Disneyland Resort visitors will soon get to wear a wristband that can give them access to the park, help them to skip long queues and pulse and glow to the beat of the nighttime light shows.
The MagicBand+, a wristband that contains microchip technology, will debut for the first time at the Anaheim resort this fall, after launching earlier this summer at Walt Disney World in Florida. Disney executives have in the past suggested that an earlier version the MagicBand wouldn’t be very popular at Disneyland because most visitors are locals who don’t stay at Disney hotels, where the band would be most heavily used.
A price for the MagicBand+ at Disneyland was not disclosed but it costs Walt Disney World visitors $45. Once they launch at Disneyland, the MagicBand+ wristbands bought for Walt Disney World can be used at Disneyland.
Visitors to the Disneyland parks will be able to connect the MagicBand+ to their Disneyland app and scan the wristband to enter the park’s gate, or to skip the long lines at the most popular attractions by entering the “Lightning Lane” entrances. Using the expedited Lightning Lanes costs $20 per day. Parkgoers can already enter the park and enter the Lightning Lanes using the Disneyland app on most smartphones.
The wristband will also display light in sync with the music of some nighttime light shows, according to a Disneyland blog, which didn’t disclose which light shows will activate the band. The parks feature the light and water show World of Color, at California Adventure, and the water, fire and light attraction Fantasmic at Disneyland.
Also, after a Disneyland photographer shoots photos of a parkgoer, the photographer can scan the wristband to link the photos to the parkgoer’s Disneyland app.
Disney fans were expecting news of the wristband to be released a week ago during D23, the Disneyland expo held at the Anaheim Convention Center. During the three-day event, Disney executives announced a series of renovations and upgrades at the parks, including plans to open a new attraction soon at California Adventure Park that will pit the legion of Marvel superheroes against an army of villains, led by a crown-wearing genocidal King Thanos.
