For those visiting Walt Disney World (WDW) the My Disney Experience (MDE) app is available from Google Play Store and the Apple App Store and has its own dedicated section on the Walt Disney World website.

This page has two sections below: The first section is for what you need to do when making an itinerary before your holiday and the second section is for when you’re out in the theme park and before you set off from your hotel or villa.

At least one person from you family/party will need to create an account and ideally have your park tickets registered to each person to make full use of the app. If you already have a Disney+ video streaming subscription you can most likely sign in with those details as all Disney online services can now be managed using the new myDisney login.

This is an essential planning tool and you’ll need it everyday of you holiday. Using the moveable map of the resort you can check wait times for each ride, schedules for the parades and character meets. You can pay for merchandise in the shops, make restaurant reservations and and most importantly purchase and book a Lightning Lane queue jump services for most attractions.

Before your holiday

Park Reservations

The Park Reservation System was introduced during Covid 19 but has from 2024 is now no longer required but only if you have a UK issued dated ticket. Many WDW Base tickets and annual passes still require a reservation. A dated ticket system is now in use because Disney have begun grading tickets according to the season. Because of this you must state the first day you intend enter into a Walt Disney World theme park or water park before you buy the tickets. The price will then be adjusted according to if you’re going to visit in high, mid or low season. See more on our tickets page.

Genie and Lightning Lane

The Genie free planning tool can help you make an itinerary for each day of your holiday which can be useful especially if it’s your first time at WDW. You can make your Genie itenerary anytime once you have your park tickets. You cannot actually book any rides/attractions/shows/characters on this free system but it can send notifications when wait times are predicted to be at their lowest or that parade you’re wanting to view is scheduled. If you’ve purchased Lightning Lane Multi Pass you can book Lightning Lanes for most rides/attractions but only from when you’ve arrived in the USA. Check out our dedicated Genie and Lightning Lane page here.

Dining Reservations

As part of your pre-holiday planning you may want to book some of WDWs table service restaurants in the theme parks or resort hotels. Using the app these can be booked up to 60 days in advance. We recommend doing this as soon as possible as they are very popular and availability is limited. Check out our Eating At WDW page here.

If you’re booking a restaurant inside one of the theme parks you might want to make sure you haven’t got any Lightning Lanes or a day planned out on Genie in another theme park. Also you can book a dining reservation in any of the Disney World hotel restaurants even if you’re staying off property.

E-tickets

If you’ve purchased an e-ticket from your UK seller then must add these to your MDE app and account. Members of your group can choose a design for their ticket and these can be added to you Google or Apple Wallet on your phone for quick access.

Tap to the 3 bars at the lower right corner of the screen in the app and then Tickets and Passes to add each ticket to person in your group. Don’t forget to ensure those under 10 years get the child’s ticket as this cannot be undone when the ticket is allocated to a person!

Then tap Disney Magic Mobile to add each ticket to your Apple or Google phone wallet.

TMTO TIP: Make sure you share your park e-tickets from your Google/Apple Wallet with other adults in your group/family as a back up just in case your battery dies during the day and you’re left without anyones park tickets.

You can, if you wish also obtain a physical card ticket like the ones they used to send in post before the e-tickets became more widespread. Just visit any guest services in the resort hotels, Disney Springs or theme parks.

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So, ensure that you’ve added everyone in your party and that they all have a ticket assigned to them so that you’re ready to go as soon as you get to that first theme park. Also ensure you’ve booked any restaurant choices and although you can still book restaurants the day before or even on the day.

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During your holiday

Probably the most important aspect of this app is to check the wait times for your favourite attractions. The moveable map is the best way to do this as it will give an idea of where in the park the ride is. This has a drop down menu so that you can filter the map to display ride wait times, characters, dining, entertainment (parades and shows including fireworks), PhotoPass photographer locations and a few others such as toilets and shops. Click on the teardrop locator icon at the bottom of the screen.

You will also need to know what time the park opens and the schedules for shows, parades and characters. And remember if there’s something in particular you and and the kids are desperate to see or do you can add it to My Day on the Genie section of the app.

Disney Genie

As mentioned in the above section you can use Genie during your holiday to send you info about your planned day from predicted ride wait times to character, show and parade schedules. If you’re purchasing Lightning Lanes Multi or Single Pass then the app is again where you would book these once you’re in the USA. Once you’ve checked-in at your last ride entrance you can book onto the next LL Multi Pass whilst standing in the queue. And don’t forget that you can also book the additional Lightning Lane Multi and Single Pass attractions in each park on the day if there’s availability. The list of these can be found on our Genie and Lightning Lane page but remember these are completely separate and not included in Genie+ so carry an additional charge per ride. Prices vary from around $12 to $25

You’ll see the Tip Board tab on the main pop up menu. This will show you what Genie suggests you consider based on the interests you added when starting up Genie. So you’ll need to refer back to this throughout the day and it’ll send you notifications using the Tip Board as long as you have Wi-Fi connection and notifications activated on your phone. The My Day tab shows you what you have already booked including restaurants and any rides you’ve added to your itinerary that you would like to use the Standby lines for.

Individual Lightning Lanes (IndLL)

Not to be confused with the Genie+ Lightning Lanes these are deemed the 1 or 2 most popular rides in each park. A full list of rides and the cost can be seen on our Genie page here. These cannot be booked using the Genie+ system and so, carry and additional charge per person to skip the Standby Line. Because they are not included in Genie+ you don’t have to purchase Genie+ to purchase these Individual Lightning Lanes. So, if the park isn’t too busy then save the cost of purchasing Genie+ and just purchase the IndLL for the particular ride as the Standby Line is nearly always a long one.

Virtual Queue

Also worth a mention here is the Disney Virtual Queue (VQ) system. This has nothing to do with Genie, Genie+ or the Lightning Lane systems. It’s completely separate and best of all, it’s free! But it’s limited to only the newest rides in Walt Disney World and the number of guests allowed per day is very restricted. It was first introduced when Star Wars: Rise Of The Resistance ride opened in 2019 to control the queue and avoid many hours wait and it has been used for every new ride since – Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway in 2020, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in 2021 and Guardians Of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in 2022 and Tron Light Cycle in 2023. Any VQs that you’ve booked will appear in the My Day menu on the Genie section of the app. And you’ll need to keep checking back to the VQ to see if you’re boarding party is ready although Genie should send a notification when it’s time to ride.

The VQ is used to limit the wait times of the ride by providing each group a boarding time to enter the ride. The wait time can still be anywhere from 30 – 60 mins even with the VQ but that’s still better than 4 – 5 hours which is often the case when a new ride opens! The VQ can only be booked at 7am on the day of your visit to the park but you don’t need to be in the park area to book on. You can do it from your hotel or villa but you really need to start the process at about 6:55am by selecting your family members on to the boarding party. If successful you’ll be given a 1 hour window to enter the ride and a boarding party number. Keep notifications set to ON in your app settings or keep checking back on the app to see if your boarding party time has moved. If the ride remains busy throughout the day your initial boarding time may move back! You might be lucky and get a few no-shows which may bring your boarding time to earlier in the day. Just keep on it and don’t miss out!

TMTP TIP: You can also get a VQ at 1pm if you miss out on the 7am slots and since you can park hop it’s possible to get Tron in Magic Kingdom and Guardians of the Galaxy on the same day.

Memory Maker and PhotoPass

All UK issued adult WDW tickets have the Memory Maker facility included. This gives you unlimited downloads of your ride and character photos from the PhotoPass section of the MDE app. It costs $210 if purchased separately. This is really good addition to the UK tickets as it allows you unlimited downloads of all the ride photos and any captured by the Disney PhotoPass photographers in the parks. You’ll usually find them in front of all the major structures and iconic buildings in the parks and of course, with most characters. Each photo taken stays on the app for 30 days for you to download so make sure you save it to your phone or tablet at the end of each day or when you return back in the UK on to your computer hard drive otherwise they will be lost forever!

Mobile food ordering

You would have hopefully booked your table service restaurants within the 60 days window before your holiday. For something less formal Disney has Quick Service food points and restaurants in each park. This is one handy feature of this app is it’ll help you keep you day going by avoiding queuing too long at most Quick Service restaurants since you can view menus and order meals for everyone on your phone. You’ll need to add a credit card to your MDE account using the app. Once you’ve completed your order you should receive a notification on your phone when it’s ready. You then just head straight to the food collection point bypassing the payment queue.