Hi Rory!
Welcome to planDisney.
It is always a pleasure to answer questions from another UK guest, and I fully understand that you want to have your Disney Bands organised before the start of your holiday, or at least when you check in to your Disney Resort Hotel. All the gift shops at Disney hotels - including
Disney's Art of Animation Resort - usually hold a limited amount of stock of Disney Bands, so you can make your purchase when you arrive, and have the Front Desk set them up for you.
However, you could alternatively purchase Disney Bands from
ShopDisney.com, to have them delivered to your Disney Resort Hotel before your arrival. This is something I often do, as they have a good selection. Ensure you enter the delivery address as "Your Name" + "GUEST arriving" - insert your arrival date - then add the name and address of your Disney hotel, which is "Disney's Art of Animation Resort, 1850 Animation Way, Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830-8400". On arrival, you can have your Disney Bands linked to your account. I like to place my order around 10 days before I arrive to ensure the package is waiting for me. It should be noted that you will be charged a Resort fee of around $6.00 (subject to change) for any package received for you by the Front Desk.
If you decide to wait until you can choose from an even larger selection, several places sell Disney Bands - Disney Springs (D-Tech on Demand, and World of Disney), and in the theme parks - the Emporium at Magic Kingdom Park has a good selection, for example. Before you make your purchase (and it can take a while to decide which designs you want - I know we are spoilt for choice!) you can request Key to the World admission cards from the front desk - free of charge - which you can use to access your hotel room, make charges to your room and use for park admission. Alternatively, you can access Disney MagicMobile pass which is available on the My Disney Experience app.
Please come back and visit us if you have any further questions - you can even
send me a direct question if you wish. We will be happy to help you plan your magical holiday, and keep your eye on the
Disney Parks Blog for all the latest official news about events that may be happening during your stay.
Sue