Split Stay/Magic Bands Question With A Slight Twist

[bama_ed]

Folks,

I need your help with the following question. I've been researching split stays and magic bands and came across this recent thread as an example of an answer: http://www.disboards.com/threads/how-does-it-work-on-magic-bands-with-a-split-stay.3462031/ But my situation is slightly different.

I will be staying at Fort Wilderness and some of my party will stay with me initially and after a few days move over to a resort on property. I will remain at the Fort the whole time so they will be on my Fort folio initially. My research on split stays seems to be "make sure you check out of the first place completely before checking into the 2nd". But that's the twist - the folio is in my name and my guests will be on it but I won't be checking out. Will they have trouble using the same Magic Bands from the first half of the trip for their stay at the on-property resort?

I'm trying to keep things simple for my guests by finding a way to use one set of Magic Bands rather than defaulting to two sets (one with their Fort stay, one with their resort stay). Furthermore, I plan to purchase character Magic Bands from the Disney Store.com and load those into my MDE that they will be on initially and let them use those across both stays and not mess with two sets of bands. So I would like to think that I add them to my reservation at the Fort, then go into MDE and add them to my stay, then input the Magic Band serial numbers that I purchase and decline the default bands, then get them to add the same serial numbers into their own MDE entry in their own name for the resort and decline those bands.

So will there be a problem doing their resort check-in if the Fort folio (which is in my name) is not closed out when they leave?

Can they as individuals tell the Fort front desk they are leaving (essentially taking themselves off my folio) and then check into the new resort?

Trying to keep it simple as I said but it seems complicated. Maybe I am overthinking this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Bama Ed

 

[Sue M]

I believe you can tell the desk when you all check in when your guests will be switching resorts? It may have to be you as you're the reservation holder ? Hope it works out.

 

[bumbershoot]

I will remain at the Fort the whole time so they will be on my Fort folio initially.

How are you removing them from your reservation?

 

[Wood Nymph]

Furthermore, I plan to purchase character Magic Bands from the Disney Store.com and load those into my MDE that they will be on initially and let them use those across both stays and not mess with two sets of bands. So I would like to think that I add them to my reservation at the Fort, then go into MDE and add them to my stay, then input the Magic Band serial numbers that I purchase and decline the default bands, then get them to add the same serial numbers into their own MDE entry in their own name for the resort and decline those bands.

This will not work the way you want it to work. If you add the purchased bands to your MDE account then they will not be able to use them for their second reservation. They will not be able to add the purchased bands to their MDE account if you have already added them to your MDE account. Bands can only be used on one MDE account. Declining the MBs that come with the reservation will not allow you to save them the trouble of using two sets of bands.

You said that they have their own MDE and their own reservation at a different resort. Are their tickets tied to their MDE account? If the answer to this is yes, then the purchased Magic Bands should be linked to their MDE account and not to yours.

When you made your Ft Wildrrness reservation did you create a profile for them on your MDE account or did you connect them as family and friends who can share all information?

If they linked their MDE account to yours as family and friends who share information then one set of MagicBands will work for both of their resort stays. It doesn't matter which set of MBs they use. The MB from your FW reservation, the MB from their reservation, and the purchased band will all work for both stays if you have used their MDE account when adding them to your reservation. It won't work if you created a profile for them on your MDE account. The way you can tell if you are using their MDE profiles is if the avatars for their MDE profiles show up on your reservation. If you get grey avatars or if you can choose avatars for them, then the reservation is not set up properly.

If you created a separate profile for them on your account then call tech support and have them fix it so the reservations are properly linked. They will not be able to use one set of MBs if you created a profile for them on your reservation.

By the way, it is okay to have more than one MagicBand as long as they are linked properly. It is fun to wear different colors.

 

[Amanda999]

OP: FWIW, the 3 (IIRC) times I've done split stays with MBs, I've always had to use a 2nd set of MBs to open the door at the 2nd hotel. And, we move all members of our group from 1st resort to 2nd resort. (I'm sure others have succeeded in using the same MB at both resorts. Just letting you know my experience, and to not be bummed out, as the others in your group may have had to use a 2nd set of MBs anyway.) All sets of MBs we have do everything else, though - its just unlocking doors at the resorts that seems tricky.

 

[bama_ed]

You said that they have their own MDE and their own reservation at a different resort. Are their tickets tied to their MDE account? If the answer to this is yes, then the purchased Magic Bands should be linked to their MDE account and not to yours.

When you made your Ft Wilderness reservation did you create a profile for them on your MDE account or did you connect them as family and friends who can share all information?

Wood Nymph, thanks for the detailed questions.

To answer:

a) they have their own MDE account and it has the PO Riverside room reservation and an ADR - that's all so far. No tickets have been purchased yet.

b) I have not created them (yet) in my MDE profile. I'm no expert on MDE as you can tell but if there is a way to have them "connect" their profile to mine and then I can select them from there, I will look into that if it's a possibility.

If they linked their MDE account to yours as family and friends who share information then one set of MagicBands will work for both of their resort stays. It doesn't matter which set of MBs they use. The MB from your FW reservation, the MB from their reservation, and the purchased band will all work for both stays if you have used their MDE account when adding them to your reservation. It won't work if you created a profile for them on your MDE account. The way you can tell if you are using their MDE profiles is if the avatars for their MDE profiles show up on your reservation. If you get grey avatars or if you can choose avatars for them, then the reservation is not set up properly.

If you created a separate profile for them on your account then call tech support and have them fix it so the reservations are properly linked. They will not be able to use one set of MBs if you created a profile for them on your reservation.

Their purchased Magic Bands have not been added to any/either profile or MDE account yet.

But to summarize what I heard you say: if they can share or connect their MDE account with mine, then I can select them and add them to my Fort Wilderness reservation. Then their purchased Magic Bands can be added to either account (most likely theirs) but I want them to be able to get in the gate on their own at the Fort. Only then would tickets be purchased and linked.

When I initially set up the Fort Wilderness reservation, my guests were not listed in my party. Will the sharing/selecting from MDE accomplish this? Or is it separate from what goes on in MDE and I would still have to call and add them?

I haven't done a lot with this yet because I wanted to try to get it right the first time and keep it simple.

If you could let me know about the above I would appreciate it.

Bama Ed

 

[Wood Nymph]

But to summarize what I heard you say: if they can share or connect their MDE account with mine, then I can select them and add them to my Fort Wilderness reservation. Then their purchased Magic Bands can be added to either account (most likely theirs) but I want them to be able to get in the gate on their own at the Fort. Only then would tickets be purchased and linked.

When I initially set up the Fort Wilderness reservation, my guests were not listed in my party. Will the sharing/selecting from MDE accomplish this? Or is it separate from what goes on in MDE and I would still have to call and add them?

I haven't done a lot with this yet because I wanted to try to get it right the first time and keep it simple.

You are smart to want to get this right first. The MDE sharing will allow you to add them to your reservation correctly, but you will still have to call to add them.

The first thing you want to do is to connect your MDE accounts. Here is how to do it:
1. Go to your MDE account
2. My Family and Friends list
3. Towards the upper right hand corner you will see + Add a guest - click on that
4. You will see a list of three options:
a, from a list of people I know
b. through his or her Disney resort reservation (you will need to know their reservation number)
c. by entering his or her name
5. choose one of these options. An invitation will be sent to them via email. They need to accept it. I think they have to invite you to share their account, too. You want to mark them as family who often travels together, views your plans and can view and purchase your Photpass pictures.
6. once they have accepted your friend request and both of you can see the other person's resort reservation, then you most likely have it set up right. You will be able to see their tickets, their resort reservation, their dining reservations and their fastpasses, once they make them.

After you have connected your MDE accounts you can call the reservation number and have them added to your reservation. The CM should be able to see their names in your MDE profile. It is a pretty easy process. Once they have been added you will see them in your MDE account.

My two sisters and our son all stayed with us in a 2bedroom villa at Old Key West. They each had their own MDE account and we had no problem linking them up. We were all able to make dinner reservations and fastpasses for each other.

Then their purchased Magic Bands can be added to either account (most likely theirs) but I want them to be able to get in the gate on their own at the Fort. Only then would tickets be purchased and linked.

As long as they are included in your resort reservation then all of their MBs will get them in the gate. My sisters had no trouble using their MBs to get into our resort room, even if they used a MB from an earlier trip.

 

[bumbershoot]

OP: FWIW, the 3 (IIRC) times I've done split stays with MBs, I've always had to use a 2nd set of MBs to open the door at the 2nd hotel. And, we move all members of our group from 1st resort to 2nd resort. (I'm sure others have succeeded in using the same MB at both resorts.

Odd. So glitchy. We've had as many as four reservations on one trip and even with doors they were interchangeable.




What about the issue of them ending up on two reservations at the same time? Adding people and taking then off for one continuing stay isn't as easy as it used to be.


And where are their tickets coming from?


Because I don't know what would happen with them being on two reservations at once, this is what I personally would do. It seems complicated, but then so does your plan, given the question mark of the two reservations.

I would create simple profiles for the people on your MDE. I wouldn't invite them to link their MDE to yours. So for their reservation they would be in charge of customizing their MBs, and those MBs would work for their specific reservation.

For your reservation, without linking the actual people to the plain profiles, you customize their MBs. With the people we sometimes travel with, I might just make theirs grey to really show that those are for the first reservation and won't be usable in the future unless you travel with them again and you do it through your account using the same profiles. (this would only work if they don't choose grey LOL) You could also customize them by using 9 characters to describe YOUR reservation. "FtWilder" or something like that.

I would complicate matters if I started trying to figure out the tickets right now, since I don't know where they are coming from.


YOu want to make this uncomplicated, but I think it's simply going to be. You're either dealing with issues of them being on two reservations at the same time, of trying to take them OFF your reservation at a certain point, or having two sets of MBs that don't connect. (and that's before the tickets are discussed)