I talked to Guest Services last night and was informed that they are supposed to tell people who call in that they can't use their tickets before they check in but you can get your tickets still up to 3 days prior to check in.
Yes, if you can share your experiences when you return, I would greatly appreciate it! Good luck to you!
So here's the scoop. After our room only reservation, I was able to use all three bands per person since we had the triple split stay. However, you CAN NOT get your tickets activated three days prior IF they are part of a package. Otherwise you can with no problem. When I explained to the front desk I read over and over and told by CM reservations I could with a package, she then proceeded to activate the tickets for the parks the next day for the YC club reservation(we were at AoA). She printed me the validation that the tickets were active and said if we had any issues the next day to show the paper. The tickets were for seven days and linked to the second reservation. So no problems there needing to activate for third resort stay.
As for dining credits...they activated after the check in at YC.(as told) We finished them the morning we checked out(fortunately). Meaning if you do not use credits, you can't start the next reservation dining plan. That plan even though checked in at the third resort can not activate credits until midnight of the check in date or until all previous credits are used. Sounds confusing but quite simple. If we wanted to use them and the others weren't finished then you have to ask the front desk to manually do it the next day. The desk at WL was not prepared to handle this situation of a split stay and did not add the dining plan to my bands when checked in. I checked them at Roaring Fork and had each band scanned to review credits. The concierge handled it quickly and efficiently and made sure all bands were activated so we could switch out colors if we wanted. I felt the front desk at AoA and YC were far more prepared to handle questions than WL, which surprised me.
All in all a very painless situation all around. I personally love the bands as did my kids(my 8 year old loved the charging privileges, using for photopass, fast pass etc.) and the whole FP+ system. I guess for an over planner like me and asking so many questions helped a lot too!
I understand I will have two magic bands for our upcoming trip - one for a one night room only and one for a 4 night room, meal plan, and park tickets.
1) Will the bands be interchangeable?
2) Do I need to check in hotel #2 before my park tickets and meal plan are activated? Or can I just got straight to the park from hotel #1 and check in to hotel #2 later that evening?
Thanks for any help you can offer!
juliehoey, there is a procedure in place at Park Guest Relations for early package ticket pickup. Usually resort CMs don't know about it. Any phone CM you speak to will say there's no way to get package tickets early. I suspect Disney doesn't want to create chaos by volunteering this info.
I did have a few CM's on the phone in the recent weeks leading up to the trip telling me I could activate at the hotel(AoA) as well without checking in(YC). I do think it depends on the individual you are speaking with at the time(either in person or on the phone). Information is not consistent in regard to things such as this at times.
That's so true! When Disney CMs say something to me that doesn't sound like the answer it's supposed to be, I ask another CM, and another CM, and another. I'll eventually find someone with enough know-how to answer the question correctly. But it's frustrating!I know there is at GR. That was why I asked at the hotel desk. The CM said absolutely and they could do it right there. Management frowned upon it. The look of 'you're not supposed to know about that'
It's my understanding that if tickets show up in the MDE account, you are good to go. It's good to bring along some record (photocopy or camera pic) of the ticket serial numbers and a ticket description, just in case of a system glitch. I can't give a more official answer, but others have posted that MDE link was enough. I'm confused - what third party tickets are picked up at Disney Will Call?
