General questions from a newbie

[mousedroid]

I’m not a WDW newbie – I first went with my parents when they still used ride tickets – however my trip next spring will be the first when I have stayed at an on-property resort, and the first using the My Disney Experience program. So I have a few newbie questions about MDE…

1. Magic Bands. When I linked my resort reservation in the MDE system, it had me choose Magic Bands for my fiancé and myself. My question is, when we arrive, can we have all of our… stuff linked to the special Magic Bands that a friend bought us earlier this year instead of the generic bands I just picked out?
   
   
2. Park Tickets. Back when you could still get No Expiration Date tickets, I bought myself a multi-day, park hopper ticket, and I still have enough days left on it to cover this trip. Also several years ago (2015 I think) I purchased a multi-day park hopper ticket for my fiancé, then girlfriend, that has never been used. My understanding when I purchased it was that while it is not a “No Expiration Date” ticket, the clock wouldn’t start on the ticket until the first time she used it, and then it would expire 10 days later or something. Does that sound correct?
   

Thanks!

 

[JaxFLBear]

My question is, when we arrive, can we have all of our… stuff linked to the special Magic Bands that a friend bought us earlier this year instead of the generic bands I just picked out?

Have you linked those MagicBands to your MDE account? Linking them to MDE is all that needs to be done in order to use them while at WDW.

Also several years ago (2015 I think) I purchased a multi-day park hopper ticket for my fiancé, then girlfriend, that has never been used. My understanding when I purchased it was that while it is not a “No Expiration Date” ticket, the clock wouldn’t start on the ticket until the first time she used it, and then it would expire 10 days later or something. Does that sound correct?

The ticket should be valid for 14 days from first use.

 

[mousedroid]

Have you linked those MagicBands to your MDE account? Linking them to MDE is all that needs to be done in order to use them while at WDW.

I have not linked any magic bands to my MDW account yet, so I can just link the special ones my friend picked up for me and we will be all set?

 

[nickys]

I have not linked any magic bands to my MDW account yet, so I can just link the special ones my friend picked up for me and we will be all set?

Yes.

 

[mousedroid]

Yes.

Great. Thanks everyone for the replies!

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

1. Magic bands are processed 30 days prior to your trip and then take about 48 hours to ship and then another 3-5 days to arrive. Uusually I get mine between 21 and 24 days prior.
You can use whatever magic bands you please as long as they are linked to you.

2. Yes you can use your no expiration date ticket and yes your fiance's ticket should still be good.
You may or may not be able to link the tickets in My Disney Experience. If you cannot you should contact Disney to ask if they can assist.
(I believe if you purchased prior to 2008 you may have to wait until you get there to update it to a new ticket media and then link it. Unfortunately that would mean that you cannot book FP+ 60 days out for yourself.)

 

[mousedroid]

1. Magic bands are processed 30 days prior to your trip and then take about 48 hours to ship and then another 3-5 days to arrive. Uusually I get mine between 21 and 24 days prior.
You can use whatever magic bands you please as long as they are linked to you.

2. Yes you can use your no expiration date ticket and yes your fiance's ticket should still be good.
You may or may not be able to link the tickets in My Disney Experience. If you cannot you should contact Disney to ask if they can assist.
(I believe if you purchased prior to 2008 you may have to wait until gic you get there to update it to a new ticket media and then link it. Unfortunately that would mean that you cannot book FP+ 60 days out for yourself.)

Thanks for the info. I went to the parks in 2015 (which is when I bought my fiancé's ticket) and I linked my No Expiration ticket to a magic band at that time, but I still didn't use all of the days. Do you think that will give me problems linking it to the MDE system?

I guess I can try tonight when I get home. I hope I don't need that old magic band, because I have no earthly idea where it is. I brought it home, but probably threw it in a closet somewhere.

I actually have a second No Expiration ticket at home, so I guess I should take that with me and get it updated while I'm there to minimize hassles in the future.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Thanks for the info. I went to the parks in 2015 (which is when I bought my fiancé's ticket) and I linked my No Expiration ticket to a magic band at that time, but I still didn't use all of the days. Do you think that will give me problems linking it to the MDE system?

I guess I can try tonight when I get home. I hope I don't need that old magic band, because I have no earthly idea where it is. I brought it home, but probably threw it in a closet somewhere.

I actually have a second No Expiration ticket at home, so I guess I should take that with me and get it updated while I'm there to minimize hassles in the future.

Nothing is on the magic band. Everything is linked to MDE so if your ticket is linked (sounds like it is) it will work with any magic band you link.

 

[dreamfinder]

Thanks for the info. I went to the parks in 2015 (which is when I bought my fiancé's ticket) and I linked my No Expiration ticket to a magic band at that time, but I still didn't use all of the days. Do you think that will give me problems linking it to the MDE system?

If you used a ticket with a magic band, then that ticket is already linked to an MDE account somewhere. If you don't see it in the account you are trying to use I'd suspect a) it wasn't really no-expiration or b) you have more than one MDE account. If it was b) then you may want to get Disney IT support to merge your accounts, as you really can't move a used ticket from one account to another.

I guess I can try tonight when I get home. I hope I don't need that old magic band, because I have no earthly idea where it is. I brought it home, but probably threw it in a closet somewhere.

As long as you can get into the MDE account that band was used on, then you are golden. You can either re-use old bands (batteries may have died so long range functions might not work) or accept new generic bands or buy fancy bands and link to your account. If for some reason you can't get into the MDE account, Disney IT might be able to pull the account info off the band info, but I can't think of any other reason you would NEED an old band.

 

[Gillyanne]

If you used a ticket with a magic band, then that ticket is already linked to an MDE account somewhere. If you don't see it in the account you are trying to use I'd suspect a) it wasn't really no-expiration or b) you have more than one MDE account. If it was b) then you may want to get Disney IT support to merge your accounts, as you really can't move a used ticket from one account to another.

I find I have trouble identifying types of tickets & remaining days if I'm looking at MDE via the website. If you log in via the app and select tickets and passes (under the menu at the bottom right) You can scroll through the tickets linked and it should show what kind and how many days are left. It should show A) who the ticket is linked to B) what type of ticket C) how many theme park days remaining and D) expiration date. This may also help confirm if the tickets are GTG w/o contacting Guest Services.

Below are the different views: Left is what it looks like in the App for 2 people's tickets/passes/cards, the right is what it looks like on the website under "magicbands and cards" (just 1 person's selection, as you can see w/o the cards etc I can't tell which listing is which entitlement or what's left on it), and the bottom is what I see when I click on "Park tickets" from "my plans"/main page. I'm guessing the latter would only show valid tickets since it doesn't show all the cards from the other

 

[Rob562]

I find I have trouble identifying types of tickets & remaining days if I'm looking at MDE via the website. If you log in via the app and select tickets and passes (under the menu at the bottom right) You can scroll through the tickets linked and it should show what kind and how many days are left. It should show A) who the ticket is linked to B) what type of ticket C) how many theme park days remaining and D) expiration date. This may also help confirm if the tickets are GTG w/o contacting Guest Services.

Below are the different views: Left is what it looks like in the App for 2 people's tickets/passes/cards, the right is what it looks like on the website under "magicbands and cards" (just 1 person's selection, as you can see w/o the cards etc I can't tell which listing is which entitlement or what's left on it), and the bottom is what I see when I click on "Park tickets" from "my plans"/main page. I'm guessing the latter would only show valid tickets since it doesn't show all the cards from the other

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Just so you know, "cards" appear under "MagicBands and Cards" because once linked they act just like a Band for identifying you in the system. (They just work for tap-to-use functions only)

If you booked a package and wanted a card to use instead of a Band, they would link a card to you and it would appear here.

If the card was issued with a ticket assigned to it, once you link it to your MDE profile the ticket entitlement is "pulled" off the card and stored in your profile. The card then works like any Band, even for things like hotel room entry, and even if it's a card from an old ticket from four years ago. If it's linked to your MDE profile, it works.

To look for tickets and the remaining days on them, you specifically have to look in whatever section shows tickets in MDE.

-Rob