Multiple family vacation help

[Ryanne]

I need some assistance. We are new DVC members (only our 2nd year) so I am still learning the ins and out and the best way to do things.

We have a trip planned for September. We now have friends who are coming with us and staying in our suite.

Question is: what is the best way to go about tickets, etc. i am planning and booking everything (reservations, fast passes, etc) but we are obviously paying for our tickets separately. I want to avoid everyone getting a million different magic bands.

I already have our reservation linked to my Disney experience (right now it is just my family on the reservation). I know I can add our tickets through there.

Is it the best to have them purchase their tickets through their own Disney account, just link it with mine so I can book fast passes, etc. this would get them their magic bands but they wouldn't be on our room. Can the front desk just add the room key to their magic bands upon check in?

Or should I add them to my DVC reservation and buy their park tickets through my account and just have them pay?

Or can they be on my room reservation but buy their own park tickets separately but still have it all on the same band?

I am just trying to find the most painless way to make sure everyone doesn't have multiple magic bands, that they will have acess to the room, and we can somehow manage the money correctly.

Any helps or tips would be greatly appreciated! Sorry if this is confusing - still learning the ropes.

Also, can different credit cards get linked to different bands to keep purchases separeted during our stay.

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

I can help with this. My brother and sister-in-law stayed in the other half of our 2BR on our trip and we are financially distinct households.

Yes, you should add them to your reservation. No reason not to... they get magic bands via your room reservation. They can set up their own custom credit cards for purchases while there. It will just make things much easier upfront.

They should set up their own Disney experience account, and buy their own tickets and link them. You should link up in the app as friends so you can make Fastpass reservations for everyone. This will not get them magic bands. (Bands are tied to room reservations or you buy them retail... not tied to tickets).

 

[com_op_2000]

...(Bands are tied to room reservations or you buy them retail... not tied to tickets).

"Not tied to tickets" - unless they are getting APs in which case you get a MB for purchasing the AP.

If they are staying in your room then there names must be on the reservation. This way in case of emergency, DVC/Resort/WDW knows how many people are at the resort/room. If someone in the group is getting the DP then everyone in the room must also purchase the same DP.

 

[maburke]

When we travel with friends, I show them how to buy their own tickets through Undercover Tourist, and then I put their ticket numbers into our room reservation. This way, I can handle everything, they don't have to have their own account, but they pay for tickets.

 

[maburke]

I'm not sure about the separate credit card part, but I'd be interested to know.

 

[Ryanne]

Thank you!

 

[BaymaxForever]

About room charges...we stayed in a 2 bedroom villa last fall with another 'distinct' family. Both families charged to the room and charges were kept separate, but I'm not sure how. The front desk set it up when we checked in, the other family had their own pin. Maybe because they were in the studio room and were in the one bedroom and they have separate room numbers. We both paid off the balance at the front desk every day or two.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

A little clarification on how a Magic Band works may help - it is simply an access to an account. When it's tapped anywhere it goes out to the server to see if that account (ie - person) has access to enter that room where it was tapped. Or at a turnstile if that account (ie - person) has a ticket entitlement. Having multiple Magic Bands actually doesn't matter as they all would work identical. That's why you can also reuse magic bands.

Also, what gets a person a Magic band mailed to them is being on a room reservation or having an active AP. You need to have them on your room if they are staying in your room to get the Magic band otherwise if they wanted one they would have to buy it.

You can handle MDE either by setting them up on your account and you link tickets that either your buy or they buy to them (and they can claim themselves from your account later if they wish) or have them set up their own MDE account and then they will need to link both the room reservation to themselves and the tickets they purchase. That may be decided by if they want to handle anything and may return or if it's a one and done trip. I'd suggest Undercover tourist for discounted tickets - you can request the physical tickets be mailed or they will do etickets - either way there is the ticket number to link to the people that the tickets will be used by.

And yes, different credit cards can be linked to different people. Again, nothing is stored on a Magic Band itself - that will just access the file it is linked to and would charge to the credit card that is also approved to be charged for that file.