Hello All, I've been scouring the internet for an answer to this question and keep getting conflicting information so I'm hoping you can help me out. My nephew has decided to join his Mother and I on our upcoming December trip. This is great news but also giving be planning headaches like crazy. I booked this trip as a package that includes the room, park tickets and the dining plan. Here's the problem, my nephew is an active duty service man who, when he decided he was going to join us, went ahead and purchased himself park tickets with his military discount. This of course was a very responsible and practical thing to do. It's also something that is shining a spot light on how complicated planning a Disney trip is these days. Because he bought his own park tickets I cannot add him to the room because everyone in the room has to be the same. The only option is to add him to the room on the day we check in. So right now, according to Disney's computer, my nephew will not be staying on property in December. My question is, when I make FP reservations on the 60 day mark for me and his mom will I be able to make them for him as well? I've added his MDE account to my Family & Friends list and have been able to add him to all of our dining reservations. But according to the woman I spoke to at Disney I won't be able to make FP's for him at 60 days since according to the computer he won't be staying onsite. But if our accounts are linked and he has valid tickets it seems to me that I should be able to add him to the FP's when I book them. It's all so complex and aggravating since he will actually be staying on property and thought he was doing the right thing by taking care of his tickets himself. For the most part I don't mind the new FP system and thought that I was pretty ok at working with it but this one has me stumped. I really really want to avoid booking FP's at 60 days and then trying to synchronize them with whatever FP's I can find for him starting at his 30 day window. Any guidance you smart folks here could offer would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the novel, I'm just trying to make sure I've included all of the relevant facts. Thanks so much.
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Can I book FP's at 60 days for some not technically in my room
- Thread starter laddie183
- Start date
Tuvalu
Premium Member
Though your nephew has valid tickets the issue remains that he is not listed on a resort reservation. It is the resort reservation that “opens” Fastpass availability at 60 days. Anyone with a valid ticket (which your nephew has) can book 30 days out from the current date. (He could book FPs 30 days out from today if he wanted.)
We ran into this issue. My husband was unsure if he could vacation with us so he was not listed on our reservation. My daughter and I made our FPs at 60 days but even though my husband had a valid ticket and is linked to me, we could not make FPs for him until 30 days out...and then only one day at a time. Fortunately we were able to find overlapping FP times for most of our selections.
Disney’s technology can be glitchy at times so it’s possible you may find yourself able to book FPs for your nephew at 60 days....but don’t count on it.
We ran into this issue. My husband was unsure if he could vacation with us so he was not listed on our reservation. My daughter and I made our FPs at 60 days but even though my husband had a valid ticket and is linked to me, we could not make FPs for him until 30 days out...and then only one day at a time. Fortunately we were able to find overlapping FP times for most of our selections.
Disney’s technology can be glitchy at times so it’s possible you may find yourself able to book FPs for your nephew at 60 days....but don’t count on it.
Could he possibly make his own room-only hotel reservation in the same hotel, make the 60-day FP+s, sync with yours, then drop his reservation just outside the deposit window and you could put him on your reservation at check in...?
disney4life2008
Well-Known Member
Scandal. From my understanding the fp are canceled
I've actually been considering the same option of booking him a room only reservation and then cancelling after the FP's are made. I've read elsewhere that the FPs don't get cancelled when the reservation is cancelled. But then again I've also read elsewhere that as long as our accounts are linked he doesn't need to be on the room to be on my FPS. It may in fact be what we end up doing but I wanted to explore every option before we went that route. It's just so frustrating. He thought he was doing the right thing by getting his own tickets. We knew that he was considering joining us but didn't know he'd made a final decision until he excitedly told me he bought tickets. And I immediately cringed because I knew this was going to complicate everything. He certainly had no idea, because really it doesn't seem like something that should be a big deal. And he hasn't been to Disney since he was twelve so he has no idea what's involved in planning a trip. In addition to the FP challenges he also can't use Magical Express so airport transportation is an added complication. 
Oh well, first world problems, right?
Oh well, first world problems, right?
Tuvalu
Premium Member
On a room-only reservation the deposit is charged immediately. There is no window. Balance is due on check in day.
nickys
Premium Member
So you weren’t able to umbrella him into your reservation? Interesting.
Can I ask, when was this and what kind of tickets etc did you have? Like AP, package etc. Someone over on TP is planning to test this out soon, as I think she must suspect something’s changed. But you are the first person I’ve seen who actually reported they couldn’t do it.
Yes, the deposit is charged immediately, but if you cancel the reservation 5 days or more out, your deposit will be refunded.
Tuvalu
Premium Member
Last spring with APs.So you weren’t able to umbrella him into your reservation? Interesting.
Can I ask, when was this and what kind of tickets etc did you have? Like AP, package etc. Someone over on TP is planning to test this out soon, as I think she must suspect something’s changed. But you are the first person I’ve seen who actually reported they couldn’t do it.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
That’s dangerously close to bordering the line of cheating.
I get the issue/dilemma...and I wish there was a way they could accommodate it...but there really isn’t.
nickys
Premium Member
I've actually been considering the same option of booking him a room only reservation and then cancelling after the FP's are made. I've read elsewhere that the FPs don't get cancelled when the reservation is cancelled. But then again I've also read elsewhere that as long as our accounts are linked he doesn't need to be on the room to be on my FPS. It may in fact be what we end up doing but I wanted to explore every option before we went that route. It's just so frustrating. He thought he was doing the right thing by getting his own tickets. We knew that he was considering joining us but didn't know he'd made a final decision until he excitedly told me he bought tickets. And I immediately cringed because I knew this was going to complicate everything. He certainly had no idea, because really it doesn't seem like something that should be a big deal. And he hasn't been to Disney since he was twelve so he has no idea what's involved in planning a trip. In addition to the FP challenges he also can't use Magical Express so airport transportation is an added complication.
Usually, you would be able to book his FPs with yours. He needs to be linked to you under Friends and Families. And he also needs to be included in the same FP group as at least one person who is on the reservation.
@Tuvalu’s experience shows this doesn’t always work, although she is the first person I’ve seen report that she couldn’t.
But absolutely worth trying. Make sure his ticket is linked to his MDE account. And good luck.
So you weren’t able to umbrella him into your reservation? Interesting.
Can I ask, when was this and what kind of tickets etc did you have? Like AP, package etc. Someone over on TP is planning to test this out soon, as I think she must suspect something’s changed. But you are the first person I’ve seen who actually reported they couldn’t do it.
No, unfortunately I can't add him to the reservation because it's a package that includes park tickets. To add him to the reservation he'd need to purchase the tickets through the package. So basically he'd be purchasing two sets of tickets.
I would think that I should be able to as well but there is no clear answer that I can find. I've found info that says as long as he's linked to me in MDE then I can add him to the FPs. I've also found info that says it won't work. I'll just have to try it and see what happens. Thank you everyone for your input.
Considering that he's going to be in the hotel anyway, I considered this a "work-around" and not a cheat.
If, however, he was going to stay off-property and pulled that trick, that would definitely be a cheat.
nickys
Premium Member
Well Disney allow this. They know that people can use the “umbrella” method. It actually allows people who come to WDW for a vacation to meet Grandparents (who are perhaps snow-birding in Florida) at the parks and tour together.
I mean, how many people are really going to decide “right, Auntie Jen will stay at POP, whilst the rest of us (11 extended family members) will stay offsite, because then Auntie Jen can book FPs for us all”?
Now, booking a room to book FPs with the intention of dropping the reservation, that I would agree is gaming the system. There again, though, Disney could stop that if they wanted to. If they feel that enough people are doing it to game the system, no doubt they will; when a reservation is cancelled and not replaced with another within say 24 hours, they could cancel all FPs. They already send an email to that effect, so they can enforce it if they want to.
Doing what the OP wants to do is not at all unfair. And hopefully they can, many people do this every day. But glitches happen, and sometimes it doesn’t work. Usually though, Guest Services will help in those situations.
MOUSEGIRL
Active Member
He can purchase up to five discounted military tickets and you can use them as long as you are with him. I would suggest having him do that and changing your reservation to a room and dinning only. If he is staying with you just add him and you can possibly get the military discount on the room and dinning plan its probably better than the deal you received from Disney. If you want more info just message me and I can help,
HwdStudio
Well-Known Member
I have no knowledge of the Military tickets but this idea sounds like the best I’ve heard. I have had many people joining me as day guests but not on the room reservation And I could not make FP for them at 60 days. It negates the idea of buying a package. It makes no sense to me why anyone would thinks it’s ok. Either everyone in the room is on the same package or they are not. I honestly wish there was an exception in this case because I think so highly of the military and have so many military men and women in my family.
MOUSEGIRL
Active Member
We have used the military discount a few times. The military discount must be called in you cant do it online. They will only let you make room and dinning and then you can buy tickets at the base. The military discount is usually 20 to 25% on rooms and dinning. Once you have your room reservation you then link the tickets to your account and you are allowed to make FP at 60 days out. For each person that has a military ID (active or retired) you can book up to 2 rooms at any resort that has rooms open. Most of the time this works out better than any promotion that is going on because the rooms are not limited for this discount like with many of the other promos. I have booked military rooms for many of my clients as well. If you have any questions send me a message I will be happy to help.
Figgy1
Well-Known Member
See if he can get tickets for you and book a room at SOG. You still get 60 day fp and 180+ ADRs. The resort is beautiful and walking distance to Poly and TCC can't be beat. The room has 2 beds and a single. Just pay out of pocket for meals. SOG has the cheapest food and beverage on property Rooms 115 to 155 per night depending on rank and they do sometimes have specials. https://www.shadesofgreen.org/
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Nj4mwc
Well-Known Member
If you have the military tickets your fast passes are connected to the ticket, but he has to have a room booked for him, so when he’s inside the 30 day mark he could cancel the room reservation but would not lose his fast passes, when you buy a package your fast passes are connected to the package and you will lose them if you cancel the package, I just switched from a Disney reservation for Pop to a Priceline reservation for art of animation and was worried I would lose my fast passes but because they were connected to my military tickets all was good