We Tried Disney’s New Beta Test, AI “Guided Search” Vacation Planning Tool
Disney began rolling out the beta version of their new AI-powered vacation planning tool last month and we finally got to try it out today. This “Guided Search” has only been released to a small number of users in the U.S. and Canada.
As a reminder, we acknowledge that this is a beta version and not the final product that will be rolled out to all guests.
The “Guided Search – BETA” will appear on your home screen next to Resorts & Packages and Tickets & Passes. I was able to access the Guided Search from my phone and laptop on Disney’s website. There was no option on my MDE. Once you select “Guided Search” the page shown above is the landing page.
Unless you select “I just want park tickets” on the landing page, you’ll be taken to the page shown above with the calendar and icons. You can select exact dates of travel or pick “flexible” like we did.
The Zillow-like resort map with prices, above, is a great feature of the search tool. This is a much easier way to search by area and price. We only used “December 2026” as the initial search criteria so it picked dates for us.
There is a search bar on each page where you can “Ask a question or modify your search” so that’s what we tested this evening.
Our search: What is the top rated bar?
Guided Search result: The search returned a list of all resorts with dates available from December 13 – 17, the dates the search picked for us since we said our travel dates were flexible. The text highlighted in purple shows the bar options at each of the available resorts.
Because I was logged into my MDE, the search applied my qualifying discounts. Additionally, the Port Orleans Riverside image in the middle of the shot above is an example of what pops up when you click on one of the prices meant to represent nightly rates at available resorts.
Our search: Are there dining discounts?
Guided Search results: General information about possible dining discounts.
Selecting a resort will bring you to the main hotel page, just as it would without Guided Search. The BoardWalk’s resort page shows the permanently closed Atlantic Dance Hall as an amenity and directs guests to walk from the BoardWalk to the EPCOT Skyliner to get to Hollywood Studios. If you check the Transportation tab, above, walking times to Hollywood Studios are shown.
Our search: Which rides in the Magic Kingdom have the lowest wait times during early entry?
Guided Search results: Under the Sea- Journey of the Little Mermaid, Dumbo, it’s a small world, and Winnie the Pooh.
Our search: What is Olaf Draws?
Guided Search results: Who? Also, Animation Academy closed in February of 2026.
Our search: Where do I meet Bluey?
Guided Search results: Accurate description and travel information provided.
Our search: What is the Magic of Disney Animation?
Guided Search results: This space is now Star Wars Launch Bay which closed more than a year ago.
Our search: How long can I expect to wait in line at TRON at 9:00 in the morning?
Guided Search results: Don’t know. Might be a virtual queue?
Our search: What’s the best bar in EPCOT?
Guided Search results: 10/10 on La Cava.
Our search: How can I break even if I pay for a Dining Plan?
Guided Search results: I’m trying hard not to be smarmy, but this is a great example of many of the answers we received. If someone didn’t already know a lot about the Dining Plan, this answer wasn’t going to provide meaningful information.
Our search: How many times do I need to visit to make an annual pass worth the money?
Guided Search results: Again, a very generic statement.
Our search: The best savory snacks in Fantasyland.
Guided Search results: Loaded macaroni and cheese bowls from the Friars Nook that they no longer sell.
Our search: Donkey Cart in Italy. We were intentionally vague with this request.
Guided Search results: A really neat description on the cart that cannot be found using the standard, non-AI search feature. Unfortunately, it does not acknowledge that the cart sells beverages, gelato, and sorbet.
The screenshots above were taken from my iPhone. The layout differs a bit and we changed the search to include 1 child, age 5. We asked about dining discounts again hoping that the Free Dining offer, good through 2026, would populate but it did not. We were able to reach the offer after selecting our resort, just like the standard search. You eventually get to the right place, but if you don’t already know that your child could eat for free through 2026 if you add the Dining Plan to your package you’re going to have a hard time finding this information using Guided Search.
Summary: We aren’t done trying this new search tool, this is just what we found in the last few hours. Everything seems very resort-forward which makes sense since that’s the biggest income driver for Disney.
Please leave us your search suggestions in the comment section of this post. We will test everything we can and report back. Please be as detailed as possible. Thank you for reading!
I would be so frustrated if I asked the official Disney bot for advice, showed up in the park, and then was told by a cast member that what the official Disney page told me was not true. It’s one thing for the staff to be able to say “oh, that Tiktok you’re watching is from last year, we don’t have that snack any more” as opposed to “I don’t know why our official site told you that this morning – it’s wrong”. This would also make me second-guess any other information they gave me.
Agreed. *No* info is better than *wrong* info, but AI chatbots are more or less incapable of saying “I don’t know”.
Embarrassing (for them, even for a beta).
Did it get the best bar in Epcot answer correct? 😉