3 DAS Users in a Party of 14, Any MDE Advice for Booking Rides?

[fairy8i8]

Hi All!

Does anyone have experience managing getting return times for 3 DAS passes on MDE? Is it going to cause problems? Would getting Magic Bands for the group make it easier to tap into rides?

We are going to Disneyland in September with my in-laws. We are a family of 6 with 3 children who will need DAS. We are going with my husband's parents and my brother-in-law's family (also 6). While I have been to both Disneyland and Disney World many times myself, with my husband, and with our oldest son, this is our first time in 9 years (a lot has changed), and our first time since adopting 3 children with special needs (a large part of not going- we have done Universal Studios Florida and Legoland California with them).

We will have Genie+ as well, so we plan to be together a lot, but some of the time we will be separated, just depending on the needs of my BIL's and our children.

Suggestions for how to split the group on DAS? I was thinking of having my husband and I on each pass so we could separate from the group if needed with a child, but then have 3 of the others in our group on each pass. I know that means that if 1 child needs a break, it could mean others in our group wouldn't be able to enter with the rest of our group. I think that my family is understanding of that. It would be nice if they could put the 11 of us without DAS on each pass so we could adjust the group as needed (5 with one and 5 with the other while my husband or I take a longer break with the 3rd child who needs it, but I don't know if that is possible.)

We haven't gone with family before, so we have always been just a family of 6 and only had to worry about the happiness and state of our own kids and haven't had to manage the additional dynamic of working with a large group.

I am honestly a little worried about how they will do in lines, since we have always gone during quiet times to Universal FL and Legoland CA, and at Universal had the unlimited fastpass from staying on property, so they have only had to wait 3-5 minutes on average for rides at Universal and no wait at Legoland with very few if any people around them. The 2 times we had a 20 minute wait, it was not pretty for us or those around us. I have heard the Lightning Lane can have waits of 10-20 minutes or more, and that has me worried, especially for ride after ride.

I am sure others have children who have difficulty even with 10-20 minutes. Suggestions for those longer LL waits?

Thanks!

 

[Lilsia]

There is no real "easy" way to get all 3 DAS return times done, other than to either have them on different MDE accounts and everyone make their own, or just switch to the ones you need. It is not difficult, it just takes a bit more time. Not really something that is going to make a difference in your overall trip. Since the return time is based off of the wait time, and not specific time slots, like Genie+, it is not a big deal.

Honestly, unless you plan on splitting up and doing different rides, it would be easier just to get the DAS for one kid. Or even just 2 if one is too small to ride the bigger rides. Getting one for each is not going to get you on any more rides since a person can only be on one return time at a time, you can't stack or double dip.

Traveling with another family unit is not the easiest. I would recommend having your BIL do what is best for his family and you do what is best for yours. Maybe just talk about ahead of time of doing certain rides/show/dining together and then going off on your own for the majority of the time. The bigger the group, the more time is wasted trying to figure out what should be done next.

Yes, the LL lines can get long, 20+ minutes. Not really much that you can do about it other than try to come back to that ride later. They won't put you to the front of the line. I would ask the cast member at the entrance before you tap in to see how long they think that line is at the moment. These things seem to go in waves where everyone shows up all at once and then in 20 minutes it is dead. Try for the most popular rides as early in the day as possible to have the shortest wait. Or it's OK to skip a couple of rides if it won't work out for your family. The goal of a vacation is for everyone to enjoy themselves. And that can mean spending an hour watching the ducks and eating Mickey bars.

 

[danceintherain]

I like it when my kids have magic bands, but you can use any RFID enabled physical ticket to tap in. This is what my extended family did on a recent trip. If you purchased tickets online, then you can ask to be issued ticket media.

My kids are mostly neurotypical....at least when it comes to waiting in lines. Last year, when we were waiting in a particularly long airport security line, one of my kids said "I wish I was home." So we started going through places where we wished we could be in that moment. After a few minutes, they were coming up with some really creative places and laughing about it.
Any game like this can work....my mom frequently plays "hide and seek in our minds" with them on long car rides. One person imagines they are "hiding" somewhere at home, and everyone else guesses places. So like "behind the shampoo in mom's bathroom."

 

[fairy8i8]

Thanks! Great tips!

 

[DisneyOma]

I would get either magic bands or physical tickets (put in lanyards) for each person. Pulling up multiple tickets on the phone is a pain in the butt, as it takes a long time to do it - the CM has to watch for the tap in, and see one person go by, then the next, as the person with the phone stands there. I've been behind people who do this. It gets pretty tense. The person with DAS has to tap first, then the people in that group, then the next person with DAS, etc. It adds to your wait time.

 

[fairy8i8]

@DisneyOma Does Disneyland CA offer physical tickets? I have heard that they are giving pushback on this and want people to use their phones.

 

[Lilsia]

@DisneyOma Does Disneyland CA offer physical tickets? I have heard that they are giving pushback on this and want people to use their phones.

I heard that too, that they will no longer give out physical tickets. What a crappy thing to take away.

 

[fairy8i8]

I heard that too, that they will no longer give out physical tickets. What a crappy thing to take away.

I was reading about this, and people suggested taking screenshots of the bar code to make it easier to read when scanning because the app can have trouble at times. Maybe I can print off the bar codes and put those in lanyards. Not as nice as a ticket souvenir, but possibly functional for DAS and Genie+. Magicbands used to be about $13, and at that price, I could see it being fun, but the Magicband+ costs don't make it worth buying. There are a lot of other souvenirs I would rather get!

**update** Just read on Disney's blog on Jan 19, 2023 that they are printing 100 Year Celebration Tickets for people if you have a single day or multi-day ticket! Guess customer feedback was that they wanted the souvenir ticket! I'll bring lanyards.

 

[Lilsia]

I was reading about this, and people suggested taking screenshots of the bar code to make it easier to read when scanning because the app can have trouble at times. Maybe I can print off the bar codes and put those in lanyards. Not as nice as a ticket souvenir, but possibly functional for DAS and Genie+. Magicbands used to be about $13, and at that price, I could see it being fun, but the Magicband+ costs don't make it worth buying. There are a lot of other souvenirs I would rather get!

**update** Just read on Disney's blog on Jan 19, 2023 that they are printing 100 Year Celebration Tickets for people if you have a single day or multi-day ticket! Guess customer feedback was that they wanted the souvenir ticket! I'll bring lanyards.

That is good that they are printing tickets. I can imagine that some people, that are not tech savvy, or want to shell out $40-$50 for a MB, just for a few days at the park, appreciate that.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I was reading about this, and people suggested taking screenshots of the bar code to make it easier to read when scanning because the app can have trouble at times. Maybe I can print off the bar codes and put those in lanyards. Not as nice as a ticket souvenir, but possibly functional for DAS and Genie+. Magicbands used to be about $13, and at that price, I could see it being fun, but the Magicband+ costs don't make it worth buying. There are a lot of other souvenirs I would rather get!

**update** Just read on Disney's blog on Jan 19, 2023 that they are printing 100 Year Celebration Tickets for people if you have a single day or multi-day ticket! Guess customer feedback was that they wanted the souvenir ticket! I'll bring lanyards.

The screenshot doesn’t work. Tried it last Apr. Apparently the barcode changes.

 

[Ryoukoe]

I was reading about this, and people suggested taking screenshots of the bar code to make it easier to read when scanning because the app can have trouble at times. Maybe I can print off the bar codes and put those in lanyards. Not as nice as a ticket souvenir, but possibly functional for DAS and Genie+. Magicbands used to be about $13, and at that price, I could see it being fun, but the Magicband+ costs don't make it worth buying. There are a lot of other souvenirs I would rather get!

**update** Just read on Disney's blog on Jan 19, 2023 that they are printing 100 Year Celebration Tickets for people if you have a single day or multi-day ticket! Guess customer feedback was that they wanted the souvenir ticket! I'll bring lanyards.

Keep the cards and they can be used for future trips as well!

I take my nephew pretty frequently and he loses his magic band every single time we go, so frustrating. My sister for a while was using the app for the tickets, but it can be a lot having to pull up the tickets for two different people. So now we have a card from Disney that we can give to him, he scans it and then hands it back to the adult with him. Works like a charm.

 

[SueM in MN]

I know it’s already been mentioned in this thread, but important to remember the guest registered to DAS needs to scan first. The Mickey head on the scanner will glow blue to alert the CM to look at screen and clear the alert. Then the other guests in the party can scan.
If the park pass cards are in a stack, it can be difficult to keep the DAS user‘s card ready to scan first.
I’ve read accounts who had the park passes on their phone and reported getting the DAS users to come up first for scanning was difficult on the phone

 

[Ryoukoe]

I know it’s already been mentioned in this thread, but important to remember the guest registered to DAS needs to scan first. The Mickey head on the scanner will glow blue to alert the CM to look at screen and clear the alert. Then the other guests in the party can scan.
If the park pass cards are in a stack, it can be difficult to keep the DAS user‘s card ready to scan first.
I’ve read accounts who had the park passes on their phone and reported getting the DAS users to come up first for scanning

Correct the DAS user has to scan first.

The issue we run into in that there is usually more than our group trying to get in and there are usually 4 scanners that the cast members want used, so the group goes through faster. We just kept holding things up by having my sister scan her phone for both her and my nephews passes, now she can hand him his pass, have him do his thing, have her do her thing and then give it back to her for safe keeping. Also, you scan passes 2x as you make your way to the ride.

 

[kikismom]

Hello going to jump in on this thread as it is similar to my question.

We'll have two DAS for a group of 9. I will be in charge of the group and have all 9 tickets on my phone. Can I book return times for both passes under my log in for the whole group? Both are minors and are under my log in. If so when scanning in would I start with one DAS pass holder then scan five passes, then the next DAS holder and the remaining two if that's how I booked it? This is really confusing to me for some reason.

 

[lanejudy]

I will strongly suggest getting either MagicBands or hard plastic tickets. Trying to swipe through 9 tickets can be a challenge anyway, then add that you'll need to scan them in a particular order aligned to who's on which DAS. That sounds like a frustration that would send me back to the resort early.

But to answer your question -- yes, you should be able to book the return times for both DAS. And yes, when returning to the ride you will need to scan the first DAS holder and those associated with that person, then the second DAS holder and the rest of the party. It will be much easier if each person can scan themselves.

 

[kikismom]

I will strongly suggest getting either MagicBands or hard plastic tickets. Trying to swipe through 9 tickets can be a challenge anyway, then add that you'll need to scan them in a particular order aligned to who's on which DAS. That sounds like a frustration that would send me back to the resort early.

But to answer your question -- yes, you should be able to book the return times for both DAS. And yes, when returning to the ride you will need to scan the first DAS holder and those associated with that person, then the second DAS holder and the rest of the party. It will be much easier if each person can scan themselves.

Thank you! They have a party of 6 and will most likely not return to Disneyland again, this is a one time thing. I don't think they'll go for Magic bands. How do I get hard plastic tickets? I can be in charge of keeping all of those in order.

 

[DisneyOma]

Thank you! They have a party of 6 and will most likely not return to Disneyland again, this is a one time thing. I don't think they'll go for Magic bands. How do I get hard plastic tickets? I can be in charge of keeping all of those in order.

Get them each a lanyard to hold their own ticket -it makes the whole process so much easier for you, them, and everyone around you.

 

[lanejudy]

How do I get hard plastic tickets?

At Disney World you can get a hard plastic ticket at a ticket window, the tapstyles, Guest Relations, or maybe even the front desk if staying onsite. I would assume it's similar at Disneyland.

 

[kikismom]

Thanks! I feel way better after finding this thread. I was stressing.

 

[starlite_]

Thanks! I feel way better after finding this thread. I was stressing.

At Disneyland they aren't printing tickets anymore. They will print one for 2 and under if they are with a DAS party but not for anyone else. At least that's what I was told this month when I asked.