Annual Passholders who pre-ordered online are now receiving their MagicBands in the mail. I just received mine and you can watch my Instagram unboxing video below. All APs can now go through the My Disney Experience website to connect their admissions media with the My Disney Experience App and make Fastpass+ reservations as far as 30 days ahead. You may have any 7 days booked in that rolling 30 day window.
The latest rumor, although there’s no official word from Disney, is that beginning March 31st, just like Annual Passholders, off-site guests will be able to book their Fastpass+ 30 days ahead of time. Guests will be able to enter their ticket information via the My Disney Experience website and have access to the same booking window as APs.
Disney resort guests can book 60-days out. Which is Disney’s big incentive to get you to stay on property (although I always thought that being enveloped in the Magic was enough incentive).
As a local and an annual passholder, I never really know which park I’m going to be at until a few day ahead. If off-site guests and APs share the same booking window, it means I will have to plan at least 30 days ahead to make sure I’m not letting the 10’s of thousands of off-site guests ahead of me in line to reserve their Fastpass times. So far, with only resort guests having an earlier booking window, there have been good options to making FP just a few days out, but with everyone in the pool, it might get more difficult to secure that E-ticket FP+. Making plans 30 days ahead is definitely a change to how I do things now, but I guess I’ll get used to it or I just won’t get many FP+ for popular attractions.
Off-site guests will be able to use their RFID enabled tickets or upgrade to a MagicBand for an, as yet, unannounced price. If you plan to do this on your day of arrival, you might want to allow some extra time in the morning to configure your wristbands. A better strategy might be to head in and enjoy the park in the morning, then get your bands when the park is experiencing mid-day crowds.
Keep in mind that the system is still technically in testing (although as was pointed out to me, when everyone is forced to use it to the exclusion of the old system, it’s not really testing, it’s experimentation). So everything is subject to change.
More details on the MagicBand and Fastpass+ below the jump:
My Disney Experience features for guests include:
- Complete information about Walt Disney World Resort attractions, experiences, dining and resort hotels becomes easier than ever to access.
- Interactive maps, videos, itinerary tools and more, all in one easy place.
- The ability to lock in some of their must-do experiences in advance through FastPass+.
- Make show, ride, fireworks or parade viewing or Disney Character Greeting reservations in advance or on the day of their visit. With no worries about experiencing favorite attractions and shows, everyone can relax and focus on their time together.
- Find restaurants of every flavor (more than 80 to choose from) and make dining reservations direct from their mobile app or MyDisneyExperience.com
- Connect with family and friends to coordinate plans and share photos.
- Access all Walt Disney World Resort details from a smart phone, tablet or other portable device. Now, guests can take their Disney vacation with them and have the plans they created at home – along with interactive maps, character moments, dining reservations and wait times – at their fingertips as real-time info.
Disney FastPass+
- For the first time, Disney-bound guests can reserve their special slice of Disney magic right from home. With a simple click of the mouse on MyDisneyExperience.com guests will be able to select up to three FastPass+ experiences at one park per day.
- The menu of choices is bigger and better than ever. In fact, more than double the number of experiences will be available as FastPass+ choices. Depending on the park selected, guests can secure not only their spot on Space Mountain, Soarin’, Expedition Everest or Toy Story Midway Mania! and many other choices, but the date and time as well. And for the first time, by using FastPass+ guests will also be able to reserve Disney Character Greetings, fireworks and parade viewing areas, shows and spectaculars.
- Not sure where to start? Disney will recommend FastPicks, a set of three FastPass+ selections to get guests started.
- Selections can be changed at any time until they are redeemed. When an experience is unavailable, an alert on the My Disney Experience mobile app will notify the guest.
- Access to FastPass+ is included in theme park admission for all Walt Disney World guests.
MagicBand
- MagicBand, an innovative and colorful wristband, is an all-in-one device that effortlessly connects guests to all the vacation choices they made online with My Disney Experience.
- It’s a room key, theme park ticket and optional payment system rolled into one. With just the touch of their MagicBand, guests can enter the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks and water parks (ticket required), enter their Disney Resort hotel room, purchase food and merchandise and experience Disney Character Greetings.
- The MagicBand also provides FastPass+ access so guests can walk right onto their favorite attraction or other experience during the time they pre-selected. MagicBand technology also connects the guest to Disney’s PhotoPass+.
- MagicBands consist of hypoallergenic material that is flexible, durable, waterproof and comfortable to wear. Easily scaled to fit any user, it has ridges that help air circulate between the band and the wrist.
- Extensive measures are in place to protect the privacy of guests and the security of the personal information they choose to share. MagicBands store no personal information – each contains only a randomly assigned code that securely links to an encrypted database and associates the guest’s MagicBand or card with the Disney experiences they’ve selected.
- MagicBands can be disabled remotely if lost or stolen.
- MagicBands are mailed to families well ahead of their departure date or waiting for them at their Disney Resort hotel. Mom, dad and the kids can each choose the color of their individual wristband right at home, with seven colors to choose from: pink, blue, green, red, gray, orange or yellow. Bands can be personalized with the family member’s name etched inside it.
What else would you like to know about MagicBands, Fastpass+, and MyMagic?
So far, our MagicBand experience has been very positive. The only real downside was the awkward arm positioning we had to use to unlock our resort room door and to pay at a few locations.
As annual passholders who always stay on property, we love the 60-day window for booking attractions. It’s easy, and we’ve been able to make all the last-minute changes we’ve wanted up until now. We’ll see how easy that remains after the system is rolled out for all guests. We plan our meals and FP+ attractions for the same park at approximately the same part of the day, so we’re free to be spontaneous the rest of the time. Of course, we only go to WDW during “off-peak” times of year, so wait times are never really much of an issue for us.
We’ll be back in Florida in about a month, so we’ll see how things have changed since our last visit in December.
Hey there,
Does the rumor mill suggest when offsite guests can upgrade to a Magicband?
Thanks – Clayton
Went on at midnight last night and it worked for me, as an “offsite” Dolphin guest! (Trip this Thursday)
A few things to note when you are looking into a Magic Band – First, they are primarily offered to resort guests and annual passholders. If you are planning a long Disney visit and are neither of the before mentioned, you can purchase them in the theme parks or at Downtown Disney. They are used for the MyMagic+ program which helps you plan an itinerary, make restaurant reservations and FastPass+ selections. You must have or create a Disney account on its website before activating the band. The MyMagic+ choices made are all placed into My Disney Experience and can be accessed or modified online or by using the My Disney Experience mobile app. If you are a passholder, resort guest or all your family or travel companions have a Disney online account, you can add any and all of them to your plans. It makes things easier to set this all up before your visit and makes future planning easier. So far, we’ve been using My Disney Experience online and with the mobile app with great success and ease. One problem we did have with dining reservations for Le Cellier at Epcot was quickly resolved with a 2 minute phone call to 407 WDW DINE. Resort guests can also charge purchases with the band (linked to the credit card used for the room), but annual passholders can not at this time. The band can get uncomfortable during long and hot days, but that’s quickly resolved by simply taking it off and keeping it secure in your pocket and taking it out when needed. The program has greatly improved over the last month and we’re looking forward to even more improvements and uses in the near future.
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