Question about my older son and different day check in?

[TheMartellFamily]

My DS goes to a prep high school and can not be away for a week at time, but would be OK to miss 2 or 3 days. With that being said he may come in later in the week for the last part of our vacation. I was wondering how we go about making reservations like this? He will need to be on the dining plan and tickets but we do not need to pay for him for the same amount of days as the rest of the family is staying. He is 16 and will it be possible for him to take magical express from the airport to the resort? There is not a worry about traveling by himself, he has done it before. I am just wondering how we go about making reservations like this?

[faline]

You might have to make two reservations to accomplish this. Since everyone staying in the room on a package needs to be on the same package, a late arrival would not work. You could make a reservation for the first part of your trip before your son joins you and then a second reservation for the second part of your trip while your son is there.

I'm not sure if Disney has rules on what age a minor could access Magical Express without an adult along. You could call them and ask.

[1DisneyNut]

Making two reservations is going to increase your ticket price considerably if you buy a package with tickets because you would be buying 4 day tickets and then 3 day tickets. You would want to leave them off the package and buy them separately unless you are going during a free dining offer and you have to buy the entire package including tickets. If that is the case it complicates things.

Here is where the mess that is FP+ starts to come in to play. If you leave the tickets off and buy them separate and do two reservations, you may be in for a real headache trying to sort it all out.

[gottaluvtink]

We do this all the time because we stay for 8 days and my sister only wishes to go for 5. We just put her on our reservation. We get the free dining, so we just put her on for the 8 days and then use her extra table services. The tickets don't make that much difference since they are cheaper the longer you stay. We have had no problem getting her Magical Express for different arrival and departure. You may have a problem with your son though, since he is not 18. My niece is staying in our room this time, and her family in another. They have different flights than us, and I was told they couldn't make her a separate Magical Express reservation because she was under 18. I called Magical Express directly and got her put on their flight, even though she is in our room.

[Mickey'sGirl]

I contacted Disney about the age for Magical Express and was told the following:

"Actually the Guest must be at least 16 years old to ride without an adult, so as long as your child is 16, he/she will be fine."

I hope this helps!

[TheMartellFamily]

He will be 16 at the time of that vacation.