The magic behind Walt Disney World's magic bands

My plan for Fridays is for them to be "Fun Fridays" around here, which for me is theme parks. I'll be writing about theme park tech, how they do things you may not know, and generally things that interest me. Here's the first entry into that category.

Anyone who has been to Walt Disney World in the last 5 years knows there is something new in the parks, and it's not just Toy Story land or Star Wars land. They are called magic bands, and nearly everyone in the parks has one on their wrist. The tech has even evolved in that short time with the introduction of magic band 2.0, but what is it really that people are wearing?

A magic band is a rubber bracelet that is worn on the wrist of people who are on Disney property. With it, you can do just about anything during your stay. Just by pressing "Mickey to Mickey" you can open your hotel door, gain entrance into the parks, shop in the stores and pay, and take advantage of the Fastpass+ system of reserving a time on particular rides. You also scan them with any Disney photographer to have pictures automatically appear in your online account, or to be verified as a passholder for certain perks. But what else can they do?

A magic band consists of two radio transmitters. One is a short range RFID transmitter, and the second is a longer range high frequency transmitter. The short range RFID works like any other you may have encountered, such as a key card for door access at work. It transmits a low level radio transmission that unique to the person wearing the band. This only works in close proximity, which is why you have to touch the Mickey face on your band to the Mickey face on whatever you're trying to effect, be it the hotel door, the entrance turn styles, or a credit card machine. You touch the Mickeys together, wait a moment for the machine to access the master database of everyone who has a magic band, then it turns green to recognize that the connection is made and the person is authorized to do whatever it is they are trying to do.

The longer range transmitter works like EZPass, the East Coast's version of the road toll paying little box on your windshield. A longer range scanner can read the info being broadcast from your band, and again match it up to you in a master database, and do things like let you automatically get the ride photos from a particular ride. It just scanned the band info of everyone in that vehicle and sent the picture to all of them. Behind the scenes, Disney can use this tech to track movements in the park. They can tell when crowds are swelling in an area, and shift staff to that area to make sure everything runs more smoothly.

Make no mistake, when you're on property at WDW, Disney probably has a good idea of where you are at all times, especially in the parks. They are collecting data to come up with better ways to part you from your money. But it's a trade off. You have to trust they are going to do what they can to make your trip better. That starts even at Orlando airport, when if you're staying on property you just get off your plane, put on your band, and head downstairs. They will scan your band there, great you by name, see what hotel you're staying at for your trip, and direct you to the right Disney shuttle bus.

All in all, the magic band program has been a complete success for Disney in Florida. I look forward to hopefully going to Disneyland in California in the next year or 2 and seeing how a Disney experience goes without magic bands.