Any advantage of having Magicbands and Tickets mailed out?

[Ian Macoomb]

Hey all, first time posting here.

We're driving from Ottawa down to Syracuse (about 3 hours) and flying Frontier down to Orlando on Jan 22nd. I have a US address that I could have our Magicbands, tickets and luggage tags shipped to. It's our third year making the trip but first time staying on resort (Pop) so I'm wondering if it's worth having that stuff shipped.

We arriving in Orlando about 7:15pm (if on schedule) so I was planning on grabbing our two bags myself so I don't think that there's any point in having the luggage tags.

 

[kuhltiffany]

The main benefit I would see that if you have your Magicbands all set up to your account, you can go straight to the parks, no checking in at the resort first...which is great if you're getting in early. For you, this probably isn't an issue unless there's a late night event you're going to...

 

[ottawamom]

I agree with kuhltiffany get the bands when you get to the resort. If you're going Jan 22 it's too late now to make the change anyway.

 

[Ian Macoomb]

I've got an 8:05 reservation on the 23rd at Hollywood and Vine and I'm trying to get the boys signed up Jedi Training. I bought tickets with the Canadian resident deal separately and I believe we have to go to a ticket window to exchange those for tickets and show passports for proof of Canadian residency.

The other thing is that I have Magicbands that are two years old. Should I just use those instead?

 

[StarSeven7]

You won't actually get any tickets, you'll use the magic bands to access your tickets. At this point I think you will have to pick up the magic bands at your hotel since there wouldn't be enough time to get them mailed out and arrive by Jan. 22.

 

[Disneylover99]

The other thing is that I have Magicbands that are two years old. Should I just use those instead?

I would just wear an old magicband to scan in your party on the magical express.

 

[kiford]

I would just wear an old magicband to scan in your party on the magical express.

This is what we do. Take the last ones we got and use them for the bus. There's nothing else you really need. Two year old ones work just fine.

 

[jaceraden]

I've got an 8:05 reservation on the 23rd at Hollywood and Vine and I'm trying to get the boys signed up Jedi Training. I bought tickets with the Canadian resident deal separately and I believe we have to go to a ticket window to exchange those for tickets and show passports for proof of Canadian residency.

The other thing is that I have Magicbands that are two years old. Should I just use those instead?

Yes, you will have to go get your exchange certificates "validated" or whatever by going to GS and proving your Canadian citizenship. Only one in your group needs to do this so that's nice but it does eat up a little time. If it were me, I'd just get my bands at check in. There's something about the bands that wears out in a couple years. The bands will still work to gain entrance and FPP but the part that wears out is the one that detects you in ride photos so that's why I'd probably accept new bands.

Looking at your arrival time and what you want to do the next day, I'd probably get the lead guest to go to GS on arrival night and get your residency sorted out. Doing it the morning of ADR and Jedi Training sounds a little rushed on time for me personally.

 

[kiford]

I've got an 8:05 reservation on the 23rd at Hollywood and Vine and I'm trying to get the boys signed up Jedi Training. I bought tickets with the Canadian resident deal separately and I believe we have to go to a ticket window to exchange those for tickets and show passports for proof of Canadian residency.

If possible, get the tickets validated the night you get there rather than the morning you have a reservation. We bought APs and had to have them activated; it took only a few minutes but we were at Epcot IG in the mid-afternoon and it's probably much busier at HS in the morning. I presume that Guest Services at Disney Springs would be open later (maybe) but it would be a bit of a pain to get there.

Only problem I can see is that all parks but Epcot are only open until 8 pm on the 22nd (Epcot is open until 9 pm) so I'm not sure you'd make it in time. I don't know how long the ticket offices stay open. HS is open at 7:30 am for EMM in Toy Story Land so I presume that the kiosks would be open early on the 23rd. If you can't make it the night before, I'd definitely show up at HS well before your ADR to get validated asap. Not sure how early the kiosks open though.

 

[Ian Macoomb]

Thanks for the replies.

Last year we did an early breakfast at Epcot on our first day and the Guest Services was open and we had to go there first. There wasn't any line-up so it didn't take any more than 5 minutes. My wife reminded me of this last night.

 

[PanamaMike]

I believe we have to go to a ticket window to exchange those for tickets and show passports for proof of Canadian residency.

I'm surprised that they accept passports. I know on the website it says "government issued photo ID" but a passport is not proof that you currently reside in Canada. It is proof you are a Canadian citizen.