Top 5 Apps to Have on Your Smartphone for Your Trip to Disney World

One important planning tip that can make a Disney trip easier (and more enjoyable) is having the right apps downloaded to your smartphone. Some of the built-in apps that most phones have, like Camera and Weather, are invaluable. However, I would recommend you download a few from the app store, on whatever mobile device you own, before your trip. Disney planning has now gone digital, and these apps can help you with everything from determining attraction wait times, to park tips to information on Disney restaurants and much more. Best of all, most of them can keep you entertained while waiting in line!

5 – Magic Guide for Disney World

This app has all the most important information you need for a day at the parks- and it’s free to download, though there are in-app purchases. The Magic Guide for Disney World offers park hours, attraction wait times and parade/showtimes, maps, restaurant menus, photos, and descriptions. If you allow the app to use your location, you can use the maps to see the closest attractions, restaurants, and restrooms. I mostly use the app for wait times and park hours, but you can also use it to organize dining schedules and to share those plans with others. Note that you can get most, if not all, of this information for free by using the My Disney Experience app, but this offers a nice alternative if you want to use something else.

4 – Play Disney Parks

This official app from Disney was designed to help make your wait time on certain attractions a little more entertaining. Users who download Play Disney Parks (which works in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World) can play games with their party that are themed to certain attractions. For instance, if you’re waiting for Avatar: Flight of Passage or Toy Story Mania, you can play games designed to match the queue area and earn badges. Some attractions have multiple games you can play, which works well with rides with lines spanning over an hour. For shorter attractions, all you need to earn a badge is to ride the attraction itself.

If you have an Apple Music subscription, this app also comes with theme park music playlists you can download. If not, you can play trivia while walking around the parks and the fun, interactive maps you can examine. This app is still evolving, and not all attractions are listed yet. Disney recently added resort experiences, so now you can play while exploring the Art of Animation Resort. I’m sure, soon enough, every ride, restaurant, and resort will have some sort of badge, game, or achievement, and you’ll need to visit them all to fully complete everything.

3 – Sorcerer Radio

If you can’t get Disney park music through the Play Disney Parks app, Sorcerer Radio is another good option. This app streams park music all day, every day. You can even have it on in the background while doing other things on your phone. Park loops and attraction music are always added, so you’ll have both the latest songs and nostalgic Disney tunes in your pocket. In my opinion, this is the perfect app to get you hyped for your Disney trip, whether you’re listening to it on the way there, in the hotel room as you’re getting ready for a park day, or after your vacation is over and you’re feeling homesick for Disney.

2 – Mouse Memo Trip Organizer

If you’re the type of extreme organizer who likes to put everything into binders and sort things into categories, then I would definitely recommend this app. For $1.99, you can use Mouse Memo to keep track of things like rental cars, hotels, flight times, reservations, airport transfer information, and tours. You can also utilize their restaurant guide, which grabs up-to-date menus from dining locations all over Disney World property. I’m the type of person who likes checking and double-checking itineraries. If I’m traveling between Disney and other Orlando destinations, I like to keep my important information all in one place.

1 – My Disney Experience 

If you only download one app for your trip to Disney World, make sure it’s this one! My Disney Experience (or MDE) is basically your lifeline while you’re in the World. On the app, make and change dining reservations, look at PhotoPass pictures, view park maps, wait times, showtimes, and character meet and greet locations…and much, much more. If you have a Disney resort reservation, you can use the app to check in early and even use your phone as a room key to open your resort door! The new complimentary Disney Genie tools can give you itinerary suggestions, which are a great starting point for planning. Finally, you’ll need the app to make your Lightning Lane selections.

I’ve always loved doing things at Disney World without having to call someone, and this app basically lets you check, add, and edit every aspect of your vacation. Of course, there are real-life Cast Members around to help, but this is a must-have for planning purposes before your trip! This app is free to download, and now that most parties travel with smartphones, there’s really no excuse not to have My Disney Experience on your mobile device!