Input on my ticket purchase?

[leebee]

I am a little confoozled about buying park tickets, as I usually stay onsite and have some sort of package, and things just sort-of happen! That's not the plan this year, as DH (aka "Mr.Disney-Lite") and I are looking at this as a vacation and not a park trip. However, he is a great guy who loves me a lot so has agreed to one Universal day and one Disney day during our vacation! (I am being sarcastic, we agreed on our plans, this isn't really being done with "permission" or anything!)

DH and I are staying at Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista-Disney Springs, which is an official Walt Disney World hotel, so we are eligible for FP+ at 60 days. Our check-in date is 12/21. We are only doing Disney on ONE day, 12/24. I am hoping to get one-day park hoppers (ouch, my wallet!) so we can visit AK and Epcot. I've been price-shopping and have some questions:

>Would you recommend I get 1 day base tickets and upgrade to hoppers when I get there, just in case our plans change?
>ALSO... what if our plans change? These are one day tickets only good on one day, no "use-window." If they are purchased for one day but we want to use them on a different day, can we?
>Will my FP day be 60 days prior to the date on my ticket, or 60 days prior to our check-in date?
>FINALLY... Dh and I have magic bands that have never been activated. They are from a trip in July 2018, but I forgot to bring them with us so Disney just issued new bands when we got to AKL. Will we be able to use these bands? Will they have our park pass, FP, ADRs, etc. on them (hmmm... do MBs carry ADRs at all, or do I have to have my confirmation numbers with me... can't remember).

Thanks in advance for your insights. I am not sure why I am so confused about this... maybe it's the shocking price of a one-day park hopper, when I am used to buying multi-day base tickets? Anyhow... thanks!

 

[kwdw]

I would NOT plan on upgrading on your park day itself - because its 12/24. If you just want to buy the base ticket now - do that. But I'd decide at least the day before if you want to upgrade so you can do that during time outside of your ONLY park day. You don't want to waste time on your park day doing that upgrade.

ANY Magicband you can see listed in MDE can be active and linked to that park ticket. Remember - the band just links to your MDE account. It's the MDE account that carries all your information. So - if you have an ADR that you can see on MDE - you can use your name or magicband to check in for your ADR. And yes - your FP's are also linked to your magicband. You don't NEED to carry around your FP and ADR and ticket stuff on paper.

Note - I do make a tiny slip of paper with my FP times and ADR times to put in my wallet so if my phone charge is running low - I have a back-up to remind me of my times.

 

[Fangorn]

First, let me address the Magic Band question.

NOTHING is ever stored on ANY Magic Band, and they do not have to be "Activated". Magic Bands are associated with your MDE account and are merely access keys to that account. Everything is stored in your MDE account on Disney's computers. That includes: tickets, FP+, resort reservation, ADRS, and a bunch of other information that Disney collects about you. Magic Bands are completely interchangeable (although you will often hear Resort CMs say otherwise - but that's another story). If you go into your MDE app and go to the Magic Bands and Cards section, you'll see all the Magic Bands that are connected to each person in your account. They will all show as "active" unless you have specifically chosen to "deactivate" them. You can use any active band for tickets and FPs and ADRs.

Personally, I'd probably just get the one-day ticket without the hopper. It's simple enough to upgrade the ticket at any ticket booth at a park if you do decide to hop that day, and if you're not completely sure of your plans, I wouldn't spend the extra $$ if you don't have to.

If plans change and you don't use the ticket on the originally planned day, you can always go to a ticket booth and change the date. It may cost you a few dollars more as the new date could be more expensive that the day you originally purchased, but you can definitely change the date.

Your FP window should open 60 days from check-in day at the hotel. BUT, you can only make FP if you have valid ticket media for the day you want to make FPs. What should happen in your case is that 60 day's out, you will be able to make FP, but ONLY for 12/24, since that's the day you have a valid ticket.

Enjoy the trip.

Steve

 

[jodyb]

Well, you are going on the most crowded day (maybe just a tad less crowded than Christmas day, but you won't be able to tell) of the year. I think park hopping might be challenging. If the parks are filled to over capacity, they won't allow entry. All of your magic bands can be activated in MDE and they will automatically be loaded with your new park tickets.

Your one day ticket will start on the day you check into your hotel (if it's a package at your Disney Springs hotel) and you can choose the day you use it, up until it expires which will probably be check-out day.

 

[jodyb]

What Steve said is mostly correct, however, if your first Magic Bands were DEactivated, they do indeed have to be REactivated in MDE. Very simple to do. You can keep any or all of your magic bands activated and use whichever one you like when you go to Disney.

 

[MomOTwins]

You can't automatically use your one day ticket on another date: you would have to call DCL reservations or go in person to modify them. If your new date costs more, you'll have to pay the difference. If your new date costs less, you do not get a refund for the balance.

 

[sponica]

>Would you recommend I get 1 day base tickets and upgrade to hoppers when I get there, just in case our plans change? I agree with PP, upgrade to hopper ahead of time or I think you can do it in the app?

>ALSO... what if our plans change? These are one day tickets only good on one day, no "use-window." If they are purchased for one day but we want to use them on a different day, can we? Ultimately you never lose the value of an unused ticket, so if you go on a different day they can change the validity date. But if you know before 12/24 you want a different date, you should be able to change the date in the app.

>Will my FP day be 60 days prior to the date on my ticket, or 60 days prior to our check-in date? 60 days prior to check-in. Think of it as you have a one day ticket with a multi night stay.

>FINALLY... Dh and I have magic bands that have never been activated. They are from a trip in July 2018, but I forgot to bring them with us so Disney just issued new bands when we got to AKL. Will we be able to use these bands? Will they have our park pass, FP, ADRs, etc. on them (hmmm... do MBs carry ADRs at all, or do I have to have my confirmation numbers with me... can't remember). You can use any active magic band in your MDE profile. The magic band just acts as a way to talk to whatever is in your MDE (tickets/fps and when onsite your room)