Are the passes essentially laminated on lanyards that they wear all weekend? I have Magic Bands and am hoping to transfer tickets, hoppers, etc. to my Magic Bands once we have everything in hand so we don;t have to worry about that possibility. I have heard they need a special pass to take the buses to and from ESPN, is that correct?
Everyone on the varsity travel package receives a lanyard, a card that has their parkhopper passes and ESPN tickets on it, a magic band for access to their rooms, two paper arm bands for access to the after hours parties (smart coaches throw the one for Friday night in the trash upon receipt), and a name card. The lanyard has a clear plastic pocket that most kids use to hold all the other stuff.
The neck-piece of the lanyard is color-coded:
Blue A (I can’t remeber which shade of blue is which) belongs to participants
Blue B belongs to coaches
Red parents and family
Black varsity employees
The lanyard is your ticket on to any varsity provided travel (there are charter buses that will take you from resorts to event and back).
On these particular weekends, I do not believe that you can transfer your park hoppers to your magic bands. I’ve never tried, but I have kids on my team who have Disney season passes and know the parks inside and out, and even they don’t do so. I believe that it’s because the cards you receive also have ESPN tickets on them (the kids are required to have an admission to ESPN as well, even though they are competing).
You can set up a credit card on your magic band so that you can charge items to that inside the park. I am not sure if you can charge items directly to your room or if that function is not allowed. I say this because I’ve never gotten an invoice from them for such charges after the fact, but my kids also know I would lay the smack down of the hand of God on them if they did.
The typical way people who travel with us do things:
Upon receipt of Disney card, take a picture of the back of it and store it in your phone (picture can be taken to any ticket booth to have it replaced if lost or stolen)
Place ticket inside pocket of lanyard with Bar code facing outward
Wear lanyard all weekend even when event is over.