Midweek Guest Swap and FD

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Hello! We're booked during a free dining week but to get free dining we must be checked in by the first calendar day on our trip. However, we would like to swap guests out midweek in our room (my DH for my mom), so my DH can spend some time with his family in South Florida and mom can spend time with us without the room being too crowded.

If we do this, can we keep the free dining for everyone under Disney's rules, or would she not be eligible since she would be getting there on a later date? Could we just give mom DH's magic band since we're paying for those days anyway and it's the same number of people? It's a six night trip with 5 day hoppers.

TIA!

 

[tobikaye]

Someone will probably come along and correct my mistakes below, but this is my take on swapping mid-trip:

Room:

• Your mom would not be able to be added to your reservation until arrival due to not having the same package as everyone in the room
• She will need to be on the reservation to have access to EMH hours
  
• If she needs to use Magical Express to get from the airport to the hotel, you will need to talk to the front desk when you arrive to get her added to the reservation on the right day and then call and have her set up for Magical Express
• You may have to arrange for your husband to be removed from the reservation on the day your mother arrives if you are over occupancy

Park Tickets:

• Your mom would not be able to use your husband's band to enter the park. She would need her own ticket or band.
• Once your husband uses his band with his finger bio-metrics to enter, that band will be tied to him.

Dining Credits:

• From my understanding, only one person has to provide their band to pay their dining credits
• So, technically, if you use your band to pay for the table, then you probably would not be questioned on including your mother on your dining credits

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Thank you! The dining question is my biggest concern so as long as they are tied to the room not the person I think we should be fine.

I thought the park tickets part might be tricky. So can I change his park tickets to a different # then ours? Can I make her Fastpasses if she is not added to our room reservation 60 days out? We will not be over the the occupancy so there is no need to remove DH from the reservation. I could also try to price out what it would cost to add her from the beginning of our trip (3 adults 1 kid) vs (2 adults 1 kid) since dining should still be free on our room even if we add a person. The fee, if any, might not be that much per day and it would be worth it to get extra credits.

 

[tobikaye]

So can I change his park tickets to a different # then ours?

Not as part of a package. Everyone in the room must have the same stay, ticket, dining.

Can I make her Fastpasses if she is not added to our room reservation 60 days out?

I do not think so, unless she is on the reservation. You can probably make the FP+ reservations with your husband assigned and she should be able to use his band to get in for the FP+.

We will not be over the the occupancy so there is no need to remove DH from the reservation. I could also try to price out what it would cost to add her from the beginning of our trip (3 adults 1 kid) vs (2 adults 1 kid) since dining should still be free on our room even if we add a person. The fee, if any, might not be that much per day and it would be worth it to get extra credits.

You will have to pay an extra per night fee, rate dependent on the resort, for a 3rd adult. So, to add your mother, it would be the price of a 5 day hopper ticket and the extra adult fee.

Extra adult fee: $10/night at values, $15/night at moderates, $25/night at deluxe

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I think you should calculate costs for a couple of scenarios and decide what you want to do from there.

Possible Option #1) Leave package as is (2 adults, 1 child). Make your FP+ for everyone (you, DH and child). As a PP mentioned, while you can't use your DH's ticket for your mom, she can use his MB to access the FP+ on the days she is going to the park and he isn't. Buy her tickets separately. Add her to the reservation when you arrive. You will be charged the extra night fee for each night she is in the room. She will not initially have access to Magical Express. If she is arriving with you, that may be a problem (not sure how you are arriving to Orlando). If she arrives after you, you can add her to Magical Express as soon as you add her to the reservation. Extra costs for Option #1 - extra adult fee at resort for the nights she is there + cost of mom's park ticket + cost of possible cab if she is arriving with you and can't access Magical Express + cost of her dining (she will not be eligible for free dining).

Possible Option #2) Add her to the package now and she will get free dining plus Magical Express (which is great if she is arriving with you. Doesn't really matter if she arrives after) Extra cost for this option - extra adult fee for all six nights, plus cost of 5-day hopper. With the extra free dining credits thrown in on this option, this may end up being your best value.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Thanks for the response! Now here's one last scenario I thought of - what if we did 3 day hoppers for everyone with the room ressie, and then I just got extra 2 day hoppers for DS and myself? Could I attach our extra hoppers to our room ressie somehow to get the 60 day FP+ for every day we have a ticket? I just think it's crazy to pay for a combined 4 days of hoppers we wouldn't use, even with the scaling for extra days.

EDIT: Nevermind, I did the math on that and realized it made no sense. $75 extra to get them both 5 days versus the $180 each for me and DS to get extra separate 2 day hoppers. Just wish they didn't have this rule. I imagine there are a lot of families where some members want to spend fewer days in the parks.

 

[jessiegirl1982]

Thanks for the response! Now here's one last scenario I thought of - what if we did 3 day hoppers for everyone with the room ressie, and then I just got extra 2 day hoppers for DS and myself? Could I attach our extra hoppers to our room ressie somehow to get the 60 day FP+ for every day we have a ticket? I just think it's crazy to pay for a combined 4 days of hoppers we wouldn't use, even with the scaling for extra days.

EDIT: Nevermind, I did the math on that and realized it made no sense. $75 extra to get them both 5 days versus the $180 each for me and DS to get extra separate 2 day hoppers. Just wish they didn't have this rule. I imagine there are a lot of families where some members want to spend fewer days in the parks.

The free dining package only requires you to buy a 2 day park hopper... We are going for 6 nights, but only purchased the 2 day park hopper as we plan to upgrade to the Premier pass when we get to WDW.

 

[bumbershoot]

Not as part of a package. Everyone in the room must have the same stay, ticket, dining.

Everyone has to *start* with the same tickets. But you can, once you're there, add days to your tickets (tickets can go up to a total of 10 days). So they could start with the number of days WDW is requiring for FD (often 2 day tickets) then others could add on once you're there.

But you won't be able to get FPs for the time beyond that lowest day-number, until you're there and you add on.

We always have a car so getting another family member wouldn't be an issue. If in such a situation I probably wouldn't have an issue leaving the reservation as is, having mom get her own separate ticket, not having mom use the MB other than for getting in the room, and just going from there.

 

[vinotinto]

Assuming you have 4 people total, the easiest thing is to add everyone to the reservation (you, DH, kid, DM) for the full length and have everyone with a 5-day hopper. You can then make FP+ for every day that you will be there, and the cost of 5-days vs 3-days is not huge for the 2 people.

If you don't want to spend on 5 day tickets for everyone, then just get the 3-day tickets for everyone and upgrade your child and yours at the gate to 5-days. You will not be able to make advance FP for those 2 days, but you could make it for your mom and DH and then just try to copy their FP to you.