Hey there, hi there, Deborah! Welcome to planDisney! I'm so happy that you've stopped by with such a great planning question. I love chatting Disney with my pals, pal!
I LOVE MagicBands. I purchase one (or two!) every time I visit Walt Disney World Resort, and I coordinate my Band with the day's theme park and outfit. The new
MagicBand+ looks
so cute and cool, and I am SO excited to purchase one when I arrive at The Most Magical Place on Earth in a few days! It's so convenient to just tap your Band for park entry, Lightning Lane entry and purchases, so I appreciate your question and am more than happy to answer it today.
Since tapping your MagicBand or MagicBand+ charges your purchases to your Resort Hotel room reservation, unfortunately, you do have to be a Guest at a
Disney Resorts Collection Hotel to link a credit card to your Band and use it for purchases. But Hakuna Matata! It means "no worries!" I have some suggestions for you to still have the BEST. DAY. EVER!
Even if you are not a Guest at a Disney Resort Hotel, you can still link a MagicBand or MagicBand+ to your
My Disney Experience account. This allows you to then link your theme park tickets to your account to conveniently use your MagicBand or MagicBand+ for theme park entry and entry into your
Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane and Individual Lightning Lane entrances. No MagicBand? No problem! Just use your
Disney MagicMobile Pass, downloaded from the My Disney Experience app, for easy entry with just a swipe of your smartphone.
For convenient food, beverage and merchandise purchases for non-Resort Guests, just Mobile Order from your My Disney Experience app! You can link and store up to six credit cards under "Payment Method" under "My Profile" on your app. Then, you can quickly and easily use one of those credit cards every time you take advantage of
Mobile Food and Beverage Ordering and
Merchandise Mobile Checkout using your My Disney Experience app. Just log in to the app and tap the plus sign at the bottom of the screen to select "Order Food" or "Shop in Store" to get started. These mobile ordering options are my favorite time-saving tip, so, I hope you love them, too!
I hope this was helpful, Deborah, and I hope you have the most magical and memorable visit to The Most Magical Place on Earth! Please stop by any time with any planning questions you may have along the way. You've got a friend in me!
See ya real soon,
Mandy