Hiya Paul!
Welcome to planDisney, the most magical place on the internet! I am so glad you decided to stop by and ask us a question, and as a fellow international Guest, I am thrilled to help you on your planning journey. How excited are you to be visiting the Walt Disney World Resort soon? I know I would be thrilled, and there's no better way to pass the time until your next Disney vacation than by planning it.
The
My Disney Experience mobile app is one of my favourite tools to plan my Disney vacations and make my visits to the parks more convenient. I honestly use the mobile app on all my Disney trips and don't think I could go back to not using it! While your whole party does not necessarily need to have the app, it certainly makes visiting the parks and making new plans easier, especially if everyone in your party has their own account. If you are planning on using the
Disney Genie+ service, you will need to download the mobile app to purchase this service and make your ride selections. While one person in your party could make the selections for everyone else, allowing more people to make these selections might be simpler, especially if your party does not like all of the same attractions. That way, if part of your group wants to ride
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, but others want to ride
Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway instead, you can make these different selections. Similarly, if part of your group is at an attraction and the rest want to eat, they could use their My Disney Experience mobile apps and make a
mobile food order, assuming they are over 18. Overall, having everyone in your party download the mobile app allows you to be more flexible and make last-minute decisions to accommodate everyone's needs. Divide and conquer!
The My Disney Experience mobile app also has even more functions that might make your trip more magical. Suppose someone in your group wants to return to your Resort hotel room but does not have a room key with them. They can use the My Disney Experience mobile app on their iPhone, Apple Watch, or Google Pay enabled Android smartphone to
unlock their door! Similarly, if anyone in your party forgets their MagicBand in the room, they can use the
Disney MagicMobile service on the mobile app to get into the theme parks. Is your group meeting up at a specific location? You can use the map to get detailed instructions on where to go. Although it is not necessary, I do highly suggest that your whole party downloads the mobile app!
I hope this was helpful, Paul, and that you and your Ohana will have the best day ever on your upcoming Disney vacation. If you have any other questions in the time leading up to your visit, please don't hesitate to reach out. You and me, we're in a club now!
Have a magical day,
Ariane