Friday, September 13, 2013

Disney Magic Bands: How to Customize your Magic Bands

Disney Magic Bands are a part of the new My Disney Experience technology which is currently being implemented in Walt Disney World. At this time, Magic Bands are still in the beta testing phase, and only guests staying at select Walt Disney World resorts have been invited to test. As this technology is continuing to change, it is important to note that this tutorial was written on September 13, 2013 and may quickly become outdated.

The resorts currently testing the Disney Magic bands are:

Disneys Art of Animation Resort
Disneys Pop Century Resort
Disneys Port Orleans Riverside
Disneys Polynesian Resort
Disneys Contemporary Resort
Disneys Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House
Disneys Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House Villas
Disneys Yacht Club Resort
Disney's Beach Club Resort and Villas

And resorts that are believed to be added for mid-October check-in:

Disney's Port Orlean's French Quarter
Disney's Bay Lake Towers
Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
Disney's All Star Movie
Disney's Wilderness Lodge

Magic Bands are soft, rubber wrist bands that contain an RFID chip. Guests will be able to have their credit card, resort key, park tickets, dining plan, FastPass+, and Photopass+ package linked to their Magic Band. So instead of swiping your key card with a magnetic strip, you'd simply tap your wrist band against a sensor to enter the park or FastPass queue or pay for a meal. You are not required to use the Magic Bands and may instead opt to use a traditional RFID-enabled Key to the World card (however, during testing, anyone who wants to use FP+ must use the bands).

These bands are waterproof and can be worn in the pool or at the water parks. The band only comes in one size. However, there is a portion of it which is removable so that it is a better fit for smaller wrists. These bands are intended to be brought back to Walt Disney World for years and have a 3-year battery life.

When Magic Bands are first added to your My Disney Experience account (you will first need to add your Disney resort reservation to your account), they show up as basic grey. Unless you go in to customize your Magic Bands, everyone in your party will get a grey band.

In the grey panel on the right-hand side of the screen, click on "Manage Magic Bands."

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Disney Magic Bands: Linking Existing Reservations

So, I dropped the ball on Cruise Month. BUT I have some very exciting cruise-related news which I'll announce soon. In the meantime...

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!

We are booked for Columbus Day weekend (also Rachel's birthday weekend) at the Beach Club Resort, and we are lucky enough to be able to test out the new Disney Magic Bands!

There are only a few resorts currently testing the Magic Bands. At the moment, these are:

And resorts that are believed to be added for mid-October check-in:

Disney's Port Orlean's French Quarters
Disney's Bay Lake Towers
Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
Disney's All Star Movie
Disney's Wilderness Lodge

I've been on a few Disney message boards, and there's a lot of curiosity about the Disney Magic Bands and the My Disney Experience website and app. After spending the past few days playing with it (and I'll admit, it's not the most user-friendly), I thought it would be helpful to do a few tutorials on how to use the My Disney Experience website.

Now, I think it's important to note that Disney is constantly updating their website. This tutorial was written on September 12, 2013. My family was selected for the beta testing of the Magic Bands in October because we are staying at the Beach Club Resort. I anticipate that by the time these bands roll out officially to all resorts, there will have been significant changes made to the website and app.

How to Link Existing Reservations

Linking already existing reservations is something you'll have to do if you made your Disney resort reservation through a travel agent or outside booking website like Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, etc. We booked through an Travelocity, so the first thing I had to do was link our reservation.

If you don't already have a Disney account (or account with ABC or ESPN), then you'll first need to register. Otherwise, you already have a login for My Disney Experience.

After you type in www.waltdisneyworld.com, this is where you'll go:

If you click on "My Disney Experience," it will take you here: