I fought it for the longest time, but finally broke down and bought a MagicBand last year. Oh, don’t ya know it?! The Mouse may be phasing them out! Every time I treat myself, too!
Cinemablend saw that Walt Disney World has officially started the push to put the Disney World app center stage for smart device integration. MagicBands could perform a number of functions and is labeled as all-in-one devices by Disney. You could unlock your hotel room, pay for stuff on Disney property, enter the parks, and enter the Fast Pass queue. Well, that was before the FP system went on hold due to Covid-19 anyway.
Now those abilities are ported over to the Disney World smartphone app. In a way, this is pretty convenient. If you’re using the app while at the resort, the potential defunct status of the bands is of little consequence.
The convenience of just tapping your wrist to a terminal will still exist, too. If you have a smartwatch (Apple devices only as of this moment), that ease of use is there. Other brands of smartwatches will have this ability in the future, but a concrete date has not been listed.
Maybe you’re not like me and don’t want to rough it while in WDW. I can’t be the only one who prefers to leave the phone locked up at my house or hotel room. Well, to be honest, that was mainly because I kept losing my phones on Splash Mountain somehow.
Disney has not made a statement yet about nixing the MagicBands, but if you’re into collecting them, head on over to shopDisney now and stock up.
In case you haven’t used the Disney World app before, here’s the current official list of all the features:
Explore the Resort
- Get attraction wait times as well as showtimes for fireworks and parades.
- Find Character Greeting locations and times.
- Browse restaurant menus, make dining reservations and place mobile orders at select quick-service restaurants.
- Use the interactive, GPS-enabled map to uncover fun things to do and see at Magic Kingdom park, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park.
- Navigate the parks with turn-by-turn ease using the new Get Directions function.
Plan Your Vacation
- Buy theme park tickets on the go†.
- Keep reservations and activities organized in My Plans.
- Share your itinerary with others through Family & Friends.
- Manage your Disney Resort reservations, tickets, MagicBands and cards.
- Begin the Disney Resort check-in process online, get real-time updates, see your room number, unlock your door and more through the Direct-to-Room service.
Enhance Your Experience
- Turn wait time into play time with Play Disney Parks—a fun new app that gives family and friends the chance to interact with the theme parks like never before.
- Preview your Disney PhotoPass photos on your mobile device throughout your vacation.
- Download, edit and share your PhotoPass media by purchasing Memory Maker, which includes unlimited photos taken by our photographers at select locations.
- Shop for authentic Disney Parks merchandise, locate specific items in the parks and ship purchases right to your home—all via the app. (Shipping available to U.S. addresses only.)
- Sign in using your fingerprint instead of entering a password with Touch ID (available on iOS only).
Pirates & Princesses (PNP) is an independent, opinionated fan-powered news blog that covers Disney and Universal Theme Parks, Themed Entertainment and related Pop Culture from a consumer's point of view. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of PNP, its editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. PNP is an unofficial news source and has no connection to The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal or any other company that we may cover.