Super Nintendo World just opened in Universal Studios Hollywood!

There is a lot to experience in this new land, including a new interactive tool called a Power-Up Band. If you’re more of a Disney visitor, this is similar to a MagicBand+. But how similar are they really? We’re here to compare them!

Cost

Starting with the price, a Power-Up Band will cost you a flat $40 for one of the six designs. You can only buy them at shops within Universal Studios Hollywood, though. You can’t buy the Power-Up Bands online right now.

Over at Disney, MagicBand+ is a similar price tag, most of them around $44.99, but the prices change depending on the design. There are hundreds of designs with new ones coming out all the time. You can also buy MagicBand+ online.

We also have to mention that select Disney World resort guests can buy some MagicBand+ designs at a discount before their visit to the resort.

Overall, Power-Up Bands are less expensive with fewer designs, while MagicBand+ has LOTS of designs but at a usually higher price tag. MagicBand+ is easier to buy, though, being available online and even at a discount for select guests.

Interactive Features

Power-Up Bands can be used around Super Nintendo World to gather coins, interact with park elements, and take on “key challenges,” among other things. It’s basically your tool to interacting with everything in Super Nintendo World, but ONLY Super Nintendo World.

The Power-Up band pairs with the Super Nintendo World part of the Universal app. Also, the band you choose is which team you’re playing for while you’re there (for example, we got a Luigi band, and so we were on Team Luigi).

MagicBand+ pairs with the My Disney Experience app in Disney World and the Disneyland app in Disneyland. MagicBand+ interacts with character statues and nighttime shows, and can also allow you to become a Bounty Hunter in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It can also act as your ticket in the park, which can hold dining reservations, get you in and out of the parks, make payments (when connected to a debit/credit card in the app), and get you into your hotel room. It works ALL around the Disney World resort, and not just in one land.

Overall, MagicBand+ has more capabilities in and out of the park and can be an asset to your vacation, whereas Power-Up Bands just enhance your experience inside the land.

How Well Do They Work?

As we previously mentioned, you’ll have to decide which team you want to be in while you’re in Super Nintendo World — then you’ll choose the Power-Up Band for that team. On Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, you’ll tap your Power-Up band on the steering wheel once you’re seated — that will track the amount of coins you earn on the ride. After riding, we realized that the ride did not sync up with our band, so our points were lost.

The band also lets you participate in Key Challenges around the land, but we went on opening day, so we had to wait in some lines to interact with some of the features involved with those challenges. One thing we noticed is that you have to tap the band pretty hard for some of the blocks to register it.

However, even guests without a band can tap those blocks, and it makes a sound with or without the Power-Up Band. So you have to learn and listen for that specific sound meaning it registered your Power-Up Band.

Once you finish three of the four challenges, you get to participate in the final challenge where you battle Bowser on a big screen.

There are also other opportunities where you can tap your Power-Up Band throughout the land that let you earn digital coins and stamps that you’ll have access to in the app.

We’ve definitely had our fair share of trouble with MagicBand+ in the past, especially when interacting with character statues or nighttime shows. It’s less likely to act up when getting out into the parks or using Genie+ in ride queues, but they certainly can happen.

Overall, MagicBand+ might cost more, but it also does more as it’s able to also be your park ticket and hotel room key. Select guests can also get one at a discount, plus everyone can buy a MagicBand+ and have it set up before they get to Disney World.

However, Power-Up Bands have one price and there is a lot more to gaming with the bands than with MagicBand+. That’s pretty much their sole purpose, though. If you want the FULL Super Nintendo World experience, though, we think the $40 price tag is certainly worth it.

It’s up to you to decide whether or not either of these enhancements are worth it to you on your vacation. At the end of the day, you don’t need either one of them to have a fun, successful vacation, but they can enhance your experience and unlock fun secrets. As always, stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Super Nintendo World news!

REVIEW: You’ve Never Seen Food Like THIS at a Theme Park!

Would you buy either of these for your trip? Tell us in the comments!