Purchasing passes & Magic Bands [get grey bands if purchase close to trip?] - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Purchasing passes & Magic Bands [get grey bands if purchase close to trip?]
My sis-in-law and her family are joining us in April - we have annual passes so we got our lil' magic box to register for our Magic Bands - yay! - but I have a question I think I know the answer to......
they don't have their passes yet and I'm assuming if they don't get their tickets enough in advance they won't have a chance to customize their bands, and will end up with gray no-name ones. Is that correct?
They will be eligible for MagicBands as long as they are staying onsite, even if they don't have tickets linked to the reservation. They will not be able to make FP+ selections until they purchase/link their tickets though.
They are staying on property so I guess they need to purchase them in enough time to do fast passes for April. Does anyone know if fast passes run out like they do in the parks on the day of?
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If they are staying onsite they should already have a Magic Band option--all onsite guests are currently in testing. They will just have to go to My Disney Experience to link the tickets to the MB.
If they are staying onsite they should already have a Magic Band option--all onsite guests are currently in testing. They will just have to go to My Disney Experience to link the tickets to the MB.
Actually, you can't customize your Magic Bands until you're 60 days from check-in. As long as you're staying on-site, you'll be able to select colors and names for your Magic Bands in advance, and they'll be mailed to you at home about a week before your check-in date.
Associating park passes is a separate issue and doesn't affect the Magic Band customization. Park passes are not associated directly with Magic Bands, they are associated with a particular Guest's My Disney Experience account.
Each Guest gets his or her own MDE account. Using either the web site or phone app, each Guest can select their own Magic Band customization, make their own FastPass+ selections, make dining reservations, associate a park pass with the account, and associate a particular room or package reservation with the account. Everything that's associated with a Guest's MDE account can be accessed in the parks using the Magic Band that is associated with that account, including room reservations (so the MBs act as room keys), park passes (you use your MBs at the park entrance), Dining Plan credits (you can use the MBs to pay for your lunch), room charging (you can use the MBs to buy stuff on property), and of course, FastPass selections (you use your MBs to get into the FP line when your windows opens).
The Magic Band itself is nothing more than a key, a type of ID that is used to access all of the features of the My Disney Experience system, which ties together all of the formerly separate electronic systems that Disney uses at WDW. Everything is now linked to a particular MDE account, and the Guest who owns that account can access everything in it through their Magic Band.
Also, multiple MDE accounts can be linked together so the system knows that a group of people are all part of the same party/family.
So, you don't need to buy tickets to customize your MB and add a bunch of stuff to your MDE account, but you do need tickets before you can make FastPass+ selections. So I roccommend that your SIL buy her tickets sometime before the 60-day mark, so she will be able to add the tickets to her family's MDE accounts in time to make her FP+ selections.
NOTE: Since she's buying tickets separate, she can shop around for the best price. I like to use Undercover Tourist, but there are a few other ticket brokers. And the best part is - she doesn't need to buy all of her tickets at once. She can buy one a month, or one per pay period, or however she wants to do it to space out the expense, instead of paying it all in one lump sum.
Actually, you can customize your magic bands more than 60 days out. We are not going until June 2014 and I have already customized our magic bands. We do not currently have tickets linked. We will be purchasing those soon so we can add them to our magic bands for the fastpass+ options.
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I have also already customized my Magic Bands for more than 60 days out. We are going in Apr/May. The 60 days is for selecting your FastPass+. You can start selecting these at 60 days out but you do need to have tickets linked on MDE. I have my APs linked.
Actually, you can customize your magic bands more than 60 days out. We are not going until June 2014 and I have already customized our magic bands. We do not currently have tickets linked. We will be purchasing those soon so we can add them to our magic bands for the fastpass+ options.
According to a CM I spoke to earlier in the month, we may be able to customize Magic Bands at more than 60 days out, but there is a strong possibility that all customizations will be wiped out as a new testing phase starts. So be sure to check back periodically to make your customizations are still there.
For the record: I am still 160+ days out and I made my customizations already. I do make sure to check the customizations every so often to make sure they are still there.
According to a CM I spoke to earlier in the month, we may be able to customize Magic Bands at more than 60 days out, but there is a strong possibility that all customizations will be wiped out as a new testing phase starts. So be sure to check back periodically to make your customizations are still there.
For the record: I am still 160+ days out and I made my customizations already. I do make sure to check the customizations every so often to make sure they are still there.
Thanks for the info! I already customized our Magic Bands for our trip in june. I'll make I check every so often.
I'm at WDW now. I added DD on my package 5 days before arrival. The CM said if I customize the band that day we would get it. She was right upon arrival at the hotel DD band was waiting and it was Yellow! Due to customization, so at the moment you have 5 days before your arrival to customize your bands!
they don't have their passes yet and I'm assuming if they don't get their tickets enough in advance they won't have a chance to customize their bands, and will end up with gray no-name ones. Is that correct?
Nope, not correct. You gt bands if you're staying on-property, even without any ticket at all.
We did not buy tickets through Disney at all, and were still offered MagicBands. I had the colors customised before I linked the tickets we bought from Undercover Tourist, in fact.
As long as you are staying at an onsite resort you will be able to customize your Magic Band. you can, at this time, customize them before 60 days out. You must link tickets to your Magic Band to be able to select Fast Pass+ options. You can select your FP+ options at 60 days out.
Make sure you create a My Disney Experience account to get the most out of your Magic Band and Fast Pass+ experience!
You must link tickets to your Magic Band to be able to select Fast Pass+ options.
And just because I know this question will be asked next:
NO, you do not have to buy your tickets directly from Disney, in order to preselect FP+ options. My 'ohana's tickets were all bought from Undercover Tourist (at a healthy discount, about 5% IIRC). I linked them to our MagicBands, and at 60 days (or maybe 59 days?), was able to begin making FP+ selections.
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