Jump to: MDE App/Website | Online Checkin | Advance Dining Reservations | Lightning Lane

It is beyond the scope of this Port Orleans website to go into every detail of the My Disney Experience app and website, but for anyone wanting to plan an upcoming trip it is the main tool needed for managing any Disney resort stay. Downloading it is pretty-much essential. The mobile app can be downloaded for Apple or Android devices, and there is also a website - My Disney Experience.

Before you start using the system, you will need to create an online Disney account for each member of your party. If any of you already have usernames on any of the main Disney websites, you should use those same details as they are all connected. Is it perfectly possible for everyone in your party to make their own plans independently, but it makes much more sense for one person to act as the group organiser. To do this, you need to make sure that everyone has given permission to access their plans via the Family and Friends menu.

Once everything is set up, you can link your existing hotel reservations and connect any pre-ordered tickets, and then manage them all online to assign individuals to each reservation or ticket. You can also make new bookings, reserve restaurant meals and Lightning Lane ride times in advance, link your Magic Bands, do online checkin for the hotel, plan your daily itineraries, check current attraction wait times, etc. You can even access your Memory Maker / PhotoPass pictures after your trip.

In short, it is the central hub that lets you access and plan your whole Walt Disney World vacation experience, so take some time to explore and understand it fully as it is fundamental to pretty-much everything else that follows.

If you encounter any difficulties with the app or website you can call Disney’s technical support helpdesk for My Disney Experience, Dining Reservations, Magic Bands, etc on (407) 939-4357 (USA), 0800 16 90 749 (UK) or 1800 812 677 (IE).

Online Checkin

You can provide checkin information for your whole party in advance, including contact details and your expected checkin and checkout times. You can also assign a payment card at this point, complete with a different PIN number for each member of your party.

There are some Special Request tick-boxes you can select during the process, but to be honest they are somewhat limited at present so you might be better off getting any requests added to your original booking in advance, which can be done using the Chat feature in the app (see the Making Special Room Requests page).

When you arrive at the resort, in most cases your room will already have been allocated for you – often even if your arrival is before the official 3pm checkin time. If by any chance you are not happy with the room location that you’ve been assigned in advance, you can always ask a Front Desk cast member to check again to see what other rooms might have become available in the meantime, or you could offer to wait for another room to be cleaned and be made ready if you want. Any Magic Bands connected to your account will be automatically reprogrammed for your new room number.

There is now an additional “Direct to Room” arrival option provided for any guests who have completed the full online checkin process and either have an existing Magic Band or have set up their mobile phone to act as a room key. This allows the resort to communicate your room number to you directly by email or text message shortly before your arrival time (as soon as the room is ready of course). You can then go straight to your assigned room without ever needing to visit the Front Desk, and your Magic Bands or mobile phone will be fully activated and ready for use. A Welcome Pack of resort information will be waiting for you in the room.

The Direct to Room facility won’t suit all guests of course. If it’s your first time staying at Port Orleans then I’d strongly suggest you call at the Front Desk first – if for no other reason than to be given useful information about the resort and detailed instructions on how to find your room. And even if you have been issued with a room number in advance it can still be altered, so should you have any concerns you are welcome to talk to a Front Desk Cast Member and check in the old fashioned way if you prefer.

Advanced Dining Reservations

From 60 days prior to your arrival date (used to be 180 days pre-COVID) you can start to make Advanced Dining Reservations for table-service meals at the Disney theme parks, resort hotels, and Disney Springs locations. As an on-site hotel guest, you also get the advantage of being able to book for the entire first ten days of your stay at the same time, effectively giving you an extra 10-day window over off-site guests – which is great for the restaurants which tend to sell out quickly. Each new day’s inventory is released online at 6am Eastern, or the telephone reservations center opens at 7am Eastern on (407) WDW-DINE (407 939 3463).

The system will link your bookings into your My Disney Experience account, allowing you to view, modify and cancel whenever you wish, and you can indicate which of your Friends and Family group will be present for each meal. Note: cancellations are free up to one day before the reservation date, but if you cancel on the day (or you just don’t show up) then your credit card will be charged a $10 per person fee. Please check the cancellation windows for any reservations which require full payment at the time of booking (such as dinner shows) as the terms may vary.

Lightning Lane

Lightning Lane Multi Pass is Disney’s new replacement for Genie+, which in itself was the replacement for FastPass and FastPass+. It allows guests with valid tickets to use the app to prebook attraction time-slots – for a fee of course. You can book up to three attractions at a park of your choice, 3-7 days in advance depending on your ticket type or hotel stay. A tiering system applies, so you can only pre-book a maximum of one headliner "top tier" attraction per day, and two (or even all three) lower tier attractions.

Additionally, there are several very high demand attractions that can ONLY be purchased on a one-off basis, by separately paying for up to two “Lighting Lane Single Pass” slots per day. These include rides like TRON, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Guardians of the Galaxy, Rise of the Resistance, and Avatar Flight of Passage.

Unlike the previous Genie+ system, selections can be made for your whole party first, to ensure that the choices you want are available, BEFORE making any payment. For more details, see the Lighning Lane page.