My Disney Experience (why, how, and more)

My Disney Experience is a tool that any guest can use to help plan their trip. You simply cannot have an enjoyable trip to Disney World without mastering My Disney Experience. It is an absolute necessity. Here is The Ultimate Guide to using My Disney Experience.

My Disney Experience – The Ultimate Guide

What is My Disney Experience?

My Disney Experience was introduced in 2013 by the Walt Disney Company. Its started as a website platform but more importantly is now also offered as a mobile app that allows you to book your hotel, dining reservations, check into your hotel, make Fastpass + plans, and even more. However, you can also do all of these things on the My Experience Disney World Website section. 

You can plan your trip from your computer or mobile device, whichever you prefer! The My Disney Experience website might be more convenient at home. But the app takes all the same features on the go. I prefer planning on a computer and using the app when I am on the go.  

You can use My Disney Experience to plan your Disney World trip while sitting at home, at your child’s soccer game, at work, in your bed, when you are too excited for your Disney World vacation to sleep on the flight to Orlando, or literally while you are at the parks! My Disney Experience is so versatile that you can do pretty much anything. 

What can you do with My Disney Experience?

• Create a My Disney Experience profile
• Make any updates to your My Disney Experience profile
• View your My Disney Experience profile
• Link your park tickets to the app
• Link your park tickets to your MagicBands
• Connect with family and friends in your party
• Book your stay at Walt Disney World Resort Hotels
• Check into your Walt Disney World Resort Hotel room
• Link MagicBands to your account 
• Customize your Magic Bands–chose your color, design, etc.
• Link Fastpass + reservations
• Book your Fastpass + reservations 
• Change your Fastpass + reservations (you can even modify them as you go along your trip)
• Book your dining reservations (both ahead of time and the day of)
• Modify your dining reservations (both ahead of time and the day of)
• Use the “My Plans” page to plan your entire vacation itinerary
• View your Photopass photos
• Save your Photopass photos
• Shop online for official Disney Park merchandise — which means you can see where certain items are 
• Check what items are in stock 
• You can order online either at the parks or at home and then arrange for those souvenirs to be sent straight to your house!
• Check wait times for rides and attractions
• Check parade and showtimes
• See when and where you can meet characters
• Check restaurant menus
• Get live news updates on Walt Disney World
• Check blackout dates for your annual pass
• Keep track of your Disney Dining Plan credits 

Step-by-Step Guide to My Disney Experience (Website)

1.        The first step to using the My Disney Experience tool is creating an account and avatar on the Walt Disney World website. Or you can simply download the My Disney Experience App and make a profile there.

2.        Link your family members and friends. That way you can modify plans together. This is especially helpful for parents so they can make sure all their reservations and Fastpasses match up. You can do that here.

3.        Link your tickets and reservations.

4.        Click “My Plans.”

5.        From there you can book your hotel, check-in, make and modify dining reservations, make and modify Fastpass+ times, etc. Your itinerary will then be saved in “My Plans.”

6.        If you download the app, you can link your information that you already saved on your account.

Step-by-Step Guide to My Disney Experience (App)

1.        Download the app onto your smartphone. (If you are only using the app and not the website, be sure to create your profile and personalize it with your favorite Disney character. You can do this by opening the app and clicking the three lines on the bottom right side.

2.        Open the app and scroll down to “My Tickets.”

3.        Select the “+” sign at the top right corner. There, you can buy tickets or annual passes, or you can link tickets you already purchased online or otherwise.

4.        To buy your tickets or annual passes, click “Buy Tickets” or “Buy Annual Passes.” You will be transferred to the prices and options pages for you to choose what is best for you. You can also purchase tickets from other, less expensive locations (like those on my homepage) and link those tickets later.

5.        To link your tickets, you will simply need to scan the barcode using your phone’s camera. If you have both a hotel room and tickets, be sure to click the “Room with Tickets” button and enter your hotel confirmation number. You can do this with all the tickets of the people in your party. Having one person in charge of making all plans and reservations on their app makes it easier too.

6.        Once everything is linked, go back to the home page of the app and click “My Plans.” There you can reserve dining, schedule your Fastpasses, book your hotel, and even shop for real theme park merchandise!

Tips for Using My Disney Experience

• The My Disney Experience App may be more convenient to use than the website version, at least once you’ve left for your vacation. A smartphone app is going to be more easily accessible than a web browser–whether mobile or otherwise.
• When you get to Disney World, take a screenshot od your plans for the day and put it as your wallpaper.  It will make life 10x easier. 
• Before walking all the way across the park (or even over to a whole different park) to ride an attraction or see a specific show, check the My Disney Experience app first. You will want to make sure that show or attraction is operating and what the wait time is.
• Before getting to any Quick Service food locations, check to see if they have Mobile Order. If that restaurant does, use it. It will save you tons of time. You also may avoid a long line to order food in person.
• Don’t plan on looking for characters later in the day, as you may miss your chance. Use the app to see which of your favorite characters will be out, where they will be, and for how long. Characters are only able to meet guests for a limited amount of time. If meeting characters, or any specific character, is a priority for you or your party then make sure you know the who, what, when, and where of those characters.
• If you are staying at the Walt Disney World Resort and plan to use resort transportation, plan ahead by checking the bus departure and arrival times on the app or website.
• Always be on the lookout for discounts and packages to make your trip less expensive. This works even after you have already booked your vacation. You can still apply those discounts to your trip and get some of that money back!

• Don’t fret if you didn’t get that Fastpass you wanted. Check again frequently throughout the day to see if that Fastpass becomes available. You may be pleasantly surprised!
• In that same vein, once you have used all your Fastpasses for the day, you can go back online and book even more! (Additional tip to this one: book your Fastpass+ reservations for as early in the day as possible to maximize the number of Fastpasses you can use).

How My Disney Experience Can Save You Money

As you may know, I pride myself on being an expert on saving money and frugal living. Naturally, I have some good advice for using My Disney Experience to save you lots of cash, too! Here are some ways the My Disney Experience app or website can save you good money.

• With live news updates on the Walt Disney World Resort, you will know if / when new discounts may be added. Take advantage of this as much as possible! It could make a huge difference in the price of your vacation.
• Using the My Disney Experience app for free transportation around the Walt Disney World Resort, instead of renting a car or ride-sharing service will really help you rack up the savings.
• If you are utilizing vital time-savers like Mobile Order, Fastpass +, wait times, keeping up with transportation times, you are also saving money. It might not seem like it at first since these things do not necessarily have to do with paying money. However, as the old saying goes: TIME IS MONEY! You paid for your day at the park. And you paid to stay at the Resort Hotel. Literally, you paid for your whole vacation already. The more time you waste with any of these things listed above, the more money you are wasting as well.

FAQs about My Disney Experience

Is the My Disney Experience App free?

Yes, the app and its features are free. This does not mean your vacation is free if you use My Disney Experience, but using the app itself does not cost anything.

Is there a My Disney Experience App for Disneyland in California?

At the time of writing this, the Disneyland app is similar to My Disney Experience. Although it is not as intensive. For example, you cannot check into your hotel or use MagicBands. However, you can still check wait times and find out where characters are.

Does My Disney Experience feature a countdown to my trip?

There used to be. Unfortunately, this feature was disabled for unknown reasons.

Is My Disney Experience compatible with Apple Watch?

Unfortunately, at the time of posting, My Disney Experience is not compatible with Apple Watch.

Do I have to link my tickets to My Disney Experience?

No, but not doing so will likely make things easier.

Is my private information shared with my Family and Friends list?

Only your name and age (as in it will say, adult, not exact age) will be displayed to your Family and Friends list. You can edit your settings to display your “My Plans,” Fastpass + reservations, Photopass photos, and dining plans. Your personal information–like payment methods or credit cards–will never be displayed for anybody else to see or find.

A Guide to MagicBands

You wear a MagicBand around your wrist like a watch. You can link it to your My Disney Experience account. After that, you can use your MagicBand as your room key (yes, you literally don’t even have to take out your wallet)! 

MagicBands also function as your park tickets and Fastpass + verification. You can even link your credit cards/room charges to your MagicBand as well. Although, I do not recommend doing that as it can be more difficult to track your budget if you are trying to save money. Regardless, it is an option! Obviously, you can only use your MagicBand at Walt Disney World Resort select locations.

Like I said before, using the My Disney Experience to plan and design your Walt Disney World vacation is absolutely essential. You can use the My Disney Experience app, the website, or a combination of the two. 

 With My Disney Experience, you can personalize your profile, book your hotel, reserve your table and timeslot at dining locations, purchase and link your theme park tickets, connect your MagicBands. Along with all of these things, you can also customize your MagicBands, link our Fastpass +, book your Fastpass + reservations, make changes to those reservations, map out your itinerary, check wait times, and much more! I went over a step-by-step guide on how to use the My Disney Experience app and the My Disney Experience website. 

Ideally, you should combine the use of the My Disney Experience app or website with your MagicBands by linking them together. By doing this, you can use your MagicBand as a room key at your Walt Disney World Resort Hotel, use your MagicBand for Fastpass + redemption, and much more. 

We hope “My Disney Experience – The Ultimate Guide” was helpful! If you would like some more JAW DROPPING and Vacation Changing Walt Disney World Tips to make your trip more magical, click here!