Hi Susan!
Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel!
MagicBands are the key not just to your room, but to all kinds of magic on your Walt Disney World Resort Vacation! Your family’s MagicBands will also serve as their theme park ticket media, access to their
FastPass+ reservations, a way to link
PhotoPass Photos to your account, and you can even set up charging on the MagicBand if you wish. I remember I was a little wary at first, but now I can’t imagine a visit without them. We have so many, we link them together as garland for our Disney themed Christmas Tree!
To the best of my knowledge, once you have personalized your bands, as long as you are more than 10 days before your visit and your address is a United States mailing address, your MagicBands will be shipped, and you cannot have them held at your resort. If you don’t personalize them, you will receive standard grey bands upon check-in. While Guests residing outside of the United States do have their MagicBands held at the front desk, this is not currently an option for those within the US.
If you are concerned about ruining any kind of surprise, do know that the bands arrive in an unmarked box, and they don’t even appear to be shipped by Disney, nor do they come from Orlando. You will be sent a tracking email so that you will know when they will arrive if that helps you intercept the mail.
I hope this information helps, and please let us know what additional questions I can help you with as you plan your visit!
- Kate