Discount Pre-Arrival MagicBands & MagicBand+ at Disney World (2024)
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, international issues & errors, Magic Band+ styles, and new options. (Updated February 22, 2024.)
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 $9.99 (supposedly) and costing as much as $34.99. We update this regularly 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. Here’s how MagicMobile compares to MagicBands.
MagicMobile and Key to the World cards are two of four ways to access these features. The other options are the MagicBand+ and the regular ole MagicBand 2.0, as we’ll discuss below. MagicBand+ is the newer of the two, having debuted last year.
Our brutally honest MagicBand+ Review: Good, Bad & Ugly 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.
For those wondering how MagicBand+ and MagicMobile compare to the original MagicBand, above is a handy chart. We’d recommend consulting that, trying out MagicMobile, and reading the above resources to determine whether upgrading to the MagicBand+ is worth it for you.
Unfortunately, international guests can no longer order MagicBand or MagicBand+ via the pre-arrival system unless they have a United States mailing address. There are possible workarounds for this, which should allow you to order and pick-up at the resort–but it requires a little extra legwork.
Officially, we’re not recommending you do that. But we did just tell you what the requirement is for qualifying for a pre-arrival MagicBand purchase, so do with that information what you will and act accordingly. (If you need further assistance, read the comments and/or ask others for advice there.)
As for the why of this, it’s probably not because Walt Disney World hates international guests. Although it might seem that way on this one particular issue, Walt Disney World actually loves guests from outside the United States. They’re more of a captive audience, have higher per guest spending metrics, and typically do longer stays. This is why we routinely refer to British guests as Walt Disney World’s “whales” (non-derogatory).
While Walt Disney World has not offered an official explanation (and probably never will), our best guess is that it’s a matter of intellectual property law. As mentioned in our Guide to DisneyBand+ on Disney Cruise Line, the name change was made there for that reason. We’ve since heard more about the issue, and it sounds like it’s more significant than previously reported–that Disney cannot use the MagicBand name at all in certain international markets.
That’s probably an unsatisfying explanation, but it’s likely the reason why. This means there probably won’t be resolution to this problem unless it’s viewed internally as enough of an issue that the company opts to change the name of MagicBands to DisneyBands. (And honestly, it could make sense to do that along with a soft relaunch of the product as DisneyBands.)
Disney Legal is very conservative when it comes legal liability, and they’ve probably advised Walt Disney World not to market or sell MagicBands internationally in any capacity to avoid litigation exposure. Again, all of this is unconfirmed but we’ve heard enough to believe that this explanation is highly credible. The upshot is that Disney doesn’t care if you jump through a few extra hoops and manage to make a pre-arrival order even while residing in Canada or the United Kingdom or wherever.
In any case, here’s a current look at MagicBand 2.0 and MagicBand+ inventory for the pre-arrival program as of February 22, 2024:
There are currently 36 pre-arrival options. This is far fewer than last year at the same time, and down from a high of 82 at the peak of last year. On a semi-positive note, the current availability as of February 2024 is actually better than late last month and earlier this month, when there were under two-dozen choices at times.
As for the driver of the decrease, we’re not really sure. One contributing factor is definitely the near-elimination of regular MagicBand styles. For most of last year, there were double-digit numbers of regular ole MagicBands (officially known as MagicBand 2.0). Now, the only ones remaining are based on “A Guide to the Magic Kingdom” that feature retro artwork from original 1970s park maps. We think these are some of the coolest MagicBands, but apparently most guests disagree, as they’ve been available for over a year and still haven’t sold out.
Our big fear is seemingly being realized–that Disney has ended production of the MagicBand 2 in favor of the MagicBand Plus. There haven’t been any brand-new regular MagicBand designs in a long time, suggesting that the misfire ‘plus’ version is now the only thing being produced.
Personally, I still hope that Walt Disney World reverses course and makes more regular MagicBand styles. From my perspective, MagicBand+ is largely a flop–I’d rather pay less and stick with tried and true MagicBand 2. Here’s hoping that lower-than-anticipated sales of the MagicBand+ cause Disney to rethink its approach. Regular MagicBands are cheaper to make, which also means they wouldn’t need to be sold at such astronomical price points.
When it comes to MagicBand Plus, there are a handful of relatively new designs. Some recent highlights include attraction specific MagicBand+ designs for roller coasters, Jungle Cruise, Tower of Terror, plus retro-inspired Disney Parks ‘Play in the Park’ designs for both Walt Disney World and Disneyland (for some reason).
My favorite designs are a new resort-specific MB+ for Old Key West and a not-so-new Orange Bird design. If you’re looking for park characters, Figment also pops up from time to time. Other character options include Stitch, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Mickey & Friends, Star Wars characters, and more. Inventory does fluctuate, so it doesn’t hurt to check every morning to see what’s changed if you’re not satisfied with current choices and have plenty of time before your trip.
There’s also 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. You can also buy from DisneyStore.com, where there’s a perpetual selection of MagicBand+ designs on sale.
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.
At least, they start at $10 each in theory. In actuality, that’s only the case if you manage to find a solid color regular MagicBand. It’s been a while since we’ve seen those, and the starting price for the MagicBand+ is $24.99. That’s quite a bit more than the advertised $10 starting price!
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 $10 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.
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.
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.)
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. Good luck!
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 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!
I say get the free ones and get decals from Etsy. That’s what I’ve done for the last several trips… then you’re truly guaranteed an original.
It seems like the new magic bands hit the My Disney Experience site late on Thursdays or early on Fridays. I was excited at the possibility that we may be able to all choose something we liked. After a couple of months of seeing good bands come and go, I just ordered the 2020 Mickey bands that debuted today for all of us. Chatted with Disney Help and there is no way to order for one person at a time as desirable ones become available. Its everybody in your party or nobody. 🙁
Tom- love your emails!
I had no problem getting magic band for one person at a time. Mind you there is only 2 in my group. Did this back in October even though our trip isn’t until May.
Got Belle one day, and then BB8 the next time it popped up.
I’m finding that the upgrade MagicBands are the ones that were previously on clearance on the DisneyStore.com. I’m wondering if that is why they disappear so quickly? Total speculation.
We tried for ever to get magic bands, right up until the last minute. We leave for DW in 4 days. We could never get the bands we wanted and refused to settle just to get a band. The problem we found is that there are 4 of us going and we could never get the 4 bands we wanted at the same time. If we found one or two, by the time the others were available, the first ones we selected would now not be available. Since you can’t purchase the bands except if everyone in your party has made a selection makes it extremely hard to get more than 1 band at the same time. If there is a way to purchase the single bands as they became available, I never could find it. I even called and spoke with a cast member who was not able to help me, other than to tell me it has been a very frustrating process for everyone and encouraged me to keep trying. If you could purchase single bands as they become available instead of having to have your entire party’s selection before purchasing I think this might cause less frustration.
I need a Baby Yoda Band…im just saying..
This seems like one of the first pieces of merchandise they could roll out.
Something tells me that when they do, it won’t be included in this. You’ll have to pay full price for that little gem.
http://www.magicbandcollectors.com reports that there are 2 Baby Yoda magic bands available only at On Demand kiosks in Walt Disney World.
It took many many tries to get the 4 unique bands that were acceptable. So many times we’d see some that were good, try to get them and they were gone.
Finally we were able to snag 4 that weren’t our 1st choice but were good enough.
It has been a good idea that hasn’t had good execution so far.
It maybe a lame cash-grab but when I saw Figment I opened my wallet immediately.
I ordered a BB8 MB and received a gray one insted. Didn’t charge me, but bothered me a little.
Same thing Happened to me. Call them and they will correct it and send you the one you ordered.
I don’t live in the USA and don’t want to ask my host to receive another package. Maybe the could let the people change their order if the one that you select and confirm became out of stock. At least the one that they changed was mine and not my daughter’s.
Second bad experience with shopdisney.com and the trip even started yet.
Of course it’s a cash grab.
I wish I had known all this before I ordered for my granddaughters.
They wanted certain ones that were not in stock and I settled for what they had which wasn’t much. I didn’t realize I still have plenty of time to get them.
Are they still updating the selection regularly? I’ve been checking for the last few weeks and I haven’t noticed any changes.
Wondering the same thing!
We are just starting to plan our trip for next summer and I was wondering what the check out process was like. Do I have to choose 5 available bands and then check out, paying for the premium bands or can I reserve them individually as they become available?
Unfortunately it’s all or nothing. I’ve been going on every morning for 2 weeks now trying to reserve magic bands my family likes. In those 2 weeks the most that were available at one time was 2 (we’re a family of 4). I have time, but I think I’m going to try to get a premium one for my 7 year old and just plain ones for my husband and I and our 3 year old. If we really want, we can get skins for our plain ones.
Tom,
Do you know if it’s possible to get MagicBands shipped to guest services at the parks or hotel’s front desk?
yes, they give you that option during check out
Thank you
I have literally been trying for months to upgrade my Magic and ever time I try and chose one it says ‘Error this magicband is now out of stock’ yet its still showing as available on the site. I now have only 2 days to choose my bands and no premium I have tried show as available! So very Frustrating!!
Hello, I have been in the same boat as you–trying more times than I want to admit since May. But, yesterday at 5:00 I saw there were more than 17, so I grabbed a few and the whole order went through. I did decide that I would settle for two custom’s for my kids and go with the colors for us, if I had to.
This is certainly a fail on Disney’s part and they need to figure it out. I did have a nice young woman named Lynell tell me they would try to work something out if it got close to our trip. Maybe she can help you? Her number was 407-939-7410 and extension is 5273434. Good luck!
I have been trying to change my Magic Bands to the upgraded ones, but there is only 11 options and 8 of them are the regular ones! So frustrating… The other three keep changing everyday.
That’s what mine showed last night and today there have been more. A couple of them have even changed throughout the day.
I have been trying for a month now, finally was able to pick 4 that we want. Once on the payment screen it said they encountered errors and would not process. Called for assistance and they were of no use, she could see all the bands I requested were in stock and was unable to assist in processing. I have emailed Disney and have yet to receive a response. I believe, the order did not process as they do not ship to Canada.
Are people still having issues ordering the premium magic bands? I have been trying for 1 month at all different times of the day. I try at 530am, 0700am, 0800am, mid-day, and late at night with NO luck. If I get the magic bands that I selected, I go to check out it it says “that my request can’t be filled, magic band not available.” This is absolutely crazy! It’s worse than trying for fast passes. I have cleared my browsing history used firefox and internet explorer for different browsing sites. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks for listening and any advise.
Well, we didn’t get as much of an accommodation as I hear some got, but when we called in and complained they were very nice and gave us each a $15 credit per hotel (we had 2) so that we could buy bands in the park for basically the same as onne with the discount. My daughter got the exact one we had been trying to get!! They have alllll of then and then some at the park.
How are you able to get them to credit you $15? I am totally frustrated with the system. I tried staying up late like 3 AM in the mornings to get the bands and still out of stock. None of the cast member even tried to help me. Their response was just to try again.
Hi,
I called and emailed them askibg fir a reply. I suggested that they allow us to purchase the bands on site for the same amount as we would have online. When I finally got through to someone, she agreed and made the offer. All the bands that we had been fighting to get were available at the park.
Dot
I was able to place an order for my family of three, with 2 “fancy” magic bands and 1 plain, because I realized that my chances of scoring THREE special bands were slim to none. BUT… Then I got an email confirmation indicating:
“Initially, you may see a link asking you to edit your MagicBand order on the MagicBands and Cards page. If you have placed an order that includes premium MagicBands, this will soon disappear when the order is processed. If you have placed a complimentary MagicBand order, this link will remain to allow you to upgrade.”
I have never seen said link, but wow I’d really love to be able to upgrade my daughter’s plain band! I was thinking I’d have to go to ShopDisney to get her a special one! Anyone have any luck with this?
Well, we didn’t get as much of an accommodation as I hear some got, but when we called in and complained they were very nice and gave us each a $15 credit per hotel (we had 2) so that we could buy bands in the park for basically the same as onne with the discount. My daughter got the exact one we had been trying to get!! They have alllll of then and then some at the park.
I would gladly pay $10.00 for an upgraded band if I could get the ones that they show. I get all the way to the end after choosing only to find that they are out of stock. Finding this very annoying. We are coming to Disney World January 24. I am trying to obtain Pirates of the Caribbean and the view of the castle on a white band (do not remember the actual name). Both of these have been shown as upgrades that could be chosen . Very disappointed that they are unattainable.
Sorry to hear that you are having trouble but glad to know that I am not the only person still trying to get bands daily with no luck. I have been trying for over 2 months now with no success one getting the bands my kids want at the same time. So here I sit day after day logging on time after time refreshing over and over and still no luck. With only 2 months until my trip I am starting to think we will be getting solid color bands. Best of luck to you.
Try at 7 or 8AM. That’s when I had luck.
The white one you’re referring to is available now….it has been all day today!
I am sure Disney are trying to iron out the problems because we have arrived at Disney and been given a $100 credit my friend also got a $150 credit on arrival because ended up with 2 orders and similar problems to me – So I would imagine it is costing them a lot to compensate inconvenienced guests and were very helpful as well as their time consumed in trying to sort customer issues! Bear with them if you trip isn’t soon I really would leave it until the issues are ironed out and only keep trying if your trip is within the next month as all my problems have been fed back and they are doing their best to sort it!
This morning a few of our desired bands showed up on the MDE site, but after choosing them got the “sorry…” message. I did a trial run with one of the lesser desired premium bands, and was (supposedly) available. I say supposedly because I didn’t go to checkout since it wasn’t one of the bands we wanted.. That was 9am ET. Around noon I gave it another swing, and a selection of our desired bands showed, AND I got them ordered! I have no idea what was different. How does stock change within 3 hours?
Keep at it, it does work.
Note: when I did the trial run with a Premium MB we didn’t want, for the first time it didn’t disappear after I logged out. I’ve gotten to that point other times: after seeing bands we both wanted on the site, I’d select my husband’s band then try to select mine, but mine not available, I didn’t want to actually order. After closing MDE, my husband’s didn’t show the next time I opened the site. I suspect this change is done due to a software update.