival Sept. 21st in 23 days.
You mentioned that you’re currently using an old blue Magicband that’s several years old. We have some that are 3 years old, but I wasn’t sure if they would still work – I’ve read that the batteries are generally good for 2 years. Do you have any insight about that?
We used Magicbands from 2017, 2018 & 2019 they worked fine.
We ordered ours the day they became available for a January 2023 trip and they are marked out for delivery today. I’m glad we dodged the supply shortage and will be getting them far in advance of the trip but I regret not waiting a bit because now there are other styles that I like better! Such is life, though.
I ordered our Magic Band+ bands over a month ago. I’m now regretting it. It’s been over a month and the order page still says, “In Process.” I’ve called Disney regarding this and they can’t tell me when the bands will be shipped. I also can’t cancel the order because of our names being “engraved” on the underside. I wouldn’t mind so much if it wasn’t so expensive when you’re buying multiple bands. I’ve plunked out a lot of money for something I haven’t received and hasn’t even been shipped, and the time for our trip keeps inching closer and closer. We’ve got our ADRs; we just haven’t gotten our Magic Band+. At least I didn’t have to pay in advance for the ADRs!
Hi Peg, we also ordered the the magic bands they day they were released for our August 12Th trip. Our magic bands actually showed it was shipped on the 8th to our home, but arrived on August 15th. I called this # 1-800-328-0327, which is direct for the magic band order, on the 10th b/c it was still saying waiting for pickup, the person I spoke to said it might have gone directly to the resort, (which it didn’t). Because I didn’t get them in time , the refunded me the full amount & told me to keep the bands since they were engraved. The resort ending giving us a $60 credit ($20 for each band I had ordered 3) to purchase new ones or just us on anything else. We ending just buying 1 magic band + for daughter & My wife & I used our old ones. You can also ask them to ship directly to a Disney resort if you are staying in one. Hope this helps.
Stay hopeful. I ordered my family’s on 7/27 and they finally shipped a couple of days ago. It appears that they are finally fulfilling orders again.
Same experience here.
I’m having the same issue. Ordered on 7/27 and still “processing order” a month later. We leave in 10 days so I’m pretty sure I won’t be getting mine in time for our trip 🙁 I hope they will give us a credit but I also have the engraved name so I think I’m just out the money. Plus my phone is too old and isn’t compatible with the mobile tickets so I’m screwed unless I go get bands once I arrive at Disney. Super frustrating.
I had the same issue but just received them today. Our trip is in 2 weeks. Keep checking your status in the MDE account. I didn’t receive an email that they were coming. The status on my order changed to shipped 2 days ago and I checked the tracking number to find out when they were coming.
Are there plans to make Magic bands available to UK visitors before they leave fro Florida?
Where is the link to magicbands +? I went to Shop Disney but no magicband+, just the regular magicbands.
Hi! The link is there but sends you over to your my Disney experience app. I ordered min last night at 2:30 am as Heather in this chain sent out an update. Thanks Heather! I am as up, not sure why. Lol so I guess you need a current reservation to Disney to be able to purchase? Keep checking just to make sure. When going to Disney, don’t forget Mousekeeping! Check out my site for easer tipping! Andriap67.myshopify.com
I just purchased mine from Shop Disney. They dropped at 9:00 am central for all to buy. At the time it seemed to overwhelm the website and I was placed into a “waiting room” with over 9,000 people in front of me. About 3 or 4 minutes later it let me in and I had 10 minutes to purchase the items before I would be sent back to the waiting room.
Just ordered our MagicBand+(s)! We renewed our annual passes in March and held off ordering our bands to specifically wait for the +bands to drop. I ordered the 50th Anniversary “Partners” one and my teenage son opted for the Grogu Mandalorian one which looks really cool! He actually wasn’t mad that I woke him up at 5:30 to pick his out. He’d have been furious if I had woke him up this early during summer vacay for any other reason! Can’t wait for our next trip to see how they interact!
You probably already know, but MagicBand+ is live for APs and pre arrival orders. I haven’t checked the Disney Store site but I just ordered mine and my sons’ for our November trip. Pre arrival saves $10 just like AP. The decorated versions are $34.99, plain colors are $24.99. In case anyone is up at 2:30am.
Hi Tom, Any idea what time tomorrow Magicband+ will be available on line for pre-arrival purchase?
Is it any time after midnight or similar to ADR timing around 6 am?
It’s 2:30am EST and I just ordered ours for our November trip. Just happened to see someone post about it on Facebook. So you can order anytime now.
Can you get a discount if you wait and buy in person or do you only get the discount if you purchase online ahead of time?
No. It’s only for the limited selection of MagicBands available for purchase as part of the “upgrade” (really a misnomer since nothing is included for free anymore) program.
My husband and I are planning on a trip to WDW in October. I really would like to get a Magicband but I can’t find anywhere that offers the designs so I can start looking at them now. Am I missing them somewhere or can I not see them since we haven’t booked our vacation yet?
According to Disney, they are having supply chain issues so choices are limited. You can purchase bands at many locations when you get to Disney! Hope this helps!
It does help. Thank you letting me know!