Totally new to WDW, feeling overwhelmed

SquierJosh

New Member
So I booked a week at Saratoga Springs Resort through RCI, a timeshare company. I'm planning on buying park passes from undercovertourist.com. Since WDW uses one bracelet for resorts, parks, purchases, will I be able to do that since I didn't buy everything as a package directly from Disney? How can I use my resort bracelet to get into the parks? Or will I need separate bracelets?
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
You should be able to link your tickets to a magic band when you check in to the resort. They will probably do it for you at the front desk. The front desk will also link your credit card to your magic band on check in. I don't know if you will be able to do it before you go because it is booked through a timeshare. You should still be able to go onto the My Magic website and pick out fast passes, but not as far in advance had you booked through WDW directly.
 
Upvote 0

Rob562

Well-Known Member
As someone who's exchanged through RCI before (and have a second exchange coming up in October), here's a few pointers:

First, wait a week or two after the exchange is confirmed with RCI to allow RCI to give your info to Disney.

Look on your exchange confirmation for the DVC Member Services phone number. (If you can't find it, I can look through my info for it) Call them and choose the menu option for RCI. When you talk to the DVC representative, they will confirm your mailing address. They will also ask you for the names of all of the Guests who will be staying with you. Also make sure to ask them specifically for the *Disney* reservation number. You'll need this to link it to your My Disney Experience account. It should be a 12-digit number.

The Member Services rep can also take your flight info and get you set up for Magical Express. This is also the time to have them note any requests on the reservation like building numbers or simply "near a pool" or "close to bus stop".

Now, go into your MDE account. To make your life easier, set up "managed by you" profiles for everyone on the trip *before* linking the DVC reservation. If you have adults who want to manage their own MDE profiles, send them the "Invite to plan and share" friend requests.

Once everyone is set up with profiles, click on the "link a resort reservation" and put in the DVC reservation number. It should link everyone automatically and match up names you gave Member Services to the profiles on your account.

After it's linked, you'll then have access to customizing your Magic Bands. And when you get the tickets from Undercover Tourist you can also link those to your Friends & Family MDE profiles.

I know it *sounds* like a lot, but it's really fairly simple. Your number one thing to make life easier down the road is to get your profiles set up *before* you start linking anything.

-Rob
 
Upvote 0

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
@Rob562 did a fairly good rundown of how it works. DVC treats an RCI booking pretty much like a DVC booking. The biggest difference being that you will need to pay a fee ($95?) upon check in for services, DME, etc. That Disney reservation number is key. The RCI one gives you doesn't do much good at all.
 
Upvote 0

MotherofaPrincessLover

Well-Known Member
@Rob562 did a fairly good rundown of how it works. DVC treats an RCI booking pretty much like a DVC booking. The biggest difference being that you will need to pay a fee ($95?) upon check in for services, DME, etc. That Disney reservation number is key. The RCI one gives you doesn't do much good at all.
What is the $95 fee? Does that apply if you rent DVC points from someone?
 
Upvote 0

SquierJosh

New Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the info Rob. It does seem like a lot of work. Hopefully I can figure it out. I assume Disney already has my RCI booking, since they sent me the "Incredible Vacation" booklet yesterday.

We're flying in and out of Ft Myer to see family before and after Disney, so we won't be using the Magical Express. Too bad, since it's free.

As someone who's exchanged through RCI before (and have a second exchange coming up in October), here's a few pointers:

First, wait a week or two after the exchange is confirmed with RCI to allow RCI to give your info to Disney.

Look on your exchange confirmation for the DVC Member Services phone number. (If you can't find it, I can look through my info for it) Call them and choose the menu option for RCI. When you talk to the DVC representative, they will confirm your mailing address. They will also ask you for the names of all of the Guests who will be staying with you. Also make sure to ask them specifically for the *Disney* reservation number. You'll need this to link it to your My Disney Experience account. It should be a 12-digit number.

The Member Services rep can also take your flight info and get you set up for Magical Express. This is also the time to have them note any requests on the reservation like building numbers or simply "near a pool" or "close to bus stop".

Now, go into your MDE account. To make your life easier, set up "managed by you" profiles for everyone on the trip *before* linking the DVC reservation. If you have adults who want to manage their own MDE profiles, send them the "Invite to plan and share" friend requests.

Once everyone is set up with profiles, click on the "link a resort reservation" and put in the DVC reservation number. It should link everyone automatically and match up names you gave Member Services to the profiles on your account.

After it's linked, you'll then have access to customizing your Magic Bands. And when you get the tickets from Undercover Tourist you can also link those to your Friends & Family MDE profiles.

I know it *sounds* like a lot, but it's really fairly simple. Your number one thing to make life easier down the road is to get your profiles set up *before* you start linking anything.

-Rob
 
Upvote 0

SquierJosh

New Member
Original Poster
Oops. I think I linked the RCI reservation before I added the kids. They don't show up in my MDE reservation and I don't see a way to add them. Looks like I'll have to call.
 
Upvote 0

Rob562

Well-Known Member
Oops. I think I linked the RCI reservation before I added the kids. They don't show up in my MDE reservation and I don't see a way to add them. Looks like I'll have to call.

Did you give the DVC Member Services rep your kids names when you called and got the Disney reservation number? If not, then they're not on the reservation until you do so.

When I set up our upcoming RCI exchange, I only had 4 people going. Then two more friends joined in and I had to call DVC back and add them. The next time I logged onto the My Disney Experience site there was a notification waiting, letting me know the Guests listed on the reservation had changed and to link them to existing profiles or add new ones for them.

-Rob
 
Upvote 0

SquierJosh

New Member
Original Poster
Yes, that's what happened to me too. I already had the kids in there, but then they added them over the phone too. When I logged back in, the site recognized that these are the same people and linked them together. Pretty easy fix. Now time to start exploring the rest of the website and figuring out what we want to do.
 
Upvote 0

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
@Rob562 do you have any advice on how to make an upcoming RCI stay feel as much as possible like I'm a "regular" Disney guest? I've already decided that I'm going to pay the $35 for daily housekeeping. Anything else you can think of that might be different from what I'm used to as a cash guest?
 
Upvote 0

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
@Rob562 do you have any advice on how to make an upcoming RCI stay feel as much as possible like I'm a "regular" Disney guest? I've already decided that I'm going to pay the $35 for daily housekeeping. Anything else you can think of that might be different from what I'm used to as a cash guest?

That's really going to be the only difference. (Plus the resort fee you get charged, $95 I think) Your RCI booking will be treated like a DVC booking, and DVC bookings are pretty much handled the same as a regular room booking, with the difference being the housekeeping. You can still get DME, you still get MagicBands, you still can book FP+ at 60 days. You just need to get the actual Disney booking number, not the RCI booking number. The Disney booking number is what you enter into MDE to be able to plan stuff.
 
Upvote 0


Write your reply...

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom