5 Critical Things You Must Know About Going to Disney World
Disney World closed for several months in 2020 due to COVID and, since reopening, there are some important changes you need to know about so you don’t experience frustration and disappointment during your Disney World vacation.
You must have a MyDisneyExperience account and the app
Most Important! You MUST make advance theme park reservations. This is changing in 2024.
You need to know how to use the app to mobile order at quick-service restaurants
You need to know how to join a virtual boarding group
You need a good travel agent to help you navigate policies and changes
#1 - You absolutely need a free MyDisneyExperience account and the app
MyDisneyExperience accounts are not new but they are absolutely essential now for anyone going to Walt Disney World. This is true whether you are staying at an official Disney World hotel or somewhere else. You will use this account and the smart phone app to make reservations for each theme park that you want to visit, to join a virtual boarding group for the newest rides, and to order food at the Disney World quick-service restaurants. The account and smart phone app are both free. Create your account at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/registration/ If you have ever had a Disney account of any kind, you may be able to use that log-in information to log in. We mention this step first because the next steps are dependent upon your having an account.
Some of the advance planning features are easier to do when logged into your account on a computer but you will definitely want to download the smart phone app for use in the theme parks. The app has some really helpful features like line times and the ability to join a wait list for select table-service restaurants. Learn more at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/mobile-apps/
Tip 1: If you are going between the app and your computer, you will probably need to log-in every time you switch devices. If you’re not seeing your reservations or plans, it is most likely that you are not logged in even though some features of the account may be available.
Tip 2: Your Disney day will last longer than your phone battery so we strongly recommend purchasing an external battery or compact battery charger that you can carry into the parks with you.
#2 - Critically Important – You MUST make advance theme park reservations
Do not wait to get your theme park tickets
Disney is currently limiting the number of people who may enter the Disney World theme parks and have instituted a theme park reservation system. Skipping this step will cause serious disappointment for your trip. Because the Disney theme park tickets are now date specific, people wrongly assume that if they have tickets, that they can enter any theme park on those dates. Unfortunately, that is not true. Disney’s Hollywood Studios has some of the newest rides in all of Walt Disney World, including two in the extremely popular Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area. This is causing the park to close out first. For example, the early June 2021 reservations for this park were completely gone by the end of March 2021. The Magic Kingdom is the second to fully book, followed by Disney’s Animal Kingdom then Epcot. You can check theme park reservation availability at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/availability-calendar/
Disney recently announced that, beginning January 9, 2024, guests with date specific tickets will not need to make park reservations but reservations are required until then.
You must have tickets to make park reservations: As soon as you purchase theme park tickets or book a Walt Disney World Resort vacation package that includes theme park tickets, you need to log into your My Disney Experience on a computer, rather than in the app, and link those tickets or your vacation reservation. Next, click on the “Park Reservations” button to make your theme park reservations for each day that you have tickets. Please don’t wait until you have dining reservations or park hours to make theme park reservations. Once a park’s advanced reservations are filled, that’s it. You will not be able to get a reservation. For this reason, we think it is a big mistake to wait until you get to Disney World to buy your tickets.
During Spring Break 2021, there were very disappointed people who traveled all the way to Florida only to discover several theme parks had no availability during their trip.
#3 -You Need to Know How to Mobile Order at Quick Service Restaurants
Unless you have food allergies or special dietary needs, Disney strongly encourages you to use the mobile ordering at Disney quick-service restaurants. These are locations where you do not have advance reservations and where you would typically order at the counter and carry your food to your table.
Tip: At busy times, we recommend that you select your dining window and order your meal early in the day to avoid long waits.
How to mobile order:
To mobile order, you will need to prepay using a credit card or Disney gift card. Cash payments are not an option. Disney is not offering dining plans at this time. It is convenient to have a credit card linked to your My Disney Experience account so you don’t have to re-enter the information every time. You can use Disney gift cards to pay for your mobile order but you will need to input the number each time you order, since gift card numbers cannot be stored in your account.
• In My Disney Experience app, click the circle with a “+” symbol at the bottom of your screen.
• Click the “Order Food” button
• Select a restaurant and a 30-minute arrival window
• Once confirmed, you will be able to see menu options. Place orders for everyone in your group. Don’t forget beverages! You cannot order cups of water through the app but they are available at the pick-up window.
• You will be able to review your order before applying payment and completing your purchase.
• To receive your food, you will need to go into the app and click the “I am Here” button. There is some debate about whether it is better to click that button when you are walking to the restaurant or wait until you actually arrive. In my experience, adults may prefer to click on the way so the food is more likely to be ready when you arrive. If you have small children or are part of a large group, you may want to wait until you have secured a table before clicking the button.
• The app will notify you that your order is ready for pick-up at the counter.
• There will be someone near the entrance to help you order if you have problems.
Tip: At busy times, we recommend that you select your dining window and order your meal early in the day to avoid long waits.
Here is a quick video to show you how it works
#4 - You Need to Know How to Join Virtual Boarding Groups
The new – and very popular! – Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (Epcot) and TRON Lightcycle / Run (Magic Kingdom) are the only two Disney attractions that do not have a standby (walk up) line. There is a paid option for making a reservation to ride or you can use the virtual boarding group reservation system to ride at no additional cost. You must have a theme park reservation for the appropriate park to join a boarding group. You have only two opportunities to join a boarding group – the first, at 7AM, can be done from your hotel or wherever you happen to be. (Outdated information about this attraction may indicate that you must be at the park to join a boarding group in the morning, but this is no longer accurate) The second opportunity, at 1PM, can only be done from within the park and all riders within your party that wish to ride must be in the park to join a boarding group, if available. Boarding groups fill VERY quickly and your best chance at getting one is in morning. At 6:55 on the morning of your Epcot or Magic Kingdom day, you should go into your My Disney Experience account and select the virtual queue button on the main menu. Go through all of the available steps for things like selecting riders so that you are ready the instant it is 7AM. This sounds a little dramatic but, the boarding groups can fill in seconds. This is also your only shot at getting into an early boarding group if you are hoping to park hop to a different theme park later in the day. Be sure to include everyone in the party who wishes to ride.
Tip: Rider Switch services are available at the attraction for people with small children who do not meet the minimum height requirement for the attractions so there is no need to try to make two separate reservations. When your boarding group opens, you will have one hour to get to the ride.
If you do not get into a virtual boarding group in the morning, you may have a second opportunity at 1PM. The availability is not guaranteed and can be affected by crowds and ride break-downs. The process is the same but everyone who wishes to ride must be in the park at the time you join a virtual boarding group.
Important information: Guests with park hopper tickets who are arriving at Epcot or Magic Kingdom in the afternoon will not have the opportunity to join a virtual boarding group. You cannot park hop into this park until after 2PM which is after both boarding group opportunities have passed. This is one reason why having your theme park reservations are so important.
Here’s how to use the virtual queue:
First, make sure you have the My Disney Experience app—with push notifications enabled so you receive important updates about the virtual queue, including callback details and daily distribution times.
Select one member of your party to access the virtual queue for everyone in your group. If multiple people in your party try to join the virtual queue simultaneously, that may complicate your ability to secure a boarding group.
As availability allows, Guests will have an opportunity to join the virtual queue at daily distribution times, which are subject to change.
To join, log in to your account at one of the distribution times and select “Virtual Queue” on the home screen. You will then be able to view the current status and next steps for joining the virtual queue. The app will indicate when there is no availability.
As long as your My Disney Experience account is linked to your group's park tickets, and everyone has a valid ticket or Annual Pass and a Disney Park Pass Reservation, you can enroll everyone in the virtual queue at the same time. In order to give as many Guests as possible the opportunity to join the Resistance, each Guest can enter the virtual queue no more than once per day.
You’ll receive a push notification via the My Disney Experience app if your group is called to return. You’ll have up to an hour from the time of the alert to go to the entrance of the attraction.
Please note that joining the virtual queue does not guarantee the ability to ride. Mechanical problems or other unforeseen circumstances may reduce the number of people able to ride on a given day.
You can purchase an “Individual Lightning Lane” reservation to ride these attractions and this is the only way to experience the ride twice in one day - one paid reservation + 1 virtual queue registration.
#5 - You Need A Travel Agent Specializing in Disney Vacations
Better Planning = Better Vacation
Did you know all of the above information?
Do you know that:
Park hopping is currently only allowed after 2PM
You do not need an advance reservation for the water parks.
Not all of the restaurants have reopened and some that have reopened do not offer all of the dining times (breakfast, lunch, dinner) that they have in the past.
It may be possible to get on a same-day wait list for some table services restaurants when you do not have a dining reservation.
FastPasses have been replaced by GeniePlus and Individual Lightning Lane selections.
Even though a lot has changed at Disney World, guest surveys are showing that people are loving their time at the Disney World theme parks and hotels! Having a travel agent that specializes in Disney vacations and who is keeping current with all the changes is the best way to make sure you have a great experience that avoids the disappointments that come from not knowing the latest changes. Book your Disney vacation through us and we will help you navigate these policies and changes. We can book Disney hotels, off-site hotels and can help with ticket-only orders and there is no cost associated with using our services when you book through us. Learn more about us.