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View Full Version : MagicBand+ coming to Disneyland this fall



Karin
09-20-2022, 11:35 AM
I wasn't sure if the time line of Fall was announced at D23 or not, but I just saw this pop up on the local news site.

Click here for full article (https://ktla.com/entertainment/magicband-coming-to-disneyland-this-fall/).

currence
09-20-2022, 03:00 PM
I wasn't sure if the time line of Fall was announced at D23 or not, but I just saw this pop up on the local news site.


I don't think they gave a time line - or if they did it wasn't Fall '21.
We bought our MagicBand+ over the summer. I just checked and there's a new update for them, so hopefully once I install that it will be ready for linking to Disneyland if/when that goes live.

For those who don't have MagicBand+ for use at WDW, it seems that they often want to update as soon as they are linked to an account. Just something to be aware of as we start planing our purchases/usage here at Disneyland. Disney did just release a bunch of new designs on ShopDisney so that may be in anticipation of more people wanting to buy them? None of the Disneyland specific ones that are in the news article though.

tea4two
09-20-2022, 04:54 PM
I wasn't sure if the time line of Fall was announced at D23 or not, but I just saw this pop up on the local news site.

Click here for full article (https://ktla.com/entertainment/magicband-coming-to-disneyland-this-fall/).

All they would say to the gazillion questions at D23 Expo was, "Before the end of the year." Well, I guess Fall '22 counts.

Berry Princess
09-20-2022, 11:10 PM
I saw it this morning on the Disney blog (https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2022/09/magicband-features-and-experiences-revealed-for-disneyland-resort-coming-this-fall/). It had a little video with it as well on how it would work so far when it comes out. I saw some disappointed they can't use the old WDW magicbands but not sure why they would assume they could. Disney never said they could that I remember seeing. Lots of wanting to know when in Fall because of their trips of course. I am betting it is about the same timeframe as Genie was or close to it. This way its out before Christmas and I am sure there will be those ready to buy ones as gifts for their family members.

With this announcement I am sure some have bought ones already or will be at this time now from the ones on ShopDisney. We will wait. IMO the only thing with it that comes in handy really is that I wouldn't have to be phone ready to scan us into the parks or the rare times we might get Genie+ and need to scan at the rides.

To add to what currence said about the updating, that when you get them you will have to know that they will probably need to be charged up. If I remember right they were telling people to do it before the updating. Also as some were not realizing in WDW there is a cord in it for hooking it up to recharge it. So its important to not throw the package out without making sure you pulled everything out of it. I know the cord thing is why WDW started selling them on their own soon after as well. The thing with SWGE to mess around with it will drain the battery pretty fast from what was said about it in WDW.

olegc
09-21-2022, 07:51 AM
I have seen some video reviews of the MB+ at WDW and yes they all recommend charging it completely prior to using it in the parks. I also think if you use it a lot for the new Bounty Hunter game coming to Galaxy's Edge it will chew up the power in it as well. Funny with that one is that now you look at your phone AND your MB+ while at the site. I guess they can stop creating detail to look around for... just keep everything below head level ;-P

im on the fence about purchasing - only because it would be convenient to scan this instead of my phone all the time for attractions where Genie+ is used. Not that I buy it that often - which could be why I wont buy it. I dont feel comfortable using it for purchases (which I dont think will be supported in disneyland yet). And having it go off during nighttime shows - when you are supposed to be looking at the show - just baffles me why you would do that. Its such an odd idea that we should introduce distractions to your experience and call it an "enhancement". I most likely wont get into the game at SWGE too much because the credits you get are for - well - essentially nothing. This is why I stopped playing the game in the datapad. I had done so much already there and now I was kind of over it. I guess I'm not as much of a Star Wars geek as I thought.

Berry Princess
09-21-2022, 08:33 AM
I have seen some video reviews of the MB+ at WDW and yes they all recommend charging it completely prior to using it in the parks. I also think if you use it a lot for the new Bounty Hunter game coming to Galaxy's Edge it will chew up the power in it as well. Funny with that one is that now you look at your phone AND your MB+ while at the site. I guess they can stop creating detail to look around for... just keep everything below head level ;-P

im on the fence about purchasing - only because it would be convenient to scan this instead of my phone all the time for attractions where Genie+ is used. Not that I buy it that often - which could be why I wont buy it. I dont feel comfortable using it for purchases (which I dont think will be supported in disneyland yet). And having it go off during nighttime shows - when you are supposed to be looking at the show - just baffles me why you would do that. Its such an odd idea that we should introduce distractions to your experience and call it an "enhancement". I most likely wont get into the game at SWGE too much because the credits you get are for - well - essentially nothing. This is why I stopped playing the game in the datapad. I had done so much already there and now I was kind of over it. I guess I'm not as much of a Star Wars geek as I thought.

Right? So now you need to then carry around extra chargers because you won't need it just for your phone but also your groups MB+. Still have plenty you have to deal with on the phone since you can't set up that next LL or your food ordered. So as you said keep the head buried in something and hey it distracts from things Disney might not want you to notice. LOL Oh with shopping, so far they haven't said a word on that set up yet but so would not go that way myself. We use cash still at times and at other times it isn't always the same card used. So with that for us it would never work.

Oh I am so not a Star Wars fan and tried to use the app with things there and just eh. It was boring. My husband and our boys are HUGE Star Wars fans (husband more so) but they have never cared for doing it. Again it is just one of those things that is a battery drain. Mix in a MB+ with it and you have 2 things being drained then. No thanks. The nighttime show stuff....I have never understood that with anything. The ears they tried to do it with was more of an annoyance. Now this when you are looking up at fireworks or out at the show for Fantasmic/WOC. Who is going to want to watch their wrist? When it was for sale for WDW, there was a few on another board that were trying to pump that feature up and say how great it will look when so many have them and they all are lighting up to the shows. Yet I don't see how it would when its more than likely not something people will have in a place for all to see. Then again like the ears would be annoying if it was all up in the air and in view of what one is trying to watch. So really the only features of this that are worth it would be scanning into the parks and rides. Oh and if it can be scanned for the MK discount that would be nice but just not used to purchase things.

Pammer
09-21-2022, 01:52 PM
We used the Magic Band on our trip to Florida in Feb/Mar last year; we were off-resort and had purchased our MBs off of Shop Disney on their clearance page. I linked our tickets and they worked beautifully; we did love the simplicity of just waving your MB at the turnstiles (no Genie+ yet)...that is all I'd want at Disneyland: the ability to wave it at the turnstiles and at the Lightning Lane entrances (I use them with my DAS). We don't care about the extras, as they are as you said "distracting" and a power drain! It will be interesting to see how this all goes when they get rolled out later this year.

currence
09-21-2022, 07:57 PM
We used the Magic Band on our trip to Florida in Feb/Mar last year; we were off-resort and had purchased our MBs off of Shop Disney on their clearance page. I linked our tickets and they worked beautifully; we did love the simplicity of just waving your MB at the turnstiles (no Genie+ yet)...that is all I'd want at Disneyland: the ability to wave it at the turnstiles and at the Lightning Lane entrances (I use them with my DAS). We don't care about the extras, as they are as you said "distracting" and a power drain! It will be interesting to see how this all goes when they get rolled out later this year.

I agree! While I like the ability to make all of the park reservations/DAS/Genie+ from a single device, and my family has come to expect that I will take care of everything for them, it's kind of a pain when it comes to entrances. For the park entrance, it isn't too bad, because my android sorts the tickets alphabetically so I make whoever I'm with line up that way and then go through in order. (Apparently iphones sort by expiration date, and she has her family trained similarly) But for Lightning Lane/DAS everyone tends to hover until all the tickets are scanned. I will be happy to slap MagicBand+ on everyone I'm with and coordinate the schedule without having to scan all the tickets every time.

olegc
09-21-2022, 09:32 PM
I agree! While I like the ability to make all of the park reservations/DAS/Genie+ from a single device, and my family has come to expect that I will take care of everything for them, it's kind of a pain when it comes to entrances. For the park entrance, it isn't too bad, because my android sorts the tickets alphabetically so I make whoever I'm with line up that way and then go through in order. (Apparently iphones sort by expiration date, and she has her family trained similarly) But for Lightning Lane/DAS everyone tends to hover until all the tickets are scanned. I will be happy to slap MagicBand+ on everyone I'm with and coordinate the schedule without having to scan all the tickets every time.I'm wondering - to set up tickets to a particular magic band do you have to scan the magic band with your phone then choose a ticket to assign? Especially with a large group that all have their own magic bands...

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

Promo-Man
09-22-2022, 12:48 AM
I might have missed it in all the articles I have read but no where do they mention if you can use the same Magic Band + at both the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World.
I hope we will be able to load both on one Magic Band +

jrsharp21
09-22-2022, 05:06 AM
I'm wondering - to set up tickets to a particular magic band do you have to scan the magic band with your phone then choose a ticket to assign? Especially with a large group that all have their own magic bands...

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

I am wondering if they will change the Disneyland app to be more like the WDW app where you actually have a planning party saved in your profile/app. Then you assign the MagicBand to the person who is going to use the band. Then it will always work for that person's current ticket and future tickets.

currence
09-22-2022, 08:08 AM
I might have missed it in all the articles I have read but no where do they mention if you can use the same Magic Band + at both the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World.
I hope we will be able to load both on one Magic Band +

I hope so too. We currently have MagicBand+ linked to our WDW account. If I have to unlink them from WDW just to link them to DL I will be mildly annoyed.

jrsharp21
09-22-2022, 08:49 AM
I hope so too. We currently have MagicBand+ linked to our WDW account. If I have to unlink them from WDW just to link them to DL I will be mildly annoyed.

From the articles I have read, it sounds like the MB+ will work at both DL and WDW, but the capabilities of the MB+ will vary between the two.

olegc
09-22-2022, 09:13 AM
I hope so too. We currently have MagicBand+ linked to our WDW account. If I have to unlink them from WDW just to link them to DL I will be mildly annoyed.


From the articles I have read, it sounds like the MB+ will work at both DL and WDW, but the capabilities of the MB+ will vary between the two.

Just given past history regarding apps - I highly doubt whether configs for MB+ users are easily transferrable. And if they do plan to make changes to the Dland app that would be a big deal for non-MB+ holders as well. You wouldn't think it would - but as I said history tells us they don't fully test all of their changes.

jrsharp21
09-22-2022, 10:49 AM
Just given past history regarding apps - I highly doubt whether configs for MB+ users are easily transferrable. And if they do plan to make changes to the Dland app that would be a big deal for non-MB+ holders as well. You wouldn't think it would - but as I said history tells us they don't fully test all of their changes.

Fingers crossed that they wouldn't have to do a ton of work to change the apps to make the MB+ work between the two destinations. It would be nice if your party profiles transferred back and forth between the Disneyland and WDW apps.

Berry Princess
09-22-2022, 11:32 AM
Just remember everyone that this is after all Disney's IT handling this. LOL

jrsharp21
09-22-2022, 11:46 AM
Just remember everyone that this is after all Disney's IT handling this. LOL

Touche. LOL!

olegc
09-22-2022, 01:47 PM
Just remember everyone that this is after all Disney's IT handling this. LOL


Touche. LOL!

thats why I brought up my point. it seems like the basic use case for one person works - most of the time. But at scale it tends to fail..

Berry Princess
10-12-2022, 08:08 AM
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2022/10/magicbandplus-debuts-at-disneyland-resort-on-oct-26-2022/ They will be on sale Oct 26th. They will have them for sale at select locations for MKs, DVC and CMs starting Oct 19th.

olegc
10-12-2022, 02:07 PM
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2022/10/magicbandplus-debuts-at-disneyland-resort-on-oct-26-2022/ They will be on sale Oct 26th. They will have them for sale at select locations for MKs, DVC and CMs starting Oct 19th.

on the 19th sale locations will be Starcade in Disneyland, Avengers Superstore (stage 17) in DCA, and as they describe it "Building adjacent to Star Wars Trading Post" - so the old ESPN Zone.

I wonder if they will have all styles or only the MK style (which I'm not a fan of).

Berry Princess
10-12-2022, 02:24 PM
on the 19th sale locations will be Starcade in Disneyland, Avengers Superstore (stage 17) in DCA, and as they describe it "Building adjacent to Star Wars Trading Post" - so the old ESPN Zone.

I wonder if they will have all styles or only the MK style (which I'm not a fan of).

They are really trying to push it too by letting us know that it has a unique light-up sequence. LOL I don't think they will just have the one but will have other styles as well.

currence
10-13-2022, 08:05 AM
They are really trying to push it too by letting us know that it has a unique light-up sequence. LOL I don't think they will just have the one but will have other styles as well.

It seems like most of the bands have a "unique light up sequence" - at least the two we have both have one? And for WDW you can choose between that light up sequence or one of the available generic sequences.

of course - at some point, they will run out of color combinations - will they then have to call them semi-unique light up sequences? Or maybe because these light up sequences are "named" they can claim that they are totally different from other light up sequences that just happen to utilize the same colors?

Berry Princess
10-13-2022, 08:55 AM
It seems like most of the bands have a "unique light up sequence" - at least the two we have both have one? And for WDW you can choose between that light up sequence or one of the available generic sequences.

of course - at some point, they will run out of color combinations - will they then have to call them semi-unique light up sequences? Or maybe because these light up sequences are "named" they can claim that they are totally different from other light up sequences that just happen to utilize the same colors?

LOL Right? How is it really "unique" compared to the other ones? I am going to go with what you said on the sequences being given a name so they can claim its different from other ones.

olegc
10-13-2022, 09:52 AM
It seems like most of the bands have a "unique light up sequence" - at least the two we have both have one? And for WDW you can choose between that light up sequence or one of the available generic sequences.

of course - at some point, they will run out of color combinations - will they then have to call them semi-unique light up sequences? Or maybe because these light up sequences are "named" they can claim that they are totally different from other light up sequences that just happen to utilize the same colors?


LOL Right? How is it really "unique" compared to the other ones? I am going to go with what you said on the sequences being given a name so they can claim its different from other ones.

Disney: "Lets see how much spin we can put on this marketing spiel and maybe most folks wont notice... because its so new! they'll buy anything new."

Dave1313
10-13-2022, 03:42 PM
Disclaimer: I don't actually have one of these yet, so take anything I suggest below for what it's worth (nothing ;) ), my comments are based on observations of how the lights on the touch point readers can do nifty tricks with the right bands at WDW.


It seems like most of the bands have a "unique light up sequence" - at least the two we have both have one? And for WDW you can choose between that light up sequence or one of the available generic sequences.

of course - at some point, they will run out of color combinations - will they then have to call them semi-unique light up sequences? Or maybe because these light up sequences are "named" they can claim that they are totally different from other light up sequences that just happen to utilize the same colors?

While I can understand where you are coming from, I think Disney running out of possible combinations of effects would take quite some time.

As people who have used bands at WDW know, a generic MagicBand just lights up the touch point after you scan to indicate you are good to go for either park entry or a FP+ (now Genie+ of course) touch point on a ride line.

Some of the special event/premium/etc MagicBands (even back to some original MB bands, more so for a lot of them introduced when MB 2 came out) did special things at the touch points instead of the generic green light to indicate you were a valid scan. Some had audio, some had effects that utilized more than one color and then patterns using the colors. As an example, one of my favorites was an old Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party MB that had a sort of "candy cane" type of swirl effect when you scanned in the Magic Kingdom. (cycled between green and red, IIRC, but I may be mistaken (been a while), could have been some combo of red/green/white). If anyone is seriously interested, there are web sites or maybe YouTube channels where people have taken video of many of these effects for different MagicBands.

So if they ported a similar type of tech into the new MB+ LED display electronics, it would seem likely that sequences similar to what they had done for touch points would now just happen on the band itself. The permutations of possible effects when considering both colors and different patterns that they can come up with is probably very large.

As to the merchandising, get ready. ;) We all know Disney will make collectibles of anything they can, and the MB history at WDW proved that these things became sought after collectibles (and even if most bands are not as crazy as things like popcorn buckets, they realized many people will buy non-limited Bands just to have a favorite character/ride/etc on their wrist instead of a plain colored Band). I know that's not really news, but it's a new thing Disneyland and DCA shops really never had to dedicate shelf space for in the past. Get ready for walls of displays of bands themselves and also all the accessories Disney has found also sell well to go with them.

And while it's premature to think too far down this path, since they aren't even active yet ;), there will someday be a redesign to make something else even newer than the MB+ technology (since this is basically third generation since original MB tech was rolled out at WDW). Within 4-5 years (maybe less if they do something to enhance them, like better battery life), I'd not be surprised if Disney comes out with a new variant (and then those feed the perpetual collectible merchandise machine of course... ;) )

I hope all goes well with the roll-out out there, and people who do decide to get these enjoy them. :)