Off Site Help

[glvsav37]

how does this whole off site thing work with MDE?

My sister is planning a trip and is staying offsite. We are DVC and stay on site, so for our trips its pretty straight forward following the Disney way. How do i help explain to her the new system while being an off site guest?

They need to buy their tickets ahead of time so that they can get FP+'s, correct? Do they get a confirmation number of something that will identify them in the system?

I know they have to wait till 30-days out, but without physical tickets what do they do?

Also, they don't get magic bands, right? So do they get a key to the world card or something similar with the RFID for (of course add on) memory maker and on-ride photos?

Should they buy magic bands when they get there? Who activates those?

Sorry, I know the system well enough from the resort guest side, everything is pretty much done b/f we get there. I just don't know how to guide her from an off-site perspective. ~TY

 

[sxeensweet]

Yes if they purchase tickets ahead of time they can make FPs at 30 days out. They can purchase them in MDE online and they will automatically show up in their account for MDE. Or if they buy somewhere else the tickets do have numbers/letters on them on the back of the tickets to link them to their MDE account.
And no they do not get free magic bands like onsite guests do. They use their hard park entry tickets for FPs etc. If they want some MBs they can purchase them ranging from $12.95 -$31.95 a piece depending which ones they want whether plain colored , characters, limited editions, and custom ones you can make by Soace Mountain now. They would buy them when they get there or can order some online prior to going on the Shop Parks App or Disneystore.com has some as well.

 

[Witchy Chick]

We booked a travel package thru Costco, and our park tickets reservation # was emailed to us. I used that to add the tickets for our party of four in MDE. Our FP+ booking day (60 days out) is Feb 14 <3 so I'm hoping everything works correctly.

We are also ordering Magic Bands (from DisneyStore.com). Once the MBs come in, I think you can also link them in MDE (but I haven't gotten that far yet).

 

[sxeensweet]

We booked a travel package thru Costco, and our park tickets reservation # was emailed to us. I used that to add the tickets for our party of four in MDE. Our FP+ booking day (60 days out) is Feb 14 <3 so I'm hoping everything works correctly.

We are also ordering Magic Bands (from DisneyStore.com). Once the MBs come in, I think you can also link them in MDE (but I haven't gotten that far yet).

Yes you can link the MB's in MDE by entering the serial/band number on the back of all the MB's. Very easy and quick to do.

 

[sxeensweet]

We booked a travel package thru Costco, and our park tickets reservation # was emailed to us. I used that to add the tickets for our party of four in MDE. Our FP+ booking day (60 days out) is Feb 14 <3 so I'm hoping everything works correctly.

We are also ordering Magic Bands (from DisneyStore.com). Once the MBs come in, I think you can also link them in MDE (but I haven't gotten that far yet).

Also if your staying onsite you don't have to buy Magic Bands even if you bought a package from Costco. They are included with any onsite resort reservation for free.
Are you staying onsite? Sounds like it because you said you added your reservation number to MDE. Also you can't make FPs 60 days out unless your staying onsite.

 

[Witchy Chick]

Also if your staying onsite you don't have to buy Magic Bands even if you bought a package from Costco. They are included with any onsite resort reservation for free.
Are you staying onsite? Sounds like it because you said you added your reservation number to MDE. Also you can't make FPs 60 days out unless your staying onsite.

We're staying at Swan. So sort of on-site. No Magic Bands though (unless I missed something somewhere).

 

[sxeensweet]

We're staying at Swan. So sort of on-site. No Magic Bands though (unless I missed something somewhere).

Correct the Swan and Dolphin do not get them. Just wanted to make sure so you would not buy them if you did not have too. Lol. But yes like i mentioned adding them to your MDE account is very easy.

 

[glvsav37]

Yes if they purchase tickets ahead of time they can make FPs at 30 days out. They can purchase them in MDE online and they will automatically show up in their account for MDE. Or if they buy somewhere else the tickets do have numbers/letters on them on the back of the tickets to link them to their MDE account.
And no they do not get free magic bands like onsite guests do. They use their hard park entry tickets for FPs etc. If they want some MBs they can purchase them ranging from $12.95 -$31.95 a piece depending which ones they want whether plain colored , characters, limited editions, and custom ones you can make by Soace Mountain now. They would buy them when they get there or can order some online prior to going on the Shop Parks App or Disneystore.com has some as well.

thanks...I'll have her do this.

So do they have to go pick up the physical tickets at the Guest Relations outside a park when they get there? Or are they mailed to them...or something else?

and do the tickets have some form of RFID so they can get ride photos/Memory Maker shots?

 

[Witchy Chick]

Correct the Swan and Dolphin do not get them. Just wanted to make sure so you would not buy them if you did not have too. Lol. But yes like i mentioned adding them to your MDE account is very easy.

Thanks for the info. It's good to know I'm not totally off-base with the MDE, Magic Bands, etc and staying at Swan. This is our first go 'round with MDE and Magic Bands, and the "kind of" on-site at Swan makes life interesting. So, no "free" Magic Bands but we still get to FP 60 days out. We get EMH and use of the resort buses too. No charging to the room and (I think?) no free delivery of purchases made in the parks.

 

[sxeensweet]

thanks...I'll have her do this.

So do they have to go pick up the physical tickets at the Guest Relations outside a park when they get there? Or are they mailed to them...or something else?

and do the tickets have some form of RFID so they can get ride photos/Memory Maker shots?

If they order them from in MDE they will pick them up at guest relations and yes it does have RFID capabilities and that is how the FP's work and the pictures on the rides etc. If they order them from someone other than Disney they will be mailed to them. I think Disney can too but I think it automatically does the will call option. If ordered from Disney they wont have to physically enter the tickets in MDE like if they get them elsewhere. So very easy if they just buy them directly from Disney.

 

[sxeensweet]

Thanks for the info. It's good to know I'm not totally off-base with the MDE, Magic Bands, etc and staying at Swan. This is our first go 'round with MDE and Magic Bands, and the "kind of" on-site at Swan makes life interesting. So, no "free" Magic Bands but we still get to FP 60 days out. We get EMH and use of the resort buses too. No charging to the room and (I think?) no free delivery of purchases made in the parks.

Yes correct. You got it! You are set. Hope you have a wonderful time!!

 

[Rob562]

thanks...I'll have her do this.

So do they have to go pick up the physical tickets at the Guest Relations outside a park when they get there? Or are they mailed to them...or something else?

and do the tickets have some form of RFID so they can get ride photos/Memory Maker shots?

When they purchase the tickets they can opt to have them mailed to them or have them held at Will Call at the park. In either case, when bought directly from Disney, the tickets will be linked to their MDE profiles as part of the checkout process and they will have access to making FP+ reservations when the window opens.

They could save a few dollars by buying them from AAA or a ticket reseller. In those instances they'll have to manually link the tickets using the serial numbers on the ticket.

And yes, all park tickets are RFID capable, for park entry, FP+, on-ride photos and PhotoPass photographers.

And my one big piece of advice I give to all my friends planning trips: spend a couple minutes setting up the travelling party's MDE profiles *before* you start linking anything (whether they're a single account with multiple "managed by them" sub-profiles for the rest of the group, or if everyone in the group makes their own account and then links to each other as friends). A couple minutes spent getting a solid base for planning can save you lots of headaches in the future.

-Rob

 

[PinnySmart]

Thanks for the info. It's good to know I'm not totally off-base with the MDE, Magic Bands, etc and staying at Swan. This is our first go 'round with MDE and Magic Bands, and the "kind of" on-site at Swan makes life interesting. So, no "free" Magic Bands but we still get to FP 60 days out. We get EMH and use of the resort buses too. No charging to the room and (I think?) no free delivery of purchases made in the parks.

Swan and Dolphin guests can take advantage of free delivery of purchases made in Disney Parks to the resort. From the website:
6. Package Delivery: Guests of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin enjoy complimentary delivery of your shopping bags from within the Disney parks to your hotel. So you can enjoy the parks even more.

 

[Witchy Chick]

Swan and Dolphin guests can take advantage of free delivery of purchases made in Disney Parks to the resort. From the website:
6. Package Delivery: Guests of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin enjoy complimentary delivery of your shopping bags from within the Disney parks to your hotel. So you can enjoy the parks even more.

Thanks for the info!