Disney in a Minute: What is a Key to the World Card?

We’re here with a series of quick posts, “Disney in a Minute,” bite-sized nuggets of information that can better help you understand a Disney term or planning topic. Enjoy!

At Walt Disney World, a Key to the World Card (KTTWC) is the plastic card you’ll be issued at your Disney-owned hotel. The size and shape of a standard credit card, the Key to the World Card can have a number of functions, most similar to the Disney Cruise Line Key to the World Card. A WDW KTTWC can:

• Serve as your room key
• Serve as your park admission medium (if you have purchased park tickets and linked them to your room)
• Serve as your identification for theme park early entry
• Serve as charge card at WDW parks and resorts, if you’ve chosen to allow charging and linked a credit card to your account
• Serve as identification for free parking at the WDW theme parks
• Serve as your check-in mechanism for Lightning Lane and Genie+ reservations, if you’ve made them
• Serve as the mechanism to link PhotoPass pictures to your My Disney Experience account
• Serve as a your identification for the Disney Dining Plan, if you’ve purchased it
• Serve as an entry key to resort amenities such as the pool or health club

As compact and useful as a Key to the World Card is, there may be many instances where a WDW guest does not have one and does not need one. If you’ve checked in to your resort online, you may qualify for Direct-to-Room Check-In. This means that rather than stopping by the hotel’s front desk to get a KTTWC, you can use your phone or a MagicBand to unlock your door. You can also accomplish the other tasks listed above with your phone, if you’ve set up MagicMobile, or with a MagicBand.

If you prefer using a card rather than your phone or a MagicBand (they’re no longer free), just stop by the front desk of your hotel and they’ll be happy to issue one. There is often a choice of images available for you to choose from, so if you have a child with strong preferences, you might want to have them with you when you go get your cards. Also note that unlike the Disney Cruise key cards, which have your name and easily readable information on the face, the Disney World KTTWC identifies you by a scannable QR code on the card’s reverse side.