Hiya Donald!
Welcome to planDisney! Oh boy! Fun! What fun! You are looking to have a magical visit very soon in Walt Disney World and I am glad you came by with your question!
When entering the Parks you have three methods that you can use.
- Disney MagicMobile Service- Based on your question it seems that you may be using this feature and own an Android. Disney MagicMobile however, does not create any barcode but a card that you select a design for and can then use to "tap" into the touch points at every Park entrance. The barcode is something that displays when you visit Tickets and Passes in the My Disney Experience Mobile App. The barcode does not get you into the Parks but the signal that is produced once it's in the wallet is what is needed. Every person in your party should have a Disney MagicMobile card with their name on it and it could be on everyone's own devices or one person can tap in each person by swiping between the cards.
- Disney MagicBand+ or MagicBand- Once tickets are linked to your My Disney Experience Account and then a band is assigned to a person then the band can be used to "tap" into the Park. These are now purchased before you arrive or at various merchandise locations in Walt Disney World Resort.
- Key to the World Card- This was the traditional way of entering the Parks before there were smartphones and is still used today! It's just a plastic card that can be assigned to each guest and then used to "tap" into the Parks. You can get these free cards by bringing your barcode or ticket confirmation email to any Will Call ticket booth in front of any Park entrance. My tip is to make sure to note whose card is whose with a marker as it can get confusing if the designs are all the same.
Once you have your method to enter the Parks set up then there is a possibility you may need a
Theme Park Reservation. The only people who need to make a Theme Park Reservation are those who buy tickets that are not date-based.
Examples of non-date-based tickets are student group tickets, convention tickets, Disney Military Salute Tickets, or those with an Annual Pass. If you purchased a traditional theme park ticket where you had to pick a date range you were visiting then you most likely will not need to make a theme park reservation and just enter the parks as you like.
Now, that you have your tickets set up and are ready to enter I do hope you have a lot of fun and enjoy yourselves. My family has been visiting Walt Disney World Resort annually for many years and we still prefer enjoying one park per day over
park hopping. However, we must have a midday break of some kind that must last at least two hours which could include a nice table service meal or just people-watching with snacks. There is no fun in constantly running around till one drops from exhaustion. Savor the moments and know that you, Donald, are just like my buddy Donald Duck, #1.
Happy Planning!
-Nimmy