not sure if this is the correct board - Magic Bands - pros / cons of putting credit card on it

[DisneyMom93]

Pros - It's very convenient not to have to pull out a CC at every purchase.

Cons - It's very convenient. We hit our room charge limit in record time because we didn't even think about how much we were spending. We just tapped, signed and went about our business.
Also, you don't get the Disney Visa Discounts at restaurants or stores if you use the magic band. You actually have to show the card to get the discount.

We had to go to the front desk to "renew" our charge limit. It was very inconvenient.

Can you just show the Disney Visa card to get the discount? Or do you actually have to use it at that time? I don't recall.

I carry the Disney Visa anyway for the special Meet and Greets.

 

[2manypets]

I'm not sure about just showing it as I've learned my lesson on using the MB's . Now I just use the actual CC. I'm sure other's will have more experience.

 

[AngiTN]

A few questions, as we are staying on property for the first time this fall and the kids (17 and 11) haven't had access to "charging privileges" before. I used my Magic Band to charge during a solo stay in January, and it was great (until I got that bill for dinner at Jiko - forgot about that 2nd bottle of wine. Whoops !). I'd much prefer to let the kids charge snacks and souvenoirs when they go out into the parks by themselves, and then just use their gift cards to pay it off at checkout. That way we can combine their 10 giftcards online and just use one master account.

1) Can I set a limit for the kids to charge per day, or is it just a master limit for all of us on one card ?

2) Can I assign different Pin #s to each band ?

3) Can I connect the bands and the credit card online before we arrive, or does it have to be done at a resort ? We are heading straight to Disney Springs, so it would be nice if they could use them right away.

1. No, not to my knowledge, it's a limit for the room, based on the resort level (Value, Mod, Deluxe)
2. Not sure, I think so, we always just do 1
3. You assign the credit card when you complete online check in, and assign the PIN

Can you just show the Disney Visa card to get the discount? Or do you actually have to use it at that time? I don't recall.

I carry the Disney Visa anyway for the special Meet and Greets.

Yes, you can just show it

 

[wdhinn89]

We don't do it because we have a Disney Visa and you need to show it for discounts.

Just use your Disney Visa instead of swiping your band when you go to a restaurant that offers the discount. There are not that many restaurants that offer the discount.
Our bands have charging privileges but we do not swipe them for payment until our Disney Rewards card balance is at zero. All because your bands have charging privileges, it does not mean you have to use them for every purchase made

 

[FrancoFun]

We assigned a credit card to our Magic Bands for our trip, and gave DS 10 charging privileges as well.

It was super convenient for him to be able to buy pins for trading independently. I loved not having to dig out cash or a credit card every time we wanted to purchase something (we did have cash and several credit cards in our bag just in case).

I don't feel we spent any more using our MBs than we would have if we were using cash or credit. It was just an added convenience.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Just use your Disney Visa instead of swiping your band when you go to a restaurant that offers the discount.

Yeah...that's what we do...

 

[SKYYCAMEL]

Do all outlets in the parks (food and gifts) accept MB's?

 

[AngiTN]

Do all outlets in the parks (food and gifts) accept MB's?

The only place I've seen that can't accept MB are the roaming push carts or walking vendors

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

We have our CC connected to our band but don't plan to ever use it unless it is a very small amount on the last day. We have all our spending money on Disney gift cards and Disney Visa Reward card. We charge everything back to the room but every night or the next morning we will go down and pay off our room charges with the gift cards or reward card. Been doing this since 2006 and have never had a problem.

 

[AngiTN]

We have our CC connected to our band but don't plan to ever use it unless it is a very small amount on the last day. We have all our spending money on Disney gift cards and Disney Visa Reward card. We charge everything back to the room but every night or the next morning we will go down and pay off our room charges with the gift cards or reward card. Been doing this since 2006 and have never had a problem.

We do same too. We have the credit card there because you have to in order to have charging privileges on the MB. But you don't have to apply the charges to the card if you go by and give them something else. We've given them cash and gift cards over the years, only using our credit card when we use up those first. I keep a mental tally going and if we reach our limit before our last night we go by then.
And if you do find they've run your card they can reverse the charges and give you a credit. Takes a few days for the credit to appear but it does work. I've had to do this one time when I forgot to go by on our last night. I hate to make them do that so I really try hard to get by there but we got tied up one trip and it didn't happen like I'd planned.

 

[MrPTato]

I saw somewhere the tap points got upgraded to more of a "retail store" type setup. I assume I can use ApplePay as well? That would be handy if the MB system went down, then I would just use my AppleWatch.

 

[AngiTN]

I saw somewhere the tap points got upgraded to more of a "retail store" type setup. I assume I can use ApplePay as well? That would be handy if the MB system went down, then I would just use my AppleWatch.

Yes, Apple Pay does work though I have never used it. Knock on wood, I've been lucky to never encounter a problem with MB system not working

 

[mousefan73]

Correct me if I am wrong. But for water park lockers it's cash or CC correct? No MB

 

[bethbuchall]

When I did my on-line check-in, it indicated that I already have a PIN set. Would that be the one that we used back in 2013? Is going to the front desk the only way to change it?

 

[AngiTN]

When I did my on-line check-in, it indicated that I already have a PIN set. Would that be the one that we used back in 2013? Is going to the front desk the only way to change it?

yes, once set a PIN is there forever, unless it gets deleted in one of the many IT glitches.
You can go to the front desk to reset or you can do it on your MDE account

 

[AngiTN]

Correct me if I am wrong. But for water park lockers it's cash or CC correct? No MB

I didn't get a locker at the water park but lockers in the parks are either cash or CC so I suspect it's the same at the WP

 

[bethbuchall]

yes, once set a PIN is there forever, unless it gets deleted in one of the many IT glitches.
You can go to the front desk to reset or you can do it on your MDE account

Thanks! I found in under manage payments.

 

[ksromack]

If our party will be a group of 7 ladies but I make the room reservations, all 7 of our magic bands will come to my house pre-trip, right? When the bands are distributed, can each person attach their own cc to their band? Then their charging privileges will come out of their cc, right? I'm trying to figure out how we'll handle this coming trip in October. We are purchasing our park hoppers via UT and will attach tickets to MDE. I just want to make sure I understand the process as I've never organized a group like this before. We're life-long friends. We can all link our MDE accounts too? I want to make sure all fast passes are for the same time and I will handle making all of those. Am I making this more complicated than it needs to be?

 

[Hopefully]

Each person will have to go th the front desk and set up their own credit card. Then watch those charges like a hawk. Disney is notorious for not charging multiple cards correctly. Personally with 8 adult women I wouldn’t use Magic Bands on one room account. I would just have each person change to their credit card directly at the time of purchase and skip the MBs completely

 

[chicagoshannon]

Can you charge all the way to midnight on check out day?