Everyone knows that you can look up ride wait times, view restaurant menus, and make park pass reservations on the Disney World app. But if you know THESE sneaky tricks, you’ll look like a Disney technology GENIUS.

One of our biggest tips for Disney World vacation planning is to download the My Disney Experience app on your phone. We’ve used this app countless times, and along the way, we’ve discovered a bunch of super cool tricks that most people don’t know about! 

This first one can literally save your Disney day!

Mobile Charging Stations

Did you know that you can find charging stations on the Disney World app? Just go to the search button, type in “Mobile Charging Stations,” and this page should pop up!

If you choose “Find on Map,” you’ll be able to track down the closest charging station to you. Disney notes that all of these stations have both AC and USB outlets, but you’ll need to bring your own charging cable.

In Magic Kingdom, there’s a charging station near “it’s a small world” and another one over in Storybook Circus.

Right now, it looks like Disney has only uploaded the data for Magic Kingdom, but we’re hoping that they include information for the other three parks soon.

Check out one of our favorite places to charge our phones in EPCOT here!

Mobile Checkout for Souvenirs

So you probably already know about Mobile Order on the My Disney Experience app, where you can pre-order your food at many quick service restaurants, then pick it up later in the day without having to wait in line. But did you know that there’s a similar feature for SHOPPING? It’s called Mobile Checkout, and it’s a game-changer.

Open up the app to the home page and click the little “+” button on the bottom menu. From there, select “Merchandise Mobile Checkout.”

You’ll be prompted to select a store. Note that this isn’t available for ALL gift shops in Disney World, but it’s available at most of the biggest stores.

If you’re not actually at the store that you selected, the app will give you this error page letting you know that you’re too far away. You can try again once you’re closer to the store.

But if you’re inside the store, you’ll be able to scan the barcode of any items you’d like to purchase and then check out right on the app! If you qualify for a Disney World discount (like an Annual Passholder or DVC discount), it’ll be applied to your items automatically as long as you’re signed into the Disney account that’s associated with that discount.

Once you’ve paid for your items in the app, you’ll get a QR code. Show this QR code to the Cast Members at one of these Mobile Checkout stations, and they’ll scan your code and then give you a bag to carry all of your stuff in.

Pretty handy, right? This could save you a lot of time if the lines at the checkout counter are long.

Here’s a list of all the stores that are currently using Mobile Checkout in Disney World:

• Emporium at Magic Kingdom
• Star Traders at Magic Kingdom
• Tomorrowland Launch Depot at Magic Kingdom
• Creations Shop at EPCOT
• Treasures of Xandar at EPCOT
• Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Mickey’s of Hollywood at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Discovery Trading Company at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Island Mercantile at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Super Hero Headquarters at Disney Springs
• World of Disney at Disney Springs

Water Bottle Refill Station Finder

This is another one of our favorite app tricks! Go to the search feature in the app and type in “Water Bottle Refill Stations.” This page should come up:

From here, you’ll be able to find the nearest water bottle refill station!

Click “Find on Map” to see all the locations laid out on the map for each park.

If you click on one location, you’ll get more information about where specifically the refill station is located.

This is a great hack to help you stay hydrated in Disney World!

Click here to see the water bottle that literally everyone is taking to Disney World right now!

Direct-to-Room — SKIP Lobby Check-in!

Did you know that you don’t actually have to go to the lobby of your Disney World hotel in order to check in? You can just do it on the app and go straight to your room once you arrive! Go to your profile on the app (the three stacked horizontal lines on the bottom menu, if you’re on the home page) and scroll down to find this section:

Choose “Hotel Reservations,” and this page with all the details about your reservation should pop up. If it doesn’t pop up, then you’ll need to link your Disney hotel reservation to your account.

Before your arrival day, you can use the Online Check-In service (located here), and then on the day of your arrival, you can check the app to see real-time updates about when your room is ready. When it’s ready, your room number will pop up! You can then use your MagicBand or phone to unlock the door.

In the same place on the Disney World app (under “Hotel Reservations”), you should see an option to “Unlock Door” (located right under your room number).

You can click this to unlock your hotel room door! You do have to be close by — you need to hold up your phone to the door’s lock in order to use this feature. 

Another option that’s also located on this same page is “Find on Map” (scroll to the right on the menu right under your room number).

If you click this, you’ll open up a map of your hotel! This looks just like the physical maps, with various locations like guest services, pools, and restaurants marked.

You can use it to locate your room, as the room and building numbers are also marked on the map.

You can also get a physical map of the hotel from guest services in the lobby, but with this app hack, you don’t have to worry about losing it.

Don’t forget that a NEW Disney World hotel perk is starting in 2025!

Map Filters

One of the best features of the Disney World app is the interactive maps of the parks! You can find them by clicking the little place indicator button on the menu at the bottom of the screen (the second option from the left on that menu). Once you have the map pulled up, you can filter it based on which park you want to see. But did you know you can also filter by other categories?

Click the down arrow next to the title of the map (at the top center of the page) to see several more categories pop up! You can filter by Wait Times, Attractions, Characters, Dining, and several other options so that you’re just seeing the information you want.

One of the most handy of these categories is the restrooms one! If you need to find the closest bathroom, just pull up this map and find the one that’s nearest you.

You can click on one of the bathrooms and more information will pop up, including an option to get directions if you’re not sure exactly where it’s located.

Another handy category is the transportation one. This will show you all the transportation options in each park.

Like with the restrooms feature, you can click on a specific location to get more info about that spot.

Hopefully this helps you navigate the parks a little easier the next time you visit!

Click here to see some Disney World transportation RULES you need to know before you visit the parks.

Car Locator

This feature has been around for a while, but it’s so good that we’re STILL talking about it now. It’s the Car Locator feature! You can find it on your profile page (those three stacked horizontal lines on the bottom menu) by scrolling down to the “Getting Around” section.

When you click Car Locator, this page pops up. You can use this to save the location of your car so that, at the end of the day, you don’t forget where you parked.

You can either save the location using the app’s Location Services feature or manually enter information about where you parked. If you use the Location Services and the app gets it wrong, you can also adjust the location that’s saved.

Then, at the end of the day, you can more easily find where you’ve parked!

Click here to learn more about this feature.

See ALL Nighttime Entertainment in ONE Place

Our last hack is super handy for planning your evening in Disney World. Go to your profile and scroll down to “Plan Your Next Visit.” From there, choose “Park Hours & Info.”

On one side of this page, you can see the park hours for each day of your visit. But what we’re talking about here is the OTHER side — the one labeled “Today.”

You can click on that section to see more details about what’s happening today in Disney World, including a list of nighttime entertainment like fireworks shows and Fantasmic!

It also has information about the parades and cavalcade happening throughout the parks…

…and what’s temporarily CLOSED for refurbishment.

This could be super handy as you plan out your day!

Click here for more information about Disney World’s theme park hours.

And there you have it! With all of those hacks in your tool belt, you’ll be the expert of your group when it comes to Disney tech. Stay tuned to DFB for more tips and tricks as you plan your next Disney World vacation!

Click here to learn even more about the My Disney Experience app!

What other Disney World app hacks do you know? Spill your secrets in the comments!