Welcome BACK, James!
Oh, I'm so excited that you're returning Home and bringing the whole family to
check out what's new and now at Walt Disney World Resort!
Like visiting a galaxy far, far away ....
I was actually in your shoes two years ago when my family and I were due to arrive half a day earlier than my parents for our own multi-generational
Grand Adventure. And may I just say, as a parent of a little one, I think it's absolutely wonderful that you are wanting to help your son and his family out by taking something off of their very full to-do list on an already long and late travel day.
The absolute easiest solution for this second shift crew upon their arrival, when everyone will be a mix of tired-yet-full-of-energized-excitement emotions, will be for your son to use the
'Unlock Door' feature in his My Disney Experience Mobile App. Since you've already completed Online Check-In, he'll receive a text message with his room number as soon as one has been assigned to him on check-in day. Then, once he and his party arrive, they can head straight up to their room, open the app, open the door and relax because they'll finally be home. This way should anything happen to cause a delay for either his travel plans or yours (knock on wood!), he won't be waiting on you and you won't have to risk turning into a pumpkin by waiting even later for them! Once everyone and everything finally get in their room, he can choose to make a quick trip to the lobby to pick up his set of
MagicBands that night, or he could flop down in bed and get them in the morning after a night of good sleep.
Another reason why I think the above will be the best solution for your group is because if your son's room reservation is listed in his name, you actually won't be able to pick up his bands despite you being the one who made this whole vacation come together. Each MagicBand is already linked to its person, and can access their park tickets, Disney Dining Plan entitlements, open their resort room door, etc, so Cast Members have been instructed to only give these out to their owners. While I'm very glad this safety measure is in place for when I travel by myself or with just my son, it certainly is less than ideal in situations where a family member is trying to do something nice for someone else in their travel party. Do let us know James if you were hoping to plan a special surprise that would be waiting for his family upon entering their room as we can most certainly help you come up with some solutions there, too.
Thank you so much for stopping back by the Disney Parks Moms Panel, James, and please let us know if there is anything else that we can help you with! We'll See You Real Soon!
~Kristen