Hey again Jeff, it's great to see you here again at planDisney!
With each advancement in technology, there are always folks who insist that they prefer the older versions of things from communicating with phones, to listening to music and even the way they access the magic with MagicBands at the theme parks. That said, I was a Cast Member back when we were part of a team testing these out with guests before they were utilized at the theme parks over a decade ago and I do remember a time when MagicBands were smaller, thinner and even complimentary with a
Disney Resort Hotel stay! (I've personally saved some of the earliest generations of these from back when they first became available for guests to use and my oldest MagicBands did end up being brittle and crumbling a bit in my hands; they now simply exist as relics of trips from years past.)
With the
launch of MagicBand+ several years ago (known as
DisneyBand+ on Disney Cruise Line and officially as
Disney bands outside of the United States), the older MagicBands including the MagicBand2 have become increasingly rarer and more difficult to find - which is often the case for products and offerings as they become retired and discontinued. Even earlier this year
planDisney Panelist Sue says she had purchased one for her trip and that you can "probably will find one somewhere", but this has since very quickly changed; before the summer I observed as a very small selection appeared during our stay at Disney's Contemporary Resort that immediately got snatched up by eager guests as soon as the word got out. When I did a bit of a deeper dive into this I discovered there are actually groups of folks who actively collect and trade these while tracking down any opportunity of older generations and limited-edition designs being sold, but as I make my way around the Disney Resort Hotels and theme parks here they are currently almost nowhere to be found. The Cast Members I've asked say that they don't see these being stocked any longer and could not say whether any more would become available moving forward, and the
Disney store online only has MagicBand+ presently available to purchase.
If we look to the perils of purchasing things from others online like eBay as we've seen in
Ralph Breaks the Internet, this may be something you'll have to do at your own risk, hoping that any
MagicBands you find have not already been assigned (as they can only do so once and are not transferable between guests). Personally, though I did like the sleek design of the older generation of MagicBand, I've gotten used to the MagicBand+; it's a common misconception that they absolutely need to be charged but at the current time that's really just for the long-distance interactions like lights and haptic effects and they'll still function the same as older MagicBands without being charged. Who knows if we'll see another new change to these coming once again over the next few years, but perhaps those MagicBand collectors will remain as a handy way to get your hands on older designs!
Wishing you all the best on your MagicBand quest!
Prince