Disney Review Part 1: MagicBands

I read all the blog posts and reviews I could find about the new MagicBands before we went on our trip to Walt Disney World (WDW) in February of 2014 (I’m noting the date for future reference). There were a few mixed reviews, but it was mostly positive, and we were excited to get to use them. A few friends have asked me about our experience, so I decided to write my own review. :)


How we got our MagicBands
We booked our hotel on Disney property and purchased our park tickets (our friend/travel agent did this for us). I created an account on MyDisneyExperience.com, and after entering the confirmation number for our reservation to link it to my account, I could start using the site to plan the details of our trip. I customized each person’s MagicBand (this is just choosing the color and typing the name that will be printed on the inside), and once I confirmed that I was finished making changes, they mailed them to us in a really cool box.


There was a deadline for customizing the MagicBands and having them mailed to us. I think it was about a month before our trip. It is my understanding (which may be wrong) that they mail them to you in advance because you need them for Disney’s Magical Express (complimentary transportation from the airport to your Disney hotel). We flew into the Orlando/Sanford airport, and Magical Express doesn’t serve that airport, so we had to get a cab. We knew this before we booked our trip, and it was worth it to us since the flight was cheap and direct. So… I don’t have any experience using the MagicBands for Disney’s Magical Express.

The hardest part about customizing the MagicBands was deciding what color I wanted. Seriously. I wanted blue, but then Braden chose blue, and I wanted everyone to have a different color. I finally decided on green. David said he didn’t care, but I thought maybe he really did, so I had a hard time choosing for him (he got red). Cameron stated from the beginning that he wanted pink, so that’s what he got. :)

How the MagicBands Fit
Disney did a great job making the MagicBands fit most people. The outer gray area can be removed to make the band smaller to fit a child (or an adult with small wrists). I wondered if I would leave the gray outer part on or take it off. I ended up leaving it on, but I had to overlap the ends to make it fit. I could have worn it either way, but once you remove the gray part, there's no reattaching it. If we go back to WDW again while MagicBands are still in use (who knows?), then I'll probably make mine the smaller size.



Braden debated about whether or not to remove the gray part as well. He thought it looked cool, so he wanted to leave it on, but it was really too big for him, so we removed it. I also wondered if I would be comfortable wearing it. Disney sells accessories for the MagicBands, and I thought I might get a fabric CoverBand for mine, but I was fine without one. We didn’t buy any accessories at all, and no one complained.


How the MagicBands worked while we were at WDW
MagicBands basically replace the old “Key to the World,” which was a room key card. It could unlock your door, charge things to your room, get you into the parks, etc. The MagicBands now do all that and more. We had no major problems using the MagicBands. They were fun to wear, and worked perfectly every time we scanned them to open our room door, enter a theme park, pay for a snack, use a FastPass, link ride photos to our account, or get into the hotel pool. They were great! The boys LOVED scanning them, especially to open our room door. They’re waterproof, and Braden even wore his while swimming in the pool.

Note: I did not use my MagicBand to add PhotoPass pictures to my account since I pre-purchased the Memory Maker card. Whenever we had a photo taken by a Disney PhotoPass photographer, I presented that card rather than scanning my MagicBand.

So, no major problems, but what about little problems?

1. You have to line up the Mickey icon on your MagicBand with the Mickey icon on the scanner, and that can sometimes be difficult, especially for the kids. The room door was probably the hardest. The scanner is located right above the door handle, so it’s in a fairly tight spot (at least it was at our hotel). You have to contort your wrist just right to get it to match up. Not a big deal, but it would be easier if the scanner was a few inches farther away from the door frame. Note that it's helpful to wear the MagicBand with Mickey's face upside-down (at least it looks upside-down to you when you look at your band as you would a wristwatch). This is so you don't have to hold your arm upside-down to match Mickey to Mickey, which would make unlocking the door even more difficult! ;)

2. We linked our Disney Visa card to our room, so whenever we used our MagicBands to charge to our room, it was ultimately being charged to our Disney Visa card. There are a few perks to having that card, and one is that you get a 10% discount on in-park purchases over $50. Unfortunately, the discount did not happen if we scanned our MagicBand to pay. We had to use the actual credit card. Again, not a big deal, but it was a minor inconvenience to have to carry the credit card around.

To sum up, we loved using the MagicBands! I was actually a little sad to take mine off when it was time to go home. :)

Here are all three posts in this series:
Disney Review Part 1: MagicBands
Disney Review Part 2: FastPass+
Disney Review Part 3: MyDisneyExperience

Also, here are a few sites with information about MagicBands you might find interesting:
FIRST LOOK: Disney’s MyMagic+ MagicBand from WDWInfo
Disney MagicBands In-Depth Review at Walt Disney World from MouseChat
MagicBand Hint: Smaller Band for Smaller Wrists from WDW Hints
Magic Bands & My Disney Experience Part 2: How it works on Vacation from DisDining

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