Disney’s MagicBand
MagicBands are soft, rubber wrist bands that contain an RFID chip. Guests will be able to have their credit card, resort key, park tickets, dining plan, FastPass+, and Photopass+ package linked to their MagicBand. So instead of swiping your key card with a magnetic strip, you’d simply tap your wrist band against a sensor to enter the park or FastPass queue, pay for a meal or purchase merchandise at the resorts or parks. You are not required to use the MagicBands and may instead opt to use a traditional RFID-enabled Key to the World card (however, during testing, anyone who wants to use FastPass+ must use the bands).
These bands are waterproof and can be worn in the pool or at the water parks. The band only comes in one size. However, there is a portion of it which is removable so that it is a better fit for smaller wrists. These bands are intended to be brought back to Walt Disney World for years and have a 3-year battery life.
As magical as it sounds, gone are the days where you have to dig around your bag for the tickets and trying to differentiate which ticket belongs to who. At this time, MagicBands are still in the testing phase, and only guests staying at select Walt Disney World resorts have been invited to test. We are really excited that we can be a part of this magical experience. There were rumours that testing will be concluded in November 2013 and Disney is ready to go live with MagicBand in December 2013. Then, there were speculations that only resort guests will get to experience MagicBand in December. Anyway, like I wrote in the FastPass+ post, I am always checking daily when MagicBand will be available to us. Besides the convenience associated with it, there is another significance why I really wanted the MagicBand. The MagicBand customisation will provide me with a 12 digit code (resort confirmation ID) which I need to get a FastPass+ to Quick Service lunch at Be Our Guest restaurant. It will otherwise typically take 90 minutes just to get into the restaurant. By having the FastPass+, you are able to skip the queue and go straight into the restaurant.
For the past weeks, whenever I logged onto My Disney Experience account, I only had the option to Manage MagicBand. I am eagerly waiting for this option to change to Personalize MagicBand. You can then choose the colour for each party and even print a name on the band. The colours currently available are red, yellow, blue, green, orange, pink and grey. After I selected all my FastPass+ on 17 October, I should be all set once I customise our bands. There were numerous discussions on the Disboards that many could customise their bands after they did online check-in and then modified the check-in. So, for many times a day, I will go clicking on the Manage MagicBand option hoping that something magical happens.
On the morning of Sunday, 20 October, just like magic, the option to personalise our MagicBands appeared along with the magical 12 digit code. I checked the code on https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com and it works. Alas the dates for our visit have not been loaded yet! This just means spending more time clicking on another website. As we were rushing off to Molin, I decided to personalise later in the afternoon. On our way, we discussed the colours we wanted and the names to be printed on our bands. Ashley was particularly excited about it.
The process to personalise the MagicBands was really simple; unlike the FastPass+ selection. After we have chosen our options, we were given up till 11 November to modify them. These are our choices:
ZA- Blue
SF- Yellow (Ashley chose this colour for me with Ashley printed on it). This will be her souvenir after our trip.
Jarod – Red
Ashley – Pink (with Princess printed on it).
With the MagicBands done, we are one step closer towards our magical holidays!