Booking FP+ for multiple families

[LaurEm378]

Hi everyone!

I'm going to WDW in the spring and my FP window opens up in a few weeks. I'm wondering if I'll be able to make FP selections for my whole group of 12.

I've linked my sister's MDE to mine. When I log on to my MDE, I can see her family's ticket entitlements as well as mine. Her in-laws are also joining us and I intend to link to their MDE any day now.

Since we're successfully linked, will I be able to make everyone's FPs for them, while logged on to my MDE profile?

I know they could try to copy my selections down the line but I need big FPs like A&E and 7DMT that should be booked right away, and I'm the only one willing to stay up til midnight!

Thanks for any info. I've never booked for this many people before so I want to make sure I know the drill.

 

[erionm]

If the person is in your Family & Friends list (either linked or managed by you) and has valid park admission linked, you will be able to make FP+ selections for them. If any of the other primary MDE accounts you are linking to have their own managed profiles, you will need to link to them after connecting with the primary MDE account(s). Once connected with the primary MDE account, select 'Add a Guest' again (on the MDE website) and a list of people you may know will be presented.

If you have a mix of people staying on-property & off-property, the 30/60 day booking windows still apply.

 

[LaurEm378]

Thanks erionm!

I set up a profile for everyone in my MDE when I was making our ADRs. Everyone listed was "managed by" me. Now that my sister has made her MDE account and linked it with mine, hers doesn't say it's "managed by" me anymore, so that's what was throwing me off. Next to her name it says "A has a Disney account / A can view all your plans / A can view and purchase your PhotoPass photos." Her husband and kids still read that they're managed by me.

Her in-laws are staying on property but arriving a few days after us, so I'll be doing the midnight thing twice, but I'll know the drill the second time around!

 

[erionm]

I set up a profile for everyone in my MDE when I was making our ADRs. Everyone listed was "managed by" me. Now that my sister has made her MDE account and linked it with mine, hers doesn't say it's "managed by" me anymore, so that's what was throwing me off. Next to her name it says "A has a Disney account / A can view all your plans / A can view and purchase your PhotoPass photos." Her husband and kids still read that they're managed by me.

Did your sister add her husband and their kids to her account? If she did, are their tickets linked to the profiles she manages or the profiles that you manage?

If the tickets are linked to the profiles that your sister manages, you won't be able to make FP+ selections for them unless you connect with the profiles your sister manages.

 

[bcrook]

Thanks erionm!

I set up a profile for everyone in my MDE when I was making our ADRs. Everyone listed was "managed by" me. Now that my sister has made her MDE account and linked it with mine, hers doesn't say it's "managed by" me anymore, so that's what was throwing me off. Next to her name it says "A has a Disney account / A can view all your plans / A can view and purchase your PhotoPass photos." Her husband and kids still read that they're managed by me.

Her in-laws are staying on property but arriving a few days after us, so I'll be doing the midnight thing twice, but I'll know the drill the second time around!

It sounds like you are on the right track. Have you made any dining reservations? Names of people you control pop up when you make that. I have discovered that I am "missing" people that way. At Christmas I tried to get all my extended family hooked up to each other. When people start adding accounts the linking becomes intense. I was trying to get everybody linked to me, and then everyone linked to my daughter and then everyone linked to my brother in law so that more than one of us could make reservations for all of us.

It is time consuming and tiresome to switch them all later. You might need a second person to help. But, I completely understand about being the only one to stay up to midnight to do this. It takes a special person for that. It's good to know there are others out there like us!

Also, just so you know it is difficult at times to get large numbers all booked at the same time. If you try smaller numbers FP+ appear. I usually go with large groups. I have to do a lot of finaglng. Last time when people in my group wanted to start changing FP around and they didn't control their own accounts...I spent the better part of my trip doing that for everyone. I am not doing it this time. As I said before, it can consume large chunks of time.

So, you might book the midnight stuff, but I would start getting everybody connected in the next 60 days and train them how to us it.

Good luck!!!

 

[Kimi313]

Her in-laws are staying on property but arriving a few days after us, so I'll be doing the midnight thing twice, but I'll know the drill the second time around!

Just making sure you know that when you go to make FP+ that first night u get to make them for everyday of your stay. So when you make her in-laws FP+ it will be a little tricky but probably doable as in you can get an over lapping time. I too was in charge for a group of 9 adults and 1 child who didn't need FP+ and everyone managed their own account but I made all their FP+s. Good luck getting everything you want, I get so nervous when the time comes!

 

[LaurEm378]

Thank you all so much for the information!

Did your sister add her husband and their kids to her account? If she did, are their tickets linked to the profiles she manages or the profiles that you manage?

If the tickets are linked to the profiles that your sister manages, you won't be able to make FP+ selections for them unless you connect with the profiles your sister manages.

I logged into my sister's account, added her husband and kids (who I think popped up as "people she might know") and linked their tickets. Their profiles and tickets show up on her MDE and my MDE. When I signed out of her MDE and back into mine, I had notifications that "Another guest has successfully linked a tickets for A, J & J." I don't know if this helps me or hurts me...I'm thinking I shouldn't even have bothered with my sister's profile .

But, I completely understand about being the only one to stay up to midnight to do this. It takes a special person for that. It's good to know there are others out there like us!

Oh, you are definitely my people. I'm very excited for my FP late nights! No one else has any interest in planning, and I love it, which is great--I think it would be more complicated with a co-planner. I'm just intimidated by ALL THE PEOPLE this time around. Thank you for all the advice. I set up profiles for all 12 of us before I made our ADRs, so everyone is in the system somewhere. You brought up something I hadn't thought of yet--changing FPs on the fly in the parks. As time-consuming as it sounds, I'd rather be the one to do that, too (partly because I don't trust my family, and partly because I'll be parked on benches a lot of the time while they're riding the big rides). I hope I can get this sorted out so I can just do that within my MDE app.

Just making sure you know that when you go to make FP+ that first night u get to make them for everyday of your stay. So when you make her in-laws FP+ it will be a little tricky but probably doable as in you can get an over lapping time. I too was in charge for a group of 9 adults and 1 child who didn't need FP+ and everyone managed their own account but I made all their FP+s. Good luck getting everything you want, I get so nervous when the time comes!

I know, I'm excited AND nervous! I'm not aiming for hard-to-get FPs the days the in-laws are there, so hopefully I have an easy enough time overlapping what the rest of us have. That's another thing--my niece is 18 months old and so has no ticket. There's no FP for her, but she just comes right in when we do A&E, Belle, and anything else suitable that we're FP-ing...right?

Thanks again, everyone. I need even more info than I thought I did!

 

[Mikie]

To your last question, the 18 month old just goes through with you - no, ticket, no FP needed. As far as changing FPs in the parks, if you can make the initial selections and you can see everyone's itinerary, then you'll be able to change FPs.

If you want to check to make sure you're all properly linked, you can call IT and have them make sure. It really put my mind at ease when I was planning for 12 and iI was the "midnight warrior". 407-939-7765

 

[LaurEm378]

If you want to check to make sure you're all properly linked, you can call IT and have them make sure. It really put my mind at ease when I was planning for 12 and iI was the "midnight warrior". 407-939-7765

Thanks, Mikie! I called yesterday and spoke to a CM who said "You should be able to book their Fastpasses..." but that wasn't a good enough answer for me. I'm glad I can call IT back and have them really make sure.

 

[Angel Ariel]

A spin off question from the OP..

we're going with 2 other families next year..break down is such:

Family #1 - DH, DD and I
Family #2 - My brother, SIL, 2 nephews (9 and almost 6 at the time)
Family #3 - My parents

When we last traveled all together in March 2013, FP+ was still selectively testing and legacy was still in effect. MDE had been created, but there was no reason for all of the to have an MDE account. So I just listed them in the friends and family list in my MDE account.

For this upcoming trip, is there any benefit to Family #2 and Family #3 creating their own MDE accounts and linking them to mine, as the OP here discusses?

Only DH and I currently have MagicBands (from our Nov. 2014 trip)...I've gathered from some threads that with another MDE account, we could somehow use those for extra same day FP+, but I don't totally understand how that all works.

I'm concerned about multiple MDE accounts complicating matters and allowing more potential for glitches. I am the only planner for this trip, so I want things to be as streamlined and simple for myself as possible! (As much as it can be when planning for 9 people..)

 

[bcrook]

A spin off question from the OP..

we're going with 2 other families next year..break down is such:

Family #1 - DH, DD and I
Family #2 - My brother, SIL, 2 nephews (9 and almost 6 at the time)
Family #3 - My parents

When we last traveled all together in March 2013, FP+ was still selectively testing and legacy was still in effect. MDE had been created, but there was no reason for all of the to have an MDE account. So I just listed them in the friends and family list in my MDE account.

For this upcoming trip, is there any benefit to Family #2 and Family #3 creating their own MDE accounts and linking them to mine, as the OP here discusses?

Only DH and I currently have MagicBands (from our Nov. 2014 trip)...I've gathered from some threads that with another MDE account, we could somehow use those for extra same day FP+, but I don't totally understand how that all works.

I'm concerned about multiple MDE accounts complicating matters and allowing more potential for glitches. I am the only planner for this trip, so I want things to be as streamlined and simple for myself as possible! (As much as it can be when planning for 9 people..)

Even when I traveled with people who I thought wouldn't care about FP+ and they left it up to me... In the middle of the trip, they started to want to add and subtract and change things. It was tough. This is why this trip, I am making sure everyone knows how to use their accounts, and if they want to start that... they will have to do it themselves. Because they didn't have accounts last time, I was in the position to keep making all their moves for them. It was a lot of work. Especially when you want to start switching times around. Sometimes you have to move all the times and then reselect new times. At least this time, I have my DD21 with me to help with those types of moves if necessary. Unfortunately, I still don't have everybody in my party with a separate account, so I might be stuck doing it all again.

I am with OP though, getting all of those initial passes booked at one time at midnight it is a clear choice. Plus it is so much fun doing it. In a perfect FP+ world, I book the initial passes and my group makes their own changes.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Even when I traveled with people who I thought wouldn't care about FP+ and they left it up to me... In the middle of the trip, they started to want to add and subtract and change things. It was tough. This is why this trip, I am making sure everyone knows how to use their accounts, and if they want to start that... they will have to do it themselves. Because they didn't have accounts last time, I was in the position to keep making all their moves for them. It was a lot of work. Especially when you want to start switching times around. Sometimes you have to move all the times and then reselect new times. At least this time, I have my DD21 with me to help with those types of moves if necessary. Unfortunately, I still don't have everybody in my party with a separate account, so I might be stuck doing it all again.

I am with OP though, getting all of those initial passes booked at one time at midnight it is a clear choice. Plus it is so much fun doing it. In a perfect FP+ world, I book the initial passes and my group makes their own changes.

So for this upcoming trip, are you making all of the initial FP+ (linking the other MDE's to yours), or is each family responsible for booking their own at midnight/60 days (or whenever they choose to)?

On this last trip, the friend that accompanied us did have her own MDE, and I was able to make all of the FP+ for us. I assume she would have been able to modify them on her own, but we never tested it.

Follow on question - if one did go the 1 MDE account for everyone route - would sharing the log-in information for the 1 account solve the problem of them wanting to make adjustments as they go?

 

[bcrook]

So for this upcoming trip, are you making all of the initial FP+ (linking the other MDE's to yours), or is each family responsible for booking their own at midnight/60 days (or whenever they choose to)?

On this last trip, the friend that accompanied us did have her own MDE, and I was able to make all of the FP+ for us. I assume she would have been able to modify them on her own, but we never tested it.

Follow on question - if one did go the 1 MDE account for everyone route - would sharing the log-in information for the 1 account solve the problem of them wanting to make adjustments as they go?

I'm not sure i understand your question. I tried to get everyone on my travelling group set up with an account. Then we all linked together. This way anybody can make changes for the group. I will make the meticulously planned out choices at the 60 day Mark. And then when we get there and they want to start messing everything up, they are on their own. LOL! I'm hoping my daughter will keep them in line.
It would be a pain to expect everyone to coordinate the initial picks at the 60 day Mark. I think one person is best for that.

My problem right now is that my Mother in law and sister in law don't have accounts along with my niece. Honestly, I don't know who can change their selections. Hmmmmmm, I need to check on that. I don't know if I could link them to the others.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I'm not sure i understand your question. I tried to get everyone on my travelling group set up with an account. Then we all linked together. This way anybody can make changes for the group. I will make the meticulously planned out choices at the 60 day Mark. And then when we get there and they want to start messing everything up, they are on their own. LOL! I'm hoping my daughter will keep them in line.
It would be a pain to expect everyone to coordinate the initial picks at the 60 day Mark. I think one person is best for that.

Ah, I see what you mean now - thank you for that description! I think I'll have to talk to my family about doing something like this, because I can totally see my brother and SIL wanting to change things up on their own when we get there, but I know I'll be the one doing the 60 day reservations.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful trip!