SO much is happening around Disney World lately!
Cinderella Castle
The parks and hotels are getting ready for the big 50th anniversary, which includes things like new shows, food, and an attraction. And, Disney just announced another new thing coming to Disney World that will change your guest experience!
There is a NEW type of MagicBand coming to Disney World as part of the 50th anniversary celebration: MagicBand+!
©Disney
MagicBand+ was just announced to have the same capabilities as the current MagicBands — plus MORE. It will include various interactive features that will enhance your park experience.
©Disney
Some new features include the MagicBand coming alive with color-changing lights, haptic vibrations and gesture recognition.
©Disney
MagicBand+ will also be how you can interact will the 50 new character statues throughout the Disney World parks! You will have to have MagicBand+ to be able to interact with the statues.
You can interact with these statues using MagicBand+!
You will be able to buy MagicBand+ starting next year! It will also include a discounted, pre-arrival price for Disney Resort hotel guests and for new and renewing Walt Disney World Annual Passholders.
©Disney
You will still be able to buy the current version of MagicBands, as well as use MagicMobile on My Disney Experience. We’ll keep you updated when we find out an official date for the release, so stay tuned to DFB for more!
Get ALL the details on MagicBand+ and how it will CHANGE your trip HERE!
Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Details and Info
See Photos & Reviews of All of Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Eats and Treats
Check Out the 50th Anniversary Merchandise Released Online
Get a Look at Some of the 50th Anniversary Merchandise Released in the Parks
Click HERE for Your Guide to Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration
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What do you think of this new MagicBand offering?? Let us know in the comments!
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Now we have another idea as to why Disney stopped giving free MagicBands to resort guests. They stand to make a little extra money from a new kind of MagicBand. Fine. Enhanced performance – if it is genuinely enhanced – might be worth a little extra money. That’s economics, and you’d have the choice to opt in.
These seem intriguing, but the timing seems off. Why are they not being made available to guests coming this year for the start of the 50th celebration? We will be going in November, and would love to have added these. Why have special statues for guests to “interact” with if the technology they need to do so will only be available for a fraction of the time the statues are up? They’re missing a whole segment of their target audience by delaying their release until sometime next year. I assume there’s a production issue, but getting all the 50th merch out for the start of the 50th celebration seems like it should have been a top priority.
Can these people sell merchandise or what? (Ever wonder what Bob Chapek’s bonus looks like?)
I just bought a new magic band and now I’ll have to get a new one if I want the cool stuff it does. Great. More money going to Disney. I wonder how much….
Yeah!!! I love my magic band! I was always forgetting my card/ticket. I put it on my wrist in the morning and forgot about it till I got ready to take a shower that evening. Will also have the stuff Genie has on it? I am not tec h savvy and still have problems answering or hanging up on it. A magic band would not have as many “other” things on it. And if I took it some where and used it I left that behind as well. 😀😀😀
I’m trying to decide if MagicBands are worth getting. We are going to WDW in February for the first time. We are DVC members and will be staying at the Polynesian. My question is why would we need the MagicBands if we have the Genie app on our phones?
Margaret, I think for many people, the convenience of only needing to tap the MagicBand to make a purchase, open a Resort room door, and tap into a Park is the real draw. My Disney Experience can now do those thing via MagicMobile, so in terms of the functions, you don’t technically need a MagicBand. However, like, I said, it’s a convenience and, for some, a comfort.
Christine, no info yet from Disney about how Disney Genie will sync with a MagicBand, but I would expect it to be connected similarly to how FastPass+ selections were connected.
You are not able to use the current magicbands to access the virtual lines for rides (i.e. Remy), which is a major flaw. You cannot mobile order either, with the magicband, another flaw. These flaws require your phone to access. By using the Disney App your phone, you can access your park tickets, your room, park maps, show times and food/merchandise purchase, etc. – requiring the use of your phone. Disney should return to the days when we didn’t need to rely on our phone as much and the magicband covered most of the features mentioned above without the use of your phone – but that’s wishful thinking. It sounds like this new magicband plus will act like the wands sold at Universal, used to activate the interactive features found in the Harry Potter section of the park. I will do at Disney like I do at Universal – watch as others trigger the interactive features, saving me the trouble of waiting in line to use a wand or magicband and saving me the trouble of owning a wand/magicband that I will have to store and probably forget to bring if I visit again. I’m not sure it’s worth it for the whole family to get one, maybe – just maybe, I would get one.
What is the cost and do you get them at your Disney Hotel Check In so they can sync them or can you get them somewhere else so you get the design you want? Going with company group end of Feb 2022.
Mindy, so far Disney hasn’t released pricing for the new version of MagicBand+, but we will report when they do. I would expect them to be available both online and onsite, but I think we’ll have to wait and see if it’s something a guest can buy pre-arrival to have shipped to them or picked up at the front desk. Regardless, you should be able to purchase a design you like, whether you do so online before you leave or wait to buy onsite.
Sounds Iike a new income stream to replace some other income stream that was not producing.
Where do I sign up to find out when these will be available? We are going in January and I would love to have them for that trip.
Misty, we will report on DFB as soon as they’re available. You could follow us on social media, where we would report within minutes, typically, of seeing something new that we know folks are excited about. We are /disneyfoodblog on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. When we report on them, the posts will also be in our newsletter, but that may take a day or two to be put out, so social and the site itself are the most efficient places to see when articles are posted.
My trip is getting closer and closer (end of this month) and I was really hoping these would be out by now. 🙁
Any news yet if you can use these at DL and WDW? We’re doing both this year and would like to get our money’s worth 😬
Hi Nicole! The interactive MagicBands are being created for both Disneyland and Disney World so you should be able to use them at both parks. We do not have an official release date from Disney at this time, but we will update our readers as soon as we do!
Any updates or tips available on these new bands? I’m noticing a lot of super fun magic bands are coming back in stock and I have a gut feeling everyone planning a 2022 trip is waiting til the last second to order their bands, like me! My trip is in October, so I’m willing to wait, but when oh when will these arrive. #whereismywishingstar