Welcome to planDisney, Maria! MagicBands are one of my favorite topics to discuss when planning a
Disneyland Resort or
Walt Disney World Resort vacation, so let's get your question answered!
If you have a
vacation package booked (
Disney Resorts Collection Hotel room reservation and
theme park tickets purchased
together) for the Walt Disney World Resort, Guests residing in the United States can typically order a MagicBand at a discount ahead of their vacation. To do this, log into your MyDisney account, click "
My MagicBands and Cards" from the My Disney Experience dropdown menu, scroll down, select the blue "Get Started" button, and follow the prompts. If you do this 11 or more days before your check-in date, they will be mailed to your home. If you do this between 6-10 days before your check-in date, they will be shipped to the
Front Desk of your hotel. After that, or if you don't have a vacation package booked, you can purchase one (without the pre-order discount) at one of the many
merchandise locations around the resort. You can also buy them through the
Disney Store like I just did to get my black-covered fingertips (from using the Darkhold, of course) on the
MagicBand+ with the
Scarlet Witch design.
Now, any time someone asks about pre-ordering a MagicBand through My Disney Experience, I have to put a warning out there: don't make the mistake I once did. The "Proceed to Checkout" button will only appear for your MagicBand order once you've selected a band for everyone in your group. That sounds logical, right? And it is. But...if you have a member of your travel party who
doesn't want a band, you can't just not select one. You have to click "Select" under their name, and then right under their avatar, select "Decline a MagicBand," and then "Decline Pre-Arrival Order." Then, once a band and/or the decline option has been selected for every Guest on the reservation, the checkout option will appear. I learned the hard way by assuming that simply not selecting a band for my husband and selecting one for me would suffice. But I should have realized that I never went through the checkout process and didn't pay for my band. But my mistake is your gain!
Maria, enjoy the delight a MagicBand brings to your upcoming vacation. If you have any other questions,
I'm more than happy to answer them!
Every adventure requires a first step,
Matt