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!
Last night I was able to order 4 magic bands for our August Polynesian stay AND check out without any error message, delay, or selected items going out of stock mid-process. I even got a confirmation email with all the correct bands and personalization. I will report back when the bands arrive. But so far it looks promising.
I’ve followed this information and the ‘Choose Your Band’ option is only available once you go to my ‘My Plans’.
That said, when you go to select your magic band, you only have the choice of the complimentary, coloured ones, rather than the option to pay for an upgrade, which is what we’d ideally like.
So my trip will be cancelled because of the virus. It is in April. I have my bands. When I reschedule, hopefully on website, do I need to reprogram my bands since all my plans will change? Or does it just match to my Disney experience when it is time for my trip? Will they still work in the next year? I would hate to go on phone to call! I know people have other concerns now, I I hope all stay healthy. This planning is mental health for me to stay positive, it is not that I don’t have health of all on my mind.
The band is linked to your MDE account and you can continue to use it (and any other bands you link to your account interchangeably) on future trips till presumably the battery dies.
We have four separate bookings right now, and ordered for one last week. However, as of today, no further orders can be placed *IF* you go to the Magic Bands from the drop down menu under My Disney Experience – My Magic Bands and Cards. There you will see a notice that states:
“Important Update Regarding OrdersImportant Update Regarding Orders
While the Walt Disney World theme parks and Resort hotels are temporarily closed, we are not currently accepting new MagicBand orders linked to Walt Disney World Annual Passholders or Disney Resort hotel reservations. Please continue to check this page for additional updates. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience during this time.”
HOWEVER, if you go further down to a resort reservation, there is a link to “Choose Your Magic Bands” and that will let you pick out bands and place an order. I did so, all the way to the check out screen. I didn’t complete the order because those aren’t the bands we want. I can provide screen shots if you email me.
I checked every few days to see if what was available for us was a “wish list” one. My daughter wanted descendants, so we had to wait for that one to be available with Thanos. We hit our “magical day” and immediately ordered. They showed up just as the world closed down. A little excitement in these dark times.
If you are in the UK and have access to a VPN then try switching to the US website (should be disneyworld.disney.go.com) via VPN as the UK site hasn’t worked in months. You use your normal booking number and password to logon.
Also clear all your Disney cookies and cache or better still a different browser.
Just checked stock is very limited, only 16 to choose from, 8 are just colors. Other 8 not worth paying for an upgrade.
It’s great that everyone emailed; maybe enough complaints will cause some movement. The choices finally changed about a week back, but it looks like there will only be about 5 at a time–if this is the trend. The ones out there now and for a couple weeks have been Fancy Nancy, Star Wars, Descendants, Castle, Minne Polka Dots and Vampirina. It’s not a great selection. Sadness. 🙁 They need to listen!
This is a most unmagical process. I have been trying for the last 6 weeks to get a premium band. I have picked one and gotten through the customization and confirmed my purchase at least 5 times only to come back later to My Disney to see that my pick is now sold out.The last one I picked was ok for at least a week. It would be nice if you got a notice that is sold out and you needed to pick a new one.
Agreed. I can’t believe they have been only able to supply standard colors with a couple disney jr and star wars options throughout January. I did email guest services per the suggestion by Susan below. Unfortunately the reply was they have no visibility to the Magic Band stock and to keep checking back. I do agree though, if enough people keep asking maybe they’ll improve the process/add some optons.
It seems like it would be a better process if you were able to choose a few different designs you would be interested in if one or any of them would be sold out. Sort of a first, second, third choice per person going on the vacation, it may lead to fewer guests having issues going back in to select a different design and would still be a surprise to the guest when they receive their magic bands in the mail?
We had some good options before Christmas, but since after Christmas it has been the same 5. The people on chat/phone don’t think anything has happened. But something has. Maybe if enough people send an email to [email protected] they may respond in some way.
We did get a couple versions of new ones in the last 6 months and it worked fine. But, it certainly hasn’t been a good roll out. And continues to be confusing.
That’s a great idea! I will contact them now, thank you!
Good morning Jennifer, By the way, it might take a few days or a week to hear back from this email. But, I always hear back from either a phone call or email. Good luck!
Yes . I just emailed them also.
Update to everyone, there are about 4 new magicbands that showed up today. These are the first in weeks. So maybe the inventory is moving now. But, it’s really unlikely that your family will get all the ones they want. I’ve focused on my kids. 😉
I’ve been checking since January 2nd, the same 13 all the time. 8 standard colored ones & 5 upgrades. We are not going until August 14th, hopefully they add more.
I could have got ulcers over this one but when it became too frustrating, I took a step back, decided infallible Disney had created an enormous mess, excuses or not and damaged its brand more than the damage it caused me.
I made the mistake of asking my grandkids which ones they wanted and then spent hours trying to get them all in one fell swoop, which is necessary. And that’s not the half of it, even if you could find them all at the same time. I’d try at every conceivable time and repeatedly.
Then I woke up! You still have to pay for the fancy ones, so by the time you calculate your effort spent (and likely to no avail), you’re not saving much compared to everything else. I promised the grandkids their three, So I’m going to order the free ones for our party of seven including the grandkids and then have shopdisney deliver the three they want at full price to our resort. I still have time to order but now when I check the site, I feel okay that I have a backup plan. It’s a disgrace that for mere pennies from Disney’s point of view, it would be irresponsible by offering something it can’t deliver.
I suppose if you’re only party of one or two, it is easier but from the online stories I’ve read, that’s probably a nightmare, too.
Bad on Disney. I’m so disappointed as I’ve been naive enough (at seventy) to have previously held Disney in the highest regard for true customer care. This is shabby and then some.
Is there anywhere I could find a full list of the options? Our trip is not until August and I would love to make sure I find the best one since we have so much time.
I’m in the same boat! My dad wants to order the bands on Thursday of this week, but I feel like the options could change drastically in the next few months and would be bummed if I could have had a different band.
Don’t bother. If you find ones you like and preorder with a credit card, when you go back to check a month later, your choice is gone, and your order says sold out. This has happened to us so many times,that we’ve given up.
You can’t “pre-order” … You have to complete the entire order and submit it.
Has anyone sen an actual selection? They only show 4 or 5 different ones and nothing else. Of course, of the selection offered my family is interested in none of them. And I’ve noticed over the past few weeks, the selection changes by one or two every now and then. Does anyone know the secret code to see the giant selection that Tom has shown above?
As far as I know they only had that huge selection available the day they rolled this program out. Since then it has been about 4-5 different ones each day and those are not always actually in stock (once you click on them and try to check out it says, sorry, not available). Almost a year later and Disney still hasn’t been able to get its act together with this.
All I keep seeing are a white castle one, riviera, galaxy’s edge, princess and minnie ones. I’ve been checking regularly but it’s just those ones with a few random ones appearing every now and again. I think I’ll probably end up just getting a standard one at this rate. It seems like such a silly way of doing it and I feel so bad for people with big families, it must be a nightmare!
I ordered one for me and my husband got the regular band. This was a NIGHTMARE!!!!! We went to Disney 16 months ago and didnt have any problem getting our bands, but this time because I upgraded the system really screwed up. They sent it to my address from over 16 years ago because the system was having glitches with past addresses. It took 8 calls/emails and the response for most of them was, sorry, you’re out of luck. I had to have a friend go pick up our bands from the people living in our house (180 miles away) and she brought them to us. I would NEVER recommend getting them, because Disney wont replace because it is a third party vendor.
I liked being able to get special ones for the guests in my group rather than just different colors! I also have an incredible number of grey ones myself and am glad to get different designs without a lot of cost. It made me chose one for each of us all at the same time though. I could not get one and then go back and get others for the rest.
I wonder why they aren’t offering a Snow White magic band? My daughter would love it!
After I settled and ordered 1 I wasn’t excited about, is there a way to order another 1 and just link it to my ticket on the app? Even if I have to pay full price, it doesn’t seem to let me even shop for 1 in the my experience app.
You can purchase them at shopdisney.com
So every time I do this, I only come up with a total of 8 to 10 I can choose from. Is this common or am I doing something wrong?
I recommended this over and over starting in June, when we realized it wasn’t working so well. It’s been suggested, but they don’t seem interested. I’m not sure I understand their strategy.
They should limit guests arriving 2-3 months or less out to order the upgraded bands. There is no reason for someone coming in 12-18 months to order now. Disney has no clue how to control inventory if every single reservation for 18+ months out is available for the special ones. By reducing it to closer in reservations, they can manage inventory and provide more bands and newer ones to those arriving at later dates. It is basic supply and demand.