How Long Are Magic Bands Good For?

I have always been under the impression that magic bands could be used for as long as you want for touchpoints and that the battery that fuels the chip for the long-range sensors is the only part that will fail after a certain amount of time.

About two years ago I bought a Dooney and Bourke band thinking that I could basically use it forever. During my trip last November it stopped working to get me into my hotel room on the last day of my vacation. I went again a couple of weeks ago and used the band thinking the hotel room thing was just a glitch, but when I got to the Magical Express check-in at the airport, the band wouldn’t work there either. I happened to bring a newer band so I ended up just using that for the rest of my trip. The D&B magic band is connected in MDE to me, so that’s not the issue.

So, is that Magic Band toast? Do they go “bad” after a certain amount of time even for touchpoints? Am I wrong that they should always work at touchpoints or is there something wrong with this particular band? It makes me leary to buy the specialty bands if they’re no good to use after a certain amount of time.

Thanks for helping me understand!

I thought I read that Magicbands are usually good for about 2 years. It’s why I don’t buy specialty bands since we have gone about every 2 years.

The touchpoints should always work. The door opening is something people often have trouble with even with brand new bands. I can’t speak to DME, we pick our MBs up at check in and have a letter for ME.

That’s the long range - basically automatically getting ride photos, and it’s a minimum of 2 years. Len has said on another thread today that his 2013 band is still working just fine for long range.

Yeah, with my luck I would get one that lasts the minimum. :smirk:

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I’ve never heard yet of one stopping working, and you could still use it to tap for your photo. But you’d lose the videos that magically appear. I think the speciality bands are overpriced though, I wouldn’t buy one either.

See, I tried to use the band at MDE, my hotel, and to buy something at the parks last visit (just to test it out) and it didn’t work. I’m really bummed about this – it doesn’t work for anything I’ve tried to use it for.

It is possible it is that the band got locked out, not that it stopped working.

If you try to use a MagicBand in the parks, for example, that you didn’t tap INTO the park with, Disney might assume it is lost/stolen and lock it from further use.

Anyhow, the ability to tap entry to the park, rides, or your hotel does not even use a battery. RFID uses a magnetic field generated by the device your tapping into to power it, NOT power from the band itself. Basically moving your band near the magnetic field generates enough power in the band to generate a radio signal that the tapstyle, etc., picks up.

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I had the same problem at DME my last trip. It turned out the band was still good (it was only 1 month old) but since it was not the one I got for the current trip it did not work for DME. He asked if it was the one associated with the reservation, which confused me cause I did not think it would matter since it was linked to the same account. Anyway, it worked everywhere else after a visit to the front desk but not DME, luckily like you I always bring the paperwork

Hmm, maybe you’re right about it being locked out. I guess I can try it again in July and see, but I’m discouraged about it. It just hasn’t seemed to work for anything after that fateful day in November… :slight_smile:

Now that I think of it, I took it to the front desk and they couldn’t get their scanners to read it at all. I’m not sure that being locked out was the problem, they simply told me that they couldn’t get their scanners to read the magic band at all and offered to give me a generic one to replace it (but I had another already).

That’s strange, because I’ve used this particular band for every trip I’ve taken since I got it (for DME too) and have never had an issue at DME since it was connected to my account. I guess it’s a bigger mystery than I thought!!!

Yes same here, my wife always gives me a hard time about getting a new band on each trip. In the past I would use the same one for about a year then replace it. Never had an issue anywhere. Not until this last trip. If you are still there bring it to the front desk or GS, they may be able to re program it. If your not still there get a new generic one for your next trip but still see if the get the Dooney to work

That’s very odd.