Something NEW is starting to pop up in more and more Disney World hotels and you need to know about it.
Disney World hotels have changed quite a bit over the past few months from the return of free overnight hotel parking for guests to hotel restaurant menu overhauls and other adjustments. But now we’ve started to see something else happening in the resorts.
Remember when Disney (WAY back when) announced a new, complimentary Amazon Alexa-powered hotel perk would be coming to Disney World and Disneyland soon? No? What we’re talking about “Hey, Disney!”
These are little Amazon Alexa Echo Show devices powered with the “Hey, Disney!” service that are placed in Disney World hotel rooms. You can get “custom voice assistance” through the service to do things like order more towels for your room, see how late the parks will be open, play games, and even get messages from Disney characters.
These were initially set to roll out in 2022, but it seems they’ve been installed in batches a little slower than that. We’ve already spotted these devices at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, but now they’ve arrived at another hotel.
A huge thanks to our Instagram follower Bill B (@bbrandt4 on Instagram) who sent us the image below and let us know that “Hey, Disney!” was available in their hotel room during their recent stay at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — French Quarter.
So that brings our total of Disney World hotels with “Hey, Disney!” devices in them to 3 (that we know of so far).
Still not sure how “Hey, Disney!” works or can help you? Let’s go through the basics. If you arrive in your hotel room and see “Hey, Disney!” there, the device should be muted upon your arrival (you’ll see a button on top that looks like this: ⊘ and is red). You can press it to unmute the device.
Once you’ve unmuted it, you can start to ask it questions by saying “Hey, Disney!” at the beginning of your phrase (or by touching the interactive screen or saying “Alexa”).
Then, you’ve got a few different more practical things you can do:
- You can use “Hey, Disney!” to ask for things for the room like extra towels, blankets, or pillows
- You can ask it park-related questions like “What time does EPCOT open” or other things of that nature
- You can ask about when the next bus to a specific park or Disney Springs is scheduled to arrive at your hotel
- You can ask for the weather forecast so you know what to wear
- “Hey, Disney!” can set alarms for you so you get up in time to make those Genie+ selections
“Hey, Disney!” also has some more fun features. With it, you can:
- Interact with characters in new ways — If you ask about the weather (for example) Olaf might share some comments about how he loves summer and everything hot, or Dory might tell you that she will NOT forget about your alarm (this time)
- Hear jokes from your favorite characters
- Participate in some Disney trivia that’ll challenge the whole family
- Listen to soundscapes that’ll make you feel like you’ve traveled into your favorite Disney movies
- Read a bedtime story
- Experience “Magic Moments” that let you and your little one “go on adventures” with some of your favorite Disney friends
- Get personalized messages from your favorite characters
The service has also introduced a new character called the Disney Magical Companion. That character serves as your guide and can answer your questions.
The service is also set to be made available for people to use at home (by purchasing the skill through the Amazon Alexa skill store) but that has not yet been released.
For now, keep an eye out for “Hey, Disney!” to be installed in your Disney hotel room in the future. To see our full page about “Hey, Disney!” and EVERYTHING it can do — click here. And stay tuned for more Disney World hotel updates.
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Would you use “Hey, Disney!” in your hotel room? Tell us in the comments.
Mona says
We just left Port Orleans Riverside. They left us a note that they are installing them in the rooms there too. They were expecting to install it this week in the bayou section.
CH says
Stayed her in March with 13 grandson who doesn’t complain about anything except how the food is soooo bad at this resort, which I agree I know the prices are high but if one has to pay the price the food should be at leading eatable
Linda says
Stayed Port Orleans Riverside May 15-22 and we had one.