Staying off-site...unfamiliar territory!

[hswillia07]

Hi everyone We're likely heading back to Disney for MNSSHP in October (yay!) but we're staying off-site for the first time and I find myself...confused lol. I'm thinking of purchasing tickets through Undercover Tourist, which seems to be the best way for me to get a discount. Do I understand correctly that I can make dining reservations at 180 days out regardless of whether or not we've purchased tickets yet? And I know that I can make FPs at 30 days out and that I can bring Magic Bands from our trip last year to use, right? How does that work? Do we just bring our tickets and magic bands to guest services on our first park day and have them set it all up?

I appreciate any info! Thanks!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Hi everyone We're likely heading back to Disney for MNSSHP in October (yay!) but we're staying off-site for the first time and I find myself...confused lol. I'm thinking of purchasing tickets through Undercover Tourist, which seems to be the best way for me to get a discount.
1) Do I understand correctly that I can make dining reservations at 180 days out regardless of whether or not we've purchased tickets yet?
2) And I know that I can make FPs at 30 days out and that I can bring Magic Bands from our trip last year to use, right?
3) How does that work? Do we just bring our tickets and magic bands to guest services on our first park day and have them set it all up?

I appreciate any info! Thanks!

((I'm stealing @Robo technique of numbering and answering. Makes it SO easy to understand!

1) Yes
2) Yes again
3) The magic bands are just simply your "key" to Disney. Once you link it and your tickets on the MDE app, you will be set to go. Magic bands only have to be activated if you receive new ones each time visiting. I have some from 4 years ago, but chose to get new ones this year. I actually don't know where one disappeared to and I wasn't sure if the batteries were still good 4 years later. Better safe than sorry!

 

[hswillia07]

((I'm stealing @Robo technique of numbering and answering. Makes it SO easy to understand!

1) Yes
2) Yes again
3) The magic bands are just simply your "key" to Disney. Once you link it and your tickets on the MDE app, you will be set to go. Magic bands only have to be activated if you receive new ones each time visiting. I have some from 4 years ago, but chose to get new ones this year. I actually don't know where one disappeared to and I wasn't sure if the batteries were still good 4 years later. Better safe than sorry!

Thank you SO much! Yes, that is an easy-to-understand format! lol

 

[bigbabyblues]

We stayed offsite in a condo for the first time (our of 11 trips) last June, and we loved it!

I also bought our tickets from UT, and it was super easy to link them in MDE. I don't remember how I did it now, but it only took a couple minutes to do all 4 of them. I know I used a computer and not the app, and it seems like there was a button that said "link (or add?) tickets". I did choose to have the hard tickets mailed to me, in case we had an issue, but I think a lot of people get the electronic tickets.

 

[Shughart]

Hi everyone We're likely heading back to Disney for MNSSHP in October (yay!) but we're staying off-site for the first time and I find myself...confused lol. I'm thinking of purchasing tickets through Undercover Tourist, which seems to be the best way for me to get a discount. Do I understand correctly that I can make dining reservations at 180 days out regardless of whether or not we've purchased tickets yet? And I know that I can make FPs at 30 days out and that I can bring Magic Bands from our trip last year to use, right? How does that work? Do we just bring our tickets and magic bands to guest services on our first park day and have them set it all up?

I appreciate any info! Thanks!

We're also staying off-site, but we're doing so in December. You CAN make ADR 180 in advance BUT be aware you can only make them for each day of your trip. So 180 days before your FIRST DAY, you can make a reservation(s). Then the next day, you can make the reservation for day 2...and so on. So you will need to call/go online each morning and do the process for each day of your trip.

Yes on FP at 30 days out.

As for magic bands, I believe once you have your tickets, you can link them to your Disney experience app and they should be linked to your magic bands there. That's my plan.

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

And I think your FP's are also daily as well, like the dining reservations. Am I correct on this?

 

[bigbabyblues]

And I think your FP's are also daily as well, like the dining reservations. Am I correct on this?

Yes. I didn't realize that until I was booking FP. We were able to get most everything we wanted except for 7DMT and FoP at first, and I was able to get those later on, even though the times weren't perfect, it worked.

 

[Magical2017]

We buy from UTC for both on and off site stays, and always have a great experience with the company AND save money.

 

[Shughart]

And I think your FP's are also daily as well, like the dining reservations. Am I correct on this?

Yes. I didn't realize that until I was booking FP. We were able to get most everything we wanted except for 7DMT and FoP at first, and I was able to get those later on, even though the times weren't perfect, it worked.

Oooh thank you for this, I had no idea! That's frustrating

 

[bigbabyblues]

I guess I should mention we got those hard-to-get FP when Disney extended the park hours a couple weeks before our trip.

 

[hswillia07]

Thanks so much everyone! So nice to hear about the positive experiences staying off site I know I'll struggle with dining reservations and FPs a bit, so I'll just have to have a few different plans and be happy with what we get! I'm really only worried about SDD, but I'll cross my fingers! Thanks again

 

[LuvMyEAR]

Not sure where you are staying, off site but we have had only two nights onsite throughout our numerous trips. We LOVE vacation rental properties for a multitude of reasons. Even after a short experience in the "Disney Bubble", it was unanimous for our 6 person travelling group that we are happier to rent a property rather than a room or two in ANY hotel/resort.

i hope you and your family have a wonderful experience.

 

[hswillia07]

Not sure where you are staying, off site but we have had only two nights onsite throughout our numerous trips. We LOVE vacation rental properties for a multitude of reasons. Even after a short experience in the "Disney Bubble", it was unanimous for our 6 person travelling group that we are happier to rent a property rather than a room or two in ANY hotel/resort.

i hope you and your family have a wonderful experience.

Thanks for that - I'm hoping we'll feel the same My husband and I have stayed offsite long ago before kiddos, but all of our trips since have been on site. I LOVE the bubble - him not so much lol. We're staying about 20 minutes away at a rental property belonging to a family member that they're loaning us free of charge - can't really beat that

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Warning... we reused our magic band 11 months later. Two of the bands did not have strong enough battery to get the pics from the rides. We didnt know till a few days later we we checked our account. I guess I didnt think about it cause our tickets worked at the gate. I called customer service. There was nothing they could do and they told me about the batteries. If you use them check your disney account make sure pics are there so you are not sad later.

 

[hswillia07]

Warning... we reused our magic band 11 months later. Two of the bands did not have strong enough battery to get the pics from the rides. We didnt know till a few days later we we checked our account. I guess I didnt think about it cause our tickets worked at the gate. I called customer service. There was nothing they could do and they told me about the batteries. If you use them check your disney account make sure pics are there so you are not sad later.

Thank you for this! We likely won't be purchasing photos anyway, so probably okay for us. I'll bring our magic bands from last year and 2017 just in case though. Thanks

 

[YawningDodo]

Warning... we reused our magic band 11 months later. Two of the bands did not have strong enough battery to get the pics from the rides. We didnt know till a few days later we we checked our account. I guess I didnt think about it cause our tickets worked at the gate. I called customer service. There was nothing they could do and they told me about the batteries. If you use them check your disney account make sure pics are there so you are not sad later.

I always tap my band at the ride photo area if it's a photo I like/care about. That started with the first time we went after they installed the MagicBand and bought specialty bands since we weren't staying at a Disney resort, and we weren't sure how long they'd been sitting before we bought them. I'm just paranoid about it actually picking up the signal, so if I care about the photo I make doubly sure.