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!
Do we have to buy MagicBands? …are they needed or mandatory ???
What happens if we don’t buy them?
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.