New MagicBand Upgrades: Resort-Specific & Disney World 50th Designs

There are several new discounted MagicBand upgrade options honoring Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary and featuring resort-specific designs. This post will share the styles, pricing info, and details about what’s available exclusively for pre-arrival hotel guests.

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. Note that the free upgrade option was discontinued at the start of this year, so the only thing you’ll see now is paid choices–with the cheapest option being $10. They are all discounted by $10 to $15, but still can be pricey.

Normally, we share updates on what’s available in our MagicBand Upgrade Options at Walt Disney World, which also includes troubleshooting info and tips (since the system doesn’t always play nicely). However, that post is already getting bogged down with additions, there are several new designs, and I want to add some off-topic commentary, so I figured a fresh post makes sense…

As a reminder, Walt Disney World’s MagicBand upgrade options fluctuate with regularity. New styles are added, others sell out, options are restocked–all of this happens on a seemingly daily basis. Even while I was putting together this post, the options changed.

Just something to keep in mind while reviewing what’s available and preparing your order. If you see options you like, do not hesitate to upgrade–unless your prepared to refresh the options hourly until the choices you want come back in stock!

Anyway, let’s start with the new “World’s Most Magical Celebration” MagicBand designs…

First up, the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Cinderella Castle design.

This features the Magic Kingdom icon decked out in its Royal Makeover, including the “50” emblem over the clock.

It also says the World’s Most Magical Celebration on the other side, and includes a 50th Anniversary clasp.

Given what we’ve seen of pricing for other celebratory MagicBands, I’m surprised this is $20 and not $5-10 more expensive.

Speaking of which, here’s the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary limited release pre-arrival exclusive (phew), which is priced at $30.

They’re giving this one a comparable value of $45, which seems pretty expensive to me.

I love the idea of this, the colors, and the character modeling, but… (you knew that was coming, right?!)

Why on earth are BB-8 and Simba on this MagicBand?! Pick a lane–intellectual properties or Walt Disney World history. Having a MagicBand with Orange Bird, Figment, Mr. Toad, and what appears to be Madame Leota is awesome. I’m even fine with Dumbo and Tinker Bell given their in-park significance. But the rest? Eh. Give me Big Al, Sonny Eclipse, the Auctioneer, Progress Dad, and other deeper cuts from the parks. Make a separate MagicBand focusing on movie characters.

Next up, we have a bunch of resort-specific styles.

I should note that not all of these are new. In digging through my voluminous MagicBand archives, I first see the options for Disney’s Riviera Resort and Grand Floridian both appearing back in December 2019.

More recently, they added Disney’s Yacht Club Resort. (Sorry, my archives show it at multiple points but I’m not sure when it first appeared.)

My hope when these designs began appearing was that there would be releases for every single resort at Walt Disney World. Well, we’re getting a bit closer to that…

I’ll start with my favorite of these, the Disney’s Old Key West Resort limited release pre-arrival exclusive.

This features a pie-eye Mickey Mouse in resort casual wear. I’d like to think the design team drew inspiration for Mickey’s wardrobe from an old photo of Ernest Hemingway. The only thing missing is a handle of rum. Maybe that’s why they cut off Mickey’s hand–he’s clutching a big ole bottle of booze!

What I like about this MagicBand is the art style, and also that specific buildings from around Old Key West Resort are represented.

This is the perfect marriage of Mickey Mouse and a resort-specific design. Good for fans of the character and OKW owners–a great balance.

Next, a Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort limited release pre-arrival exclusive.

Pretty much the exact same sentiment applies here as with the OKW design above. Love Mickey’s laid-back look, color choices, and resort logo.

The back side isn’t quite as strong. “Tropical Paradise” is just kinda…there…for some reason.

It’d be cool if this featured the Caribbean Beach lighthouse, pirate pool, Banana Cabana, Sebastian’s Bistro, or even the Skyliner. As it stands, I’d say this is about 75% of the way to greatness.

Next, an option for Disney’s Port Orleans Resort (both of them, I guess). This is another limited release, pre-arrival exclusive priced at $25.

Honestly, this one is a letdown. Don’t get me wrong–I love the Princess and the Frog and think it’s incredibly underrated. However, having Princess Tiana on the MagicBand without Dr. Facilier, Prince Naveen, Louis, Madame Odie, etc. makes it unappealing to me.

That’s probably antiquated thinking–oh well. I’m hardly a macho man, but am nevertheless not comfortable wearing princess attire. More power to those who are, though.

Beyond that, it doesn’t exactly scream “Port Orleans Resort” to me. Rather, it feels like they made a Princess Tiana design, and then slapped on the Port Orleans logo.

I wish Disney’s artists would’ve stuck with the template of reinterpreting Mickey Mouse in ways befitting of the resort design. Mickey is the perfect ‘blank slate’ character–he can be drawn in any style, wear any outfit, and vacation in any setting. Give Princess Tiana her own MagicBand design, and follow the Mickey Mouse motif template for the resort-specific designs.

Nothing new here, but it does crack me up that the Grand Floridian MagicBand upgrade costs $20 whereas the others are $25.

It’s difficult to discern a distinction among the resort-specific designs that would make the Grand Floridian’s “worth” less money. Maybe Walt Disney World is like, “they already dramatically overpaid for the generic Hilton room, let’s give ’em a $5 break on the MagicBand. Don’t wanna get too greedy.” Very thoughtful.

Above are all of the designs currently available. As of September 25, 2021 at 9 am, there are 40 options.

When I checked earlier this month, there were 48. Earlier this summer, that number hit 50. So even with these new additions, it’s still a relatively low overall count. (Much of what’s missing appears to be the recent color trend options.)

Finally, I’ll admit that these resort-specific MagicBands aren’t shared without slight ulterior motives. I’ve hoped for years that Walt Disney World would bring back resort-specific refillable mugs. In fact, I mentioned it in an email to Guest Communications over a decade ago (well before this blog existed) and have since brought it up in surveys from time to time.

As resort-specific merchandise has proliferated at Walt Disney World over the last several years, I keep thinking and hoping that refillable mugs can’t be far behind. There are already very niche products, ranging from product lines for pool bars items for the gingerbread houses. On top of that, Walt Disney World has expanded its roster of refillable mugs. My hope is that these resort MagicBands sell well, demonstrating to decision makers that there’s a market for even more merchandise like this.

In general, offering resort-specific refillable mugs would be a savvy strategy; remind people of their resort stay regularly once they’re at home. (MagicBands sit in drawers; mugs are used daily.) It might reinforce the fond memories of their resort stay–and make them less likely to book off-site in the future, even if room rates and higher and there are fewer perks. This might sound far fetched, but Disney is masterful at manipulating emotions, and subtle things like that absolutely reinforce nostalgia. That’s something that can’t be quantified by sales numbers or surveys, either.

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YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think of the new Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary and resort-specific MagicBand upgrade options? Will you be paying the premium for one of these themed designs? Any specific styles catch your eye? Or, do you simply prefer using your phone or plastic ticket media to enter the parks or your hotel room? 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!