Disney Resort Guests No Longer Receive Free Magic Bands In 2021

Introduced in 2013 MagicBands have become integral to the Disney Park experience. These wearable devices combine the capability and function for a guest's park ticket and hotel room key, they also provide wearers a tool to consolidate dining plans and reservations as well as operate as a contactless payment method. It took some time for regular Disney guests to get used to the new technology, and now it looks like Disney is changing things up again.


Disney Resort Guests No Longer Receive Free Magic Bands In 2021


Disney has announced that beginning in January 2021, Disney World hotel guests and Annual Passholders will no longer receive a free MagicBand with their reservation or pass. Don't worry, these must have Theme Park accessories aren't going anywhere, they will just no longer be free. Instead, Disney World hotel guests will have the option to purchase MagicBands at a discounted price.


MagicBands Provide A Fun Customized Disney Experience


Disney has plans to launch some brand new technology offerings as part of the My Disney Experience app. The new tech is an evolution of the app's Digital Key technology that is already in place allowing guests to unlock their rooms using their smartphones. Already able to access an abundance of Theme Park information via the MyDisneyExperience app, consolidating the access and information from MagicBands to one device makes sense to many. Hopefully, the new smartphone features will roll out smoothly but you may want to bring along a MagicBand from your previous trips if you don't want to purchase a new one.


MyDisney Experience App


Guests that don't want to purchase a MagicBand, or use Smart Phone technology to access their MyDisneyExperience options such as Admission Media, Room Keys, and Dining Plan will still be able to request a Key To The World Card or reuse their old MagicBands until the batteries die.

Thanks so much to our friends over at the Disney Food Blog for exclusive use of their images. If your interested in the pulse of the community on this issue, check out DFB's latest article on the subject We Asked Our Readers: Will You Still Use MagicBands in 2021 When They're Not Free? Here's What They Said.

How do you feel about this change that's coming? Will you miss getting your free MagicBand, or is your Kitchen junk drawer already full of them?