DVC back to back, magic band/MDE question

#1

We are headed to the bubble here in 3 weeks and I have a couple of logistics questions…

  1. We have 2 back to back reservations at AKL, 3 nights in Kidani and 1 night in Jambo, same room type. Will/can they combine these two reservations? One is from an auction I won (private DVC owner) and the additional night is from David’s.

  2. Magic bands vs MDE. Is there an…an actual good reason why you WOULD use MDE over magic bands? We have 2 teens and they will go off on their own at some point, so would I have to log one of them into my own MDE for them to charge to room (food, etc)? It just seems like the new iOS update did something to the battery life of iPhones, but I digress. MDE just seems like more work and the need to carry a bunch of batteries with us. Tell me what I’m not understanding here.

  3. Magic bands are/were how you got your on ride photos. How is that working without the bands?

  4. The teens don’t have their own MDE accounts. In order for them to mobile order, do I sign them in as me on their devices, or is there a way to have “kid” accounts?

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#2

I think you may have a couple things confused.

My Disney Experience is an app on your phone but it’s also your official Disney account (that you can access from a browser). You must link your magic bands to at least one MDE account, and by default you should at least link to the one who made the reservation so everyone is assigned to your rooms. You should also link all your hotel and dining reservations, as well as FPP (when they return) to MDE.

Once everyone is linked, they can use their MagicBands to enter the parks, use FPP, check in for reservations and virtual queues, and purchase items (if you specifically enable in MDE) without needing a phone.

That said, it’s definitely helpful / necessary to have a phone if you’re the one making reservations and plans.

If you don’t want to carry around a MagicBand, you can as you say access most things on a phone through MDE, and that does drain your battery a bit, but most people already have phones so it’s not an extra inconvenience or cost, which is why some people have / will forego MagicBands.

#3

Can you say more about linking your reservations? They are two distinct reservations ( two buildings) so it will be a split stay. Did you link both reservations in MDE?

#4
  1. You have reservations at two different resorts, they can’t be combined.

In any case both owners would need to do a 3-way call to Member Services to combine them, had they been at the same resort.

  1. Magic bands simply access your MDE account. If your kids need to do mobile ordering etc they would still have to sign in to MDE to do so. The magic bands will give them room and ticket access, and they can also charge to the room if you have that set up (depending on how old they are that may be automatic but they will need your PIN to be able to charge to the room). They could use a mobile phone but would still need your MDE sign-in details.

A magic band without an MDE account or profile does nothing. So you will need to give them your MDE account sign-on and password if they are going off on their own and need to buy anything.

  1. They will need magic bands or a RFID ticket card for the ride photos. Only a new-ish magic band will get the ride videos.

  2. If they are on their own you will need to give them your sign-in details for your MDE account. I don’t know how long you remain signed in to MDE.

You could get them set up with their own accounts but it isn’t simple of everything is already linked. You’d probably need IT to help and I wouldn’t risk the stress.

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#5

My kids use my MDE login. Their phone lets them use their faces to log in to my account so they don’t have to remember my password but I’ve told them what is anyway. It will log you out sometimes so they need to be able to get in again. I do not believe you can create minor MDE accounts but you could try if you don’t want to share yours. My kids have their own teen checking accounts and debit cards and I can instantly transfer money into their accounts as another option you could set them up with and they can pay with their own debit cards. (and believe me my kids ask me to do this all the time! Lol). Also might be worth it to just purchase them some magic bands if you don’t have them already from an old trip. You’ve got options for what makes you feel most comfortable.

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#6

You’re correct in that there aren’t minor accounts but anyone (at least anyone of 10 or older) can have their own account. However getting the DVC reservations and park tickets linked to those will almost certainly take IT intervention of they are currently just profiles on a parent account.

#7

Perfect, this answers everything, thank you!!

I understand linking MB’s to MDE, that’s all done. I wasn’t understanding why MB’s are being phased out/not free in 2021 if they still serve such a useful purpose and going to RFID cards just seemed like a step backwards, if that makes sense.

Ok, so DD and I can both be logged into my MDE account at the same time, I wasn’t sure if 2 were logged in, that the other session was automatically logged out or something.

As for Kidani/Jambo…I figured it would be something like that. It’s all good.

Thank you!!!

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#8

Ah, so that’s where your confusion came from - understandable. However magic bands aren’t going anywhere! Free ones are… the old standard plain colour ones will now cost you $5 each I believe. But they will still happily sell you as many magic bands as people want to buy.

And yes, more than one person can be logged into MDE on the same account. The Boarding Group booking system has shown this is absolutely fine.

Jambo and Kidani are two separate buildings. You have access to facilities at both (well, right now that’s the pool and pool bar at Jambo, and the Mara until Jan 2nd unless it’s extended). When they added DVC to AKL they used some rooms on the 5th floor of Jambo and also built a stand-alone new building.

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