A few MDE questions that are confusing me

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

As I understand things - I have my Disney trip booked (we're staying at AKL) so I can book ALL my FP+ online at 60 days out (3 per day per person) in the one park initially and any subsequent FP+ to be booked at a kiosk in the park. At check in I'll receive one wrist band per member of my party and these bands are sync'd with the information on my MDE account.
My wrist band unlocks my hotel room, gets me into the parks (tickets all booked) and into the FP+ lines, it also allows charging to the room (with credit card details supplied).

Q) When I add all the party members to my MDE account and make the initial FP+ online bookings, do all 5 members of my party have to experience the same rides ? Or, can FP+ be booked for different rides for different people ?

Q) On check in at the resort do the resort reception staff sync everything on my MDE with my newly issued wrist bands ?

Finally dining. I know that the wrist bands carry all the information about the Dining Plan and each persons daily allowances. But my last question concerns the actual booking of the restaurants. Does the introduction of MDE have any restrictions on the restaurants that we book ? When making the reservations, does my party of 5 have to eat together at the same restaurant or are we free to book a table for two people at one place and have a table for the other three at another restaurant at exactly the same time ?

Thanks for any and all help received

 

[Rob562]

As I understand things - I have my Disney trip booked (we're staying at AKL) so I can book ALL my FP+ online at 60 days out (3 per day per person) in the one park initially and any subsequent FP+ to be booked at a kiosk in the park. At check in I'll receive one wrist band per member of my party and these bands are sync'd with the information on my MDE account.
My wrist band unlocks my hotel room, gets me into the parks (tickets all booked) and into the FP+ lines, it also allows charging to the room (with credit card details supplied).

Q) When I add all the party members to my MDE account and make the initial FP+ online bookings, do all 5 members of my party have to experience the same rides ? Or, can FP+ be booked for different rides for different people ?

Q) On check in at the resort do the resort reception staff sync everything on my MDE with my newly issued wrist bands ?

Finally dining. I know that the wrist bands carry all the information about the Dining Plan and each persons daily allowances. But my last question concerns the actual booking of the restaurants. Does the introduction of MDE have any restrictions on the restaurants that we book ? When making the reservations, does my party of 5 have to eat together at the same restaurant or are we free to book a table for two people at one place and have a table for the other three at another restaurant at exactly the same time ?

Thanks for any and all help received

Not everyone has to have the same FP+ choices. It can be set individually, if you want. The easiest way to handle them is to book everyone for the same FP+ choices as the majority, and then go in and change the ones that need to be changed.

As for the Bands, nothing is actually stored *on* the Bands. They are simply a serial number that is linked to your MDE profile. Whenever the Band is scanned, the reader reads the serial number and then looks up the profile it is linked to. It then looks on the profile for whatever info it needs (can you enter this room? Do you have a park ticket? Do you have a valid FP+ for Space Mountain? Do you have a Dining Plan credit for this? etc)

Once your customization window ends for the Bands, you should see the Bands show up in your MDE profiles as linked to your profile. (Since you mention picking them up at you hotel, I presume you're not in the U.S.)

As for Dining, the Dining Plan has no bearing on making restaurant reservations. The Dining Plan is simply the way you "pay" for the meal once you're at the restaurant.

You also don't have to all eat together. You can have two people that go off and have their own dinner for 2 while the rest of the group has their own dinner.

-Rob

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Not everyone has to have the same FP+ choices. It can be set individually, if you want. The easiest way to handle them is to book everyone for the same FP+ choices as the majority, and then go in and change the ones that need to be changed.

As for the Bands, nothing is actually stored *on* the Bands. They are simply a serial number that is linked to your MDE profile. Whenever the Band is scanned, the reader reads the serial number and then looks up the profile it is linked to. It then looks on the profile for whatever info it needs (can you enter this room? Do you have a park ticket? Do you have a valid FP+ for Space Mountain? Do you have a Dining Plan credit for this? etc)

Once your customization window ends for the Bands, you should see the Bands show up in your MDE profiles as linked to your profile. (Since you mention picking them up at you hotel, I presume you're not in the U.S.)

As for Dining, the Dining Plan has no bearing on making restaurant reservations. The Dining Plan is simply the way you "pay" for the meal once you're at the restaurant.

You also don't have to all eat together. You can have two people that go off and have their own dinner for 2 while the rest of the group has their own dinner.

-Rob

Rob, that clarifies an awful lot, thank you.

I'm from the UK which is why I was querying the syncing of the bands to the MDE account. It makes sense that the bands don't carry the information. So when the wristbands are issued at check in, will the staff be able to link the bands to my MDE account ?

 

[Rob562]

Rob, that clarifies an awful lot, thank you.

I'm from the UK which is why I was querying the syncing of the bands to the MDE account. It makes sense that the bands don't carry the information. So when the wristbands are issued at check in, will the staff be able to link the bands to my MDE account ?

The Bands should already be linked. That happens when they are processed and customized at the facility that makes the Bands. The staff at the hotel shouldn't have to do anything other than hand you the Bands. Just make sure you've customized them in the Magic Band Orders portion of MDE. Once they're customized by the factory, you'll see them show up under the "My MagicBands & Cards" section of your profile.

-Rob