MagicBand
A MagicBand is a waterproof wristband containing radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, worn by guests at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida to connect the wearer to their Disney account. Tapping the band against a reader can admit the wearer to a theme park, unlock their Disney hotel room, charge purchases to that room, redeem Lightning Lane reservations and link photographs to their account. MagicBands were introduced in 2013 as the physical centrepiece of Disney's MyMagic+ programme. A rechargeable, interactive version, MagicBand+, followed in 2022 and brought the bands to the Disneyland Resort for the first time; a variant called DisneyBand+ is used aboard Disney Cruise Line ships.
Development and launch
MagicBands were developed as part of the NextGen project that produced MyMagic+, Disney's effort — reported to have cost around one billion dollars — to rebuild the Walt Disney World guest experience around advance planning and personal data. The bands were announced, together with My Disney Experience and FastPass+, on January 7, 2013. Testing with selected resort guests followed during 2013, and the bands became standard issue across Walt Disney World by 2014.
The band itself is a flexible plastic strap, adjustable in size; a section of the outer layer can be peeled away to fit a child's wrist. It stores no personal information on the device itself. Instead it carries identification numbers that readers match to the guest's account: a passive RFID chip, read at short range at tap points, and an active radio transmitter which allows the resort's systems to detect the band at a distance — used, for example, to attach on-ride photographs to an account automatically and to display a guest's name within certain attractions.
Functions
Linked to a My Disney Experience account, a MagicBand can serve as:
- Theme park admission, and as proof of a park reservation where one is required.
- A Disney resort hotel room key.
- A payment method for food and merchandise, charged to the hotel room of resort guests who have enabled charging and set a PIN.
- The credential for ride reservations — FastPass+ originally, and Lightning Lane passes today — tapped at attraction entrances.
- A link for Disney PhotoPass photographs, including automatic linking from rides fitted with long-range readers.
Bands are not compulsory. The same functions are available through the Disney apps, the MagicMobile service for phone and smartwatch wallets (introduced in 2021), and plastic cards.
Models
The original MagicBand, issued from 2013, was a one-piece band in a range of colours, with printed designs and limited editions sold as collectibles. MagicBand 2, announced in 2016 and issued from early 2017, redesigned the electronics into a removable oval centrepiece, nicknamed the puck, which could be carried in other holders such as keyrings.
For most of their history bands were sent free to Walt Disney World resort hotel guests and annual passholders before a trip. That practice ended on January 1, 2021; bands have since been sold separately, with a discount for resort guests who order in advance.
MagicBand+ was announced in September 2021 and went on sale at Walt Disney World on July 27, 2022. It keeps the tap functions of earlier bands but adds a rechargeable battery, colour-changing lights and vibration, which respond to events around the resort: bands light up in time with nighttime shows, interact with the golden character statues installed for the resort's fiftieth anniversary, and are used in a bounty-hunting game in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. MagicBand+ launched at the Disneyland Resort on October 26, 2022 — the first MagicBand of any kind offered in California, where the earlier models were never sold. From 2023 the same hardware, as DisneyBand+, was adopted on Disney Cruise Line ships, beginning with the Disney Wish.
Reception and privacy
The bands proved popular with guests for removing the need to carry tickets, keys and cards, and the collectible designs created a secondary market among fans. The wider MyMagic+ system, however, drew criticism from privacy campaigners and some politicians in 2013 over the amount of location and purchasing data it allowed Disney to gather; Disney responded by publishing details of its data practices and noting that guests could use a card instead of a band. Bands can be deactivated in My Disney Experience if lost.