Park tickets and Magic Bands do I have this correct

[DisneyDadfromPittsburgh]

I have been to Disney many many times but every time I have to return and start
organizing a new trip I feel like I am doing this for the very first time!!!!!!! - Is it just me????

Anyway.......do I have this correct..........I first make my Disney hotel resort reservation....then I purchase the park tickets.........then I order my magic bands and then I make my fast pass selections 60 days out, then make any dining reservations and then I link the fast pass, hotels, dining and tickets to the magic bands?

Exhausting..................

Thanks

[ThanxForNoticin]

Sort of!! Very first, you need a My Disney Experience account. Your hotel reservation, park tickets, fast passes, and dining will be linked in your My Disney Experience account. The magic bands will also be linked to MDE. Nothing is actually linked TO your magic bands - it all works through the MDE account. Eventually, you'll probably have a credit card linked in your MDE (for using your magic band for purchases during your stay), and your room key will be linked to unlock your room door through the magic bands (or now, via your mobile phone, if you prefer).

To make a correction to your thinking above - you do NOT need to wait for hotel reservations or tickets to make your dining reservations. You can make dining reservations 180 days in advance whether you have a resort reservation or not. You can link those in your MDE account. The rest of your thinking is correct - in order to do Fast Passes 60-days out, you'll need a resort reservation and Disney passes linked in your MDE. Also, remember if you have, for example, a 5-night resort reservation - at the 60-day mark, you can make FPs for all the days of your reservation - so day 61 and 62 and 63, etc. You also can only make fast passes for the max number of days you have on your Disney ticket. If you have a 4-day pass, you can only get 4 days worth of FPs.

Good luck, and have fun! Hope this helps a little.

[faline]

Most dining reservations can be booked further out than fastpass can which can sometimes make getting the fastpasses you want a bit tricky. You may want to book your must-do dining in advance and work around it with fastpasses. For eateries that you can be flexible about, you can work those in around your fastpasses.

You have to have your resort reservations and your park tickets linked in your Disney Experience account before you can make your fastpasses. You don't need to link anything to your magic bands and you don't need to have them ordered in order to make your fastpasses and dining reservations.

[Cinderelley]

I felt like a noob all over again when I started planning for our trips this year. If you are someone who likes doing stuff on the computer though, it is a little easier once you get used to your My Disney Experience account. When you make that, you can book all of your dining reservations through it starting at 180 days out from your trip. You don't need to have it linked to anyone else at that time if you have others that you are planning for. If anyone is linked to you for planning purposes, you can enable them to be able to see the plans. If you don't feel comfortable on the computer, you can still call Disney Dining and book your reservations through them.

When you make your resort reservation, My Disney Experience will prompt you to customize your MagicBand, but it won't be delivered until pretty close to your trip. If you change your mind about your MagicBand, you can change it on My Disney Experience up until a certain time before your trip. Maybe a month before?

You will have to have your park tickets purchased and linked to your My Disney Experience before you can choose your fastpasses. Also, if you are planning for anyone else, they have to have their park tickets and have their My Disney Experience linked to yours first. Linking them together is where I tend to run into the most problems. Contacting Disney's IT always fixes it for me quickly. You can start choosing your fastpasses 60 days out.

As long as everything is in your My Disney Experience, it should also be visible to Cast Members who scan your MagicBand.

Once you get the hang of it, it can be exciting. I'm not a fan of the Fastpass + system, but I do like the rest of the My Disney Experience.