Why the Popular Apple Watch Has Been Banished from Disney

If you are going to Walt Disney World, you are likely getting ready to get those steps in.

As someone who lives near Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, I can assure you that it is not uncommon to hit a 30,000 step goal at the end of your Disney day, especially if you are going from park open to close. While this may seem like a lot of steps, guests are able to break up the exercise with a Mickey premium bar or a churro, tied in with a ride on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Pirates of the Caribbean.

With Disney vacations being anything but relaxing for most, tracking your steps is a very popular and common things for guests to partake in. The idea of traveling through the Disney parks and making it a form of exercise has become so normalized that even the runDisney races tend to sell out very quickly, with thousands coming in to run through the theme parks (as we just saw with the princess marathon weekend).

One of the best ways to track all of those steps, of course, is the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch has a plethora of features, including the ability to send texts, take phone calls, play music, and even trigger your iPhone camera to take a photo. For many, one of the most popular aspects of it is the fitness features. You can track steps, and heart rate, count calories burned, and change all of your outcomes to be more accurate based on the exercise you are doing.

All of that being said, it is not shocking to walk through Fantasyland and watch a mom take a look at her Apple Watch to peek at that daily step count. 

Now, there is a grouping of Apple Watches that you may likely never see at Walt Disney World Resort, or really, anywhere, ever again.

As noted by The Verge, “A patent infringement case is pushing for Apple to stop selling its two most recent Apple Watch models, the Series 9 and Ultra 2.

A ban came and went in December, but the court lifted its stay, so the new watches are once again banned from the US if they have the disputed blood oxygen technology. Apple has announced that new versions of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 without those features will go on sale in the morning on Thursday, January 18th.”

The import restriction originates from a ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) in October, which found that the pulse oximeter feature included in certain advanced models of the Apple Watch infringed upon a patent held by the California-based company Masimo.

As a result of this ruling, Apple was prohibited from importing the implicated models into the United States.

Consequently, the company initiated the removal of these models from its shelves when the ban officially came into effect in December 2023. Apple promptly appealed the ban, leading to a temporary resumption of watch sales after a federal appeals court intervened.

This intervention allowed for a stay on the ban while a judge evaluated the possibility of extending it throughout the appeals process. Additionally, US Customs reviewed Apple’s proposed redesign of the product during this period.

However, that appeal came to an end in January.

Nevertheless, Apple has found a solution: Earlier last month, the company obtained clearance from US Customs and Border Protection to proceed with importing a revamped edition of its top-tier Apple watches. The redesigned watches will omit the pulse oximeter feature, a medical scanning technology used to measure blood oxygen levels, which was the focal point of the patent dispute.

As noted by The Verge, it seems that Tim Cook is not worried about this setback, stating that Apple is “focused on appeal” and that customers have “lots of reasons to buy the watch even without the blood oxygen sensor.”

So, that means that the original Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches won’t be looking at your heart rate when you are dropping from Tower of Terror as the initial model of the new watches were banned. You can, however, still have Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse tell you what time it is! You can also still use it as your key to getting into the parks, tapping it on the turnstiles upon entry as you would your MagicBand.

It appears Masimo CEO Joe Kiani is open to licensing his blood oxygen tech to Apple, but he has not heard from the company. 

Related: Apples No Longer Allowed at Disney World, Security Forbids Guest 

Interestingly enough, the Apple Watch is not the only item that might not be seen at Disney World. As we reported, the Apple Vision Pro was initially banned when a guest wore it into Magic Kingdom. The “legality” that the cast member got the guest on was not being allowed to wear a “mask” if you were over the age of 14 as that is considered a costume, but really, it seemed that the item was so new that safety was the real concern.

Since that initial incident, we have seen others wear their Apple Vision Pro to the parks, so it seems that the ban may have been lifted, which would make sense considering how Disney CEO Bob Iger worked with Apple to ensure that the product could display Disney+ well upon its debut. 

Do you like to use your Apple Watch while at Walt Disney World?