[fatherof3]

We are all really excited for our trip. Thanks

[LittleMissMagic]

Well, in all honesty, I have never been carded when using the Disney resort transportation system. I think you would be fine there. Showing ID before being allowed on the Disney buses is a rare occurance.

While I understand your dilemma and decision to omit a family member from the reservation to save money, by doing that you are violating fire codes and could get in trouble if you were to get caught. That being said, I don't think your chances of getting caught with an extra person in the room are very high - and if they were to catch you, you could probably write it off as if you were just having a visitor over.

Like you've said, you will not be able to do EMH without someone sitting out because they card you at every attraction. Magical Express would also not work in this scenerio. The only other thing that might go wrong is if a park reaches stage one capacity - normally resort guests are still allowed in with their KTTW card. However, if the park is that crowded, I doubt you'd want to go in, anyway.

Now, if you want to book an inexpensive room for your family of 5 without lying about who is sleeping in the room, Port Orleans Resort Riverside (Alligator Bayou) can sleep five people with a trundle bed and isn't much more expensive than the value resorts. This would give you a bed for everyone and some extra floor space. Other options are the cabins at Fort Wilderness and the family suites at All Star Music and Art of Animation resorts, which would give you two bathrooms.

[fatherof3]

We are excited for our vacation.

[lmhaas]

Disney transportation is FREE they never check I'D's ever.
Just a few things to be aware of when using the transportation especially when using it from a value.
The bus rides are long, CROWDED. Give yourself plenty of time to get to your destinations.

In addition to the 4 main parks the Buses will also transport you to downtown disney and the 2 water parks.

I can not stress to you how long the transportation can take sometimes in excess of an hour. The Value hotels always seem to have the most people and it is not uncommon to have to wait for 2 or 3 buses as they fill up with all the guests.

If you have a vehicle you can drive to the parks and show them your resort pass and park for free.

The buses do not run from resort to resort you will need to ride the bus to a park or the other 3 places mentioned above and transfer to a bus that is going to that resort.

[lmhaas]

You do not need to show your card to the world at the turnstiles for EMH
once the EMH hours kick in you need to show your room key ( card ) to the people at each ride. so if you have 4 cards only and 2 person doesnt mind sitting out you can ride the rides at emh. you can swap the cards so everyone gets a ride.

I do not understand how the 5th person will be paying to get in to the parks
unless you are just buying a park pass when you get there.

The card to the world is blue and will be given when you check in ( all 4 cards will be available then)

We had the same issue a few years back a daughters friend flew in and was not a registered guest for 3 days and all we did was let her use my card to get on the rides as I people gazed.
They dont check the name or anything just flash your key to the world ( card ) and all is good.

[bethishooked]

You still could do EMH in the evening, as they only request your card when going on a ride. Seeing four of the five will have cards, you can take turns of one person sitting out of the ride, but the rest can go. In fact, last time we did evening extra magic hours, there were 8 of us, and the first couple of us in line of the group showed our cards, and then the CM asked if we were all together, and just waived the rest in. I'm not saying try to be sneaky and break the rules, but you did pay for an on-site resort and that does allow four of you to utilize EMH.

As far as the busses, half of the group of 8 stayed at ASMu, so we began our day from there many times. I found the busses very efficient and fast. Never waited more than 5 minutes for them. I like using the busses even if we have a car. It's part of my vacation to be chauffered around, and meeting people who share the same interest as I......Disney!

[lilygem72]

I have never been asked to show my resort id when getting on or off a Disney bus.

[disneykidathart]

In regard to the post by Imhaas, waiting a long time at a value resort for the bus is definately not always the case. We've been at the Pop Century once in Sept, once in Jan and once in the beginning of November and never waited long for the buses. Most of the time we didn't wait more than 10 minutes at the resort. Actually one of the longest waits we had was when we were going to the Contemporary for dinner from one of the parks.

[llama]

There is no definitive answer to how the bus service will be. Could be crowded, could be empty, could wait forever, could jump right on. They absolutely will not ask for ID on the buses - especially for families loading kids on to the bus. I certainly understand your dilemma - I can remember dh and I smuggling our girls into a hotel room in London once. Good luck and have lots of fun!

Like Imhass said - how will you be paying for your entry into the parks?

[bethishooked]

Originally Posted by llama

Like Imhass said - how will you be paying for your entry into the parks?

If tickets are included in your package, so you are missing a ticket for one of the kids, I would recommend purchasing from Undercover Tourist. Many of us here on MB have used them with no problems at all. I just ordered my Sister and Mom's tickets on line.....three days later, I received them in the mail.

[fatherof3]

To answer an earlier question, we bought all of our park tickets for all 5 of us from UndercoverTourist.com. We found them to be a reputable source for Disney tickets (we did a lot of research online). They are an authorized seller and ship free to your home. Also, they are cheaper than buying them directly from Disney. We purchased 6 day PH tickets for the five of us. By booking the hotel only through WDW.com and the tickets through Undercovertourist.com, we were able to save around a hundred dollars versus getting room and tickets through WDW.com. It pays to do a little research! Thanks for all of your responses. We feel much better now knowing all of the information you have all provided!

[Dopey]

Originally Posted by fatherof3

Thanks for the honest response. We had already researched all of the Disney properties and the one you suggested (POR) is almost double the price of AS Music. Also, no Family Suites are available at the Value Resorts for the dates we are coming.

Please, I am all for making my money work for me but you must understand that what you are proposing is CHEATING.
Why not get a room at an inexpensive hotel on International Drive, something like the Howard Johnson and call it good.
The IHOP next to there serves kids under 10 years old for free/ anything off the menu. Why do I know that? because years ago, when I had no idea that there were Disney resorts, we did this and it was one of the most inexpensive trips we ever took.

[Campbell87]

Originally Posted by Dopey

Please, I am all for making my money work for me but you must understand that what you are proposing is CHEATING.
Why not get a room at an inexpensive hotel on International Drive, something like the Howard Johnson and call it good.
The IHOP next to there serves kids under 10 years old for free/ anything off the menu. Why do I know that? because years ago, when I had no idea that there were Disney resorts, we did this and it was one of the most inexpensive trips we ever took.

I'm actually really surprised more people have not come along and said the same thing about this. On other forums I have been a part of, questions like this and not gone down so well.

Whilst I understand your dilemma and wanting to save money, if Disney do find out about the secret room member you could be charged, fined or, in the most extreme scenario, asked to leave. I do not want you worrying and on egg shells every time you walk through the resort BUT if it was me, I know how nervous I'd feel and that would lead to an uncomfortable vacation for me.

Each to their own I guess.

[hanwill]

My thoughts are that you cannot get in for EMH if you do not have a ticket for everyone for the park, which is tied to your hotel room card... Not sure you could get in with just 4 cards for 5 people...

[lmhaas]

I should have mentioned that POP is the exception abosluletly correct.
POP doesnt share the bus with any resort one stop shop to resorts.
The other values share with eachother
Allstars movies, sports, music.