Christina, I am so happy you plan to visit The Most Magical Place On Earth. Thank you for coming to PlanDisney with your vacation planning question!
MagicBand/MagicBand+ allows you to unlock your
Disney Resorts Collection hotel room, enter the parks, connect to
Disney PhotoPass, and redeem your Lightning Lane and Individual Lightning Lane selections (MagicBand+ adds a little more flair by interacting with select attractions and experiences). Don’t forget, you can also make purchases at dining and merchandise locations via your band! How cool!
The short answer to your question is that you can purchase your MagicBand/MagicBand+ before
OR after you book your
Walt Disney World Resort vacation; it’s entirely up to you. Those without Disney Resort hotel reservations can always shop for a new band to add to their collection via the
Disney Store. However, Guests with Disney Resort hotel reservations benefit from purchasing bands at special pre-arrival prices. I order ahead of time to save a little bit of money; every little bit helps! Guests with reservations can purchase MagicBand/MagicBand+ 11 days or more before arriving and have the bands shipped to their home address. Guests purchasing bands within six to ten days of arriving will have them shipped to their Disney Resort hotel for pick-up. You can also wait until you arrive to shop in your resort shop or one of the theme park merchandise locations. My favorite spot to pick out a new band is inside EPCOT at
Pin Traders – Camera Center, but the
Pin Traders location at Disney Springs is a close second!
Let me know if you have any additional questions or want more Disney World planning assistance! I love sharing my favorite snacks, dining locations, and resort preferences with new and old Disney World vacationers alike!
See you real soon,
Brent