Something we have not discussed yet in this series of blogs is MagicBand Upgrades. Walt Disney World recently created an option to upgrade your solid colored MagicBand which comes with resort reservations or an annual pass.

MagicBands were introduced to Walt Disney World in 2014, and all guests who have a resort reservation have the option to choose a complimentary band. If you are unfamiliar with MagicBands, they provide a list of vacation enhancements. MagicBands act as your park tickets, your room key, your room charge card, your Fastpasses are linked with them, and they manage your dining reservations including the Disney Dining Plan.
Until the upgrade program became available, you were limited to selecting a solid colored band. However, that has now changed, and guests can choose to upgrade their band to one of over 30 designs for a discounted $10 fee. Unfortunately getting a band has been more difficult than anticipated and some designs sold out almost immediately.

It seems the offer has been considerably more popular than anticipated and although stock does return it is often sold out within hours.
However, we persisted and eventually managed to obtain four bands. The website crashed several times, and we did not realize we had successfully purchased until an email arrived. There have also been reports of incorrect MagicBands being delivered to resorts but all ours came as ordered.
The MagicBands do look fantastic, and the offer is, in my opinion, worth taking up. However, the current stock problems and reliability issues with the website do need resolving.

Our 4th day at Walt Disney World was spent at the Animal Kingdom. We have been luckier so far with the weather than our last July visit to Orlando. Today was a fantastic day, and there was only one short shower while we were having dinner.

The Animal Kingdom is probably our favorite park at Walt Disney World currently, mainly due to the fantastic Pandora. For the first time, we ate at the Satu’li Canteen. I have always been a little bit dubious surrounding the menu, but the food was fantastic.

We had obtained an advance FastPass for Flight of Passage which was lucky as the ride was working on reduced capacity. Flight of Passage continues to be amazing, and I still feel it is better the more times you ride.

The day was spent obtaining additional FastPass selections, and by the end of the day, we had completed the majority of major attractions apart from Na’vi River Journey.

Finally, a special “shout out” to Kevin from Up!, the best new Walt Disney World character. You will find Kevin wandering around the park.

Tomorrow we are off to the Magic Kingdom and have an early start with breakfast at Be Our Guest. You can catch up with all our daily Orlando Live Blogs by clicking this link.
Leave a Reply