Are Disney Magic Bands Worth Buying If You're Not Staying On Site

Magic Bands: worth it or not?

If you’re planning a trip to Walt Disney World from the UK, you’ve probably come across Magic Bands and wondered: are they really worth buying, especially if you’re not staying at a Disney hotel?

Let’s break it down so you can decide whether to spend your pounds on one or save the cash for something else?

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What Is A Magic Band?

A Disney Magic Band, (or newer Magic Band+) is a wristband you can link to your tickets, Lightning Lane bookings, and Photo Pass account. If you’re staying at a Disney hotel, it also acts as your room key and you can also make purchases with the wrist band with a simple tap and pin code entry.

For UK Disney visitors staying off-site the main reason to consider a Magic Band is probably convenience as you don’t need to juggle your phone or entry card at every turnstile. But does that justify the $34.99 price tag (£25) that most of us end up paying for one?

The Case For Magic Bands

Magic Bands make a Disney trip run just a little bit smoother. As a person who loves a Magic Band when in Disney World, here are the top reasons to get one, even if you’re staying off property:

Entrance to the park is easier: Once you link your ticket and your Magic Band, your park ticket is effectively on your wrist. No bag rummaging needed, or putting your ticket somewhere safe as you walk through the turnstile only to be looking for it again later.
Kids love them. Great for giving your kids some independence on holiday as they can ‘look after’ their own ticket.
Good for families: Less ticket juggling and moments of panic when you can’t find everyone’s ticket.
Less phone stress. There’s no worrying that your phone is running low on battery when you want to park hop or you have paid for lightning lanes and your ticket is online.
Fun extras: Magic Band+ lights up and vibrates during fireworks, interacts with the gold statues around the parks, and games in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Good if you’re clumsy and get flummoxed easily: Makes a huge difference to just have the band and go.

The Case Against Magic Bands

When you’re not staying in a Disney hotel, you may not be heading to Disney every day of your holiday. Plus, if you’re travelling on a budget Magic Bands can run away with a lot of dollars fast. So here are the top reasons to avoid buying them:

You don’t need them: Magic Bands are not necessary and apart from lighting up at statues they offer no real value to your trip.

You can’t buy them in advance in the UK: UK visitors cannot buy them in advance of their trip. This means UK guest will struggle to pick a Magic Band up cheaply in the sales and can’t give one as a gift before a trip or as part of a reveal.

Adds extra cost to your holiday: Starting at $34.99, that’s a large amount of spending money to reserve per person for an item you don’t need. About £30 per person once tax is added and depending on the exchange rate. Magic Bands featuring characters often cost more.

Cheaper ways to make tickets more convenient and accessible: You can get the same convenience of a Magic Band by picking up a lanyard and sealable card holder before your trip. Places like Etsy and Shein offer lanyards with Disney theming for around £5.

Another souvenir: A Magic Band is effectively a souvenir bracelet with an RFID chip inside. Once you get it home it has no use, other than being a plastic bracelet from a holiday.

Your phone or free card ticket does the job. And so do Apple Smart Watches if you have one of those

Are Magic Bands Worth It?

If you’re staying off site and doing Disney on a budget, forget the Magic Band. When you’re off site you only really use your Magic Band as an entry ticket, for Lightning Lanes, and for Photo Pass pictures. It lights up and vibrates at fireworks and figures, which for kids is lots of fun. You might use it once, or a couple of times if you park hop, a day to enter the park. If you don’t buy lightning lanes, it’s not going to be used for that. Photo Pass is convenient but non-essential.

The cost of a Magic Band is the big turn-off for a lot of people who are only visiting a Disney Park for a few days during their two-week once in a lifetime trip. At a cost per day, of you buy the cheapest and visit 10 days out of 14 when staying off site is a minimum of £2.80, when buying your Magic Band in the parks.

Who should buy a Magic Band?

Families with kids might find the convenience the Magic Band offers appealing and a little stress relieving. Plus the enjoyment kids get from interacting with the statues and immersive value of the Magic Band+ buzzing during the fireworks, can make it worth it. However, kids can also easily lose them, and may prefer a new soft toy to a Magic Band.

Lightning Lane fans should consider investing in a Magic Band. If you plan your Disney World days around using Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass a Magic Band will be useful. It makes signing in and put of rides seamless and fast, which is great if you plan to do that lots during your trips.

If you are planning on visiting Disney World more than once in the next few years, a Magic Band might be worth it. You will be able to link it to your ticket each time you visit and use it every time. This means you get better value and it’s not just a souvenir that will be tossed in the drawer when you get home.

Who should definitely not buy a Magic Band?

If you are a budget conscious family or couple staying off site definitely give the Magic Band a miss. There’s no way to justify the cost of a bracelet that does the same as your free entry card, apart from a few lights and buzzes.

Those UK visitors who only plan on visiting a Disney Park for one or two days should also consider giving the Magic Band a miss. It works out at a minimum £15 a day up charge to your day and the value you will get out of your Magic Band wont be worth it in our opinion.

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Final Verdict

For UK visitors staying offsite, Magic Bands are convenient but optional holiday extras. They won’t make or break your holiday. Worth it to reduce stress and have a more hands-free experience when entering the park, for Lightning Lanes, and Photo Pass. Skip it if you’re budget conscious and don’t min using your park ticket.

Either way the real magic at Disney World doesn’t come from a wrist band and this is one optional extra that you can easily skip.