Control your holiday lights with a tap of a Disney MagicBand
If you enjoy all things Walt Disney World and would love to bring some of its park magic into your home, then look no further than Dominick Civitano’s recent project.
Because of travel limitations due to the pandemic, Civitano decided to create a replica MagicBand reader that uses an NFC card reader module to recognize a programmed Disney wristband, which triggers a ring of LEDs, audio output, and a relay for Christmas lighting. This setup could likely be applied to other devices, opening up its possibilities into January and beyond.
Electronics for the build — including an Arduino Mega that runs the show — are hidden inside of a 3D-printed enclosure that resembles those found at the entrances of the Florida theme parks. This would potentially preserve a sense of wonder at the device, and diffuses the LEDs nicely.
More details on the Civitano’s work can be found on GitHub!