Welcome to planDisney, Jennifer! I'm so glad you followed that trail of pixie dust that led you here today.
The MagicBand iteration that existed in 2016 was the MagicBand 2. Its estimated battery life is about two years, which refers to the long-range battery. The long-range battery is what automatically links your
Disney PhotoPass photos at attractions and allows you to interact with various queues throughout the parks. Even if this component of your MagicBand is no longer working, your MagicBand 2 will more than likely still work at direct touchpoints, such as the park entrance, redeeming a Disney Genie+ service Lightning Lane selection,
charging purchases to your Disney Resorts Collection hotel room during your stay, and opening your Disney Resort hotel room door. I have a large collection of MagicBands from years ago that I
still take with me on my Walt Disney World Resort vacations and have not had an issue yet with being able to use them, so I think you will be just fine.
Still, I suggest setting up a
Disney MagicMobile pass on your mobile device so that you do not have any issues with your
attraction photos and videos linking to your Disney PhotoPass account. After you set this up, make sure you enable Bluetooth for the
My Disney Experience mobile app in your settings so everything can properly link. If you find that you are still missing attraction photos, you can always call the
Disney PhotoPass Guest Support phone line found on the Help Center webpage for assistance in retrieving the missing pictures.
Jennifer, I hope this information helps you breathe a great, big, beautiful sigh of relief. If you think of any other questions while planning out all of the magical details of your vacation, please don’t hesitate to stop by again. We’re here and happy to help!
Think happy thoughts,
Alyssa