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!
My hotel reservation is linked to my son’s and his family because we’re all traveling and staying together. Is there a way for my husband and me to purchase our magic bands ahead of time and have them sent to us without the whole family having to select them and order them at the same time? I don’t see a way to do that on the current reservation site. There’s no “check out” process available. Maybe that’s because we still have 10 months until our trip?
Unfortunately, no. My dad is listed on our reservation, but he’s not going to go now. There wasn’t a way for me to only buy Magic Bands for me and my mom. I made multiple calls to Disney. All CMs I talked to agreed there should be a way to only buy for part of your party, but they never figured out how to, so, I spent $5 on a band that will never be used.
We are checking in on January 15, 2021 and there are 5 in our family. We ordered discounted bands for our 3 kids. Each kid picked a different band. When we received the kids bands we also received plain gray bands for my wife and I. I didn’t ask for the gray ones but they sent them anyway.
i assume this is nothing more than a cost-cutting measure on disney’s part to no longer provide the bands for free. but to revert back to KTTW cards seems like an ancient step backward. i know fps are currently not in use, but should they come back, how are they going to be utilized if there are no bands to scan at the line entrance? they can’t expect those to go on the card too? the band was really convenient. and quite frankly, for charging purposes, i think they could be losing potential profit… if someone has to dig out their card to charge, they might think twice about an impulse buy and put it back instead of just scanning their wrist. this is going to make lines at the park entrance, rides, and registers go much slower.
Any idea how long Magic Bands last?
We have some that are the new design that still show up on MyDisneyExperience
Is there a way to check if the battery still works?
We are planning a trip in 2021 and I won’t buy any unless none work.
If we got to Disney and they don’t work can you buy magic bands at a discount then?
I see the the plain ones are $5 for our trip in 2021 which is not bad
A long time. Last time I tried one of the earliest ones, it worked fine. I think that was last year. The battery doesn’t do anything as far as getting you into the parks, etc. It’s RFID that is a permanent chip in the band that the machines read.
Another “nickel and diming” that diminishes the magic. But alas they will (still) come.
A customer service rep told me the batteries in the basic bands were supposed to last about two years.
I know this is an old post, but…we’ve rescheduled our October 2020 trip for October 2021. Is hoped to order the upgrade bands for my kids. I realize they are no longer doing the complimentary bands and that they are also adding an app feature, but we still want bands.
I’m curious to know if they will still be adding new designs and when those would possibly be released for 2021?
Thanks!
I read some gossip that bands- were going to totally eliminated eventually and all would be done on your “personal device” ie phone
I don’t feel that is true because Disney makes too much money off of MagicBands. They will make even more money off of them starting in January 2021 when resort guests will not either be able to get free basic MagicBands or pay a small upgrade fee to get a MagicBand with a special design. People are spreading false rumors about this just like they are saying that the fast pass will either disappear or become a paid add on option.
I ordered 5 of the designs but received plain grey bands. I called and was told the designs are fulfilled through Shop Disney so they can’t see inventory when you call but said they were out of stock and that is why they sent the grey bands. They helped me to cancel my grey bands and I went back on and ordered the same designs again and I received them! The inventory seems to update constantly so Keep trying!
I ordered 3 of the premium bands this past Saturday, Aug 8 and they got here today, Aug 13. Pretty impressed with the speed of delivery! These will hopefully be used for my 40th birthday trip in January. I got the Mickey with the castle in the background for myself, the Minnie polka dots for my wife and the Princesses (shows Tiana and Belle on one side) for my 6 yo. I didn’t open them yet, So don’t know what the rest look like, but it’s a surprise trip that they don’t know about! Shhh!!! Lol. I’ve hinted at wanting to take a birthday trip. They just don’t know I’ve got it all planned. We had our May vacay cancelled, so really ready to get away and check out the magic again!
I don’t know if you already mentioned this elsewhere. When I went to order our bands for our October stay there was a message displayed on the order page indicating Disney will no longer provide complimentary Magic Bands to Disney Resort hotel guests with arrivals beginning January 1, 2021
It says that, but I had the option for free bands for my January 2021 stay. I don’t know if I would have gotten them had I placed the order though, since the free ones don’t ship til closer to your stay I ended up ordering premium ones at a discounted rate.
I believe the complimentary MagicBands will not be offered for new reservations vs existing reservations:
“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,”
I am an existing passholder and my pass is not up for renewal. Am I allowed to purchase another magic band at the discounted price? Or do I need to wait til I renew or stay at a resort?
The most frustrating thing I find about the MagicBand upgrades (now that the system works properly) is that they only show you one side of the Band. This isn’t much of an issue for ones that are general ones that are or have been available on ShopDisney, since the other side can be found more easily. However, this is annoying for the “Pre-Arrival Exclusive[s]” since there’s no way to find what the other side looks like. This is an issue since there are plenty of Band designs in which I or my wife have really liked one side, only to cringe when seeing the other side and have that be a complete deal breaker. The “Pre-Arrival” ones are also the most expensive ($20), so I just can’t get behind spending the $20 only to discover after-the-fact that I have no interest in using it.
Magic Bands -I think it would be very fitting, popular and so cute if had a second dated one 2020 with Mickey wearing a face mask. I would snatch one of those up fast
Get out the sharpie! 🙂
In the past we have received the bands approximately a month before our arrival date.
Do you know how far in advance the magic band is supposed to be delivered before your trip? I placed an order for me and my friend for the basic color ones at least a few weeks ago, and our trip is at the end of September.
I coming magic Band is coming back to Walt Disney World Resort now.
You should get them at least 2 weeks before your arrival. Don’t forget to link your magic bands before your trip so you can have them for your room key if you are at a Disney hotel, park entrance & any dining reservations.
I love magic bands! I paid ten dollars to upgrade to the white with the gold castle. About half of our group upgraded. The others picked the freebies.
I had to laugh that you just do blue. My daughter just does gray.
I have been watching for different choices to appear since mid June (checking at least once or twice a day) and there have been no new Magic Bands added. I have been waiting for the new Birthday Stitch one (that had been out there 2x’s in June), but has not been back since. I chatted with Disney and they said they were out of stock and wasn’t sure when they would be back in stock. I only have a couple of weeks left to order something and I’m starting to feel like I really won’t get the one I want.
Ha ha! My husband also has a collection of gray armbands. I ordered a Pirates of the Caribbean for him for our last trip, since it’s mostly gray. He informed me he prefers solid gray! 🙂
Would love to Carl, doug, or small mailman offered or grumpy for us older gentleman out there. Thanks for all the memories you have helped create for me and my grandchildren!
We did cheap upgrades yesterday. It looks like we’ll be checking in to the Boardwalk on the 22nd with you (if your post is the right date). I’m a little skeptical that my bands will be waiting, but hoping for the best. I’m also hoping that by some miracle the skyliner is running to Riviera.
We just returned from our Christmas Disney trip and the Skyliner was running to The Rivera (on its way to EPCOT:)
If I am an annual passholder and want to get a Magic Band upgrade, do I have to wait until my annual pass is due to get the upgrade price? or is it available at any point as long as my annual pass is active?
I ordered 4 upgraded ones this morning. Frozen Elsa. Pirates, Toy Story all characters on it, and Alien Swirling saucers. Fun!