Last week, Disney officially retired its complimentary MagicBand program for resort guests, with those who are staying at a Disney resort and want to use a MagicBand now needing to pay $5 per band under the new policy. And though many view this as a cost-cutting measure for Disney, the resort has updated their official website to confirm that there will soon be another option for guests looking to gain entry, charge purchases and redeem FastPass+ reservations (when that service returns):
According to Disney, sometime this year the resort will unveil an innovative new offering as part of the My Disney Experience app that will bring features of a MagicBand to smart devices, which will essentially make MagicBands obsolete. No release date for this new addition to My Disney Experience has been announced, but we’d guess this feature will be added much later this year, even though the MagicBand program is already being phased out.
In the meantime, guests who are staying on property and do not want to purchase a MagicBand can use a complimentary Key To The World card (provided at the Front Desk) or link a MagicBand from a past visit to avoid this additional cost. Guests can also use My Disney Experience’s existing digital key feature to open their hotel room doors.
Though MagicBands quickly became an iconic part of the Walt Disney World vacation experience when they were first introduced almost a decade ago, it looks like these wearables will soon become part of Walt Disney World’s past as their functionality is replaced by modern smartphone technology. How do you feel about this change?
