Disney in a Minute: What is My Disney Experience?

“My Disney Experience” is Disney World’s all-in-one trip planning tool. The name is a bit clunky, and you might hear people refer to it as just “the Disney World app”. But it’s available as both an app for your phone or tablet, and part of the Disney World website. If you’re planning a trip to Walt Disney World, you’ll use My Disney Experience a lot – both ahead of and during your trip.

Through MDE (as we’ll refer to it), you can

• Purchase your theme park tickets
• … and add them to your phone’s digital wallet
• Make hotel reservations (website only)
• Make dining reservations
• Access PhotoPass photos
• Manage your Lightning Lane reservations (app only)
• View park hours and wait times
• Find your way around the parks
• … and more.

You can use the complimentary Disney Genie service to build your personalized itinerary for the day’s touring. But to be quite honest, it’s not very good at it. We think our Lines app does a much better – and more accurate – job of helping you minimize your time in lines.

My Disney Experience really does let you manage your entire trip, and the app is just chock full of features. For tips on how to use them, see our post How To Use the My Disney Experience App Like a Pro (Even if You’re a Beginner). A little time spent getting familiar with the app before your trip will let you focus on the fun when you’re in the parks, instead of flailing on your phone. And if you have younger folks touring with you, you will want to read Should Your Kids Have Their Own MDE Account.

Disney in a Minute is a series of short posts designed to help you better understand a Disney term or planning topic. Do you have a Disney term that you think needs a little more explanation? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks to Erin Foster for an earlier version of this post.