Custom MagicBand Covers – A Primer

I knew that custom MagicBands were going to be a ‘thing’ about two minutes after asking for one in purple and learning they don’t come in that color. Y’all are a creative bunch, of course, and sites like Pinterest are full of Magic Band bedazzling, from sparkles and nail polish to fabric and plastic jewels.

But honestly, my DIY skills are limited. I’d probably end up with a glittered house cat and smeared nail polish on the kitchen table. Fortunately, a couple of companies have started making custom vinyl stickers to decorate your MagicBand, for around $5 to $8 each. And for the last couple of months, I’ve been testing them to see how they hold up under heavy use. It turns out they’re great. Read on for more.

MagicYourBand.com

Tracy and Matt Davis came up with the idea for custom MagicBand stickers when their daughter asked for a purple MagicBand and was told they didn’t exist. (Note to Disney: might want to look into this ‘purple’ thing.) And apparently they jumped in to the idea with both feet, purchasing a $50,000 custom vinyl printer in late 2014 to launch their business. Today they produce designs ranging from Halloween and Christmas holidays, birthdays and celebrations, to the flags of different countries.

The best part is that you can upload custom graphics to the site to create your own Magic Band design. You’ll notice a custom TouringPlans-branded band in some of our photos, and that’s where those came from. Custom-design bands cost around $2 more than standard bands. Besides graphics, you can choose the background colors, font, and add text in multiple colors.

DVCCentral.com

Run by former TouringPlans staffer Morgan Crutchfield, DVCCentral’s MagicBand cover designs include Disney princesses, monograms, and birthday and wedding stickers. My favorite are the In the Parks transportation themes, including retro-style monorail, bus, and steam train designs.

Applying the Stickers

I ordered sample stickers from both companies and they arrived in standard business envelopes, with clear instructions for applying them. I had a bit of trouble pulling the first set of MagicYourBand stickers off the paper backing they come on. According to Matt Davis, this was the result of their sticker cutting process being off by a tiny fraction of an inch. I was able to peel them off with my fingernail after about a minute of trying, though, and a second batch Matt sent later in the week were scored perfectly. The DVCCentral decals peeled off easily.

Both the MagicYourBand and DVCCentral decals come in two pieces, which are applied to either side of the Mickey-shaped imprint in the middle of your MagicBand. (The custom MagicYourBands designs span the Mickey logo but don’t interfere with the RFID chip working.)

One of the two-piece MagicYourBand stickers has small, circle cut-outs, and this sticker is designed to go over the snap-on holes in your MagicBand’s band. The DVCCentral decals don’t have holes. This isn’t a problem for adult-size bands, but you’ll need to push the MagicBand’s fasteners through the sticker on kid-size bands. Either sticker can be applied on either side of your MagicBand.

Hit the Showers!

I had two concerns when testing these stickers: how they’d hold up in day-to-day use, and whether they’d stay stuck on the Magic Band through Florida’s rainy and humid environment.

I wore each of my decorated Magic Bands around the house and office for a week, doing everything from washing dishes to outdoor woodworking, and spent a week in Walt Disney World with them. None of the stickers peeled, tore, or got scratched. They looked as good at the end of the week as they did at the start.

I also exposed each set of stickers to a week of direct sunlight to check for fading, and all of them came out fine.

The more amazing thing is that they both survived a month in my shower, which I did to simulate Florida’s wet summer weather. The colors are still vibrant, the edges are still stuck fast, and I’m convinced that all of them would last through even the longest Disney vacation. In fact, after seeing how well these decals stick, I’d love to know what’s in the glue, because I never want to touch it. Ever.

Recommendations

As surprised as I was by how well the decals stuck, I was also surprised that a couple of people in the parks asked me where I got the “special” Magic Bands. I recommended they check out these two sites for their next trip.

I’m comfortable making that recommendation to you, too. MagicBand decals are inexpensive, attractive, they work like they’re supposed to, and they’re strong enough to stick through your entire trip. It’s a cheap, fun, way to customize part of your trip. I’ll be ordering more.