Disney to begin allowing purchase of MagicBands without linking to a ticket

Rob562Oct 04, 2014

Also, FP+ usage is not a function of the Band, but rather a function of a park ticket and it's associated MDE profile. Someone could buy a second park ticket, create a fake MDE profile for it to make a second set of FP+ selections, but that would be a very expensive gaming of the system... -Rob

TuvaluOct 03, 2014

Though you can purchase a band without immediately linking it to an account, you cannot USE any band without it being linked to an account. Attempts to use a unlinked band will be unsuccessful.

USAND3KIDSOct 03, 2014

I think the reason people are buying extra unlinked bands is so that when they do travel to Disney with the free linked Magic Bands they receive, they will have another whole set of bands which are not eligible for advance fast pass booking, but are indeed able to be used at the in park kiosks. So these people cheating the system can now pre book 3 rides then get to the park and pull infinite amounts of Fast Passes depending on how many bands they purchased separately. Always someone trying to cheat the system and make life harder for the rest of us who pay a lot of money to be crap out of luck trying to do things the moral way.

wdwmagicSep 05, 2014

Ability to purchase MagicBands without an existing ticket now expanding to more retail locations

ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰAug 22, 2014

Does anyone know if the non-linked magicbands work with Disney's Infinity game system?

FrostyNaplesAug 19, 2014

So when I log into MDE currently, and book a resort reservation, tickets, etc, and during checkout it asks me to use my CC that currently exists on file (within my MDE login), and i say yes, THAT is not the same as having the ability to log into my MDE, and linking my Magic Band to my already stored CC, so when i checkout with my Magic Band, it charges my CC on file? I don't see the difference, or the 'Charging Profile' in topic. MDE 'is' my charging profile, is it not? It already has CC stored information. Are we beating a dead horse?

flynnibusAug 19, 2014

The point would be is that the users need to setup charging profiles and Disney would need to assume greater liability. Its not impossible, but its not the same either.. and all likelyhood, it's probably more of a 'product' decision than liability. Wanting to keep that perk for the resort guests.

FrostyNaplesAug 19, 2014

My original idea of having MDE use your CC, MDE itself would be the middle man. So i guess Disney? In any case, this has really blown out of proportion and off topic. Happy to see Disney making this move, and hopefully they will expand soon allowing online purchase of Magic Bands as well as LE versions.

flynnibusAug 19, 2014

All the examples you gave are not direct Credit Card charging. They are charging to a billing account you setup, that you have authorized the vendor to settle by charging your credit card. It's an important distinction because how fraud is handled is different. The credit card rules on what the merchant is responsible for vs the customer have not changed. Those vendors have assumed greater risk by allowing transactions to be charged without the CC company mandated elements that would protect the merchant. When you pay with Google Wallet, Paypal, etc.. you are not using your credit card. You are using a charge account that you have linked to your credit card. You are not protected in the same manner.. nor is the merchant.

FrostyNaplesAug 19, 2014

It would be no different than using your mobile phone's NFC (or other) payment capabilities that have been steadily making progress in the retail environment for years now. Which are directly tied to your CC's. Your cell phone is yours, your magic band it yours. No difference in fraud situations, your item was stolen, be it band, phone or card. Disney would just need to jump on the bandwagon. So many transactions are completed using third party payment and hardware systems, the act of swiping the credit card is no longer a requirement, the legal hurdles have been jumped. :-) SpeedPass, Google Wallet, Apple's Passport, Paypal, etc. Disney could make the Magic Band its own merchant for all they wanted, and rule the world, lol.

Rob562Aug 19, 2014

While that would indeed be an added level of convenience for the off-site Guests, there are a number of logistical and legal issues involved with doing that. First, it opens up new courses for credit card fraud. The credit card companies would most likely have an issue of each transaction being pushed through to the credit card without the physical card being used as verification. The card companies would have to agree that Disney's PIN-based system is secure enough for their requirements. With the current form of charging using the Bands, you're not really charging directly to the credit card you gave to the hotel. Instead, you're charging against an in-house charge account. Disney is the one in control of the charges and credits to that account. If they want to say that the PIN is enough security to protect themselves against fraud, that's fine. But the card companies may not. Also, correcting errors is a simple and free matter for Disney to deal with when they're talking about their own accounting system. A few clicks of the keyboard and an errant charge is removed from a Guest's account without any actual money being moved around. It gets more complicated when they deal with crediting back to a credit card for any errors. As I've said in other threads, I think the more likely/easy option for Disney would be to link the Bands into their existing Disney Gift Card system and set it up as pre-paid accounts. I do that now with Dunkin Donuts. You sign up for an account on their site, and then you can link either a physical gift card or buy a virtual one through their phone app. I can then either use the physical card or they scan a code I display on my phone in the app to use that gift card. I can also reload the card (both a physical one and a virtual one) via the app, website or in-store. There's no reason Disney couldn't do the same thing but substitute the Band for the app screen. (They could even let you re-charge your gift card balance from inside the MDE app) -Rob

lazyboy97oAug 19, 2014

That is not something new, special or unique to the MagicBand.

FrostyNaplesAug 19, 2014

They "should" be available right on Disney's own website...

FrostyNaplesAug 19, 2014

In its further evolution, since your Magic Band is managed by you on your individual MDE, it would be nice for those offsite folks to be able to link a CC within MDE direct to their Magic Band. Then they too, can partake in the versatility that is the Magic Band.