Some questions about our first DVC trip

[itutorfortravel]

Hi everyone, our family is preparing for our first DVC trip next month...we are so excited but have a few decisions we still need to make and I was hoping to get some input from the folk on the DIS

-We are staying at BLT lake view. Any recommendations on room requests we should make? And how do you do this?

-We can't decide between the meal plan, TiW card, or nothing. We will go out for probably 2-3 nice sit down meals and then QS for the rest. I'm thinking with it being so hot we won't wont to eat heavy every day. We are a family of 3, 2 adults and a 12 year old if that makes a difference in what y'all would recommend.

-I purchased the PAP's and have a number for will call to pick them up. How can I schedule FF+ without tickets?

-How do PAP's work with the Magic Bands? I keep getting emails about ordering Magic Bands but I'm not sure how this works when we have PAP's...I have heard some ppl say they can associate the PAP with the Magic Band but then what happens when you go on another trip. Do you have to keep the original Magic Band?

Thank you for any help you can provide!

 

[erionm]

-I purchased the PAP's and have a number for will call to pick them up. How can I schedule FF+ without tickets?

You can link the will call confirmation number to your MDE profile and that will allow you to make FP+ selections.

You will still need to stop at a Guest Relations Location or Park Ticket Window to get your actual PAPs. The resorts are unable to do anything related to Annual Passes.

-How do PAP's work with the Magic Bands? I keep getting emails about ordering Magic Bands but I'm not sure how this works when we have PAP's...I have heard some ppl say they can associate the PAP with the Magic Band but then what happens when you go on another trip. Do you have to keep the original Magic Band?

Nothing is stored on the MagicBands. Everything (including MagicBands) is linked to MDE profiles. You can use all MagicBands that are assigned to you interchangeably.

 

[itutorfortravel]

You can link the will call confirmation number to your MDE profile and that will allow you to make FP+ selections.

You will still need to stop at a Guest Relations Location or Park Ticket Window to get your actual PAPs. The resorts are unable to do anything related to Annual Passes.

Nothing is stored on the MagicBands. Everything (including MagicBands) is linked to MDE profiles. You can use all MagicBands that are assigned to you interchangeably.

Thank you for the feedback...can you tell me what an MDE is, though? I thought I knew just about every acronym on here, but not this one! Ha

 

[Kidanifan08]

Hi everyone, our family is preparing for our first DVC trip next month...we are so excited but have a few decisions we still need to make and I was hoping to get some input from the folk on the DIS

-We are staying at BLT lake view. Any recommendations on room requests we should make? And how do you do this?

-We can't decide between the meal plan, TiW card, or nothing. We will go out for probably 2-3 nice sit down meals and then QS for the rest. I'm thinking with it being so hot we won't wont to eat heavy every day. We are a family of 3, 2 adults and a 12 year old if that makes a difference in what y'all would recommend.

-I purchased the PAP's and have a number for will call to pick them up. How can I schedule FF+ without tickets?

-How do PAP's work with the Magic Bands? I keep getting emails about ordering Magic Bands but I'm not sure how this works when we have PAP's...I have heard some ppl say they can associate the PAP with the Magic Band but then what happens when you go on another trip. Do you have to keep the original Magic Band?

Thank you for any help you can provide!

Welcome Home! You will love BLT! AKV is our home resort, but we have stayed at BLT a few times, and we really love being close to MK. With a Lake View, there are a few rooms in the North Tower that actually have a partial MK view. If you want that, request North Tower, even number room. I usually ask for a high floor. We have had rooms on the inside of the "C" overlooking the pool. Some people find that view too noisy, but we really like it. If you have a 1 or 2 BR, the laundry room on the inside "C" rooms is huge, and you can easily store luggage in there.

Regarding your PAP's, you can link those tickets on your MDX account now. You just have to have the will call number. You will need to have the tickets linked in order to make FP+ selections. If you are having trouble, you can call WDW to help with adding the tickets to your account. You should also customize and order your Magic Bands now. Otherwise, you will get the generic grey ones on check-in. We like the custom ones, since you can get them in several colors and have your name on them.

Regarding the meal plan, that is a personal choice. Based on what you have posted, it does not sound like the DDP would be worth it. We love the TIW card, but we almost always get 12-20 days of use per year with it. If you will be doing 5-10 TS meals over the next 12-13 months, it may be worth it. You need to spend about $500 on table service meals to simply break even on the $100 cost of the card. After that, your 20% saving begin. And, the discount works on alcoholic beverages, too. We like the flexibility of the TIW, since we often share an appetizer or even split an entree. We don't always want dessert, so the DDP doesn't work for us. We usually have an adult beverage with our TS meals. You can check out the TIW website here. There are some blackout dates, so you need to make sure you are not traveling during one of those times. You should wait until you arrive to purchase TIW at any guest services location at the parks or DTD.

Enjoy your first trip home!!

 

[Msmithmd]

MDE (or some abbreviate MDX): my Disney experience, the phone/computer app that you use to schedule and adjust FP+.

 

[erionm]

MDE = My Disney Experience and is the planning portion of DisneyWorld.com. It's also available as mobile apps for Apple (iPhone/iPad/iPod touch) and select Android devices. MDE is where you make your FP+ selections and customize your MagicBands.

MyDisneyExperience.com