Do I have to get guest certificate for RCI exchange?

[VAlegacy]

Put her as the primary guest on the reservation, give her the Disney confirmation number (you have to call DVC MS for that) to link to her MDE, and let her fly! Have fun!

I was lucky enough to scoop up one of the recent SSR unloadings.
The main thing is 60 day FP selections. The way I understand it is that reservation stays in my name until 14 days out with guest cert. There is no good fp that close.
So could I call DVC now and have them as primaries, give then confirmation to link to MDE so they can book FP and still get GC?
Or is there no way to put them as primary 3 months out?

 

[paxsarah]

The redundancy is because RCI has an agreement with the resorts that they will require members to pay the guest certificate fee if anyone other than the member is checking in.

But as people have pointed out above, if the member does online check-in and a room occupant uses their magic band to enter the room, as long as the member is on the reservation Disney doesn’t seem to care if they’re actually in the room. They wouldn’t be able to take themselves off the room without getting a guest certificate for their parents, and it wouldn’t work if they wanted the meal plan (because they would have to pay for someone who wasn’t present). But a since it’s OP’s parents, I assume they trust them enough to accept responsibility by being on the reservation while not actually being present.

 

[TheHolleys87]

I was lucky enough to scoop up one of the recent SSR unloadings.
The main thing is 60 day FP selections. The way I understand it is that reservation stays in my name until 14 days out with guest cert. There is no good fp that close.
So could I call DVC now and have them as primaries, give then confirmation to link to MDE so they can book FP and still get GC?
Or is there no way to put them as primary 3 months out?

I don’t know whether the guest certificate issue affects this or not. However, you can call DVC MS and get the Disney confirmation number and (I hope) add the names and addresses of everyone who will be staying there. If room occupancy allows, you could leave yourself on the reservation to sidestep the guest certificate issue. In any case, the guests listed on the reservation should be able to enter the Disney confirmation number on their MDE and then make FPs when the time comes. It doesn’t matter whether they’re primary on the reservation or not - if they enter the conf # into MDE and their name is on the reservation, they should be able to make FPs at 60 days.

 

[Pathways]

They wouldn’t be able to take themselves off the room without getting a guest certificate for their parents, and it wouldn’t work if they wanted the meal plan (because they would have to pay for someone who wasn’t present).

Adding the meal plan is not an issue either other than you have to pay for each person on the reservation. Our last few visits we have had family staying offsite. We get the Deluxe DP and use all the meals at one big dinner for everyone. There were three of us on the reservation for two nights. That paid for the entire meal for six, app+entree+desert+alc bev. They don't care how many meals you use at once or who is there as long as at least one person is there with a magic band tied to the room.

 

[paxsarah]

Adding the meal plan is not an issue either other than you have to pay for each person on the reservation.

Right. My point was that if they wanted to circumvent the need for a guest certificate by adding the parents but not taking themselves off the reservation (but not actually going on vacation with them), that would be a bad choice if the parents wanted the meal plan because they'd have to pay for a person who wasn't even there. I guess in the OP's case, we don't actually know if the OP is also going to be on site in a different unit, or not at WDW at all. Your advice works for the former situation, mine was aimed toward the latter.

 

[VAlegacy]

Right. My point was that if they wanted to circumvent the need for a guest certificate by adding the parents but not taking themselves off the reservation (but not actually going on vacation with them), that would be a bad choice if the parents wanted the meal plan because they'd have to pay for a person who wasn't even there. I guess in the OP's case, we don't actually know if the OP is also going to be on site in a different unit, or not at WDW at all. Your advice works for the former situation, mine was aimed toward the latter.

Not going. The idea of online check-in is a good one, but the risk of there being a glitch and them having to go to front desk isn't worth the $90.
Thanks everyone for the responses.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If your guests want to use their own credit cards, they will probably need to go to the front desk and get the card assigned to their magic band and no others. Otherwise, the credit card for the lead guest is used.

 

[TheHolleys87]

If your guests want to use their own credit cards, they will probably need to go to the front desk and get the card assigned to their magic band and no others. Otherwise, the credit card for the lead guest is used.

Yes, and they should go to the front desk the next day (after making at least one charge) and ask for a statement, to make sure the charges are going to the correct CC. It’s easier to fix earlier in the trip than later!