DD School Choir Trip

[MCB]

Looking for some guidance

My twin DD school choir is heading down to WDW in Dec. Was wondering how to utilize their MB (we have them from a previous trip). Can they be tied into a group stay?

Thanks for any help

 

[chartle]

Looking for some guidance

My twin DD school choir is heading down to WDW in Dec. Was wondering how to utilize their MB (we have them from a previous trip). Can they be tied into a group stay?

Thanks for any help

I hope things have changed but I have heard that they will not get their YES tickets until they get to WDW. You will also probably have issues trying to get the "numbers" from anyone so you can try to add them to your MDE account.

Also if they are onsite they will get their own MBs. If off site i can't see any reason they would need them.

The main thing I always tell people is this will not be like a regular Disney trip so some of the tips here just don't apply. So don't take anything for granted.

I've done two trips with my sons' band but this was preMB, pre FP+

 

[bcinohio]

That is a good question. we are headed back to WDW in April (Easter week) for younger DS's marching band. We were there 4 years ago with older son's band but not over Easter. It was also before MB's. We just used MB's for July trip and loved them. I know it is a different kind of trip. I was trying to decide if I could link Memory Maker to their tickets if I decided to get it for our trip. I would love to have their pictures on my MM. I know with the MB's they go on the account automatically if they are linked.

 

[Miksma]

I have a similar situation. Of a group of +200, I'm chaperoning 15 kids. I'd like to get Memory Maker to share amongst my group. We'll have MBs for room entry and YES tickets for the parks. This was my response from guest services regarding how I need to work Memory Maker:

"In this case, what you'll want to do is simply purchase Memory Maker for yourself. You'll receive a Will Call confirmation number, and can pick up your Memory Maker card at any Will Call window, or at a PhotoPass location in any of our theme parks or Downtown Disney®. Once you have done that, you can go to the PhotoPass locations, and request additional Memory Maker cards for each member of your group to use at a photographer. Each card would be used instead of the Magic Band, and will be linked to the primary Memory Maker, which you can claim at the end of your trip at DisneyPhotoPass.com. "

But this doesn't tell me about ride photos/videos..... Anyone know if the cards work for that?

 

[Aleebama]

Thank you for asking this. I am going with my DD's choir in Dec. I was told MB's could not be used because of our group reservations. I do not think that's correct. (I have asked more than once and gotten more than one answer.)

 

[fac]

for those who had used it for a school band, can you share how it works?

 

[bcinohio]

Not sure if this is how it will work for everyone but this is how ours is working. We will be at WDW Ap 4-11. the band will march Thurs Ap 9 before the elec light parade at night. My Dh and DS are traveling with the band, the rest of us are flying down. They are not staying onsite, we are. At about 32 days they were given a copy of their ticket (has their name on it) and was told to set up a MDE account. His group set theirs up and then linked my DH to their accounts and he added them to his friends list and made FP+ for the whole group. He had to do it day by day couldn't make it for the whole week at one time since they are off site. We have MB from our past July trip and at 30days when he entered his ticket it showed them as active and ready to use. So he and my DS are taking theirs to use. It works out good. I purchased MM for the trip and with them having bands it will pick up their pictures too even if i'm not on the ride with them. Hope this helps.

 

[luvsJack]

Just got back from a choir trip.

We didn't have MB but regular tickets. We got the ticket numbers a few weeks in advance to make fast pass choices. I only did the choices for part of our group and another chaperone did the ones for the other part. We knew that many kids wouldn't agree so we gave them certain choices and I took half and she took half. Made it easier to find times too. I would suggest doing the choices in small groups.

We purchased Memory maker as a group with everyone paying a couple of dollars. We had the photographers put them on photo pass cards but the ride photos had to go on our tickets. The director is adding all the cards to the memory maker account and we will just get our pitures from that. The guide told him that he should be able to link any tickets with ride photos on there too.

Not sure if yall will have meal tickets or have done that before but they work anywhere and were never an issue either.

I was worried about all of this stuff but everything worked smooth as silk. It was a great trip.

 

[richmo]

Thank you for asking this. I am going with my DD's choir in Dec. I was told MB's could not be used because of our group reservations. I do not think that's correct. (I have asked more than once and gotten more than one answer.)

My daughter did some kind of class over Christmas break. I had the same question...she was told that because of the nature of the group reservation, they could not use their personal MDE, and thus their MagicBand. In their case, they were all given a MagicBand (not sure when or where), they did stay onsite and they could not do advance FP+'s (admission was 5 day park hopper), but I think they were able to obtain them at in-park kiosks. They were so busy with activities and tours (like KTTK) that they didn't have much time for attractions anyway.

 

[fac]

My daughter did some kind of class over Christmas break. I had the same question...she was told that because of the nature of the group reservation, they could not use their personal MDE, and thus their MagicBand. In their case, they were all given a MagicBand (not sure when or where), they did stay onsite and they could not do advance FP+'s (admission was 5 day park hopper), but I think they were able to obtain them at in-park kiosks. They were so busy with activities and tours (like KTTK) that they didn't have much time for attractions anyway.

I am also concerned they may not have time to use photopass and may not justify the cost, is it possible for me to first buy the MM, then add them in as Family and Friends *after* the trip if they do have a lot of photos... I have never use MB, can I add the MB information (say similar to photopass ID) to my family and friends?

 

[chartle]

Just got back from a choir trip.

We didn't have MB but regular tickets. We got the ticket numbers a few weeks in advance to make fast pass choices. I only did the choices for part of our group and another chaperone did the ones for the other part. We knew that many kids wouldn't agree so we gave them certain choices and I took half and she took half. Made it easier to find times too. I would suggest doing the choices in small groups.

We purchased Memory maker as a group with everyone paying a couple of dollars. We had the photographers put them on photo pass cards but the ride photos had to go on our tickets. The director is adding all the cards to the memory maker account and we will just get our pitures from that. The guide told him that he should be able to link any tickets with ride photos on there too.

Not sure if yall will have meal tickets or have done that before but they work anywhere and were never an issue either.

I was worried about all of this stuff but everything worked smooth as silk. It was a great trip.

Were you on or offsite?

 

[d-train]

I am bringing my choir over spring break. My travel agent emailed me our ticket numbers yesterday. I was able to input my tix number into MDE and make my fast pass reservation, as have my kids. I assume that means if I wanted to buy a magicband when I get there it would work. We are staying off site...and we have YES tix...

I also bought memory maker. Instead of having to link every kids MDE to mine, I was told to have each kid use photo pass cards when they get photos taken, and I would be able to input all the cards for the group into my memory maker and get everyone's photos.

 

[richmo]

I am bringing my choir over spring break. My travel agent emailed me our ticket numbers yesterday. I was able to input my tix number into MDE and make my fast pass reservation, as have my kids. I assume that means if I wanted to buy a magicband when I get there it would work....

That's good to know. I think the key thing in your case is that you are the "ticket master" for your group. In my daughter's case with the class, getting any information out of the group leader before the trip was difficult. They didn't even know when and where to meet at the airport until the night before.

In your case, since you were able to get your ticket into MDE, you should have no problem picking up a MagicBand there and linking it to your account. For that matter, if you already have a MagicBand, bring it along...it should work.

 

[d-train]

I gave all the kids their ticket numbers too. Seems like a must do with the new FP system.

 

[luvsJack]

Were you on or offsite?

We stayed offsite.

 

[bcinohio]

I was glad that my DS's marching band was given their ticket numbers ahead of time. I was surprised for that time of year that they got FP+ for all the major rides without any problems.

 

[chartle]

That's good to know. I think the key thing in your case is that you are the "ticket master" for your group. In my daughter's case with the class, getting any information out of the group leader before the trip was difficult. They didn't even know when and where to meet at the airport until the night before.

Yes some groups are very weird about who controls the tickets and are super worried about the kids losing them. Some will only hand them out at the gate and then collect them once the kids are through. So in this case no FP at all.

On my two trips a kid never lost a ticket and even if they did we had a system that it could be identified immediately. This was for a group of 7-12th graders.

Oh and yes for the second trip I was the "Ticket Master" well with help.

 

[chartle]

We stayed offsite.

Onsite posters have had different stories of only getting the tickets on the first day of the trip. But that may have just been the organizational skills of the planners.

 

[luvsJack]

Onsite posters have had different stories of only getting the tickets on the first day of the trip. But that may have just been the organizational skills of the planners.

We didn't get the physical ticket until our first morning there but he gave us the ticket numbers well in advance. Our tour guide was great and made sure we had the information we needed.

 

[d-train]

I have always had the tix ahead of time from our travel agent, offsite or onsite. It sounds like it falls back to either the organizational skills of the trip leader or their need to control. Never had a problem with a kid losing their tix. Of course, I also provided a lanyard with the plastic pouch for each kid too...