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. This post walks you through the process via the app and website with screenshots and shows you all the ~50 styles, including the newly-released solid color trends and Castle Cake designs! (Updated February 8, 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 40 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 sold out. 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…
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…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.
As of February 2021, we have a trio of positive new developments.
First, Walt Disney World has debuted new Key to the World room keys featuring character art of Minnie & Mickey Mouse, Daisy & Donald Duck, Pluto, and Goofy. The colorful designs feature the same art style as Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, which is itself drawn from the new Mickey Mouse cartoons.
Second, Walt Disney World is embracing its “color trends” with 9 new solid options that have debuted in the last week.
Those include Blue Iris, Olive Green, Soft Yellow, Dark Purple, Blush Pink, Mint Green, Light Navy, Raspberry, and Black–which has been the #1 color request. All of these are $5 pre-arrival, compared to $15 in the parks. (Ignore the Pink one above–that’s not new.)
Finally, one of Walt Disney World’s most infamous icons has been rolled out today in MagicBand form. As the 50th Anniversary approaches, Magic Kingdom is about to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Cinderella Castle as a giant pink birthday cake. The Castle Cake was incredibly divisive, and derided among many fans as the Pepto Bismol Castle.
I was 10 years old when I first saw the Castle Cake, and I absolutely loved it. Even today, I remain nostalgic for the Castle Cake as a short-lived overlay for Walt Disney World’s 25th Anniversary. Probably not enough to drop $20 on the MagicBand, but I think it’s a fun nostalgia offering for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. (On a related note: the Castle Cake is 25 years old? Time flies!)
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 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 50 options the last time we checked on February 8, 2021. This number fluctuates regularly, but that’s a new record to our knowledge. In early January, there were only 37-38 options. (The new color trends really upped the total.) In any case, 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 have spent a frustrating amount of time trying to buy magic bands for our holiday in September this year 2021. The bands are no longer available via My Disney Experience. I have also phoned Walt Disney World with the phone number provided on My Disney Experience. They were very helpful but came to the same conclusion as myself after trying everything everything that I had already tried. They can only be purchased at the resort hotel or via Disney.com at the exorbitant price of $14.99 for the solid colours.
We just purchased them without any issue, but I did go directly to a desktop after reading your article, so I obviously cannot tell you whether we would have experienced any sort of issue.
Yes, we purchased them, although I went back and forth about a for a week deciding whether we would pay more for the premium bands or just get solid colors. We were married in 96 I happened to be 25 so I knew immediately I wanted the 25th anniversary cupcake castle one. And since we are celebrating our 25th as well as my 50th bday (ugh!), it just made sense. The husband went with Grumpy and our youngest (8) went with the 2021 Mickey magic band.
Our friends who are traveling with us have not decided whether they’ll purchase them, but did say they will only be getting the solid color ones if they do
So I’m wondering if you have to stay at a resort to get the $5 price? I have followed every step to find the bands and they still show up as $14 for me.
Yes. You have to stay at a Disney resort for that pricing
Would appreciate some advice if anyone has experienced this: Has anyone paid for a Magic Band but then had to cancel the trip? Does that mean returning the bands or paying the full retail price? I’m just trying to plan for all eventualities. Not easy!
The bands still good. At the site or calling in Disney can help reprogram to new itinerary
It has happened to a lot of us. As long as battery works you can use old ones. I hear you will know if good when you program for new trip. People say they can last a couple years.
I used 1st-gen bands from 2014 on a trip last month. No battery in them needed for room key, fastpass-minus or similar functions. Some folks say really old ones might not pick up for ride photos to be linked to your account, but we didn’t seem to have any issues with that.
MagicBands are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
Once you buy them, they’re yours forever.
I’m trying to order customized magic bands. Arrival date staying at a Disney Resort is 6 days from now. The system wants to ship to my home address. I’m not given a choice to pick it up at the resort. Any suggestions?
I would love to get the cake one. Since I had already received my bands (our trip was cancelled twice so the bands are not going to be re-issued) I wont see that in my listing. I hope they will have it for sale. I would buy one. I don’t care about activating it, just to have it.
We ran into trouble on our Christmas trip with the special Magic Bands not arriving on time. We ordered somewhere around a month out or so and they didn’t show up until after our trip. Not a huge deal to us since we get to go on a regular basis and Disney more than made up for it at the front desk. We weren’t the only ones that had the issue either. 3 or 4 other families were working it out at the same time as we were checking in. Just something to keep in mind if visiting during a busier time of year.
I don’t understand why I am not seeing the same magic bands as pictured. I so wanted the Genie for my son for our upcoming trip. But it is not showing under available bands. Why is that?
The inventory is constantly changing.
You are not kidding about how difficult it can be to purchase these! I tried all of your tips and chatted with three different Cast Members and still can’t purchase them because it will not accept my payment. They submitted an IT request for me and they want me to try again in a few days. We’ll see… I really like the new colors, but we may just re-use our old ones after all.
I had issues this morning purchasing. Just tried again and was able to get the cake castle! Not all of the options above were available but that’s the only one I really wanted so I’m happy camper. Good luck to you!
I too was 10 years old during the 25th anniversary celebration, and it was my first year to visit WDW. While I now think it’s pretty cool that I got to see the castle all done up, my opinion at the time was that it was a disappointment to get all the way down there and not get to see the “real castle.”
You know I have been stalking the “customize my magicband” link for about a month now. I sware no new ones have been added. Except the new solid color ones. Are they ever going to dump more designs in there? we have a group of 5, so to find ones everyone likes is annoying. We have 2 but im sure by the time we need all 5, that the original 2 will be gone. And they still have a bunch of 2020 versions. Any ideas?
I care.
Hi,
We are planning a trip next December, 2021. We will be staying off site. Can we order bands in September 2021?
Thanks
I’m confused about the Magic bands. where can I pre order for $5 ?
When you book your trip, in the MDE app or the browser, you click on magic bands and you can order them for your party if you have reservations. We all chose $5 or $10 options, although I wish I would have waited because I definitely would have gotten some of those solid colors or the Epcot one. But that’s okay, I was so excited when our bands arrived for our April trip. I was definitely tracking the package sent through USPS. Glad they are here and ready to go. We also have a split stay and for our second hotel it gave us the option to choose magic bands and we declined and said to use the bands already in the system.
Priscilla,
I booked my hotel and tickets through the Disney website, but I also did not see the option to order MagicBands at the pre-arrival discounted prices. In My Disney Experience, I went to the MagicBand page, but it only gave me the option to “link.” I went ahead and used the chat feature on the site, and they were able to correct the issue. I was then able to order MagicBands online for the discounted price. Give them a call or use the chat feature, and they will fix it for you!
We are staying off site for our upcoming visit in April. Would be be able to use the MagicBand at the parks? Would it be an advantage to have the MagicBand?
You can link your band to your tickets on MDE.
I believe the only thing the MagicBand would do for you is be your ticket for entry into the parks. While I personally like them and put mine on before leaving the house the day of our trip (just a symbolic “start of vacation” thing), as far as functionality goes for staying offsite, there’s not much use. At least when there was FastPass+, you could use your Band to scan in to the FastPass lines instead of using a ticket card, so there was some convenience. Now there’s not much. You can still link them to your My Disney Experience, and utilize them, just not for much. For onsite hotel guests they are also their room key, and onsite hotel guests can use them to pay for food and merchandise in the parks (if a credit card is on file with stay).
How many ways is Disney making it more expensive and inconvenient for me to return and I really really want to return but get ticked off with each and every nickel and dime thing they take away. I don’t want to go back to handing out and collecting the ticket media when my family goes to the park. Magic Bands made everything easier. Magical Express made everything much easier. No worries about transportation to and from the airport. Now when we want to come with small grandkids in hopefully 2022 that isn’t an option so dragging carseats around and renting a car then paying to park – another freebie they took away. They have huge parking lots for each resort. It’s nothing but sheer greed to charge guests to park at resorts that they are already paying a pretty penny to stay at onsite. I’m disgusted with my happy place.
Totally agree, but what are you going to do? Just suck it up like I do. There’s no other option.
If you choose the option to reuse a Magic Band for some members of your party and buy a new one for others, is it possible to then change your mind? As in if my grandchildren later decide they DO want a new one, but we’ve already selected “reuse an old band”, are we shut out of purchasing a new one for them through My Disney Experience prior to arrival?
I bought a Magic Band last month for an upcoming trip/resort stay and had no problem with ordering (I got one of the $15 bands), paying, or receiving it. Given some personal recent experience with USPS, I was apprehensive, but there were no problems with timely delivery. I ordered about a month ahead for peace of mind.
Tom, I took my daughter to Disney World for the 25th Anniversary and she was 10 just like you! I can’t remember how she felt about it, but I wasn’t wild about the pink cupcake castle. However, I still took a bunch of pictures and we had an awesome time, as we always did. Being a single parent with a daughter, you might think we would have some disagreements about what to do, or where to go while at Disney World. But we both loved Disney World so much, that we always agreed to get up early, we always agreed what rides to go on, when to take a break and swim, when to eat, we just never disagreed because we were so happy to be at Disney World together.
We try to go annually so I have nearly a dozen bands dating back to the year they rolled them out, 2013 I think? I’d prefer to just reuse those and save some money. (Yup, we’re THAT family, I even do the 5% gift cards from target). So far we’ve only brought bands from the previous trip, typically the year before, and never had issues. Our next trip won’t likely be til 2022 and I would be bringing our 2019 bands, stupid global pandemic!
Just curious if anyone has had an old band that hasn’t worked because of “battery” issues? And what is the oldest band that anyone has used that did work?
You won’t have ‘battery’ issues with old bands. Just make sure they are active in your MDE account. On our trip three weeks ago, I used two bands from the very beginning from I believe 2014. They worked for park entry, room key at BLT, scans for pictures, and yes, ROTR entry!
We’ve gone yearly at Christmas and always look for ways to save money. We have a Target card too. Yes, another one of THOSE! WDW has been nickel and dining is like crazy over the years. We are going on two weeks and I will be using our bands from a few years ago.
Just returned from WDW…we used older Magic Bands w no problems….11 yo grandson failed to pack his favorite red one, and was given a new “red” one at the front desk! As long as the person & the band is in your MDE, good to go!
The bands are much easier for kids than the cards will be…IMO. Over the course of multiple visits, we have only lost one band…she was under 2 & in a stroller…other than loss of a sweet souvenir, no biggie!
I tried using my Small World band that was just over a year old. It wouldn’t work so I just used the gray one they shipped me (not sure why because I declined it at checkout and registered my old one??) I didn’t bother trying to get it resolved since we were only there for two days. Anyway, sounds like others have had success but just wanted to share my experience.
My old bands always work, but I don’t use them because they look bad. I love brand new magic bands for each trip. We stay 3 weeks, and towards the end of the trip, our bands look so worn that you’d think I picked them out of some garbage dump. I mean, a WDW trip is very important. The brand new magic band is a must. They have batteries in there for some purpose that I never understood or noticed…I don’t know why Disney even bother. That’s probably why they can’t afford to give away the magic bands. If it were just a credit card on the wrist, it would have been cheaper and they would not have had to charge for it, I think.