Walt Disney World has discontinued the discount MagicBand+ program for pre-arrival Walt Disney World resort hotel guests and Annual Passholders. With this, it’s another end of an era for the popular wearables; what was once a fan-favorite on-site perk when it launched has declined in popularity in the years since and is now quietly being killed.
For newer fans who are unfamiliar with this program (or anyone who wants to take a stroll down memory lane), this program launched back in May 2019 in celebration of the MagicBand’s 5th Anniversary. At the time, the upgrade portal offered the ability to upgrade from a free solid-color MagicBand to one of more than 30 new premium MagicBand designs featuring favorite Disney characters and designs at a special price reflecting a $14.99 discount.
Even once the upgrade program launched, several free MagicBands were still available for guests who choose not to upgrade. The new designs could also be shipped to guests’ homes (U.S. addresses only) if ordered 11 or more days ahead of arrival and can be personalized if done so at least 6 or more days ahead of arrival. At the time, most MagicBands cost $5 to $15 after the discount.
The pre-arrival program launched on May 20, 2019 and, like so many things utilizing Disney IT, had a rocky rollout. I would estimate that that approximately one-third of the 953 comments on our Guide to Pre-Arrival Discount MagicBands at Walt Disney World involve some sort of troubleshooting help. (Hence that being a major section of the post!)
The upgrade program eventually worked (more or less) as intended and quickly became a Walt Disney World fan-favorite offering. We saw a ton of reader interest in this topic, and we ourselves boughts several MagicBands with the pre-arrival discount. (I still fondly remember the slow release of resort-specific MagicBand designs in late 2019, which were a personal favorite.) It was a no-brainer when it was only $10 for a premium design!
I would hazard a guess that another one-third or so of the comments on that post came when Walt Disney World announced the end of the ‘complimentary’ side of the MagicBand upgrade program, effective January 2021. That was one of the proverbial nails in the coffin for MagicBands at Walt Disney World, even if it didn’t seem like it at the time.
That announcement actually flew a bit under the radar, as the MagicBand news was one of several ‘soft resets’ to the guest experience that was announced in Summer 2020 before the parks even reopened. Walt Disney World retiring the free MagicBand program was announced in the same press release as the Disney Park Pass reservation system and other health policy initiatives. 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, bad news month for Walt Disney World fans, and the end of free MagicBands was among 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. (“Challenge accepted” said the most dedicated WDW diehards.)
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.
Around that same time, Walt Disney World announced the MagicBand+. The time from reveal to launch was a drawn out process, with the MagicBand+ first being announced long before it debuted, and a delay seemingly occurring somewhere along the way.
From the time it was announced, our fear with MagicBand+ was that it was going to be an expensive boondoggle. 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. Despite this, there has been no pivot back to the simpler days of the OG MagicBand.
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with the MagicBand+ when you boil the wearable down to its core functionality. It is fine. It can do all of the things that the OG MagicBand can do; it’s just a matter of ignoring the pointless bells and whistles, poor battery life, etc.
The problem is price. What was once free for everyone staying on-site changed to a charge. Not a huge issue at first, as there were still $5 to $15 options, which is minimal in the grand scheme of a Walt Disney World vacation. At least, when the OG MagicBand was still around.
That all changed once the MagicBand+ effectively replaced the OG MagicBand. The minimum cost shot up to $25 and there were upgrade options costing as much as $45 as of mid-2022. If you wanted anything other than a plain color, the price was at least $35. At that point, you were arguably better off just waiting for a sale at the Disney Store, which also has better selection.
And that right there is what doomed the discount MagicBand+ pre-arrival program.
It wasn’t the supply chain issues that plagued the program during the phased reopening, which Disney rebounded from nicely by last year (there were a record number of designs available at one point!). It wasn’t technology passing by the MagicBand, or the free MagicMobile service replacing the wearables.
If Disney continued to give away MagicBands, they’d still be a huge hit with guests. One of those “little things” that makes people feel good about the premium pricing that Walt Disney World charges, because they deliver a premium product and a commensurate guest experience.
Above all else, what led to the discount’s demise was the practical reality that the “discount” MagicBands stopped being a deal, and the cheapest MagicBand+ to get through the portal was routinely $35 or more.
This led to guest disinterest, which led to fewer updates from Walt Disney World, and so on and so forth. The writing was on the wall a long time ago, and it became patently obvious when Disney retained seasonal, annual, and celebratory inventory long after it was irrelevant.
Although some fans are going to categorize this as Walt Disney World wanting to increase revenue by charging more–a price increase by a different name–we’re not so certain that’s the correct characterization. If anything, I would hazard a guess that Walt Disney World is generating far, far less revenue from MagicBands than they were back in 2019. It’s a matter of volume, due to how they’ve bungled MagicBands over the last ~4 years.
Walt Disney World has finally made it official with the sunsetting of the discount MagicBand program as of October 8, 2025. The order flow still exists to go through the motions and make a selection, there’s just no discount:
Updated MagicBand Order Process
This page mostly looks the same as before, save for the removal of verbiage referring to special discounted pricing being available for guests with an upcoming Disney Resort hotel reservation or Annual Passholders.
Above is the page we see for our first resort reservation. In typical Disney IT fashion, it actually took me a few times just to get this to display. Prior to this, I received an error message: “We are unable to display your MagicBands and cards at this time; please try again later.”
This happens about half the time, and it’s my understanding that this is a “me problem” because I have too many MagicBands and cards linked to my account. (Even though I’ve proactively removed them on my end, they still exist on the backend; every few years I have to have one of the “Avengers” Cast Members go through the backend and delete the dead weight so my whole account doesn’t constantly crash. But I digress.)
If you are wondering what the non-discounted pre-arrival MagicBand+ inventory looks like as of today, there’s your answer.
There are actually a few new additions since our last update on the designs in August, but that’s also not the purpose of this post. I’d estimate that at least 75% of these styles have not changed in the last year-plus. Over half are identical to what was here at MagicBand+ launch.
Most of these designs are now $44.99. There are about a half-dozen solid colors that are $34.99. There are a couple ‘color trends’ that are $49.99.
The best design is now $44.99.
I have screenshots from this exact same MagicBand when it was $34.99 after discount two months ago.
Now I regret not making the purchase, even though I maintain that this design is much better on a shirt, where it looks like Figment is bursting out of your stomach. It’s nice synergy with Alien: Earth, now playing on Hulu by Disney. (Subscribe now and save!)
The same MagicBand+ is the same price via DisneyStore.com.
Given how frequently DisneyStore runs deals, it makes very little sense to buy from My Disney Experience unless you’re doing so last minute and don’t care about the cost.
Honestly, even before today, this was pretty close to being the case. It’s just definitive now.
Are MagicBands Needed at Walt Disney World?
No. MagicBands are not required or even necessary at Walt Disney World. For room entry, park admission, Lightning Lanes, and charging privileges to the hotel room, Walt Disney World offers plastic Key To The World cards. This can be provided at the hotel front desk, and is how things worked prior to the debut of MagicBands several years ago. Alternatively, guests can receive standard ticket media and use that for park entry or using Lightning Lanes.
Additionally, MagicMobile service is available at Walt Disney World via the My Disney Experience app. This can be added to your Android, iPhone, or Apple Watch digital wallet once enabled. This works just like 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 Disney PhotoPass images to your account, enter Lightning Lanes, and more. Here’s how MagicMobile compares to MagicBands.
MagicMobile and Key to the World cards are two of four ways to access these features. The other options are the MagicBand+ and the regular ole MagicBand 2.0, as we’ll discuss below. Our brutally honest MagicBand+ Review: Good, Bad & Ugly should help you determine whether it’s for you.
MagicBand Discount Demise Final Thoughts
As suggested above, it was this chipping away at the pre-arrival MagicBand discount program that has led to its gradual downfall. Although the program is being officially retired today, Disney has been slowly letting it die for years. I guess to their “credit,” they’ve ensured that the backlash to this news wouldn’t be strong, as this one-time fan-favorite program long ago lost its luster.
I’m sure some Walt Disney World diehards will still be disappointed by this development. I know I certainly am. But this is more akin to learning that a magazine you stopped reading years ago is finally going out of print. You moved on long ago, and maybe are even surprised to learn it was still limping along. But it’s nevertheless disheartening as the end of an era. You’re mourning what once was, and how the times have changed.
That’s how I feel with regard to this. In a bit of a full circle moment, today is another day that Walt Disney World has flooded the zone with negative news. Just like the when free MagicBands ended, this is hardly the most consequential story of the day. And yet, it’s the change that hits hardest for me, because it’s yet another little way that we’re fully and finally closing a chapter on the circa 2019 Walt Disney World guest experience.
At the risk of stating the obvious, no one is a fan of price increases. But honestly, most of that news today bothers me a lot less than this. Even though it’s a policy choice by Disney, pricing is largely a product of the market; it is what it is. But as we’ve pointed out, it’s not just price increases that have been happening since 2019. 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. Walt Disney World has made a lot of positive decisions lately, and we don’t want to diminish any of that. In some ways, it really feels like Walt Disney World is turning a corner and getting back on track! But they still can’t help but get out of their own way when it comes to some of the “little things,” and as inconsequential as they might seem, they’re much more meaningful decisions than pricing policies.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Walt Disney World ending the discount MagicBand upgrade program? Is it the end of an era for you, or do you not care? Will you be paying full price for one of these colors or themed designs? 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!
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