Hiya, David! Welcome to planDisney and thanks for stopping by with such a great question!
Well, it's less than magical to hear that you are not embarking on the upcoming pixie-dusted adventure with your pals, but like Genie, they ain't never had a friend like you! I'm also the unofficial
Walt Disney World Resort vacation planner for my family and friends, so I've been in your situation and am more than happy to help.
In my experience, using the name and number of Guests on the dining reservation (for example, "Mickey Mouse, party of five") was sufficient when checking in at the restaurant podium for dining reservations, even if Mickey Mouse was not present. However, I do recommend making sure that every Guest attending the dining experience is listed on the dining reservation. If you don't have them listed as Guests, log in to your
My Disney Experience account or app and modify the reservation to add them.
To take it a step further and ensure that there are no issues, you can simply call a helpful Cast Member with Disney Dining at (407) WDW-DINE or (407) 939-3463 to change the Guest who is managing the
dining reservation and take yourself off of the reservation. Then, Hakuna Matata! It means "no worries!" This way, your Guests will also be able to save time by taking advantage of online check-in for their reservation on their My Disney Experience app. More time enjoying the magic is always better!
One more thing, David! Just double-check that every Guest's My Disney Experience account is properly linked to their tickets,
Theme Park Pass reservations and MagicBands if they purchased them. These are their keys to the magic, so we want to make sure they are able to unlock all of the possibilities!
I hope this was helpful, David, and I hope you stop by any time with any planning questions you may have along the way. You ain't never had a friend like planDisney!
May your wishes come true,
Mandy