I bought magic bands for our trip next week, in part for the pre-trip fun of opening them. I was just poking around MDE, a week out from my trip, and realized I bought a MB+ for my son. There was something on there about it being charged and I finally dug through the whole box and found a charger.
It’s charging and will be updated, but does anyone know how long these hold a charge? Am I going to need to bring the charger for the trip? It looks pretty cool and is a fun surprise for both of us, guess it’s good I’ve been nervously checking and rechecking plans.
Ditto. You are unlikely to get more than a day on a single charge. But that’s just to use the interactive stuff. It doesn’t need to be charged in order for the Tapstyles to work, or to use it to open your room door. So don’t worry too much if you forget to charge it.
With new MagicBand+ bands, always charge and bluetooth pair and with your phone, and use the My Disney app to update the band’s firmware. Once updated, and you’ve adjusted any band settings, you won’t need to bluetooth connect to a phone unless you want to check the band’s battery level, or are doing Fab50 and Batuu Bounty hunter. Even my oldest MB+ bands have not needed a firmware update other than that first time.
We charge ours every night of a trip. We also carry one charging cable, with the portable power bank for our phones in the parks, just in case. IF the band is bluetooth connected to your phone, in the Disney app, you can see the band’s battery level.
Disney says the battery should last about 1-3 days. That being said, you can adjust the LED brightness and vibration intensity from their defaults which can impact battery life.
Also, if you plan on doing the Fab50 Quest Activity, it will drain a little bit more than normal use, but 1 day on a single charge is still definitely achievable.
The Batuu Bounty Hunter activity in DHS will drain the band’s battery FAST and you will struggle making it through the day without needing to charge it in the parks.
To get credit and properly play Fab50 and Batuu Bounty Hunter, you do need the MB+ band bluetooth paired and connected with your phone, the phone must have Disney World app installed and logged in, and the Play Parks app installed, logged in, open, and the Fab50 or Batuu game selected/running.
Related, has anyone replaced their charger? I’m afraid I either left mine in a hotel or threw it away thinking it was my old fitbit charger. I see many results on Amazon but am not sure what’s legit.
Adding that you will likely need to charge every night to get all the MB+ effects (i.e. lights and vibrations), BUT you don’t need to keep it charged for basic functionality (i.e. scanning in at gates and LL, room key).
Can anyone weigh in on using Apple Watch vs. Magic Band? I’m concerned about battery life for the watch, but reluctant to purchase new Magic Band + as I just threw 10 old ones away
If my MB+ is paired with my phone and I am managing the phones for the rest of my party does it only pair with my phone?. Tried pairing the other MB+'s to my phone and they will not.
Not sure what you mean by “I am managing the phones for the rest of my party” but…
You can usually bluetooth pair as many bands as you wish to a phone, but you can only Bluetooth Connect to one at a to your phone. In Disney App, you’ll only be able to see/pair/connect bands associated to your account and any account you manage.
IF you manage the MDE account for other family members, you should be able to bluetooth pair and connect their bands to your phone for the initial setup and firmware update.
Reminder, managing someone’s account isn’t the same as being linked as Family & Friends. You won’t be able to bluetooth pair and connect a Family/Friend List member’s band to your phone.
My understanding (from what I’ve read, I don’t own an apple watch) is:
Tapping with Apple Watch can sometimes be unreliable (to open room door, park entry, etc).
Auto-link of on ride photos/videos (like 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, Tron, Guardians, etc. where there are no banks of monitors to claim your ride photo/video) doesn’t work, and you must use Magic Mobile feature on your phone, which is also sometime unreliable.
I’ve also read that tap to charge to room doesn’t work with Apple Watch, and there are mixed results with Apple Pay.
I remember someone asking this before and discovering that you can buy the recharging cables separately. I think I recall seeing them in the gift shops. You can try this link and see if they are sold out if you want to buy one beforehand.
Has anyone used regular MB’s that are 4+ years old? Do they still work for you? They don’t seem to sell the regular ones anymore and my DD doesn’t like her MB+ because it is “too bulky”. The rest of us got new ones last year when they still had inventory of the old kind.
We’re not crazy about using magic mobile. We think it is easier to just scan the band.