MyMagic+ 101
The future has arrived at Walt Disney World, making it much simpler to navigate around the park with the use of Disney’s latest and greatest technology ecosystem: MyMagic+, a pretty neat RFID-based system.
The app.
With MyMagic+, it all starts with the app, My Disney Experience (MDX for short). It’s available for free on the App Store, and Google Play, as well as a web-based version at disneyworld.com. You will need to set up an account or login to your pre-existing Disney.com account to access most of it’s powerful features. The app comes in handy when making setting reservations, displaying attraction wait times, and it’s packed with a full property map to assist you in finding the nearest restroom, ATM, and all other locations of interest. Most of all, it’s a major time and energy saver. The app does connect to the internet, however Walt Disney World is equipped with park-wide WiFi at all of it’s parks and resorts.
The band.
Another component of MyMagic+ is the MagicBand. If you’re staying in a Walt Disney World Resort hotel, the MagicBand comes as a part of the package, otherwise when you purchase park tickets, you will be provided with a green RFID-enabled park ticket card, which works in mostly the same way that the MagicBand does. The MagicBands are a waterproof RFID-enabled wearable device that magically connects various elements in the park to your account via touch points. Touch points are spots where you tap your MagicBand to interact like charging purchases to your resort room bill, confirming you’re yourself for your reservations and for entering your room and the parks. Currently, the one major difference between the MagicBand and the park ticket cards is that MagicBands have a special antenna within that automatically detect when you pass a ride camera and will save your photos to your account, where if you have the card, you will need to tap your card to the touch points below the photo preview monitors at the end of the ride. MagicBands come in a variety of colors and designs with ranging prices. You can also accessorize them with sleeve covers, sliders and additional snap-on elements to make them uniquely yours.
Now what?
So you’re still planning your trip to the parks? If so, it’s not a bad idea to download MDX and login to your account, and get a good feel of how it works. You may want to get a feel of how long the wait times are for various attractions at various times of the day and on which days of the week, and keep into consideration the peak seasons, holidays and more. Also it doesn’t hurt to get a feel of the land a bit and study the maps so you won’t be overly disoriented if this is your first visit.
