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MagicBand+ at Walt Disney World

If you've vacationed at Walt Disney World since 2013, you're probably very familiar with MagicBands. Well there's a new band in town known as the MagicBand+. MagicBand+ has all the features you've come to love with MagicBands plus some new and improved features to add a little extra magic to your vacation. 

As we reviewed in our MagicBands 101 article, MagicBands and MagicBand+ can be used to open the door to your Disney Resort hotel room, enter the theme parks and water parks with a valid admission ticket linked to your account, check-in at Lightning Lane entrances, add PhotoPass pictures to your account and charge food and merchandise purchases to the payment card on file at your Disney Resort hotel room during your stay. 

MagicBand+ adds an all-new touch of magic to your vacation throughout the Walt Disney World Resort. With customizable light-up themes, haptic vibrations and more, MagicBand+ offers a new kind of magical experience. 

What exactly are "light-up themes" and "haptic vibrations"? Good question! I was wondering the same thing before my first trip using a MagicBand+. Your MagicBand+ will light up at various instances such as when scanning into the theme parks. You can customize the light up theme for your MagicBand+ through the My Disney Experience app. There are special themes available for specialty bands, like the 50th Anniversary, or you can choose from color themes. 

MagicBand+ also interacts with various aspects in the theme parks such as the 50th anniversary character statues, select attractions and nighttime spectaculars. My MagicBand+ interacted with a few attractions during our most recent visit and it was a neat surprise. At the Haunted Mansion, my MagicBand+ started glowing red and pulsing like a heartbeat right after the stretching room and before we boarded our Doom Buggy. 

You can also use your MagicBand+ for several games on the Play Disney Parks App like Star Wars: Batuu Bounty Hunters and The Fab 50 Quest. I didn't try any of these games on my most recent trip but I'm looking forward to playing them with my kids on my next vacation. They sound really fun and I think my kids will love them!

MagicBand+ interacts with nighttime spectaculars like Disney Enchantment and
Play Disney Parks app games like Star Wars: Batuu Bounty Hunters
What I think is by far the coolest feature of the MagicBand+ is when it syncs up with the nighttime spectaculars! The MagicBand+ will light up and vibrate in sync with Disney Enchantment at the Magic Kingdom, Fantasmic! at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Harmonious at Epcot. It was really neat watching the MagicBand+ during the nighttime spectaculars but it was also a little distracting. I found myself watching the MagicBand+ and had to keep reminding myself to look at the show instead of the band. 

If you aren't sure about purchasing a MagicBand+, you can consult this guide on the Disney World website to compare features between the MagicBand+, MagicBand and Disney MagicMobile Service. 
I think the MagicBand+ is really neat but I'm not sure if it's worth the additional cost. Don't get me wrong, the extra features of the MagicBand+ are fun but they're not necessary to have a great vacation. With that being said, if there is a MagicBand+ design that you love, then absolutely purchase one! There are a lot of cute designs to choose from. 
You can filter by MagicBand+ when purchasing through the My Disney Experience website
For more information on MagicBands and MagicBand+, make sure to read our MagicBands Step by Step Guide. In that post we cover how to select your MagicBand or MagicBand+, shipping timelines and managing your MagicBands. 

Have you purchased a MagicBand+? What do you think of the new technology? Let us know in the comments. 

Ashley has been a Disney Parks fan from an early age and loves anything vintage Disney. You can email Ashley at ashley@kingdomkonsultant.com.

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