I have several magic bands that say on the website that they are active. How do I know if the battery is still good and that the band will actually work?”

Hi Susan,

It's always great to see you planning Disney at planDisney. Ariel had gadgets and gizmos a-plenty, and it sounds like you have MagicBands and memories galore. My panelist pal Michelle once called MagicBands a magic wand for your wrist, and I couldn't agree more. On my most recent Walt Disney World Resort trip I used my MagicBand+ to unlock my hotel room, access the pool of my Disney Resort hotel, enter the theme parks, redeem my Lightning Lane reservations, interact with my favorite nighttime spectaculars, and more. I just wish I could program my MagicBand+ to unlock my car door!

I understand you have a number of MagicBands linked to your My Disney Experience account, Susan. MagicBand+ designs are rechargeable and you can keep an eye on their battery life in your My Disney Experience mobile app (three small lines at the bottom right of the app's homepage > MagicBands and More). The battery life of older MagicBand designs is reported to be about two years, though I have a MagicBand 2 design that has been going strong for almost five years. If you plan on using an older MagicBand on your trip, Susan, you should have a backup method of entry in place, just in case. You can use your My Disney Experience mobile app to download a Disney MagicMobile pass to the digital wallet of eligible iPhones, Apple Watches, and Google Pay-enabled Android phones.

I honestly think you'll have no trouble tapping in at theme park entry and Lightning Lane entrances with an older MagicBand, Susan, but it may not have the right kind of battery life left to link attraction photos to your My Disney Experience account. If attraction photos and videos are important to you, please make sure you enable Bluetooth permissions for the My Disney Experience mobile app during your visit, which will ensure that your smiles on TRON Lightcycle / Run get sent to the right place.

On my most recent trip, I learned that having too many active MagicBands in a person's My Disney Experience account can negatively affect the functionality of all the MagicBands. For a Stitch-free vacation, I encourage you to deactivate any MagicBands you are no longer using. MagicBands can always be reactivated at a later date, as desired.

I hope you and your magic wand, I mean MagicBand, have a great time revisiting the magic of the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks. Please return to planDisney with any other trip-planning questions.

Choose magic,
Jennifer