![]() | This article needs to be updated.(November 2022) |
![]() From left to right: Red (original) MagicBand, Blue MagicBand 2 with Icon, Green MagicBand 2 without Icon, MagicKeeper with Green Icon. | |
Type | Wearable technology |
---|---|
Inventor | Synapse Product Development [1] Walt Disney Parks & Resorts |
Inception | 2013 |
Manufacturer | The Walt Disney Company |
Available | Sold at Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, and online |
Current supplier | Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort |
A MagicBand is a plastic RFID bracelet that is used by guests at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort. The MagicBands form the central part of the MyMagic+ experience, providing a way for the system to connect data to guests. This includes connecting park tickets, hotel room keys, payments, and PhotoPass information to the MagicBands. The bands were announced on January 7, 2013, by Tom Staggs as a part of MyMagic+. [2]
There are three models of MagicBands: the original and now-discontinued MagicBand; MagicBand 2, which features interchangeable "Icons" (the actual RFID portion of the bracelet) that can be used on different bands and accessories; and MagicBand+, an enhanced version of MagicBand 2 with additional "smart" functions.
MagicBands were developed alongside the MyMagic+ program as a way to tie all of the different elements of the program together. The MagicBand idea came at the start of the Next Generation Experience (the code name for what became MyMagic+), when one of the original five members of the project, business development VP John Padgett, was on a flight between Burbank, the Walt Disney Company's headquarters, and Orlando, the location of Walt Disney World. Padgett saw a magnetic therapy, a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice, wristband in a SkyMall magazine, which claimed to ease sore muscles "while simultaneously improving one's golf swing". He and the project team began considering the design of a wristband encoded with "everything a guest might need—park tickets, photos, coupons, even money". Soon afterward, they created a makeshift xBand (the original code name for the MagicBand) using a velcro strip, a plastic liner, and an RFID tag. [3]
The original MagicBand design was created by Frog Design. The original design consisted of an outer plastic grey bracelet, which can be removed to adjust for a smaller sized wrist, and an inner plastic bracelet. The inner plastic bracelet is one of eight base colors, [4] which can then have a series of different designs printed on them for an extra fee. Sealed inside of the middle of the inner band is the circuitry, consisting of high frequency and ultra-high frequency antennas and a coin cell battery, [5] all embedded on a PCB. [6] [7] [8] [9] Directly outside of the circuitry is an outline of Mickey Mouse's head on the front, while the back includes the Band ID, the FCC ID number, and other information. [3]
On November 19, 2016, a new MagicBand design, MagicBand 2, was announced. The new design increases the size of the Mickey head and the circuitry area. This part, called the Icon, is able to be removed from the rest of the wristband with a special screwdriver and placed in other bands or special accessories such as a keychain. [10] [11] [12]
Disney has announced a new band called MagicBand+. MagicBand has been available at Disneyland since October 26, 2022. The wearable device allows parkgoers to play exclusive games in parks and gives guests a hands-free way to enter the park. MagicBand+ is also waterproof and rechargeable. A new interactive game in Galaxy's Edge also launched with MagicBand+. When wearing the band, guests can participate in the interactive quest to collect bounties throughout the land. [13]
Until January 1, 2021, MagicBands were free to all Disney Resort guests. Until August 16, 2021, the bands were free to annual passholders. [14] While other guests receive an RFID-enabled Key to the World card, they are able to purchase a MagicBand online or at the parks. [15] In March of the same year, Disney launched the MagicMobile Pass on Apple Wallet for iOS and watchOS devices. The pass allows guests to access the parks by tapping their devices at special NFC touchpoints throughout the resort. The service was later extended to Google Wallet on Android devices in April. [16] [17]
Touchpoints, consisting of a ring with an outline of Mickey Mouse's head, [3] are located at park entry points, Lightning Lane (previously Fastpass+) entry points, PhotoPass locations, and point of sales location. When a guest walks up to one, they place their MagicBand's circuitry location against the center of the ring (known as putting "Mickey to Mickey" [3] ), in order to engage the system. The ring and outline on the touchpoint will then light up green if access is granted, while it will turn blue if cast member assistance is required. [3] Some special edition MagicBands with graphics printed on them will cause the touchpoints to light up different colors and make different noises instead of the default green when access is granted. [18] [19] [20] An example of this is the red lightsaber Star Wars -themed MagicBand, which changed the default green to red. [21] In normal settings, the touchpoints will never turn red, due to the negative connotation of the color. [22]
Handheld MagicBand readers are used at sit-down restaurants for point of sales and by PhotoPass photographers to link photos. [23] These handheld readers do not have the light up features of the touchpoints.
The MagicBands are also used to connect guests' on-ride photos to their PhotoPass using the long-range ultra-high frequency radio without guests having to use touchpoints to associate the pictures to their account. [24] [25] [26] The MagicBands also allow guests to interact, using a system called Storymaker, with screens in rides or queues, such as It's a Small World, [27] [28] Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith, [29] [30] Haunted Mansion, [31] and Expedition Everest. [32]
On February 13, 2017, it was announced that over 29 million MagicBands had been made. [33]
The MagicBand system has also been used to enforce COVID-19 safety protocols inside the NBA Bubble for the resumption of the 2019-20 NBA season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex; access to courts and practice facilities requires scanning a MagicBand in order to verify that the wearer has completed mandatory health monitoring protocols. [34] [35]
MagicBands+ will light up during or react to select attractions and experiences. Known effects have included or currently include:
The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The property covers nearly 25,000 acres, of which half has been developed. Walt Disney World contains numerous recreational facilities designed to attract visitors for an extended stay, including four theme parks, two water parks, four golf courses, conference centers, a competitive sports complex and a shopping, dining, and entertainment complex. Additionally, there are 19 Disney-owned resort hotels and one camping resort on the property, and many other non-Disney-operated resorts on and near the property.
Magic Kingdom Park is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. The official park name has changed slightly over the years, from Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017). The park was initialized by Walt Disney and designed by WED Enterprises. The park layout and attractions were based on Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and are dedicated to fairy tales and Disney characters.
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Based on a concept by Marty Sklar, Randy Bright, and Michael Eisner, the park opened on May 1, 1989, as the Disney–MGM Studios Theme Park, and was the third of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World. Spanning 135 acres (55 ha), the park is themed to an idealized version of Hollywood, California, and is dedicated to the imagined worlds from film, television, music, and theatre, drawing inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Disney Parks have utilized virtual queue systems since the introduction of the FastPass System in 1999. These systems allow theme park visitors to wait in a virtual queue for an attraction, reducing the time spent in line. Depending on the system, access to virtual queues may come with park admission or may be an additional charge. Currently available virtual queue systems are Disney Genie at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World, and Disney Premier Access at Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, and Shanghai Disney Resort. Previous systems include FastPass, FastPass+, and MaxPass.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, or simply Tower of Terror, is a series of similar accelerated drop tower dark rides located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney Studios Park, and formerly located at Disney California Adventure. The attraction is inspired by Rod Serling's anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, and takes place in the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel in Hollywood, California. The Tokyo version features an original storyline not related to The Twilight Zone and takes place in the fictional Hotel Hightower. All versions of the attraction place riders in a seemingly ordinary hotel elevator, and present a fictional backstory in which people have mysteriously disappeared from the elevator under the influence of a supernatural element many years previously.
Disney Village is a shopping, dining, and entertainment complex in Disneyland Paris, located in the town of Marne-la-Vallée, France. Originally named Festival Disney, it opened on April 12, 1992, covering an area of approximately 18,000 square metres (190,000 sq ft) inside what was then known as Euro Disney Resort.
The Walt Disney World Monorail System is a public transit monorail in operation at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. The resort operates twelve Mark VI monorail trains on three lines of service. The monorail system opened in 1971 with two routes and with Mark IV monorail trains. It was expanded to three lines in 1982, and the rolling stock was updated to Mark VI trains in 1989.
The Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR) is a 3-foot narrow-gauge heritage railroad and attraction located within the Magic Kingdom theme park of Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, in the United States. Its route is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length and encircles most of the park, with train stations in three different park areas. The rail line, constructed by WED Enterprises, operates with four historic steam locomotives originally built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It takes about 20 minutes for each train to complete a round trip on the WDWRR's main line loop. On a typical day, the railroad has two trains in operation; on busy days, it has three trains.
Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams was a fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom theme park of Walt Disney World. The show debuted at the park on October 9, 2003, and was developed by Walt Disney Creative Entertainment, under the direction of VP Parades & Spectaculars, Steve Davison, who was assigned to create a replacement for the 32-year-old Fantasy in the Sky fireworks. Several variations of the show at Walt Disney World include Happy HalloWishes during "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party", Holiday Wishes during "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party", and Magic, Music and Mayhem during the 2007 event Disney's Pirate and Princess Party. The multimedia version at Disneyland Park in Disneyland Paris premiered on July 16, 2005, and had its final show on August 25, 2007. The show at the Magic Kingdom was sponsored by Pandora Jewelry. The show was presented for the last time on May 11, 2017, at the Magic Kingdom Park and was replaced by Happily Ever After in the following day.
Pal Mickey is a discontinued interactive stuffed toy developed by The Walt Disney Company and previously sold at Walt Disney World. Pal Mickey was discontinued and no new stock is available for purchase as of October 2008.
Stitch's Great Escape! was a "theater-in-the-round" attraction based on Disney's Lilo & Stitch franchise. A non-canon prequel to the original 2002 film that detailed Stitch's "first" prison escape, it was located in the Tomorrowland area of Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, as the fourth attraction to occupy the building and theater space that was previously used for Flight to the Moon, Mission to Mars and the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, many of the animators who worked on Lilo & Stitch were directly involved with the attraction's development. The attraction, which struggled with a mixed reception from park guests during its existence, was the only major permanent attraction based on Lilo & Stitch to have operated in the United States; all other such major attractions since have been exclusive to non-American Disney Parks resorts.
Disney PhotoPass is a professional photography service offered at Disney theme parks, resorts, and most Disney Cruise Line vessels. The service was launched on December 4, 2004, and provides guests with digital photo downloads, print services, and private photography sessions. The service also offers custom-ordered products, including photo albums, mugs and phone covers, which are fulfilled by and through a third-party company.
Disneyland is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, and opened on July 17, 1955.
Art of Disney Animation is an attraction at the Disney California Adventure in Disneyland Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. In Walt Disney Studios Park, the attraction opened on March 16, 2002 in the Toon Studio area, but was closed on January 7, 2019. It was reopened on November 17, 2019.
Main Street, U.S.A. is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, U.S.A. is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20th Century. In Tokyo Disneyland, it is called World Bazaar and covered by a glass Victorian-style conservatory roof to shield guests from the weather there. At Shanghai Disneyland, it is called Mickey Avenue and is orientated to help introduce visitors to Disney characters.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a steel roller coaster located at Magic Kingdom and Shanghai Disneyland Park. Manufactured by Vekoma, the roller coaster is situated in the Fantasyland sections of both parks. The Magic Kingdom version opened to the public on May 28, 2014, as part of a major park expansion called New Fantasyland as part of the section of Enchanted Forest, while the Shanghai version opened on June 16, 2016. The ride is themed to Walt Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length, traditionally-animated feature film.
MyMagic+ is a suite of technologies first implemented at the Walt Disney World Resort that enable a number of services and enhancements to guests of the resort. Influenced by wearable computing and the concept of the Internet of Things, the system is primarily designed to consolidate various functions, such as payments, hotel room access, ticketing, FastPass, into a digital architecture consisting primarily of radio systems, RFID-enabled wristbands known as MagicBands, and features accessible via online services and mobile apps.
Tron Lightcycle Power Run and Tron Lightcycle / Run are semi-enclosed, launched roller coasters at Shanghai Disneyland and Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. The first incarnation, Tron Lightcycle Power Run, opened at Shanghai Disneyland on June 16, 2016. A nearly identical installation, Tron Lightcycle / Run, opened at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World on April 4, 2023. Both are in the Tomorrowland themed areas at each park.
The Disney Skyliner is a gondola lift system, part of the Disney Transport system, that opened on September 29, 2019, at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The system is composed of five stations that serve four resorts and two theme parks, with a fleet of over 250 gondola cabins that can accommodate up to ten guests per cabin, or up to six with an open wheelchair or other mobility device. Guests sit on twin, inward-facing, wooden benches.
The device is battery powered by a non-replaceable coin cell. The device also contains passive UHF and HF RFID tags, verified to FCC Part 15B.
The antenna of the product is embedded in the PCB. The PCB is potted in plastic and overmolded such that the antenna is not accessible, removable or replaceable without permanent damage and disfiguring of the device.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)