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!
After encountering repeated issues with attempted selections, I called Disney. The cast member I spoke with told me that about a year’s inventory sold out in a day. She blamed…wait for it… THE DISNEY BLOGGERS!! She stated the blogs stated that these special bands would be temporary, so everyone rushed to buy them, resulting in the depleted inventory. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Tsk tsk tsk..
If only “Temporary” would’ve been excluded from the blogs..
I really hope for the sake of those who have their vacation coming up sooner than others, that Disney will decide to regulate when vacationers are able to go in and choose which band they would like. Just like the 60 day window for FP.
It’s unfortunate to not be able to choose the band you love because those who are vacationing a year or beyond that point are purchasing them before you get a chance to do so.
Angie I cordially invite you to my mickey night watch club if you’re interested! We’re needing an extra set of eyes around the clock to try and beat the 5 second window that certain bands become available and then sale out.
If you’re able to check the website at minimum 20 times a day for a desired magic band and can handle disappointment well, then you will be perfect !!!!
We can negotiate pay.
Kylie, I so relate to this and appreciate the much needed levity! Hahaha I was trying to get the castle, but disappointment is for sure the name of the game. After my fastest attempt ever and still missing it, I finally had to give up. Getting my hopes up then dashed over and over was legit weighing on my mental state. And that one finally popped up in the regular store, so sure I’m paying full price and no, it won’t have my name on it, but at least I can move on with my life!
i agree that there could be an easy way to do this. make it like fastpass selections- if you have a trip coming within the next 90 days, your window opens up on such and such day and is open for 7 or 14 days (or something). if you miss your window or opt not to select, you default with standard solid colors. then the window opens for the next group with upcoming vacations when they hit the 90 day mark. it would be easy enough to do. this allowing everyone in at one time causes the system to keep crashing, their customer service to field calls, a lot of which could be avoided if the number of people allowed in were limited. if people plan a more last minute trip, maybe they get a single day window if their window has already passed. with technology, something like this could be set up, but instead, they’ve opted for chaos and unhappy guests.
windows would also mean that you have a select group of bands from which to choose. this making you order all or nothing has been driving me nuts because some i wanted, it wouldn’t let me get but i had to go with alternates because of others i didn’t want to miss out on. again would be very easy for them to let you order one at a time if there are certain styles you are looking for, and program it to that guest, just like they do if you order one on your own or buy it in the stores. so many solutions to avoid the madness they didn’t think of or have no interest in.
Good post & Good info
Would I be able to take advantage of these savings if I’m staying at the WDW hotels like Best Western?
Maria: If you are getting all the other staying on property perks you should also be able to take advantage of this. When you are in the My Disney Experience App do you have a spot to choose your magic bands?
Have fun on your trip.
Hello! Do you know if I can order Magic Bands for my family members if we arel staying off property for our next trip?
Maria, no, you cannot. You must have a Disney hotel reservation to be eligible to order the bands. However, you can purchase any of the bands at full price on the ShopDisney site or in many locations on Disney property.
Thank you Barbara! It is good to know that we still can have magic bands even if we have to purchase them.
Nice to see the current list. I could never get the Mickey 2019 which I wanted. Spaceship Earth was never available on the 50+ (NOT hyperbole) times I tried to add it. When Fox and Hound showed up, we grabbed those for our visit in about 2 weeks. DS is still waiting to get his Spaceship Earth which he ordered in early July for his then current annual pass. He contacted WDW Chat with confirm #, but who knows if he’ll every get it. A week or two later, his pass rolled over and he ordered another band which he has received. Don’t get me wrong, between our other AP’s and other resort reservations, we have, mostly been able to get bands we wanted, or, at least liked. What a challenge, though!
had the same problem. it kept allowing me to put the pirates and mickey birthday bands in my cart but never allowing me to check out. i probably tried upwars of 50 times to check out too. i much preferred those to what i wound up with but didn’t want to miss the must-have band my other kid would want so had to settle. not allowing people to buy one at a time is a downfall big time. the system wouldn’t get nearly as jammed either, IMO, if they allowed piecemeal purchasing. they can program any band to any person at anytime, otherwise they wouldn’t sell them retail, so it could easily be done.
Agree, agree, agree!!!!
I really like the upgrade idea!!! I don’t think of it as a cash grab since they are giving you a credit for the one that comes with your reservation. Having to pay full price for a customized one is more of a cash grab to me. I just wish they actually had a style I liked, so far when I’ve checked they haven’t been too enticing. I’m holding out for a Tiki Room theme. Keeping my fingers crossed! Do they still have that OnDemand?
Another question I have is which is better, having the magicband delivered or picking it up at the resort? I’m afraid I’ll forget to pack it.
Thanks for all your great work on your blog!!! I have gotten so much valuable info from it!! And I always recommend you to future Disney travelers!!
Thanks!
Kristie♥ï¸
Got that Galaxy’s Edge band this morning (August 5) and just got an email from Disney Guest Experiences:
You will be receiving a credit of 14.99 toward your purchase as due to a systemic error the price of Star War’s Galaxy’s Edge MagicBand was incorrect. The credit will reduce the amount you will be charged when your order ships.
Pretty happy to have the band (I’m a huge Star Wars fan going multiple times this year just because of Galaxy’s Edge) and really happy the price went to the $15 instead of $29.99.
Great tip! Thank you. I wanted those but wasn’t willing to pay full price. After reading your experience I got one for me and my bf. That’s two down. Still have to get 4 four our split stay group…it’s been a nightmare, even for experienced website navigators/refreshers like is. Customer service convos make me way too frustrated for a Disney experience!
But this thread provides some solace that, at least, we aren’t crazy.
They are going to have to do like fast passes order 90 days in advance. I now realize I am fighting over magic bands with fellow Disney lovers not going for over a year. We go in 3 months and can not seem to find 2 princess at the same time for my girls. My mom and I decided to just take the solid color ones if we can find 2 for the girls. Any one know if I order from the Disney store pay full price if they will still put there names on them?
I had already ordered 2 for my trip through the regular shopdisney site before this promotion came out because we wanted character ones and, at the time, the personalized were only solid. We did not have any personalization options on those regular ones.
Thank you!!
If you order from the Disney store they will not put the names on. BUT, if you pick the ones you order from the store in advance, you should find that none of the designs cross the puck on top. You can order free ones in colors that match the ones you bought, then switch out the pucks in your purchased bands for the ones from the free bands that have names on them.
When I got the confirmation for our magic band upgrade, the email said we would receive the bands 10 business days before our trip, which isn’t for several months, but we actually received them a couple weeks later. I’m very happy!!
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10103806746611140&id=6915092
Part of the problem is that people aren’t waiting, as you suggest! There are many people who jump the gun and order right away, and at least did initially, which caused them to all sell out, even when their trips are not until next year! That isn’t great to do either, because magic bands DO lose their battery eventually, maybe not by that first time use, but it won’t last as long as if you just receive it a few weeks before your trip.
I did try everything you suggested in troubleshooting, and STILL was not able to get 5 or 6 different ones offered when choosing for 4 people. You have to choose for everyone at the same time, that’s a crappy setup. I ended up picking all solid colors for the family and going over the etsy to order decals because our trip is 2.5 weeks away and couldn’t wait much longer! It ended up being cheaper anyway still. â€â™€ï¸
I think they should hold the selections like they used to with the solid colors, and send them out during the month before. If they are selected prior, they know which ones to get.
“I think they should hold the selections like they used to with the solid colors, and send them out during the month before. If they are selected prior, they know which ones to get.”
That is exactly what I’ve recommended to Disney several times. They said “our guests want things immediately when they pay for them.” However, I pay for my Disney trip ahead of time and they don’t send it to my house–ha! Let’s barrage them with comments until they fix this crazy system!
Ali, the problem with not purchasing the bands now for trips next year is that Disney may pull the offer at any time and then those guests will be out of luck. As for battery life, I have a number of Magicbands from when the program was initiated and the batteries are still good.
The reason they send them out immediately is because when guests are paying for a band, they want it right away, and Disney is in agreement with this. Also, they don’t want to hold your themed band because they can’t guarantee the one you select will be available at the time of your trip. I think the biggest problem with this program though is that they didn’t anticipate the popularity of the offer and lacked sufficient inventory of the most popular bands.
Yesterday, I managed to get a Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge band for my niece (the biggest Star Wars fan in our family) and our trip isn’t until next April. She was absolutely thrilled.
This process is infuriating. I have 3 annual passes on my account (wife, son, myself). I can’t ever get 3 bands that we all like to be in stock at the same time. On the rare occasion that we do find 3 that we can add to our order, 1 always ends up out-of-stock as I’m completing the order.
We’ve been trying to do this since we renewed in May.
Disney’s inventory system is horrible from a guest perspective. We had this exact issue when trying to book rooms. We search, are presented with available options, and they are suddenly not available when checking out. Yet, when I’m looking for available rooms, it shows up. Why does their system present inventory (rooms, magicbands, etc) as available during search only to be pulled from your cart during checkout? I can see if I was 30 seconds behind another guest, but that should be pulled from search results and they aren’t.
I’m only trying to get one and, despite refreshing multiple times a minute and selecting/hitting checkout in under 30 seconds when it comes up, I still get the sold out message. The really frustrating thing is that it came up twice today. Maybe if they had listed all the stock at once, a few more people could get them from that listing instead of selling out in 30 seconds. It’s really starting to feel like a sick game 🙁
I just checked (4:30 p.m. Central Time). There are 15 upgrades available. I snagged the one I had been waiting for. Go now!
The “Premium” Magic Bands probably cost 2-5 extra dollars to make over the colored ones. So yeah, Disney is probably coming out ahead. But I do like the option. We just ordered ours for our trip in the Spring.
Considering my first trip was this year, my second trip next year, and out next trip probably not til 2022, I probably wouldn’t drop $25 on a Magic Band at all. But $10? Sounds like a super great deal.
However, when I ordered them, I think they said the might ship in August. I don’t know if that’s correct or not.
Mandi, I ordered two sets of themed Magicbands for two separate trips, one in October and one next April. I received an email three or four days after each order was accepted that the bands were in the mail, and I received them a week later.
My kids are keen to get certain prints and they are never available at the same time so I can’t complete the order! I wish I could order the ones I want as they become available.
this is one of my major beefs with this rollout “process”. we go next month so i didn’t have a lot of wiggle room. i was able to place an order during the second order period and i didn’t want to miss out, but the making you order all or nothing for your party is infuriating. i had 2 bands in my cart it kept allowing me to select but not allow me to purchase (another beef, don’t let me select if you don’t let me purchase). i really would have preferred those but had to settle for picking two others because there was a third that was a must-have for one of my kids and i definitely didn’t want to miss out. but why not allow me to purchase that one, then when the others i’d prefer are available, let me order those??? a smart enough system would be able to program any band to any person at any point, just like if you bought them in a store.
Does anyone know when the premium bands will be restocked? Trip is in a few weeks and I was hoping to order premium bands for the kids.
Keep trying daily I found stock would come available precisely at 8.45 or 9.45 eastern time and within 5 minutes stock would be gone – ordered mine for a family of 5 none or our first choices you have to be quick and just go for what you think each would like as a different choice comes available everyday so a complete lottery – one day At 8.45 I had all 5 of our favourites (Darth Vader, Belle, Elsa, Mickey, pirates of Caribbean) but the site crashed on checkout within 5 minutes of choosing and lost them all. Tried yesterday and at 9.45 they became available with less choice so just went for it and got Olaf, Moana, Sorcerer Mickey, Donald & Thanks giving limited ed. Such a shame we couldn’t get our first choices but we are travelling in a couple of weeks and didn’t want to risk being left with a limited choice as even the shopdisney website is showing many of my choices as being sold out! Good luck
Hello, Thanks so much for that information. I had thought the stock probably was loaded at a certain time each day. Maybe this is a dumb question–but 8:45 pm or am? 🙂 Thanks!
AM – good luck as they may come on soon today! Keep us posted if my theory is correct! Just keep refreshing that page!
Morning – good luck! Hope my theory works as been studying for a few days
Every week day morning the system updates the magic band stock around 945est. I was finally able to order 3 custom bands today. Hopefully this helps everyone.
Thank you everyone.
I will try again in the morning to see if i will be lucky,
Appreciate everyone’s input! Leaving in a few weeks so I’m crossing my fingers ☺ï¸
The one I wanted popped up at 4pm and 1am (pacific) today. It seems like they drop several times throughout the day. The problem is, both times it came up, it was already sold out in the 30 seconds I took to select and hit checkout, so despite refreshing multiple times per minute for literally hours and hours, I still can’t get it. It’s a pretty disappointing promotion.
Unfortunately you are not the only one who has had this problem. Once they send the solid color bands you cannot order something else. Although the website says you can order up to 11 days before your trip, that is only if you haven’t started the order. Once you go in and start customizing, the system considers the order completed and will ship whatever is selected 3-4 weeks in advance of check in like it did in the days before the custom bands. It is a complete mess! I don’t know if they will help you if you call, but you could certainly try. The site is absolutely not clear about the default shipment of plain bands at 3-4 weeks out.
Wow – that is crazy! They definitely should be letting people know about that! What a waste of time the process has been. I sent a strongly worded but pleasant email about this and suggested that those who are unable to make use of the discounted rate be allowed to purchase at the park for the discounted rate instead of being penalized for a system error that has nothing to do whatsoever with us.
I’ve been waiting for the 3 we want to all be available at the same time which is not yet happening. Got an email the other day that plain ones were already shipped to us. What? Will we still be able to choose some of the new ones? The option seems to be gone from my Disney account. Anyone have any experience with this or advice how we can still get the new ones for the discounted price?
Thanks for your update, Tom. I didn’t read the comments, but this could be the worst Disney roll out I’ve ever seen and I think most agree. And customer service can barely help. I’ve only been in one situation (after about 20 tries) where I could order 4 customized bands (and they were random).
I recommended that Disney allow people to order them and ship them days ahead; that way they don’t have to have all of them in stock all the time. I was told “our guest want things they buy immediately.” I reminded them that I was a “guest” and I’d rather have a consistent experience. I pay thousands of dollars ahead for a Disney vacation and I can wait for the Magic Bands. It’s really maddening. Some of these things do minimize the “magic” for sure!
Personally, I think the system in place to purchase these is amazingly poor. We tried numerous times to purchase our bands with no luck. When we called, we were transferred around while they tried to see if it was our computer (we have 2) that was the issue, our account, or something else. Naturally, it was their system. Their answer, as they said the bands refreshed every 45 minutes, was to keep logging on and refreshing our screens if the ones we chose weren’t able to be completed. What a waste of time. Then yesterday I call and am told that they are currently out of all of the bands other than the plain ones until further notice. My question is; why don’t they have something on their site stating this so people don’t waste their time trying to purchase? Frustrating.
Yes, that would have been nice to know considering I’ve apparently been wasting my time for the past 5 days…but who are we kidding, it appears that I’ve been wasting my time for the past month! I considered sending an e-mail, but I feel like it will just fall on deaf ears. Disney doesn’t seem to eager or willing to address this issue because it’s crickets from them. I wouldn’t even care about this if it weren’t for the fact that they offered it and I made the mistake of telling my kids and having them pick out which bands they’d like. It not only makes me feel bad because I’m going to have to disappoint my children, it also takes a little of the magic away when it becomes this hard.
I agree with you completely!! I emailed them and suggested that since they outright told me that only the plain coloured bands were going to be available for an unknown amount of time , perhaps a fair solution would be to allow us to purchase the other bands at the park for the online price. It’s been a week since I emailed. I got a stock ‘someone will contact you’ email and then nothing.
Try daily at 8.45 & 9.45 eastern time as I have been stalking for days and found this to be the time they will come available but have a look on shopdisney and choose a couple of each as choices as you have a 5 minute window to make your choice and check out otherwise they sell out and not all band are available at once so it just a quick decision and my kids were happy to have a print of any kind rather than just a colour – but felt like my last 5 days has been MagicBand wasted but I got – we travel in a couple of weeks so time against us agree that Disney should have rolled it out in preference of those travelling like the adr & fastpasses.
I really wish it was set up with a time parameters like FP+ and the ADR – a time set for when you can grab a selection. People whom have a trip in one month trying to scramble to get a band they want with people whom have a trip in 8 months or whatever is causing the turmoil. I hope they figure this stuff out soon.
How hard would it be to allow only those whom have a trip scheduled X amount of weeks out vs MONTHS out….. SHHEESSSHHHH
Michelle you should seell this idea to Disney…it is worth millions… fantastic idea!!! First to go, fist to get simple!! 😉
I don’t really understand how this wasn’t put into the works in the first place… or at the very least after the first week when the website went ape crap and went blank…. I have 6 days left (according to the countdown) but go in Sept — I shouldn’t have to fight for ANY band I might want with someone who is going in 2020…… It’s ridiculous!!
As of July 18 they only had some in stock but some of the newer ones were priced at 15 and the older ones still at 10
Any guesses if they will have seasonal bands for the holidays? I saw a red, white, and blue one for the 4th! Hoping for a Christmay one.
Yeah I found Christmas 2018, 2016, and on somewhere online. I suppose 2019 will be released this fall…