Before you head out to enjoy a Walt Disney World or a Disneyland vacation, you should study some basic lingo. There are certain terms that will help you understand what's going on at Mouse Land.
Cast Member: The employees of the Disney company are called cast members. Everyone from Bob Iger at the executive tippy top to the least-paid employee in the Disney bubble is called a cast member. This is because the founder of everything and then some, Walt Disney, considered his theme parks to be like theatre productions. For example, anything behind the scenes not visible to the general public is considered backstage. The attire worn while working is called a costume. Cast members are easily identified as they wear badges that have their name and their hometowns on them. New cast members are earning their ears, while more experienced ones might have pins added to their badge displaying the number of years they have been with the company. The number one priority (besides safety) of cast members is to help guests have an amazing vacation. Never hesitate to reach out to them should a need arise, or if you simply want to chat!
Attractions and Headliners: An attraction refers to a show, a ride, and many of the experiences at the parks. Headliners are some of the most popular attractions at the parks. For example, the newest ride at Magic Kingdom Park in Walt Disney World is called Tron and it is a headliner! Attractions that are on the Individual Light Lane selection list (see below for more about Genie+) are definitely headliners too.
My Disney Experience (MDE): At Walt Disney World, this is where you link in your resort reservation, make advance dining reservations, theme park reservations, and Genie+ reservations. You log in either via the website or through the MDE app. There is so much additional information in your MDE account, including park hours, maps, parade and show times, and fireworks schedules. MDE is unique to Walt Disney World. Disneyland has its own separate website (you can access it easily through your Disney account) and its own Disneyland mobile app where you do similar things.
Park Reservations: while this is going away on January 9, 2024, for date-based tickets, a park reservation is currently necessary to visit one of the theme parks each day. You make park reservations in your Disney account. Don't forget to do this as otherwise, you can't get through a theme park's turnstile. Park reservations have been a tool Disney uses to gauge crowd capacity. Park reservations in 2024 still may be required for non-date-based tickets so stay tuned if you are an Annual Passholder or have other types of tickets.
Table Service and Quick Service Restaurants: A table service restaurant is where you make a reservation in advance and are seated at a table where the cast members take your orders and bring them to you. A quick service restaurant is where you order your food by waiting in line at a counter and then carrying it on a tray to a table to eat. You can mobile order food at quick service restaurants in your app so definitely take advantage of that perk plus enjoy the air conditioning if you are able to grab a table inside the venue.
Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs): these are reservations at table service restaurants that guests make ahead of their vacation. At Walt Disney World, reservations open up 60 days in advance of when guests check in at an on-property resort. As an added perk, on-property guests can make ADRs for up to 10 days of their vacation stay when their window opens up, which makes for streamlined vacation planning! All other guests make reservations up to 60 days in advance, which means they must check availability day after day.
When the dining window opens, ADR's appear online at 6 am EST on the website or using the MDE app. An hour later at 7 am EST, guests can start calling Disney's dining line (407-WDW-DINE) if they would rather have a cast member assist them. Disneyland reservations are also available 60 days in advance too, with bookings opening around 6 am (PST). Guests can book online or in the Disneyland mobile app. For both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, most restaurant reservations can be canceled up to two hours before the reservation time to avoid a no-show fee. Certain experiences like character dining or very high-end restaurants may carry their own cancellation policies - definitely look it up!
Genie: is a free planning tool created by Disney to help guests navigate their day. It is found in the MDE app. Guests use it to guide them through the theme parks with tips to help reduce time in attraction lines. All you have to do is let the Disney Genie know what you want to do under the "My Day" tab by selecting different options (dining, entertainment, enchanting extras, attractions). You can personalize your day in the parks even more by revealing general interests. There is so much information that Genie provides. Guests can also, for example, request to see height requirements, projected wait times, join a virtual queue, and mobile order food. If you have questions, you can ask the virtual assistant to help. You can start planning your trip ahead of time with the Genie if you have purchased tickets and linked them into your MDE app first. Once you've done that, even from home, you can play around with the Genie so that you are comfortable using it when you get to Disney.
Genie+: is an add-on and is a paid service that allows guests to reserve specific times to experience specific attractions (over 40 attractions and counting at Walt Disney World and 20 attractions at Disneyland) by going through a quicker line called "Lightning Lanes."
At Walt Disney World, If you want to purchase Genie+, this is done daily, opening up at midnight. The cost to purchase this varies, usually ranging from $15 to $35 per person. The pricing is lower, no surprise, during slower times and higher during peak times. For Walt Disney World, all guests with valid theme park admissions and park reservations (until they are phased out) can begin booking a Lightning Lane attraction starting at 7 am for that day.
Certain Genie+ special high-demand attractions cost more and are called "Individual Lightning Lane" selections. For ease of convenience, some of us in the industry refer to these ILL selections as "fancy rides" (we love Molly's terms from the Mammoth Club over on Youtube) as it is less confusing. Resort guests staying on-property at Disney World can book fancy ride selections at 7 am too, which is a perk over off-property guests who have to wait to purchase a fancy ride when the theme park opens. These"fancy rides" vary in price, and you can only purchase two of them per day. Guests may purchase the "fancy ride" option without purchasing Genie+. Currently, the fancy rides at Walt Disney World are Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON Lightcycle / Run (Magic Kingdom), Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Hollywood Studios), Avatar Flight of Passage (Animal Kingdom), and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (Epcot).
For Disneyland, the Genie+ daily fee starts costs $25 and up per person, per day. If you want to use the service for the entirety of your trip, you can purchase multi-day tickets with Genie+ in advance for Disneyland. An added perk with the Genie+ at Disneyland is that guests enjoy unlimited Disney PhotoPass digital downloads from the day. To activate Genie+ at Disneyland, you have to enter a theme park first but you do not have to stay in the park at all times. After you have entered, you can leave and make Lightning Lane selections from anywhere. Just make sure you are back in the park in enough time to ride. Individual Lightning Lane selections ("fancy rides") also exist at Disneyland too. Currently, the fancy rides at the Disneyland Resort are Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Disneyland Park), and Radiator Springs Racers (Disney California Adventure Park).
Genie+ for first-timers is VERY confusing! Global Wishes recommends watching some youtube videos (especially the Mammoth Club ones) to walk you through the ins and outs. Once you start using Genie+ it does get easier. Do remember that so long as you have a valid theme park admission and park reservations you don't have to purchase Genie+ if you'd like to wait in the regular ride queues.
MagicBands: These are plastic bands (looks like your smartwatch) that embed a ton of information including your trip plans, dining reservations, park reservations, park tickets, and Genie+ items. You can also use it to open your on-property resort hotel room. You can also charge to your resort portfolio. Don't forget to wear them to the theme parks to enter, swipe them on Lightning Lane rides you have selected, and show them to the Disney photographers when they take your photo in the parks. The newest bands are MagicBand+ and the older ones are called MagicBands. Both work fine, the + ones are definitely more expensive. MagicBands are nontransferable. Your MagicBand+ will work at Walt Disney World and also at Disneyland (but it has to be a + band, not the older ones). Disney Cruise Line is also introducing MagicBand+ to its ships, starting with the Disney Wish this past spring.
Park Hopper: When guests purchase a basic park ticket they are entitled to visit one park per day. Upgrading to a park hopper means they can visit more than one park in a day. Currently, park hopping at Walt Disney World can begin at 2 pm.
Part of the fun of going on a Disney vacation is the anticipation that builds beforehand. So study up on your Disney lingo before heading out to Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
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