Do you need a park ticket to make FP+ reservations?

[NewfieFan]

Or can you do it with just a Disney resort reservation? If not then none of us (party of 10) have tickets yet. I may purchase APs before the trip but that will just be for our family of 4. And if I do purchase APs in advance will I be able to make FP+ ressies for my whole party?

 

[Tom]

You must have valid park admission media linked to your MDE account for you to make FP+ reservations in advance. They recently rolled out the ability for AP holders to receive Magic Bands and make advance FP+ reservations, but I don't know the details on how that works.

If some people in the party do not have ticket media until the day you check in, they will only be able to make same-day FP+ reservations.

 

[NewfieFan]

Thanks for the response @Tom ! So I guess I need to get some tickets purchased if I want to take advantage of the early booking window...

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the response @Tom ! So I guess I need to get some tickets purchased if I want to take advantage of the early booking window...

Indeed!

 

[Rob562]

If only some of you have FP+ reservations, you *might* be able to copy them to the rest of your group after they link their tickets on the app, website or kiosk, pending availability.

-Rob

 

[DisneyGal1221]

Just to make sure I understand, I have my annual pass linked to my MDE profile. The Magic Band that I just received for our upcoming April trip where we are staying on-site shows on there as well. Are my MB and AP automatically linked together, as in I can use my MB for entrance into the parks? I am just trying to avoid getting to the resort and realizing I missed a few steps on the website and missing valuable park time. Thanks!

 

[Rob562]

Just to make sure I understand, I have my annual pass linked to my MDE profile. The Magic Band that I just received for our upcoming April trip where we are staying on-site shows on there as well. Are my MB and AP automatically linked together, as in I can use my MB for entrance into the parks? I am just trying to avoid getting to the resort and realizing I missed a few steps on the website and missing valuable park time. Thanks!

Short answer: The Bands will operate as you want them to, as long as you've already activated your AP (such as on a previous trip). If you only have a voucher, you'll have to go to Guest Services to activate it first.

Longer answer: It's best not to think of anything (ticket, AP, FP+, etc) actually being linked/tied directly to the Band itself. Everything is now linked to your MDE profile, which acts as a central nexus for everything involving "you". Your AP or park ticket is now an e-ticket linked to your profile. Your FP+ reservations are stored on your profile. Your resort reservation is linked to your profile.

Any Band or RFID card is also linked to your profile. So anytime you wave your Band at a reader (hotel room door, park entrance, FP+ pole, in-park FP+ kiosk, etc) it uses the band to look up your MDE profile. It then checks the profile for the relevant info it's looking for (can you open the hotel room door? Do you have valid park admission? Do you have a FP+ for Space Mountain right now?)

Thus, since all Bands and Cards are simply a "pointer" back to your profile, you can have multiple Bands/Cards that are active and can be used interchangeably. So if you eventually get Bands in multiple colors, you can choose on a daily basis which one you want to wear.

-Rob

 

[DisneyGal1221]

Great explanation, it really helps to look at it as a simply a link to the MDE website. Thanks!

 

[JohnD]

You must have valid park admission media linked to your MDE account for you to make FP+ reservations in advance. They recently rolled out the ability for AP holders to receive Magic Bands and make advance FP+ reservations, but I don't know the details on how that works.

If some people in the party do not have ticket media until the day you check in, they will only be able to make same-day FP+ reservations.

I helped somone add her AP to her MDE account this past week. Not only was she able to order her MB, the ability to make FP+ showed up immediately in a rolling 30 day window even before receiving the MB. (She has no upcoming resort stay). So all that is required for FP+ is a valid AP linked to the account. Ordering the MB is "an optional extra."

 

[JohnD]

Just received this email from Disney.

 

[mhead]

Yes, your ticket or AP must be valid for the dates that you are getting FP+ reservations. I learned this the hard way and my lesson learned is something for AP holders to take note of.

I am DVC and a premium AP holder. My next vacation is 13 days long and my AP expires 3/4 way through the trip... therefore I cannot make FP+ reservations for the last 1/4 of my stay.

I thought, no problem, I will just renew my AP now and book the rest of my FP+ reservations. Turns out that even if I purchase now my renewed pass is not valid until I use it at a park gate which will leave me scrounging for the leftover FP+'s.

Had I known the rules 11 months ago when I booked I would have made my reservation a couple of weeks earlier or later.

Wow - that concerns me because I called about a similar problem comingup and the cast members item on hold then returned to assure me that when I renew the passes the system will automatically recognize that the pashas been renewed andFP+ can be booked.