When Walt Disney World first announced a forthcoming option for guests and Annual Passholders to upgrade their MagicBands, we heard from a ton of DFB readers and followers who couldn’t wait to partake in this fun, personalized option.
But since the bands became available to order on Monday (see the announcement here!), we’ve heard a lot more about glitches than successes.
My Disney Experience screenshot
If you’re one of the many who attempted to order a Disney icon, character, or snack MagicBand and met with limited (if any!) success, you’re not alone! We’re hearing about snags that include a reduced number of options when making a selection and orders being cancelled after they’ve been placed.
My Disney Experience screenshot
Disney hasn’t released any official account of why these things are happening, but some readers have reported calling Disney World and being told by cast members that many of the MagicBands have already sold out. That could explain why the options are reduced when guests try to order and why some orders are being canceled after the fact.
Several MagicBand Upgrade options
We’ll keep you posted if we learn anything official about the glitches in the MagicBand upgrade process — and if we hear that MagicBands are being restocked. In the meantime, comment below to let us know what you’ve encountered when trying to upgrade. And though it’s a poor consolation: know that you’re not alone in your MagicBand upgrading dismay.
Here’s hoping for smooth sailing and restocked bands soon!
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I have a family of 5 and we’re trying to purchase customized magical bands. Everytime we’re able to make a selection for 4 out of 5 bands. The site doesn’t refresh when items are out of stock. There also isn’t a unique identifier per user, per transaction. We’ve been on this site for 18 hours!!! Called Disney tech support 3 times. It’s really sad that the functionality of this site doesn’t refresh when items are out of stock or allows you to complete your purchase when you have already selected the bands you want. The system doesn’t lock the selected bands, instead clears your selection and then you’ll recycle the process all over again. Word to large families… this site sucks, but custom bands when you get there.
We are getting frustrated too with this! Today, three of the four people in our family had their magic band in stock, and after selecting a plain one for the 4th person (since theirs was being shown as an option, but was “sold out” when you picked it), two were wiped from our selections! If only Disney would let you order them one at a time, and ship them together when everyone is done ordering theirs separately (if necessary)
Our trip isn’t until December, so there’s plenty of time, but sometimes its nice to get things out of the way (like ordering bands).
I wonder if people who’s trip is closer get priority?
They have now taken down all but the basic colored magic bands. Ugh!!
I wish they would just give you a coupon when you check in your hotel for $15 off a 24.99 band and be done with it. this is irritating as heck.
@Leslie, that’s a wonderful idea! My trip isn’t until December so I have plenty of time, but the problem is none of the 4 we’re wanting are ever in stock at the same time. So frustrating!
Go to etsy or Ebay and buy the skins for the standard bands. You can buy 5 or 6 skins for what you would pay disney for 1 upgrade. In my opinion disney is getting just plain greedy with no consideration for their guests willing to spend more money for upgrades to their trip. I’m done giving disney more of my money.
SO frustrated!!! I check the website several times a day and continually hit refresh and even when new options show up they’re already sold out or they become sold out when I try to check out. Been at this for several days now and have one kid’s upgraded band in the cart but cant check out because none of the “boy” bands are in stock. I gave up trying to get them for my husband and I because finding four that are in stock is impossible.
As of 9/25/19 the issues still exist. Here is an exchange I had today with Disney World Annual Passholders Facebook Representative.
I am not in my “Happy Place”.
————
Me:
May I ask you for some help? I have been trying to order the complimentary Magic Band available for Annual Passholders. It is incredibly difficult and frustrating to obtain a graphic Magic Band.
My Disney Experience shows stock. I select and type in my personalization and hit the Complete Button only to receive the, “We’re sorry, but the MagicBand you have chosen is now out of stock” Message time and time again. I have spent over 3 Hours on the phone asking for help from different Cast Members (including asking at my local Disney Store) to no avail. Not counting the hours on the website trying.
I have cleared the cache on my web browser, tried different browsers, used an iPhone, an Android Phone, an iPad, and an Android Tablet to try to order a Magic Band. I have tried at all hours of the day and night. I have tried refreshing the website every 3 Minutes. Even then the Magic Band I want is Sold Out. What is going on? I do not understand why the availability is so low. The irony is the same Magic Band is and has been available for purchase from the Shop Disney Website. I have been told a variety of things/excuses. Being told they stock three of a band and they sell out quickly, to we know it is an issue, and this is a new program are a poor excuse to alienate customers who are spending thousands of dollars on ticketing, accommodations, travel, food, and merchandise.
I would think Disney would consider Resort Guests and Annual Passholders as premium customers who have the disposable income in high regard.
I have suggested that maybe a voucher for the value be given out, or a Magic Band Puck, and obviously increase availability to a days worth of inventory.
This is a terrible experience and all BEFORE I even reach your resort. This is a task which should of taken me less than five minutes to complete which has now consumed hours of my time.
I hope you are able to help me with this matter.
Them:
Hello, Thank you for reaching out to us. I am so sorry for the frustration, and understand why this experience has put a damper on your planning. Our teams work hard to keep accurate stock information on our website, but due to extreme popularity, availability of premium MagicBands fluctuates often. Regretfully, I am unable to assist with this directly via Twitter, but have made sure to forward your honest feedback to the appropriate team.
As we constantly look to improve our services feedback from our Guests and Annual Passholders is invaluable information, and is useful in understanding where we go next. Again, I am deeply sorry for the experience you’ve had with the Build-a-Band program, and hope you are able to pick the MagicBand of your dreams soon.
Me:
Thank you for getting back to me quickly. From your reply I guess there is no one else to help. It saddens me.
Frustrating yours,
—————
Not sure if I’m doing something wrong but whenever I click on the option to choose your magic band (Just the normal ones) I either get a blank screen or a HTTP error 500 code. Been doing this for a couple of days on different browsers and cleared cookies
Stephen, it’s probably not you. You might call Disney directly and see if they can help.
We’ve been trying to pick a premium Magic Band and when we go to do so, it pops our existing or active Magic Bands and cards up from up to 6 years ago. Then sometimes we go to pick them and just get a blank screen. Our trip is in January, but I’d like to get this done sooner than later and have everything be ok. We only need 2! We’ve checked back over the course of a week and still nothing!
I finally gave up and decided to order just plain colored bands and use the magic band decals that some companies make (it was a complimentary gift with our hotel booking). So i wondered why it has been taking so long to receive and basically they wait until the very last day for you to select an upgraded band (one that costs money!) until they send you an order. So irritating. I would have loved to buy a graphic band but everything they offer is 1) ugly or 2) out of stock as soon as I select. You would think they could standardize on like 4 or 5 ones that they always have instead of giving us the store’s leftovers!
Hi, I’m sure if this issue is still happening but we are travelling to All Star Sports in late May and we are unable to choose our magic bands, are we too early? We do live in the UK but I thought you could choose your magic band to them collect at the front desk when you arrive.
Every time I try to ‘select your Magicband’ I get a screen with Wreck it Ralph on saying the website is unavailable.
Bethany, it should be the case that you can order them to have them waiting at the front desk. I would recommend you keep trying, and if you don’t see any changes, try to call Disney to see if they can help.
I had exactly the same issue. Firstly I emailed Disney Guest Services as below.
…I can not “customise magic bands”. Tried for a week but it still says that it is unavailable and to check the URL? Looked at a few customer forums about changing browser and clearing browsing history but that did not work. Can you kindly help? Thanks….
Disney Guest Services replied as such.
…We are so sorry for the issues you are running into ordering your Magic Bands.
Here are some additional options on how you may possibly choose your Magic Bands through the US website version. From the disneyholidays.co.uk page, you will not see the language setting for US unless you go into select places on the website. The language setting can be changed when you go to ‘Things to Do’ and then change the language to US English. This has allowed us to work around the issue for most UK Magic Band errors.You can also try this exact link to get to the US Version of the website: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_US/.
If you have any other questions or challenges, please do not hesitate to contact us by calling us at 0-800-169-0749 (4AM- 3PM Eastern). Cast Members will be happy to assist you further.
Unfortunately the suggestions to use the link or change to US English did not work therefore I ended up calling . It was around a 15 minute call wait time but the Cast Member was great. It is a fault that they are working on and in the meantime they will order Magic Bands for you. Remember you can personalise each one with up to 9 characters (including spaces) and the Cast Member arranges that also.
I checked “My Disney Experience App” whilst on the call and it updated straight away with the customised Magic Bands. I hope that your issue is resolved like mine soonest.