It’s the end of an era for MagicBands at Walt Disney World. This discusses the decline of Disney’s MagicBands, what led to this, the absence of the OG MagicBands in the pre-arrival discount purchase program, why we don’t recommend first-timers purchase the wearable, and other thoughts.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t start in the same spot as several recent articles, retreading ground previously covered in Walt Disney World is Worried About Its High Prices and that progeny of posts. The company has internal concerns about Disney alienating the middle class, with growing fears about how price increases and unpopular decisions are angering fans and losing guest goodwill.
As we’ve pointed out, it’s not just price increases. It’s those coupled with corresponding cuts, nickel and diming, and other ways the guest experience has been diminished. Price isn’t the only, or perhaps even primary, concern. It’s the value proposition, which has taken hits in both directions.
There have been a few nails in the proverbial coffin of MagicBands at Walt Disney World. The devices were once ubiquitous in the parks because they were given away free to all Walt Disney World resort hotel guests. This on-site perk was eliminated in January 2021, and was one of several ‘soft resets’ to the guest experience that was announced in mid-2020 before the parks even reopened.
Walt Disney World retiring the complimentary MagicBand distribution program, and switching to a pre-arrival discount was announced in the exact same press release as the Disney Park Pass reservation system. This bombshell came only a couple of weeks after the retirement of FastPass+ and Extra Magic Hours, as well as the suspension of the Disney Dining Plan.
Suffice to say, it was a big news month between all of that and the phased reopening, and the end of free MagicBands was probably the least consequential news. There were plenty of fans who were–and still are–upset, but Disney flooded the zone with negative news, and it was difficult to be equally upset about all of it. (Although some fans tried!)
Walt Disney World sunsetting the complimentary MagicBand distribution program garnered the least backlash, by far. That’s in part because MagicBands would still exist, and for as cheap as $5 each when discounted for pre-arrivals.
The next big blow to MagicBands was the introduction of the MagicMobile service at Walt Disney World via the My Disney Experience app. This roughly coincided with the sunsetting of free MagicBands in early 2021.
MagicMobile can be added to your Android, iPhone, or Apple Watch digital wallet once enabled. It’s somewhat similar to a MagicBand, with most features working by simply holding up your smart device near an access point. It can be used to enter theme parks, connect PhotoPass images to your account, enter Lightning Lanes, and more.
MagicMobile didn’t have a seamless rollout, but has worked flawlessly for us in the last few years. As someone who already wears an Apple Watch, I typically don’t wear a MagicBand now because I don’t like two wearables on my wrist, and the MagicBand is mostly redundant to what’s offered by MagicMobile without needing a standalone device.
Possibly in response to this reality and wanting to distinguish MagicBands from MagicMobile, Disney introduced MagicBand+ a couple years ago.
From the time it was announced, our fear with MagicBand+ was that it was going to repeat the mistakes of the Made with Magic/Glow with the Show boondoggle. In a nutshell, that’s to say that Disney would invest a ton of money developing new wearable tech and push it as hard as possible to recoup those costs, only to see it flop with fans.
Judging by the thousands of MagicBand+ that were given away to Disneyland fans and how few of the devices we see in the WDW parks as compared to OG MagicBands only ~5 years ago, it’s safe to say that MagicBand+ has not been the success that Disney envisioned.
The newest generation of the device was probably the knockout punch for both the regular ole MagicBands (officially known as MagicBand 2.0).
When you take time passing by the technology, MagicMobile offering a suitable alternative to many guests for free, and MagicBand+ being met with an icy response from most fans, it’s not surprising to see fewer guests wearing MagicBands in the parks.
Of course, one big factor that cannot be overlooked is the cost. What was once free for everyone staying on-site now comes with a charge. The minimum is $25 and there are upgrade options costing as much as $45. If you want anything other than a plain color, the price is at least $35. You’re arguably better off just waiting for a sale at the Disney Store, which also has better selection.
That brings us to the main point of this post. Here’s the current selection of pre-arrival MagicBand discount upgrade options for on-site guests as of mid-February 2025:
As of mid-February 2025, there are 17 pre-arrival options, which is historically low. Last year, we saw 25-40 choices, on average. That was far fewer than the all-time peak of 82 MagicBands.
This is notable in part because there’s been very little turnover in new MagicBand+ options. About two-thirds of the designs above were also available when we last updated the list 6 months ago! And many of those were there 6 months before that. We’re seeing very little turnover, which is probably because MagicBand+ has flopped. Or because the pre-arrival discount has low uptake. Or a mixture of both.
More notably, for the first time ever, there is not a single regular ole MagicBand 2.0 available via Walt Disney World’s pre-arrival discount program.
While the writing has been on the wall for a while due to a dearth of new designs, this more or less confirms what we’ve long suspected: the OG “dumb” MagicBand is dead.
A quick search of the Disney Store would seem to confirm the same. There are plenty of MagicBand+ designs for $35 to $65, but zero regular ole MagicBands. It’s been even longer since I’ve seen the regular MagicBands being sold in one of the gift shops at Walt Disney World.
This is unfortunate. Not only does the MagicBand 2.0 appear to be dead, but these price points are only going to accelerate the demise of MagicBands, period, at Walt Disney World. While I’m sure there are some collectors who still purchase them, the same could’ve been said for Vinylmations or any number of now-extinct product lines that once had loyal fan followings.
The high cost make the MagicBand+ cost prohibitive for many guests, especially on top of every other expense.
If you have a budget when visiting Walt Disney World, tough choices need to be made when spending on splurges. If you have to choose between MagicBand+ designs for everyone in your party, or using MagicMobile (and regular ole Key to the World Cards for kids or older guests without smartphones/watches) and buying Lightning Lane Multi-Pass at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the decision should be a no-brainer.
MagicBand+ is a minimal value-add, whereas LLMP is hugely advantageous. The story is the same with just about any upcharge–or even other random souvenirs. I can wear a sweatshirt, t-shirt, or hat in the real world. Ditto coffee mugs and Tervis cups. MagicBand+ is dead weight at home.
Not only that, but MagicBand+ is minimally useful in the parks. The mini-games are somewhat enjoyable (although perhaps more so from a people-watching perspective thanks to all the arm-flailing), but they’re arguably a poor use of limited vacation time. And the decreased utilization rate of MagicBands all but ensures that Disney won’t throw good money after bad by investing more resources into creating new ones (hopefully).
I’m honestly surprised that Disney even bothered to roll out MagicBand+ at Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line. Or that they continue to add effects into shows and elsewhere. Maybe this is a matter of the company knowing more than me, and MagicBand+ being a quiet success story?
I doubt it. More likely is that they want to recoup/spread out some of the development costs, committed to the expansion years ago when they expected it to be a big hit, or are still somehow holding out hope it’ll gain traction. I don’t know why–technology doesn’t exactly get better with time.
Again, this has shades of Glow with the Show. Despite that flopping internationally and finding limited success when it was unveiled stateside, Disney kept trying to make it a “thing” for years. In so doing, they dedicated/wasted valuable retail space to promote a product that was DOA.
The good news is that, in light of all of the above, MagicBand+ will probably continue to be sold for at least the next few years. And as with the OG MagicBand, the devices will likely continue to be supported long after that. Just as you can still use a MagicBand 2.0 from ages ago, you’ll probably still be able to use a MB+ from launch in 2030.
That’s great for fans who already own MagicBands, but we nevertheless recommend that most new guests do not buy MagicBand+ devices.
This is especially aimed at first-timers who don’t have any sentimentality for the wearables, and might otherwise be swayed by fans who have outsized nostalgia for the devices. That is based largely on perceptions of MagicBands from over 5 years ago, not a clear-eyed cost-benefit assessment of the wearables today.
As of 2025, MagicBands simply are not worth the high prices. The free alternatives function nearly as well, and the opportunity cost of allocating a portion of your vacation budget to MagicBand+ as opposed to something else will seldom make sense. It’s for this reason that MagicBands made our list of the Worst Wastes of Money at Walt Disney World. That’s why I’ve bought my last MagicBand, no matter how much I might like that Figment design above.
All of this is bound to be controversial or unpopular with longtime diehard fans, and I get that. It breaks my heart just a little bit to write this. We started used MagicBands since the original pilot program over a decade ago, and have a lot of nostalgia for the wearables and the simpler times they represent.
I was even excited for MagicBand+ and was hoping it would reinvigorate the devices. Instead, it did the opposite. MagicBand+ just isn’t a good device, and it was the death knell for the OG MagicBands.
To be clear, we’re not suggesting that no one should use MagicBands. If you already own one, more power to you! I have an OG MagicBand from a decade ago that’s still going strong. What we’re saying is that very few people should purchase new ones given the $25 to $65 cost and limited functionality over the free MagicMobile. Even if you’re tech-averse, there’s also the free Key to the World card, which is literally just a piece of plastic.
Honestly, I can’t even fault Walt Disney World for this one. We’ve been staunch critics of the end of Disney’s Magical Express, and recently reaffirmed our take that eliminating it was a colossal mistake. That was an unforced error, and an instance of Walt Disney World making a short-sighted decision as opposed to playing the long game.
Sunsetting MagicBands is almost the opposite of that. Time passed them by years ago.
MagicBands were arguably obsolete within a year or two of first being released, and if not by then, once smartphones gained greater market share among Americans and, specifically, Walt Disney World’s core demographics. The biggest thing that kept MagicBands relevant until 2021 was Walt Disney World distributing them to so many guests for “free” (or building them into the cost of rooms).
It’s understandable that many guests, especially technology-averse ones, would disagree with this. It likewise makes sense that fans push back on all cost-cutting, nickel & diming, etc., as a matter of principle–if we give Disney an inch, they’ll take a mile. I certainly don’t like losing perks.
At the same time, we’re now several years removed from the decision to end free MagicBands, so I should be able to “safely” admit that I think it was the right call. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and providing a MagicBand with every on-site hotel stay was incredibly wasteful on balance.
If anything, I think the truly wrong call here was throwing good money after bad and making the MagicBand+, as I’m highly skeptical that’s even managed to recoup its development costs and it was a worse product than its predecessor. If Walt Disney World is only going to offer one style of MagicBands, it should be the cheaper and dumber ones. Basically, they’ve retired the wrong version of the product!
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Your Thoughts
Do you still purchase or use OG MagicBands or MagicBand+ at Walt Disney World? What do you think about decline of wearables at WDW? Do you think the MB+ is worth the money, or are there better ways to allocate limited vacation budgets? Think Disney made a mistake by sunsetting the free MagicBands for on-site stays, or was it the right call? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
