Tag: My Disney Experience

Disney MagicMobile Launches on Apple Devices for All Guests

Today Walt Disney World announced on the Disney Parks Blog that beginning today, all guests with Apple devices will be able to enjoy  the new convenient and contactless option for entering the theme parks and more, as part of the rollout of Disney MagicMobile service!

The new service is now available on the iPhone and Apple Watch and coming soon to other smart devices.  Disney MagicMobile service will be an easy-to-use new way for guests to experience Walt Disney World.

It is important to note that the new service will not be replacing the MagicBand, but will offered in addition to other options such as the MagicBand.

Disney put out a few helpful tips to get started with Disney MagicMobile service:

  • Create A Customized Digital Pass: Guests can create a Disney MagicMobile pass through the My Disney Experience app and add it to the Wallet app on iPhone or the digital wallet on other smart devices. You can customize your pass by choosing from several Disney-themed designs that animate upon use (including special designs just for Annual Passholders and DVC Members)! For added ease, you may also store multiple passes on a single device, a great option for families.
  • Easily Enter the Parks and More: Simply hold your iPhone, Apple Watch, or other smart device near an access point when entering the parks or using other available features, just like you do with a MagicBand. With Express Mode on iPhone and Apple Watch, guests do not even need to wake or unlock their Apple device, or open up the app, to use their Disney MagicMobile pass. As a reminder, valid park admission and a park reservation are required for park entry and must be linked to your account.
  • Discover Other App Enhancements: We’ve also added a new feature in the My Disney Experience app that allows you to automatically link your Disney PhotoPass attraction photos and videos to your profile through your smartphone. Just confirm your settings in advance of riding at participating attractions. The My Disney Experience app also enables Disney Resort hotel guests to unlock their room door using our current digital room key feature.

Guests may use Disney MagicMobile service, a MagicBand or a card interchangeably.

MagicMobile is not currently available at the parking lot entry booths, but it is anticipated that it is going to happen in the near future.

Walt Disney World to Start Phasing in Disney MagicMobile Service

Earlier today Walt Disney World announced the next evolution of Disney MyMagic+ and the successor to the MagicBand, Disney MagicMobile.

Disney Magic Mobile will be launching in phases starting later this year.  The service will be a convenient and contactless way to access MagicBand features like theme park entry through the power of your iPhone, Apple Watch or other smart device.

Guests will be able to create a Disney MagicMobile pass through the My Disney Experience app and add it to their smart device’s digital wallet. Most features will be available by just holding up the smart device near an access point, just like you do with a MagicBand.

Disney said that the service and its features will roll out first on Apple devices.

Guests may choose to use Disney MagicMobile service or a MagicBand, and can alternate between the two for added flexibility.

Park Hopping to Return to Walt Disney World

According to an email sent to Walt Disney World Annual Passholders and posted on the Annual Passholder portion of the Walt Disney World’s website, park hopping will be returning January 1, 2021.

From the Passholder Newsletter…

Dear Valued Annual Passholder,
As the phased reopening of Walt Disney World Resort® continues, we are nearing another exciting milestone we know many Guests have been looking forward to: the return of the Park Hopper® option! Starting Jan. 1, 2021, Guests who purchased a ticket or annual pass with Park Hopperbenefits will be able to visit more than one park per day, with some new modifications as part of our ongoing focus on health and safety.

More details were posted on the website…

  • UPDATE – Beginning January 1, 2021, we’re bringing back the ability to visit more than one park per day at Walt Disney World Resort with some new modifications.
    • We will set specific Park Hopper hours during which this option will be available. Park Hopper hours will start at 2 PM each day and end at the park’s scheduled close time. Guests will soon be able to check DisneyWorld.com/ParkHours and the My Disney Experience app for the most up-to-date Park Hopper hours, as they could start earlier at a later date, depending on the day and park.
    • With the updated Park Hopper experience, Annual Passholders must make a Disney Park Pass reservation for the first park they plan to visit AND enter that first park prior to visiting another.
    • At this time, a park reservation is not required after the first park, however, reservation requirements are subject to change. The ability to visit another park will be subject to the park’s capacity limitations and applicable pass blockout dates.
  • During the limited capacity period, it may be difficult for Annual Passholders to get park reservations to visit on certain dates.
  • Some pass benefits and features will not be available during periods of limited capacity. Also, park experiences and offerings have been modified and are subject to limited availability or even closure.
  • Annual Passholders staying at select Disney Resort or other select hotels with valid theme park admission are eligible to make theme park reservations for each day of their Resort stay(s), in addition to holding up to 3 days of theme park reservations at a time on a rolling basis. Once you use a theme park reservation, you can make another reservation for a future date.
  • All reservations are subject to availability and applicable pass blockout dates. Guests should ensure their pass type is valid for park entry prior to making a park reservation. To enter one of the parks, each Passholder is required to have a theme park reservation in addition to a valid annual pass.
  • Starting July 16, additional Disney Park Pass reservations will be offered to Annual Passholders for select dates in July and August at Magic Kingdom park, Epcot and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. Please note that this additional Disney Park Pass reservation availability does not reflect an increase in park attendance, which remains limited during this reopening period. View park reservation availability now.
  • Epcot After 4 PM Passholder Update – With updates to park hours starting September 8, Epcot After 4 PM Passholders can enjoy Epcot beginning at 2 PM on dates when the park closes at 7 PM To enter a park, both a park reservation and valid admission for the same park on the same date are required. Please note that park reservations are limited in number and subject to availability.

 

Please know we will be here to help you as we remain focused on delivering a wonderful experience for everyone who visits.

 

If you have any questions, please contact V.I.PASSHOLDER Support at (407) 939-7277. Options to manage your annual pass continue to be available.

 

Please review any advisories or restrictions in place for travel to Florida, and do not travel to or enter Walt Disney World Resort unless you are free of any COVID-19 symptoms and otherwise comply with the requirements of such advisories and restrictions.

Walt Disney World Resuming 2020 Theme Park Ticket Sales and Resort Hotel Bookings

In just a few days, Walt Disney World will begin welcoming the first guests back to the theme parks, with Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom opening on July 11th and EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on July 15th.

If you recall, Disney had temporarily paused 2020 ticket sales and Disney Resort hotel bookings so that they could focus on helping existing ticket holders and Annual Passholders plan their visits. Today Walt Disney World has announced that beginning tomorrow, July 9th, ticket sales and Disney Resort hotel bookings for 2020 will resume.

In the announcement Disney added a word of precaution for guests trying to book stays or purchase tickets tomorrow….

For those looking to make their plans right away, please note that tickets and Disney Resort hotel bookings may be released at different times throughout the day tomorrow. In addition, we will use virtual waiting rooms as needed to manage the high volume of guests looking to plan their visits.

Walt Disney World to Introduce New Online Vacation Planning Site and Identical Single Day Ticket Pricing for All Parks

Yesterday Walt Disney World announced that beginning October 16th that they will be launching a new vacation planning site to help guests purchase date-based tickets.

In the announcement Disney stated –

“With all there is to see and do in our parks, we know guests are increasingly looking for easier ways to plan a vacation with personalized options that fit their individual needs. Beginning October 16 on DisneyWorld.com, guests will be able to access our new online vacation-planning destination and purchase tickets priced by the date of visit. These changes are designed to simplify the booking experience, give guests an enhanced way to purchase theme park tickets and help them more easily plan the Disney vacation of their dreams”

While Disney has not stated this, presumably this is being done to make it easier for people trying to book and plan a vacation to Walt Disney World by streamlining the now disjointed process by guiding people through the process on a single website as opposed to navigating through the abundance of dropdown menus on Walt Disney World’s current site.  The fact that there is no mention of the fact that date-based pricing that was announce a while ago and has been the pricing practice for the Disneyland Resort for a while now and that they seem to emphasize the planning process seems to verify this.  Personally I’m skeptical that this process will be as “streamlined” as Disney professes.  Disney has a history of making complicated processes even more complicated.  That’s on top of their history of having technical issues and outages.

Here is the video that Disney is using to explain the new site.

What also was not mentioned in the announcement but has been found out is that as of October 16th Walt Disney World will begin pricing all four of it’s theme parks at the same price for single day tickets.  This will eliminate the Magic Kingdom premium, and raising the price of the other three parks to match the ticket price for the Magic Kingdom.

Beginning in the summer of 2013, the Magic Kingdom carried a premium price, putting it at around $5 more than the other three theme parks. The new pricing will now put all four Walt Disney World theme parks between $109 and $129, depending on the season that they will be used.

Currently one-day tickets for Epcot, Studios and Animal Kingdom are between $102 and $122.

With the impending opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World in late fall 2019, the launch of the new planning site seems to make sense due to the anticipated increased bookings of vacations.

What seems odd about the same price for all parks beginning in October is that much of Disney’s Hollywood Studios is still under construction due to the new Star Wars land.  While the price difference between parks doesn’t seem like a lot, the fact that the Studios is barely a full-day park, Disney is expecting guests to pay the same daily ticket price as the other parks.  Maybe Disney is thinking that the Magic Kingdom Premium was too difficult for guests to figure out and this just makes things easier.  If that’s the case, I don’t have as big of an issue with the change and after all we’re only talking about a few dollars a day.  The premium really didn’t seem to change crowd distribution between the parks much anyway.

It will be interesting to see what if any affect this will have on bookings and guest satisfaction.

Walt Disney World Introduces New Magic Bands

It’s been quite the year for MagicBands at Walt Disney World Resort, with the resort-wide rollout of the versatile and easily customizable MagicBand 2, the addition of the super convenient MagicKeeper accessories and an assortment of popular new limited and open edition designs. As Disney continues to expand this innovative wearable, we’re very excited to share a first look at two open edition MagicBands featuring new highly-requested colors that will soon be available for purchase online and wherever MagicBands are sold throughout the Resort.

The first new MagicBand is a solid-color millennial pink, the fashion-forward, trendy shade of pink that continues to grow in popularity. If you’re not familiar with this particular color, its hue is a delicate, softer pink, and we’re already hearing wonderful feedback from guests about this product. The band retails for $12.99 and will debut on Jan. 8. This new MagicBand color is a great addition to the already popular rose-gold Minnie Ears.

The second new color is brown and will first be featured in a fun new design starring the Seven Dwarfs from the Disney classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” The design includes the whole gang – Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy – as well as a few diamonds dug from their famous mine. Guests will have the opportunity to purchase this fun, new MagicBand, selling for $22.99, beginning today.

These colors join the new solid-color black MagicBand, which Disney released last month, offering guests even more choices for how they want to unlock the magic of their Disney vacation. As always, these MagicBands connect the vacation choices and purchases guests make in My Disney Experience – from effortless theme-park entry to Disney PhotoPass association, dining plan redemption, room entry and more. And as a reminder, with the MagicBand 2 design, you are able to remove the center icon to mix and match colors and create multi-color bands or take advantage of one of the MagicKeeper accessories to give you even more options on how to wear the magic.

From The Disney Parks Blog

 

My Disney Experience Update Brings New Features

Disney has released a new version of My Disney Experience that brings a very useful features to app.

For Annual Passholders, it will now be possible to renew a pass directly from the My Disney Experience app.

For guests staying at Walt Disney World Resort hotels, you can now view room charges and Disney Dining Plan entitlements/usage directly in the app. This will make it easier to keep track of the remaining Dining Plan meals and snacks throughout your trip.

For the iOS version, the update will also add compatibility for the upcoming update to iOS11.

The updates for iOS and Android are available in the App Store and Google Play.

Mobile Order Debuts at Epcot’s Electric Umbrella

Mobile Order is now available to guests at the Electric Umbrella in Epcot’s Future World.

The rollout at Epcot will continue with it being available at the Liberty Inn on August 7th.

Mobile Order allows guest to pay for meals within the My Disney Experience app, bypassing what can be a lone line to order at the restaurant. Using the app, guests can select menu items, customize an order and pre-pay for a meal.

Mobile Order is currently available at Electric Umbrella, Columbia Harbour House, Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Café, Pinocchio Village Haus, Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, Tomorrowland Terrace, Flame Tree Barbecue, Pizzafari, Restaurantosaurus, Satu’li Canteen and D-Luxe Burger.

Online Check-In Now Available on My Disney Experience App

It’s been incredible to see the guest experience transform over the past four years since Walt Disney World first launched My Disney Experience in 2013. From the FastPass+ service to MagicBand 2 and Mobile Order, Disney is always exploring new opportunities to make a Walt Disney World Resortvacation even more convenient and more magical.

Earlier this year, Disney unveiled a redesigned My Disney Experience app with new features that spoke to guests’ desire for an easier way to access all of their vacation plans. Today, Disney is bringing yet another feature to the app: Online Check-In.

Guests staying at Disney Resort hotels will be able to use Disney’s Online Check-In service on the My Disney Experience mobile app, expediting their arrival while providing additional convenience, flexibility and customization of their experience. The feature enables Guests to start the check-in process up to 60 days before their arrival, bypassing the need to visit the front desk and giving families the opportunity to begin their vacation as soon as they set foot in Walt Disney World Resort. Guests complete their check-in by unlocking their room, when it is ready, using the MagicBands sent to them prior to their arrival.

With just a few taps of the screen, guests can make room requests, add credit card information and authorize charges, submit an estimated arrival time to help prompt room access, receive a notification when your room is ready and more. Please note that room requests are not guaranteed and guests must provide consent to receive notifications.

The best part? Guests can begin the check-in process at any point up to 60 days prior to your arrival date – even minutes beforehand as you’re transported on Disney’s Magical Express to your resort hotel.

Here is a short video that also explains the online check in process using the My Disney Experience App.

As always, world-class guest service is part of the magic of a Walt Disney World Resort vacation, and front desk and concierge cast members are available at all of our resort hotels to assist guests at their leisure for the duration of their stay.

To take advantage of the Online Check-In service and other features, be sure to download the latest version of My Disney Experience, now available in the App Store for iOS devices and Google Play for Android devices.

Disney to Enforce FastPass+ Usage Terms and Conditions Effective Today

Effective today Disney will be strictly enforcing the FastPass+ terms of usage to make the system fairer for everyone.

What should be of note to guests is the rule regarding FastPass+ reservations only being made on tickets used for admission into the park will be enforced.

According to the official Disneyworld.com website, the rule is:

The valid theme park admission associated with your Site/App account and used to make FastPass+ selections must be the same valid theme park admission that you will use for entry into the park on the day the FastPass+ selections are redeemed.

FastPass+ selections made on tickets not used for theme park admission that same day, the My Disney Experience app may be temporarily locked, and the app will prompt guests to speak to guest relations or call the My Disney Experience Support Center.

Continued attempts to make FastPass+ reservations with tickets not used for admission that day may result in permanent loss of access to FastPass+.

You can read the full FastPass+ terms and conditions here.

The enforcing of this rule results from the abuse of FastPass+ has becoming more widespread.  Visitors have been using friends tickets, expired tickets, and other methods to obtain more than the allowed amount of FastPass+ allocation per day.

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