Is a MagicBand worth it when staying off property?

Walt Disney World Other
1

I have two old ones I can use but there are five of us this time. We are staying at the Wyndam Bonnet Creek but don’t know if I should get Magicbands for the rest of the crew or what they should use to get on rides etc/

2

You don’t need them to get on rides
I don’t think you’ll need them for anything, really. I use them to pay my bill at TS but you can use a card.
Mobile order uses a card

I’d probably skip it (says she who got a new one for this past trip and the next one too, just because)

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3

Any young kids? Will you do Rider Swap or DAS? Sometimes it can be handier if each has their own MB instead of digging out the (right) cards for them.

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4

You’ll want them if you do photopass.

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5

Just pick up cards at ticketing services. You will only need them to enter the parks and for RoTR.

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6

Just as easy to use cards.

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7

Do cards work for ride photos?

8

Yes. They work for anything a magicband works for.

9

I stayed off-site 2 times, didn’t have magic bands for the first but bought one the second time.

You can do without, but having one is so much more delightful! Worth the cost, just for the joy of using it (it was less than $15, so <2% of my trip cost, for a repeated dose of happiness). Also, with MB you don’t have to worry about linking on ride photos later.

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10

Way back, before MBs, I would carry my Key to the World card on a lanyard around my neck. It was in an ID case with room for an additional card and some foldin’ money. Very convenient

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11

Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you need the MagicBands if you want the automatic detection from the RFID to make PhotoPass more automatic? Not worth spending $100 more for, but it’s a feature.

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12

The new features they added to the iPhone app are supposed to be able to communicate w/ the ride photo interfaces using wifi. It isn’t available on other platforms yet though.

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13

Thank you all, it seems the big question is still about the photos and whether n the phones work. I have time to figure this out since we are going in December.

14

I am hoping the app is updated for all platforms before I visit in October. It is quite annoying that they release something this important to your trip and it only works for some of the guests. Develop and app and release it to all the major platforms, not just one!!

They did the same thing when they released the “Play” app. Half of it only worked on iPhones for years.

1 Like