MagicBand +

[OneThree]

I noticed on shopDisney that many Magicbands are discounted with some available for another 25% off so I was thinking of grabbing some. Am I correct that the functionality is unchanged at DLR? You can scan in to parks, LL, and the bands react to certain things but that is about it right?

 

[LKing]

I noticed on shopDisney that many Magicbands are discounted with some available for another 25% off so I was thinking of grabbing some. Am I correct that the functionality is unchanged at DLR? You can scan in to parks, LL, and the bands react to certain things but that is about it right?

Correct. You can also use them with PhotoPass photographers.

Just make sure you get Magic Band Plus. I noticed some on ShopDisney were older versions.

 

[Porsche4]

We had our first DL trip in 2022, our first using Genie+. We really hated the amount of time we had to spend on our phones but understand that this is the reality of a Disney holiday these days if you want to use G+. I know with Magic Bands you still have to use your phone to book the LL's but this next trip we are definitely going to buy Magic Bands just for the convenience of checking in for our LL's and getting through the entrance gates in the morning. So much quicker and easier to scan your wrist that fiddle around with opening the App, finding the right screen scanning one ticket then refreshing and scanning the next. Believe me when you do that ten or twelve times a day, every day for a week you REALLY get sick of it.

 

[bbeagle]

We had our first DL trip in 2022, our first using Genie+. We really hated the amount of time we had to spend on our phones but understand that this is the reality of a Disney holiday these days if you want to use G+. I know with Magic Bands you still have to use your phone to book the LL's but this next trip we are definitely going to buy Magic Bands just for the convenience of checking in for our LL's and getting through the entrance gates in the morning. So much quicker and easier to scan your wrist that fiddle around with opening the App, finding the right screen scanning one ticket then refreshing and scanning the next. Believe me when you do that ten or twelve times a day, every day for a week you REALLY get sick of it.

We used Genie+ on our 2022 trip to WDW. We all had magic band+s. Nobody was on their phone except for me when adding another Genie+ reservation. And the only time I did that, other than in the morning, was to get another reservation after checking in line. Never while in the parks. I felt I was rarely on my phone.

 

[OneThree]

Does everyone in a party have to have their own account or are Magicbands like park tickets in that I can link them to my account. I’ve seen that you need to link the bands, update firmware, etc…

 

[Porsche4]

We used Genie+ on our 2022 trip to WDW. We all had magic band+s. Nobody was on their phone except for me when adding another Genie+ reservation. And the only time I did that, other than in the morning, was to get another reservation after checking in line. Never while in the parks. I felt I was rarely on my phone.

Yes that is the experience I am hoping for this time around. I feel like the Magic Bands will alleviate a lot of phone time. Also this time round I am a lot more confident in how to use the booking App so I know I will be a lot more efficient and I won't be on my phone fiddling around all the time. I know now what I want and usually the best time to book it so I feel like we will be more ready for the whole G+ experience.

 

[bbeagle]

Yes that is the experience I am hoping for this time around. I feel like the Magic Bands will alleviate a lot of phone time. Also this time round I am a lot more confident in how to use the booking App so I know I will be a lot more efficient and I won't be on my phone fiddling around all the time. I know now what I want and usually the best time to book it so I feel like we will be more ready for the whole G+ experience.

We never ‘fiddle faddled' for better times or rides. We just got what was available when we looked. This cut down on phone use. I can imagine someone who, every 5 minutes, is looking for the better ride or time and just refreshing, refreshing, etc. - those people would be on the phone all day.

 

[Porsche4]

We never ‘fiddle faddled' for better times or rides. We just got what was available when we looked. This cut down on phone use. I can imagine someone who, every 5 minutes, is looking for the better ride or time and just refreshing, refreshing, etc. - those people would be on the phone all day.

Yes we don't bother doing that either. We now know what LL's push out to a late time pretty quickly at the start of the day so we make sure to book those rides first then leave the ones that we know consistently have a relatively immediate return time till later in the day. We rope drop so we can ride our favourites a couple of times early then use LL to ride again later.

 

[BuzzlightHead]

Echoing others - not necessary but convenient. If you are trying to cut unnecessary costs, then don't get them. My family is not local, so our trips to Disneyland are every few years and cost at least a few thousand after all is said and done. I spent $100 total for my wife and I, (bought her one off Ebay that they no longer sell), and we'll have 6 days in the park. That's an extra $17 per day for an added convenience of just being able to tap and go and not fumble around with our phones.

This is especially important for us as our next trip is with our 1 year old and just being able to hold up our wrist for rides, entering/exiting the park, and photopass seems amazing. I know phones have become essential to the DL experience, but with MB you need to use them ust a bit less and I appreciate that.

 

[StormyCA]

Echoing others - not necessary but convenient. If you are trying to cut unnecessary costs, then don't get them. My family is not local, so our trips to Disneyland are every few years and cost at least a few thousand after all is said and done. I spent $100 total for my wife and I, (bought her one off Ebay that they no longer sell), and we'll have 6 days in the park. That's an extra $17 per day for an added convenience of just being able to tap and go and not fumble around with our phones.

This is especially important for us as our next trip is with our 1 year old and just being able to hold up our wrist for rides, entering/exiting the park, and photopass seems amazing. I know phones have become essential to the DL experience, but with MB you need to use them ust a bit less and I appreciate that.

Just curious about buying MB on eBay. Since MB aren't transferable was this a 'mint in box' MB?

I thought that once an MB was 'assigned' to someone it could never be 'reassigned' to another person, thus a 'used' MB would be 'useless' for a new owner.

 

[BuzzlightHead]

Just curious about buying MB on eBay. Since MB aren't transferable was this a 'mint in box' MB?

I thought that once an MB was 'assigned' to someone it could never be 'reassigned' to another person, thus a 'used' MB would be 'useless' for a new owner.

Yeah, it was an unopened MB.

 

[Chili327]

We are headed to Disneyland next year and I see you can use the MagicBand+ there. How important is it to have a MagicBand + in Disneyland? Can we get away with just using our park tickets for everything including ride photos?

In my opinion, they are not important at all. We use them to get into the park and for photo pass. You can also use them to enter Genie + lines.

The vast majority of guests use their phone.

Is this still basically the same.. somewhat useful, but definitely not needed.?
Anything useful newly added?
Are the entry gates upgraded to use them?

 

[katyringo]

Required=No
Helpful, and adds a little extra fun=yes
Cheap=No

 

[TheChanClan]

My kids like them. DH and I don't have them and just use a phone for the tickets and LL entries. I suppose it's convenient, but considering you still have to use the phone for everything, its only a small convenience.

 

[LKing]

Is this still basically the same.. somewhat useful, but definitely not needed.?
Anything useful newly added?
Are the entry gates upgraded to use them?

We did Genie + for the first time a couple of months ago. The MB makes it easier to scan onto the rides. One person in our group did not have a MB and the system was slower and a little more glitchy (depending on glare) when trying to scan the phone.

Today we used our MB to do silly interactive sounds at the HM construction fence, the Pixar display and at the DVC Big Al statue. Silly and fun, but not worth the extra money.

At entry, your MB will be scanned by a CM with a handheld device. It is not faster or easier with the MB vs phone at the gates.

 

[roctavia]

They aren't doing paper tickets anymore (or you have to go to city hall and wait for them to be printed and it's a hassle- though they might not do that even) but having a ticket to scan for rides was so much faster than people with their phones, especially if they had all the tickets on one phone... We had one smart phone between the 4 of us when we went last May, so we made the stop for actual tickets and it was so much easier. I get technology, but not everyone has a smart phone.

 

[achinforsomebacon]

They aren't doing paper tickets anymore (or you have to go to city hall and wait for them to be printed and it's a hassle- though they might not do that even) but having a ticket to scan for rides was so much faster than people with their phones, especially if they had all the tickets on one phone... We had one smart phone between the 4 of us when we went last May, so we made the stop for actual tickets and it was so much easier. I get technology, but not everyone has a smart phone.

We got paper tickets at the ticket booth between parks last year. They made a big stink about it and really pushed to use our phones. Our kids are old enough to split up for a ride but don't have phones so we wanted an alternative. I also hate being on my phone all the time. My favorite part was I said that I'm not good about keeping my phone charged so what if it dies...no problem, we have these convenient portable phone chargers...for another $30!

 

[achinforsomebacon]

Also, you can send the QR code that you screen shot to other members of your family. That way, it doesn't matter where or when they take photos, all of the photos end up in one album.

Additionally, you can use the picture of the QR code as your smartwatch face. Then just have the photopass photographers scan that. One of the photographers gave us that tip.

 

[erinch]

We are recently home from a long WDW trip. My hubby is not that tech savvy and had a hard time navigating the app. MB+ made it very easy for him, in particular if he was coming in by himself.

 

[DizMe]

I guess I don't see the big deal in the cost of a MB+. It's a lot easier to justify the cost, of course, if there are fewer people in your party and/or you go to DLR/WDW on a somewhat regular basis. As others have said, it's probably not something that you want to buy if you're only going once or rarely. For me, it didn't take long to be worth it (like immediately because I'm easily wowed).

It would be nice if it had greater functionality, like having an actual Genie assistant to answer questions about DLR without having to try and navigate the absurdly illogical app, but I have no idea what that would even entail. I just know that I can never find anything quickly on the app and I hate the way it's set up.