When it comes to the My Disney Experience app, the question shouldn’t be “what does the app do?” Rather, “what doesn’t the app do?”
This blog post has been greatly requested. It seems that many people still don’t know about this app or don’t take advantage of all it’s features because I still see surprised looks on people’s faces whenever they see me pull out my phone to place a mobile order. Recently, I traveled to the Animal Kingdom park to show some of the various ways the My Disney Experience app can be used to optimize your trip. Since the app can track your location, it instantly knew that I was in the park. Shortly after I entered the Animal Kingdom, I received the message shown in the image above. I appreciated the warm welcome. Hopefully, this blog post will spread more awareness about this app and it’s many helpful features so guests can make the most out of their visit to Walt Disney World.
My Plans
Once you sign in, you can access a menu where you can link your tickets, dining plans, photos, hotel/resort stay information, and magic band or card. You can’t make a hotel reservation through the app but you can access a phone number to make the reservation through a web link inside the app. Once you link your passes, a world of options opens up for you. One of those options is to reserve fast passes to your account.
Fastpass+
Fun fact: guests who make resort reservations can access fast pass reservations 60 days before their stay at the Walt Disney World. I advise taking advantage of this opportunity to reserve fast passes for popular rides such as Avatar Flight of Passage in the Animal Kingdom so you can get ahead of those long wait times. Annual passholders such as myself can use this app to make fast pass reservations ahead of our next planned visit to the Walt Disney World parks. 3 fast passes may be reserved at one park each day. Once those 3 fast passes have been used up, more may be obtained through the app or at a kiosk inside the park. To reserve a fast pass, select the “My Plans” option on the user menu then follow the steps shown above in the pictures. Once you’re finished getting the fast pass, an icon showing the fast pass will appear on your dashboard. Simply show up to the ride during the time window you chose, enter the fast pass line, and scan your magic band or card to proceed through the queue.
Mobile Order Pick-Up
Let me paint you a familiar picture. You’re at a Disney park and you’re sick of waiting in lines all day. You’re hungry but not sure what restaurants in the park are offering and you despair as you realize that to satisfy your hunger, you’ll have to wait in yet another line! Well, there’s an easy, convenient solution to this issue. Mobile ordering! One of the most surprising things that many people don’t know about is mobile ordering food through the My Disney Experience app. Not every restaurant offers this type of convenience but it’s becoming more accessible as time goes on. Here is a list of places on Walt Disney World property that are offering this service: all 4 parks, Disney Springs, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Caribbean Beach Resort, Contemporary Resort, Pop Century Resort, the All-Star Movies, Music, and Sports resorts. I love the convenience of ordering my food regardless of my location in the park and choosing when I want my order to be prepared. Next time you visit one of the locations offering the mobile ordering service, try it out. You’ll never go back to ordering the traditional way.
For this next section, prepare to be overwhelmed by images…
WDW Park Options
The majority of guest questions I’ve heard can be answered by a simple search on this app. Depending on where you are on Disney property, you’ll have to choose a filter option to show only the offerings at the specific location you’re at. For example, since I was at the Animal Kingdom, I chose the Animal Kingdom filter option so that I would only see the wait times, restaurants, restrooms, etc that are at that park. You don’t have to filter the options but imagine how much more difficult it would be to find a ride wait time if the wait time drop menu showed every ride in all 4 parks instead of the rides from the park you’re currently at. Commonly asked questions such as, “where is the nearest restroom?” or “what time does the Rivers of Light show start?” can be easily answered by searching for those things on the app. If you want to know where the nearest restroom is, you can find it from a drop menu or through the search option. Once you search up restrooms, the map will change its focus to show you all the restroom locations in the park. Your location will show up as a blue dot on the map so you just have to see which restroom icon is closest to you and walk towards it. Something that I found pretty neat was the ability to add shows and other entertainment offerings to your plan. If you’re the type of person who wants to organize their day, this is perfect for you! Your plan reflects what you’re going to do the day of your visit to one of the Walt Disney World parks. Fast passes, dining reservations, and shows you want to see will all show up on your plan page and the dashboard/home page. This way, you’ll never feel confused about what you should do next. The plan will outline your activities for the day.
Guest Services
Disney is renowned for their amazing customer service. Over the years, I’ve seen cast members go above and beyond to make guest’s visits to the parks magical. As I was looking through the app to discover it’s many features, I came across a Guest Services page. This page has information on practically anything you would inquire about at Disney. There are too many options for me to list here, so feel free to sift through the images I uploaded above. Want to seamlessly travel around Disney property? Through the My Disney Experience app, you can select the Magical Minnie Van icon shown above that will direct you to the Lyft app where you can order a Minnie Van to transport you around the property. The option that caught my eye was the one about Magnetic Fields. Disney really does have every guest concern covered.
Links to other Disney apps
The My Disney Experience app is there to help you live your best Disney life. One of the ways that the app does this is to advertise other Disney-owned apps such as the Play Disney Parks app. If this blog post has inspired you to take a more interactive approach to enjoy the parks, I greatly recommend downloading the Play Disney Parks app. I uploaded a post about the app that you can find here: https://delcarmz.com/2019/06/11/things-you-may-not-have-known-you-could-do-at-disney-part-1-play-disney-parks-app-star-wars-galaxys-edge-update/. Buying Disney merchandise is easier than ever too. You can buy from the My Disney Experience app by selecting the Shop Merchandise option on the user menu screen or you can download the Shop Disney app. Happy shopping!
Search
If there is anything else that you’re concerned about that I haven’t covered in this post or simply want to find something quickly on the app, the Search option is there to help.
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read my blog post. I hope I inspired you to make use of this app on your next trip to the Walt Disney World resort property. If you want to see a preview of next week’s blog post, you can check it out on my home page by scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page. Have a Magical Day!✨
DelCarmz 