Overwhelmed W/ WDW process - Please suggest resources

[MerlinsNap]

My best friend is a CM in California and has invited me to WDW for a day in May. We are going to be going to the Animal Kingdom and Epcot since her comp passes come with park hopping. My husband booked me a room at the Swan Reserve because it provides early entry / late access to Epcot. I thought we would just show up with the room key and get in.

I was obviously wrong. I was told I need to link it to the ticket reservation on the Disney app. Since my friend is using comp tickets, we don't physically have a ticket but, she was able to make reservations to get into the park and for dinner so I'm thinking all is good.. however, I called the hotel who told me that I can't have the "Disney reservation number until check in" and Disney told me I must "link my room 24 hours prior to early entry." She flies in the night before we go to the park, she physically has to pick up the tickets at guest services - its not possible to do it 24 hours in advance.

Aside from that, one of the reps at the hotel told me that I'm not eligible for lightening lane since she is a CM, but the website mentioned something about a Genie plus line holder service for a "discounted $15.00 per person"?

I've tried doing research but I haven't been to any Disney parks since before they started the fast pass lines so I'm so out of my element. Can anyone help me figure out what I need to do / who I need to call or what resources will help me find answers.

Thank you for taking pitty on an old geezer lol

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

My best friend is a CM in California and has invited me to WDW for a day in May. We are going to be going to the Animal Kingdom and Epcot since her comp passes come with park hopping. My husband booked me a room at the Swan Reserve because it provides early entry / late access to Epcot. I thought we would just show up with the room key and get in.

I was obviously wrong. I was told I need to link it to the ticket reservation on the Disney app. Since my friend is using comp tickets, we don't physically have a ticket but, she was able to make reservations to get into the park and for dinner so I'm thinking all is good.. however, I called the hotel who told me that I can't have the "Disney reservation number until check in" and Disney told me I must "link my room 24 hours prior to early entry." She flies in the night before we go to the park, she physically has to pick up the tickets at guest services - its not possible to do it 24 hours in advance.

Aside from that, one of the reps at the hotel told me that I'm not eligible for lightening lane since she is a CM, but the website mentioned something about a Genie plus line holder service for a "discounted $15.00 per person"?

I've tried doing research but I haven't been to any Disney parks since before they started the fast pass lines so I'm so out of my element. Can anyone help me figure out what I need to do / who I need to call or what resources will help me find answers.

Thank you for taking pitty on an old geezer lol

So, I did the usual thing and googled, see below, your CM friend needs to access the tix and likely then will be able to add them to your MDE app. Here's what google said about adding G+- good luck.

Can I Add Genie Plus to a Complimentary Ticket? The Disney Genie Plus service can be added to a complimentary ticket. However, you cannot add Genie+ ahead of time and you must do it on the day you are going to use the ticket. You will need to add Genie+ at the beginning of each day you want to use the service.


Complimentary Tickets for eligible employees/retirees can be found at CompAdmission.disney.com. Print or save the eTicket to be used. Simply go to MyDisneyExperience.com on a computer or mobile device. If you don't already have a My Disney Experience® account, create one and log in.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Not sure why the hotel won't link to MDE as it should be independent of tickets or ticket status. Call The Swan reservation number and ask for the MDE friendly confirmation number and it will link to your account. As for the tickets and Genie + that I don't know. But sounds like it'll be fun!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Reservations at Swan/Dolphin and Swan Reserve are linkable into MDE. It can take a day or two for your reservation to show up in MDE as they have to refresh but we have stayed at Dolphin and Swan many times and we've added them before. They do sporadically disappear since MDE tech is awful, but you can easily add it back.

 

[MerlinsNap]

Thank you all for your help. Your conclusions were similar to mine. I was finally able to get the reservation "linked" to each of our my disney accounts, but it looks like I can't do or add any of the "skip the line options" until we have a physical ticket.
Do we actually need any of those add ons? Honestly, I'm just there for the company and I'll be happy to take a photo with a character and see some animals. I'm feeling like there is a lot of planning that needs to take place and I feel very out of my element since I'm usually the type that floats on the wind wherever the day takes me.

Is planning every portion of the day a big deal? We are going to have a rental car so we can just drive to epcot in the evening. What is the absolute minimum I need to do to enjoy AK and Epcot ?

 

[loves to dive]

Thank you all for your help. Your conclusions were similar to mine. I was finally able to get the reservation "linked" to each of our my disney accounts, but it looks like I can't do or add any of the "skip the line options" until we have a physical ticket.
Do we actually need any of those add ons? Honestly, I'm just there for the company and I'll be happy to take a photo with a character and see some animals. I'm feeling like there is a lot of planning that needs to take place and I feel very out of my element since I'm usually the type that floats on the wind wherever the day takes me.

Is planning every portion of the day a big deal? We are going to have a rental car so we can just drive to epcot in the evening. What is the absolute minimum I need to do to enjoy AK and Epcot ?

You can absolutely go with flow and still enjoy your day, I never use Genie+ and don't plan a thing other than a park reservation and hotel room (usually Dolphin by the way). For AK, it depends on if you want to ride FOP as to what your day should be like. If you want to ride, you will need to rope drop and head to it first. Since you are staying at Swan Reserve you qualify for early entry so take advantage of that if you want to ride FOP. Safari usually doesn't open until park open so knock out whatever ride(s) you want to do before that. Make sure you walk the two animal trails. AK is one of those parks that you can do as much or as little as you want. You want to just walk around and look at all the little out of the way animal exhibits, go for it. You want to ride things, go for it. You want to watch shows, I love both Fes. of Lion King and Nemo with a shout out to the bird show as well. If you like refreshing adult beverages, get on the walk up list at Nomad Lounge and sit there for a while and just chill. I'm not really a thrill ride person so I ride Navi, Safari, Dino and that's pretty much it for rides. I spend a lot of time just taking in the detail of the park, there is a trail around the Tree of Life you can walk and get pretty close to the tree to see more of the carvings.

As far as Epcot, again easy enough to just go with the flow. If you want to ride Guardians you are going to have to pay for the Ind. Lighting Lane since your park reservation isn't for Epcot. Most of the rides in the front of the park rarely have a long line, especially later in the day. Since you are going in May, take advantage of Flower and Garden and graze at booths for at least one meal. Stroll around World Showcase and notice all the details. You are within walking or the boat to your resort when you are done. It's a fairly easy walk (at least for this 66 year old woman) and not bad. I use Disney transportation even though I always have my car, I bus between AK and Epcot then walk back to the Dolphin. It's a little further to Swan Reserve but not that much. You can take the boat from Epcot to Swan/Dolphin then walk it from there if you want.

 

[MerlinsNap]

Thanks so much- this has really put my mind at ease.

Do you happen to have any input on transportation? We were planning on driving to the animal kingdom and parking and then driving to Epcot later on and doing the same thing. Two people in our party have feet issues, and the idea of standing and waiting for a bus for 30 to 45 mins seems like it will put a damper on our holiday.

How early should we arrive to park at AK with the early entry?

Thanks again for the help- yall have made a very overhwelming process a lot less stressful.