If you are planning to go anywhere near a Disney park, there is one place you have to start: My Disney Experience, either through the Disney website or the My Disney Experience Mobile App.
Regardless of how “tech-y” you may or may not be, creating an account on My Disney Experience and having the associated My Disney Experience app installed on your smartphone will be absolutely crucial when it comes to your vacation planning.
My Disney Experience is the one-stop shop to link all of your Dining Reservations, Fastpasses, Payment options, hotel reservations—check attraction wait times, purchase memory makers…. in other words, it’s everything.
I tend to prefer to do initial setups on my computer, but this can be done on a smartphone via the app. The screenshots below are from the desktop, but I will add more info about the My Disney Experience App further down in the post.
Here’s how to set up your My Disney Experience account and get started
Prefer to follow along by video? Check out my video tutorial on YouTube! Otherwise, keep scrolling for a written guide.
Go to www.mydisneyexperience.com (this should open in a new tab on your screen).
At the very top of the screen, go to the link that says ” create your account.”
You will then be directed to a second screen where you either sign-in or create an account.
For newbies, click ” create an account.”
Go ahead and fill in your information.
At the bottom, you will click “create account.”
You will then be taken back at the home screen, except at the top of the page you will see a welcome link.
Click on the welcome link. You will be taken to a screen where you will be able to create your My Disney Experience profile. Start by customizing your character.
From here, you can customize your account settings, check your membership benefits and add your preferred payment methods…which will ultimately link to your Disney magic bands.
At the top right-hand corner of the screen, you can find the My Disney Experience home panel. 
From this screen, you can add all of your family members and link their magic bands and/or tickets.
After your profile and info are squared away, the next step is to download the My Disney Experience app. This is CRITICAL to have in the parks.
The My Disney Experience app is the virtual hub of all the planning tools you will need for your day. Once you download and open the app, go ahead and sign in. From there, you can:
Check wait times for all the park attractions
Make your FastPass reservations
You can select up to 3 FastPass at a time for each person in your party with a ticket. All guests must be on or linked to your MyDisneyExperience account. After your 3 passes are used, you can log back in and look for another. For more info on how to use the Disney Fastpass System, head over to complete guide to Disney Fastpass
Check park hours and show times
Make your Advanced Dining Reservations
Check Out Your PhotoPass Photos
I recommend downloading and getting used to the app as soon as you get your tickets. I’m not gonna lie, even in the parks I feel like I am always on it checking for new FastPasses or wait times. ( Which is why a portable charger is always on my must-have Disney packing list. My phone never lasts that long).
I hope this helps you get started with My Disney Experience and the My Disney Experience App! It will make your planning so much easier! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email!
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If you liked this post, check out:
The Complete Guide To The Disney FastPass System
Taryn
This is such a great guide to MDE! It can be VERY overwhelming for those who aren’t techie! Thanks for sharing!