The throwaway night will open a booking window at 60 days out for the first two days.
The rest of the days after that will then each open exactly 60 days out. That is the rolling window.
(And yes, the days before would also open up, so you get a less than 60 day jump start doing it that way).
To answer one of the questions. You will need to check in at FW to get the magic bands if you’re from outside the US. You don’t need to get them, you could go to GS to get the RFID catrds and just use them instead.
My concern would be if you don’t show up to collect them, would FW cancel it as a no show? Would you be getting the tickets as a package with the FW night? If so and they cancel, the tickets would be cancelled too.
I think I was thinking more about can you have a MB sent to a hotel and what dangers that would pose. That doesn’t seem to be something that many people would consider…
That’s correct. I removed that information from my initial post because it seemed it was maybe a bit of a long read. But I’ll be flying over from mainland Europe so getting the MagicBands shipped to us doesn’t seem like a real possibility.
First of all I would like to thank you for the very concise and clear answers to my questions. Really glad and appreciative several people were able to chip in with useful information!
That’s very good to know! So if I do so choose to have my MagicBands shipped to my hotel where I’ll actually be staying I wouldn’t even need to hit up the Disney resort where I’d have the throwaway reservation in order to enjoy the benefits.
This is unfortunately not a possibility for me since I’ll be flying over from mainland Europe and getting any MagicBands delivered there costs extra if I’m not mistaken. On top of that, I’d be more worried that they’d get misplaced on their way to Europe than if I’d have them shipped to a Orlando area hotel prior to my stay there.
Could anyone here maybe give me somewhat of a global approximation of how much time I should account for in order to go through the check-in procedure at the Disney resort if I’d go there just to retrieve my MagicBands in person before I drive over to the hotel I’d actually stay at?
Thank you for clarifying what I’ve read about the rolling window in other threads over here as well as other WDW forums online. That’s what I’m counting on and considering the little bit I’d pay extra on top of otherwise regularly getting MagicBands (they seem more convenient and we’d appreciate the souvenir element of having them) as well as paying for parking at the park the very next day, that seems worth it to me.
I’m not banking on getting FPP’s for anything like FOP, 7DMT, SDD or even FEA. But I’m expecting that a 60-day rolling window would make it way less stressful to get better times for rides like RnRC, Splash Mountain, Test Track and similar other big rides that are just below the 1 most premier ride in the different parks.
As far as the package deal is concerned, I definitely appreciate the notice about the possibility of my tickets being cancelled if I were to not show up for my FW reservation. But I already got my park tickets through a 3rd party website by using the price checking tool on the Touring Plans website. So that doesn’t seem like a very real threat to me.
I still feel this isn’t going to work. RnRC, Splash Mountain, and Test Track are in three different parks. This means you can only schedule FPP on three separate days. But you are getting a SINGLE NIGHT, correct? So at BEST you can schedule FPP for a single park in the 60 day window. After that you are maxed out of days and would have to wait for the 30 day window.
At 60 days out he can book for day 60 and 60+1. Let’s say his day 60 is today, August 1, just to make it simple. So he can book FPP for what, Sept 30 and October 1 today. Then on August 3 he could book for October 2, on August 4 for October 3, and so on, for the number of days of his ticket, within the 14 days allowed.
Don’t check my “60 day” math…I just took a stab and am not sure exactly what day is 60 from today. But I think the point is conveyed, yes?
Yes. After he books the first 2 days, each day will then open up 1 day at a time. So he does get his entire trip booked long before others with an offsite stay and no throw away room. The benefit is not just the 2 days, it is every day thereafter of his trip.
As for getting your magic bands, yes I would go and check in and get them. It really won’t take long at all. The problem with sending them to your offsite location, is that they would sit there for 4 weeks before you arrive, making it very likely they will be lost or thrown out. Pretty sure @profmatt did this and his bands were missing when he arrived. Just drive over, check in, get your bands and carry on. I have used a throwaway room once, and actually went there to check in, it took 10 minutes at the most.
The FPP booking window opened 60 days before my arrival day. I was able to book two days worth of FPPs: for arrival day, and for departure day, one day later.
The next day I was able to book FPPs for day 3 of my trip, despite the fact that this day was not covered by any onsite reservation. The day after that I was able to book FPPs for day 4 of my trip. And so on. Once the 60 day window opens, it rolls on — one day at a time — and no force on earth can stop it.
I’m from the UK. I had my Magic Bands sent to the private house I was staying in. Something went wrong and they were never delivered there. Guest Services provided me with a replacement, albeit without my name engraved on it.
But what happens when your 7 or 14 days or however long your ticket is for runs out? So if one has a 14 day ticket and one books a throwaway room for 1 September presumably one can only carry on booking fastpasses until 14 September? So there would be no point booking a throwaway room for 1 September for a genuine 15 September stay. I think, maybe…
If you decide that you want to buy a customised band can you give an unopened plain one back or not collect it and get a credit towards a customised one?
Well if you are using 14 days of your ticket surely you don’t have to book for September 1. A lot of people don’t go to the park on their first day. So you could book for the 2nd on the 60+1 and then just carry on day by day for your actual stay
