Quick Annual Pass Questions

[tjlamphere]

The activation process is very quick and easy. We activated ours on a Saturday morning at Epcot. Arrived at a ticket window maybe 20 minutes before rope drop. We activated them, entered the park, and still had 10 minutes or so before they dropped the rope. Any ticket window can activate them.

Ah, I think I will activate them the night before at Disney Springs.....because....we both want Magicbands and I need to get the APs activated before I can get the Magicbands linked to my AP, right? Don't want to monkey with it our first morning at the Parks....if I lose a day, I lose a day.

 

[supersnoop]

Ah, I think I will activate them the night before at Disney Springs.....because....we both want Magicbands and I need to get the APs activated before I can get the Magicbands linked to my AP, right? Don't want to monkey with it our first morning at the Parks....if I lose a day, I lose a day.

No. You can link a Magic band at any time. The band is linked to your account. The AP is linked to your account. The band allows the system to see that you have valid admission (the AP). Nothing is “on” the band.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

If it were me, I would go ahead and link the passes to MDE myself, purchase adn link magic bands, then activate when you get there and you will be all set.

 

[gatorlisa]

Ah, I think I will activate them the night before at Disney Springs.....because....we both want Magicbands and I need to get the APs activated before I can get the Magicbands linked to my AP, right? Don't want to monkey with it our first morning at the Parks....if I lose a day, I lose a day.

Did you purchase the APs online? If so, they should already be linked to your MDE account. You just need to make sure they are assigned to the right people. You can buy MBs and assign them to people in your MDE account at any time. Or even use old MBs if you have them. Any active MB in your account tied to a person with an AP/ticket will allow access to the entitlements for that person (in this case, park admission via the AP). The AP does not need to have been activated to be able to schedule FPs or link MBs. For example, I purchased APs online in December of last year. I assigned them to myself and my BF in MDE. I already had 6 MBs from previous trips assigned to me in MDE. We received new MBs for our stay in September, which got assigned to us in MDE. We activated those APs at Epcot on day 1 of our September trip. All of my MBs (old and new) worked for park entry and FP use. Your MBs are not linked to your AP per se. Your AP is linked to your MDE account, your MB is linked to your MDE. Either the plastic card or the MB are then used to access the information in your MDE account.

 

[tjlamphere]

Did you purchase the APs online? If so, they should already be linked to your MDE account. You just need to make sure they are assigned to the right people. You can buy MBs and assign them to people in your MDE account at any time. Or even use old MBs if you have them. Any active MB in your account tied to a person with an AP/ticket will allow access to the entitlements for that person (in this case, park admission via the AP). The AP does not need to have been activated to be able to schedule FPs or link MBs. For example, I purchased APs online in December of last year. I assigned them to myself and my BF in MDE. I already had 6 MBs from previous trips assigned to me in MDE. We received new MBs for our stay in September, which got assigned to us in MDE. We activated those APs at Epcot on day 1 of our September trip. All of my MBs (old and new) worked for park entry and FP use. Your MBs are not linked to your AP per se. Your AP is linked to your MDE account, your MB is linked to your MDE. Either the plastic card or the MB are then used to access the information in your MDE account.

You are correct - when we bought our AP online, Disney themselves must have linked the AP to our MDE account. So yes, they are there. But as I will be at Disney Springs a night or two before we will go to the Parks for the first time, I thought we could kill two birds with one stone - activate our AP as well as buy Magicbands, as we have no MBs now.

 

[izzylovesmickey]

Just one word of caution at Disney Springs. We activated our passes in July after purchasing them in April. There was a VERY long line in front of us, so long that they were giving out return times. Once they called us it took 5 minutes and that was adding TIW in addition to the AP. I was glad we did it at DS even with the wait because I would have been very frustrated if I had gotten to the park pre-opening and had encountered a long line that would have delayed us.

 

[gatorlisa]

You are correct - when we bought our AP online, Disney themselves must have linked the AP to our MDE account. So yes, they are there. But as I will be at Disney Springs a night or two before we will go to the Parks for the first time, I thought we could kill two birds with one stone - activate our AP as well as buy Magicbands, as we have no MBs now.

If you are going to be at Disney Springs anyway, you can go ahead and buy and link your MBs, whether the APs have been activated or not. There's a number printed on the back of the puck/MB that you enter via the web or the MDE app and choose who to assign the band to. Super easy.
My understanding is that Disney Springs only has one Guest Relations where you can do the AP activation and that the line/wait can be quite long. At a park, the AP can be activated at GR or any open ticket window, of which there are usually several. If you are at DS and the line isn't too long, and you don't mind losing a day or two on your pass by activating on a non-park day, then sure, go ahead and activate. If the line is really long, or you would rather wait until the first day you'll actually enter a park to start the clock on your pass, then plan to be at the park maybe 10-15 minutes earlier than you otherwise would have planned to be there and activate it there. Either way is fine...all up to what your preference is.

 

[only hope]

We activated ours about 30 mn before rope drop at Hollywood Studios on a Saturday. There was no line. It was quick- done in about five minutes. Of course, if you don't care about losing a day and there is no wait at Disney Springs, that could be a better choice.

Unless you have your heart set on buying some specific magic band design that is not offered for free, I would not buy magic bands. You get them for free with the annual pass. They ship quickly. You do not need a magic band to enter the park, use fast passes, or use photopass. The magic band is simply an alternative to using your admission card at touchpoints and is not necessary.

There are only two things a magic band does that can not be done with admission cards. One is obtaining ride videos at select attractions. If you're wearing a magic band with a functioning battery and experience an attraction with a ride video, it will automatically load onto your account. There is no other way to get ride videos.The videos are not free though- you must have memory maker or an annual pass with photo benefits to download them. Attraction photos will load automatically too if you're wearing a magic band with a working battery, but you can retrieve those manually by simply tapping your admission card or magic band against the mickey below your photo at the ride exit.

The other thing that can be done only with magic bands is your name showing up on certain attractions, but it frequently doesn't work and/or isn't turned on. One example are the good bye signs at the end of It's a Small World- sometimes it will list peoples names if they're wearing a magic band with a functioning battery. Unless those things are really important to you, I would save the money and just go without magic bands the first trip.