Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel, Sarah! You must be friends with Owl… this is a wise and insightful question! MagicBands really ARE magic with all that they provide in the Parks.
When my family stayed at
Shades of Green with my brother, I purchased MagicBands for the 5 of us to hold our
FastPass+ reservations, tickets as well as Memory Maker entitlements. Yes, we absolutely could have done with a single band (mine) but this allowed us to split up in the parks and ride different attractions. When all the boys went to ride Test Track, my Dad’s MagicBand pulled the attraction ride photo, while the girls went to the
Epcot Flower & Garden Festival to see Snow White and scanned my Mom’s band for our PhotoPass and Memory Maker. Without MagicBands, many of the attraction photos and small magic in the queues will be unavailable to you. With a single MagicBand, as long as you are in the same ride car, the photos will be accessible to you. A small family of three should be able to stick together and use the single band. Otherwise, your hard tickets with the RFID chip inside can be scanned by PhotoPass Photographers as well as at FP+ stanchions to allow you in.
If I can help you find some more magic on your upcoming trip, please let me know. And as Tigger says, TTFN, Ta Ta For Now! ~ Lindsey P.