How is it without Magic Bands?

[ChanaC]

So as most of us on the thread know, Magic Bands are no longer complementary. I'm potentially booking an onsite hotel and am wondering if it's worth buying even a basic band. If I was only using it a few times a day to unlock the door or get into the park I wouldn't bother, but we will potentially use Genie+/LL which means using it a lot more. Plus I might take advantage of the room charging perk. I know the basic ones are only $5 (I think?), but obviously everything is starting to add up with the bands, LL, parking fees, etc. What have people's experiences been now that Genie+ is here? I think I have a really old Magic Band from ~2015 but I believe a new edition of them have come out since so I'm not betting on that one still working, assuming I didn't already throw it away.

And as a side question, if you don't use a Magic Band you can either request a key card or use your phone, right? And how easy have they both been in the parks recently?

 

[Gehrig1B]

Magic Bands begin at $10 now. They are convenient but not necessary. The card is as convenient excepting you have to present it each time. Phone is less convenient in my opinion. Do you have old bands? They will work fine excepting long distance RFID like for ride photos. The ones I use are 3 and 4 years old.

 

[ChanaC]

Magic Bands begin at $10 now. They are convenient but not necessary. The card is as convenient excepting you have to present it each time. Phone is less convenient in my opinion. Do you have old bands? They will work fine excepting long distance RFID like for ride photos. The ones I use are 3 and 4 years old.

Thanks, I didn’t realize they are up to $10 now. I’ll have to check for those old magic bands. I think I threw them out in my last deep clean. If not I might just request a card. The magic bands don’t have batteries or anything in them, right?

 

[kshu2014]

So as most of us on the thread know, Magic Bands are no longer complementary. I'm potentially booking an onsite hotel and am wondering if it's worth buying even a basic band. If I was only using it a few times a day to unlock the door or get into the park I wouldn't bother, but we will potentially use Genie+/LL which means using it a lot more. Plus I might take advantage of the room charging perk. I know the basic ones are only $5 (I think?), but obviously everything is starting to add up with the bands, LL, parking fees, etc. What have people's experiences been now that Genie+ is here? I think I have a really old Magic Band from ~2015 but I believe a new edition of them have come out since so I'm not betting on that one still working, assuming I didn't already throw it away.

And as a side question, if you don't use a Magic Band you can either request a key card or use your phone, right? And how easy have they both been in the parks recently?

We recently traveled & stayed on-site without the use of magic bands. If everyone in your party has access to a smart phone and has a wallet feature, then it was pretty convenient to use that as I could queue up my pass with one click of a button. We also had a few people in our party who had Apple Watches, on which they could load their park passes. Just in case, we also picked up the key cards from the front desk of our resort - they're good to have on-hand, but I only pulled mine out a handful of times when I was too lazy to take out my phone.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Thanks, I didn’t realize they are up to $10 now. I’ll have to check for those old magic bands. I think I threw them out in my last deep clean. If not I might just request a card. The magic bands don’t have batteries or anything in them, right?

Magicbands do have batteries which are supposed to last a few years. Old MB's can be used for park entry and any "touch" feature, like charging to your resort. But if the batteries have died, then the rides that have photos, like Pirates, won't be able to pick up the MB signal.

MB's are very convenient, especially if you plan to use Genie+. You need them to tap into the Lightning Lanes of the rides, sometimes at two points in the line.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

We stayed at Universal last year for the first time and I thought the entire time, I wish they had Magic Bands. Ha Having to pull out phones or cards all the time was just an added pain compared to flashing a band already on my wrist real quick. Ha If you have Photopass, it's necessary for some of the ride photos.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

This thread makes me think of a question. Can you use either the disney app or a complimentary key card to perform room charges? I have aways loved using my magic band so i didn't have to worry about carrying a wallet or some way to pay each time I made a purchase in the parks or at disney springs. But if they have added that feature to the latest version of the app or a key card, then I won't mind not having a band

 

[kshu2014]

This thread makes me think of a question. Can you use either the disney app or a complimentary key card to perform room charges? I have aways loved using my magic band so i didn't have to worry about carrying a wallet or some way to pay each time I made a purchase in the parks or at disney springs. But if they have added that feature to the latest version of the app or a key card, then I won't mind not having a band

Since the Park Pass & Mobile Key are different (key is via the app and park pass can be stored in your wallet), I'm not 100% sure about the charging privileges. However, I do know that you can request to have your physical key to the world card activated at the front desk to include charging privileges.

 

[reddog21]

I feel magic bands are the easiest especially if you have little ones. My 13 year old preferred using his phone over the magic band because he didn't like wearing the band all day. Using the phone for a one person entry was just as easy as using the magic band. At least for my family we wouldn't consider using a key card.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

Since the Park Pass & Mobile Key are different (key is via the app and park pass can be stored in your wallet), I'm not 100% sure about the charging privileges. However, I do know that you can request to have your physical key to the world card activated at the front desk to include charging privileges.

Thanks. I still have an active band from a prior trip. I will probably just use that, but I like to know my options

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Thanks. I still have an active band from a prior trip. I will probably just use that, but I like to know my options

We are going in January and this is exactly what I was wondering! Thanks all!

 

[Spazz2k]

We really haven’t used magic bands lately….love using Apple Watch for everything. You don’t even have to press any buttons or open any app…just put watch next to any Disney reader and it works…

but I’m still a geek so I also wear my band, just don’t use it.

 

[Pixiedust04]

I had my magic band just in case. But my Apple Watch worked perfectly. At entry and for lighting lane. Just as good as magic band. I just used magic band to open room door. Could have used my phone but magic band was so much easier than digging out my phone. My sister in law realized she had left her wallet in the room and well she had not set up her band for charges, she had her credit card memorized so she just quickly set up Apple Pay and used that for charges.

 

[CamillaF]

Does anyone have experience wearing a magic band and a watch? Is it too much on the wrist? Or does it work?

 

[modavi]

We really haven’t used magic bands lately….love using Apple Watch for everything. You don’t even have to press any buttons or open any app…just put watch next to any Disney reader and it works…

but I’m still a geek so I also wear my band, just don’t use it.

I second the apple watch. Was very convenient. We did a mix, and a few in our party bought the magic band, others used their keycard, and others such as myself had smart watches that worked just as well. Highly recommended if you're a tech geek.

 

[BethC]

I like to use Magic Bands when staying on site. It makes room charges easier (especially at the food booths at Epcot), and I find it a lot more convenient for Lightning Lane returns.

 

[sheilafri]

So as most of us on the thread know, Magic Bands are no longer complementary. I'm potentially booking an onsite hotel and am wondering if it's worth buying even a basic band. If I was only using it a few times a day to unlock the door or get into the park I wouldn't bother, but we will potentially use Genie+/LL which means using it a lot more. Plus I might take advantage of the room charging perk. I know the basic ones are only $5 (I think?), but obviously everything is starting to add up with the bands, LL, parking fees, etc. What have people's experiences been now that Genie+ is here? I think I have a really old Magic Band from ~2015 but I believe a new edition of them have come out since so I'm not betting on that one still working, assuming I didn't already throw it away.

And as a side question, if you don't use a Magic Band you can either request a key card or use your phone, right? And how easy have they both been in the parks recently?

You could also use a lanyard to hold your card keys. We did that for several years before we got Magic Bands. It only takes a few seconds to get the plastic ticket out, distribute to each person and then collect to keep safe until the next use.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Does anyone have experience wearing a magic band and a watch? Is it too much on the wrist? Or does it work?

My hubby and I both wear a Garmin. We actually wore our magic bands on the opposite wrist. We've done it this way for all of our trips over the last 7 years. We really prefer the Magic Band to using our phone.

 

[Jmljasmine]

Does anyone know if the key cards scan through a clear lanyard holder. It would be cheaper to get everyone one in their favorite color to wear them to buy the magic bands. (plus more future uses)

 

[gdrj]

May be silly but I’m not spending $10 to $25+ for a magic band. I do have old ones we used. We recently were at WDW and 2 in our party had hard tickets they used for entry and charges. When old ones die that its for me. I also believe you can use Apple Pay so your Apple phone can kind of be like a Magic band.