One person leaving early

[kerplop]

DP and I are planning on a 2 week trip this year in December with my mom and have run into a snag. Mom doesn't want to be away from home for more than a week, which is what we did last year and she was fine with that. So what kind of trip will we need to book for this to work? We're also hoping for Free Dining again this year, but I'm not sure how that would work with her leaving early. We'll all 3 of us need the ME, but we live in two different states and fly in separately. Would she be able to get the ME after one week and not at the end of our official stay? Would we have to do a split stay and pay out of pocket for food the second week once she was gone? Or does Disney not care if she's actually there the whole time if we pay for the 3rd person for 2 weeks as far as extra person costs in the room and her tickets? Any advice would be great because I don't want to tell her one thing and have the opposite be true. It's time to start planning in earnest!

 

[tkldisney]

When you make reservations, give them your dates and flight info, then give them you moms. Even if you do end up doing split stay, you'll most likely keep same room. Disney will work with you in your planning. I've never had them make us change rooms so we had to pack up. You may even want two change to maybe get king bed after mom leaves.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Magic Express isn't an issue. You can book each person for the flights they are taking.

If you get free DDP you can book just one reservation for the entire stay. You could book the days of tickets your Mom needs and then upgrade your tickets after you get there. You would have to pay the extra adult fee for the entire stay but you would get the extra DDP credits.

The extra adult fee would be less than having to buy 2 new sets of tickets needed to get the DDP with a 2nd reservation.

Another option would be for you and/or partner to upgrade to AP - you can only purchase 10 day tickets so if you wanted tickets for your entire 2 week stay this is the way to go anyways. Then you could book 2nd week with DDP without having to buy tickets. You do have to buy tickets for free DDP even if you do have APs though.