My #1 tip when dealing with MDE is to make sure that profiles get set up and linked properly *before* any reservations or tickets start getting linked. A few minutes spent doing that setup saves major headaches down the road.
A couple questions/suggestions:
Do the grandkids already have MDE profiles, perhaps from a previous trip? Depending on age, they could have their own (if they're 13+), or be under one of their parents' accounts as a "managed by them" profile. I mention it because it makes things easier both on the trip and in the future if each person only has a single profile in the MDE system, and then people are connected as Family & Friends.
Otherwise, you could end up with one copy of the kids under your profile, one copy under Mom's, one copy under Dad's work email...and then on their trip next year with their parents they're left wondering why their purchased Bands won't work... (which would then require a lengthy call to MDE Help Desk to get the duplicate profiles merged)
I'd highly suggest that one of their parents sign up for a MDE account. Then they can create a "managed by them" profile for each of the kids. Then follow these steps:
-Parent ensures that their Friend List is visible to others.
-You go into your account, and on the My Family & Friends choose Add a Guest.
-Select "By Entering His/Her Name" and fill in the parent's name and click Done. This will temporarily add them as a managed-by-you profile.
-Back on your Friends list, click the Connect Through a Disney Account next to their name and fill in the parent's email address.
-The parent logs into MDE and accepts your friend request.
-Once you are friends, you can add the kids. Go to the Add New Guest, but use the People I May Know button. The kids' names should now show up as managed-by their parent.
-Parent will have to acknowledge the new friend requests.
You're done. Now any ticket or Band linked to the kids will be linked to their one true profile. You'll be able to make FP+ choices for them. And down the road if Mom & Dad decide to bring their kids, they have ready-made profiles and the kids can re-use their Bands.
And once the kids are over 13, if they want they can create their own MDE account, and Mom/Dad can friend-request them using the kid's email address. Then everything relating to the kid's profile will move over to be under their own control. (I did this with a friend who traveled with me on 2 trips as a managed-by-me profile, and then finally set up his own account, All 3 of his Bands, as well as his travel and reservation history moved over to his new account just fine.
Oh, and one last tip: When sending these Friend requests in MDE, ignore the emails you get notifying you of the request. The links inside them that are *supposed* to bring you to MDE and accept the friend request never seem to work. So after you've sent the friend request, just have the other person log in to the site like normal and go from there.
-Rob
