Tickets and Magicbands

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Well I have just gone and booked our flights for July of this year.

When we last went in Oct 2013 we didn't have the bands so the new system is all new to he.

I am thinking of booking a few nights on site, getting 21 day tickets and we will then be offsite for the remainder of the holiday.

My nephew is coming, he has a different surname, can anybody give me a simple guide to what I need to do.

For FP can I book my ones for Disney whilst I am on site at the same time, then is it a day at a time when we move off site.

Any advice appreciated

 

[disneyholic family]

interesting question about onsite/offsite...

perhaps someone here knows the answer, but you might also try asking over on the theme park board...

there is a dedicated FP+ thread there....
the person running that thread is an expert on all things FP+ so he should be able to answer you...
here's the link to it....
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3326057

.

 

[Elise79]

As far as MDE is concerned you can list anyone in your account regardless of whether they share your surname

Once you have booked and linked your onsite stay you will be able to customise your MBs.

As for FP+ your onsite stay will open at 60 days. Then due to a glitch in Disney IT system you will be able to carry on booking your remaining FPs one day at a time 60 days out (this could be fixed and you would have to book the remainder at 30 days). You need to link your tickets to MDE if you don't buy a package of hotel and tickets to book your FPs.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Thanks Beth and Elise. Just booked Disney hotel with Expedia so will need to get the Disney reference from then to add to MDE and then add the ticket details when we get them. Will all 4 of us need a MDE account that I will then be able to link and book FP?

Will read that link info when I have a bit more time

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks Beth and Elise. Just booked Disney hotel with Expedia so will need to get the Disney reference from then to add to MDE and then add the ticket details when we get them. Will all 4 of us need a MDE account that I will then be able to link and book FP?

Will read that link info when I have a bit more time

only one person needs an MDE account.

For example, my daughter had the MDE account for their trip last month.
The reservation had her as the lead name and was linked to her MDE account.
She then linked her husband as a friends and family to the reservation (he doesn't have an MDE account at all).

once she bought the 14 day ultimate tickets, she linked the tickets to her MDE and i think she linked her husband to the ticket as well (or maybe that part was automatic, i don't recall).

if there are any problems, you can call the MDE tech support number. We didn't have any issues, but i had the number just in case.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Thanks Beth I just need to get used to all theses new things

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks Beth I just need to get used to all theses new things

it completely freaked us out before we did it..
we were both really nervous about the whole MDE, reservation, tickets, FPs etc etc

in the end, it was pretty straightforward and painless...
though we were very careful, checking it 3 times before we pressed enter or confirm or whatever...

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Yes it's weird after knowing everything you need to do to becoming a newbie so to speak

BTW the thread you posted Beth is just what I needed to get things clear in my mind, thanks again.

 

[disneyholic family]

Yes it's weird after knowing everything you need to do to becoming a newbie so to speak

BTW the thread you posted Beth is just what I needed to get things clear in my mind, thanks again.

yes, well put...becoming a newbie again...exactly how it felt..
and when i say we very carefully checked before pressing 'confirm", we did that every single time she picked another day of FPs....it took us several hours to pick all her FPs....i know - we're insane..

which thread?

.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

yes, well put...becoming a newbie again...exactly how it felt..
and when i say we very carefully checked before pressing 'confirm", we did that every single time she picked another day of FPs....it took us several hours to pick all her FPs....i know - we're insane..

which thread?

.

Well I meant the link to the FP thread, it has some great info on thee. Somebody just said I should be able yo book all FP at 60 days out for the entire length of my ticket - but it's mind blowing trying to think where you will be or what FP you might want

 

[disneyholic family]

Well I meant the link to the FP thread, it has some great info on thee. Somebody just said I should be able yo book all FP at 60 days out for the entire length of my ticket - but it's mind blowing trying to think where you will be or what FP you might want

well since she was on free dining, we first had to pick out her parks so that we could try to reserve her ADRs (not so easy since she only booked the hotel at 95 days before the trip)..

anyway, this is how we did it...
first i made a calendar (on the computer of course)..
i marked the calendar with the extra magic hours - since we typically avoid EMH parks....
once we had the EMH hours in, DD was able to go through and decide which parks for which day (it wasn't set in stone - she juggled it a bit later on, but it was the basic plan)..

from that i was able to try for her ADRs (i was the official ADR reserver)..

once i purchased the 14 day ultimates and they were linked in, we went through each day and chose her FPs (since i bought the tickets at about 55 days - so that's when she started booking her FPs, not at 60 days).....
she'd done a bit of research , but it was extremely daunting trying to figure out at what time in the day she wanted a particular FP...
the first time around is difficult..
she says, she now has a much better feel for it..
and it's not the same for each person...
we each have our own must dos...

her advice to you is get the FPs for your must dos....and don't listen to what other people say if it's YOUR must do..

for example...for her and her husband, fantasmic and wishes are absolutes..
so she got FPs for those....despite the fact that getting late in the day FPs blocks you from the possibility of a 4th FP when you're there..
also, she got anna and elsa for late in the day, as that was all that was available...also talking mickey was only available late in the day...
so she booked those as they were both important to her..

oh...another thing...

when you start to book your FPs, you might want to start with the end first...
meaning your last day...

we started with her first few days and had no luck getting the headliners at MK...
so i had the idea of trying the last day (which was at MK)....
and that worked...she was able to get 7 dwarves for the last day...also anna and elsa and also wishes...

she was able to get mickey on a different day so that worked out...

anyway....to thine own self be true....what you like, isn't necessarily what others like..
people made fun of her that she booked an FP for fantasmic...but it was very important to her so she did...
and that's even though they also had a DAS card which theoretically she could have used for fantasmic...but she didn't want to risk it...
so she "wasted" an FP on fantasmic because she wanted to be sure she got to see it...

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Great advice, everyone is different and each family will have different priorities. - thanks for detailing your reservation planning