We will be arriving at the Caribbean Beach Resort around 9am. I know that’s too early to check in and go to our room but can we go ahead and activate our wristbands so we will be able to go straight to the park and start using our fast passes? I believe I read somewhere that they will notify you by text when your room is ready and it seems I also read that while you can get in the park before you check in, you can’t activate your fast passes until you check in. I’ve already done the online check in but I don’t know if that included activating the fast passes.
If your Magic bands were sent to you they are already to go. They are active and linked to your account. No activation necessary. Your fastpasses are also good as well as your park pass. No need to wait for your room to be ready, get going and have fun. If you activated notification via online check-in they will do just that. If your luggage is coming via Magical Express, that may take 2 to 4 hours before you see it in your room.
also remember your Magic band is your park pass, your room key, and if you attached a credit card with a pin to it, then it is also a credit card of sorts. You can use it to buy items and have them sent to your resort. If you have a dinning plan they are what you use when paying for your dinning. I am unsure if you can use your Magic Band to pay for meals if you do not have a dinning plan. All and all it is used for about everything. When on the dinning plan each member in the party does NOT have to use their Magic Band to pay for meals. Anyone registered to your account can use theirs. Also your account will show the number of meals and snacks your account has and it does NOT matter who in your party uses them or how many. Hope this helps
Ill add that you CAN use magic bands to pay without a dining plan; it links to your credit/debit card. That’s what we did and it worked perfectly everywhere.
Is it possible to have the credit card only active on the adults bands? My DD might over spend.
You know I’m not sure about that actually. I would hope so, but my wife and I aren’t at the kids stage yet so we haven’t had experience with that. Alternatively, you can just use a physical card, or if you have contactless payment (e.g. Apple Pay) they accept that everywhere as well, including carts, stands, etc.
Thank You
This is good news! I guess since MK will be our first park, I will have to park at MK until our room is ready. Unless I park near a bus stop at the resort. I seem to remember the last time I was there in 2008, I had a hang tag to show I was staying at the resort. Would hate to ride the bus back from the park to find my vehicle towed! Any thoughts?
I don’t drive so no clue about hang tags, but…
You can check in at any time after 6am. The room may not be ready, but you can do everything else needed to check in as soon as you arrive.
Yes, on check-in we were given the choice of which bands could be used for charging to the room.
If you DD doesn’t have the PIN code, she can’t charge anything to the band.
You can decide who can charge to their band. You can also have people charging to different cards, and also set limits.
So DH has his band linked to his credit card. DW is linked to her own card. DS (17) can charge to DW’s card, but only to a limit of $100, DS (12) has a limit of $50 and DD (7) has no charging linked.
Anyone who knows the pin can use dining credits, and there is no way to limit how many snack and meal credits they can use. So in the above scenario, both boys could go and get 10 snacks on day one!
All this is set up at the front desk.
You can park at the resort! Since a majority of folks do online check in, most cars don’t have the “hang tag” or dashboard pass anymore. They are only going to tow in the VERY rarest of occurrences like at the monorail resorts on holidays, etc. Parking is at the discretion of the gate attendants and once you are in the lots and parked in a legal space, they are not super concerned. Your magic band will get you through the CBR gate and you can park there or for free at the TTC.
They have to use a Pin to charge items to the Magic Band. Just be careful that your child doesn’t see you punch in the pin. 