The Disneyland App and Genie Plus

If you have never been to Disneyland before, then you need to understand how to use the Disneyland app and also understand the benefits of having it while in the parks. I want to break it all down for you, so you can make the best decision for how you will navigate the parks, along with how using the app can save you a lot of time in the park. 
DISNEYLAND APP
First, I really believe the app is a must have when visiting Disneyland. It provides you with so much information right at your fingertips. To me, it can save you valuable time in many different ways, which I will go over later. So, it's not a question of whether or not to use the app, it's all about how you use it to maximize your time and experience while at the parks. Make sure everyone in your party who has a cell phone downloads the app. 

When you download this app, you want to make sure you are downloading the app for Disneyland. There is a different app for Walt Disney World, so double check you are downloading the right app. It looks like this:
If you don't have a Disney account, it will have you sign up for one. It will also have you connect a payment method. Do this! This is how you will be able to mobile order, which is the best way to order food in the parks. I explain this all later.

Once you have the app downloaded, let's talk about all the different features and how to use them. The first thing you will want to look for is the three lines in the right bottom corner. When you click on these three lines, you will find a variety of options. But you will want to click on "Tickets and Passes." On this part of the app, you will want to add the tickets of all the people in your party. I go into more detail about this on my post about Genie Plus. But trust me! Just do it!

Okay, once you have all your tickets linked, I highly suggest you play around with it, getting to know how it works. Many of the features work whether you are in the park or not. I often find myself looking at the map feature wishing I was there and seeing how long rides are in the park, while sitting on my couch. 
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What I find myself using the the most is the location part of the app. If you click on the location icon, you will be able to see a map of the parks. You can find anything from ride wait times, locations of rides, bathrooms, restaurants, and characters, along with times and locations of entertainment. Again, play around with the app before you go. If you do this, you will know where to find everything you need while in the parks.

Let's break down each of the different features, so you know the benefit of using each. There are more on there then I will go over, but these are the ones you will most likely use a lot. 
  • Attractions
    • You can see which rides are closed, what their wait times are, and location of the rides. I will often use this if we are trying to see which ride we could ride quickly before another ride we have a Genie Plus for.
  • Characters
    • If you have a child (or you yourself) want to see characters, you can switch to this mode on the map and it will show you where characters are located. You are sure to see many more characters if you know where to look for them.
  • Dining
    • This is my favorite part of the app. It allows you to see where food is located, but more important, which places you can mobile order from. We eat about 90% of our meals by mobile ordering. I'll go into detail more about this later. It's also great if you are having a major churro craving and need to find the nearest churro cart. 
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We found Mickey!!!
  • Entertainment
    • If you are big into seeing entertainment, such as fireworks or parades, you can use this part of the map to see where these things are located and the times they will take place.
  • Bathrooms
    • Rather than looking all over, as some bathroom locations can be quite hidden, jump on this map to see where the closest location is. 
  • Photo Pass
    • I'm big on getting the biggest bang for my buck. One perk of spending extra money on Genie Plus is that you get all your photos from rides and Photo Pass locations added right to your app. Photo Pass locations are locations around the parks that provide great backdrops to take pictures. There is a cast member there to take photos. They will take your photo, scan your Photo Pass QR code on your app, and it will be added to this feature on your app. You can then download them from there to your phone. To me, this is worth the price of Genie Plus alone. These pictures can be quite expensive by themselves. So, if you know where to look for these locations on your map, you can get more of them done and get your money's worth.
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A photo taken at a Photo Pass location in Galaxy's Edge

PictureThese go fast!
I could go on and on about all the features on this app, but I'm going to stop there and focus on two of the more popular features and the ones I use the most. They are the mobile ordering function and Genie Plus.

MOBILE ORDERING
Like I mentioned up above, you can use the map feature to find restaurants. Locations that have an image of a phone and a small fork and knife (see image to the right), are locations that offer mobile ordering. Mobile ordering is the only way to order food if you want to save time in the parks. If you are all about the sit down restaurants and making reservations 60 days in advance, then this isn't for you. But, if you want to grab a meal and not wait in a long line, this is the way you want to go.

The first thing you need to know about mobile ordering is that times can fill. What that means is that for some of the more popular restaurants or food items (i.e., Gingerbread Mickey during Christmas time), you can jump on your app at 11:30 to order lunch and find that they don't have a time available until 4:00 p.m. So, it does take some thinking and planning ahead. 

We rope drop, meaning we get into the parks before they open. While we are waiting, this is when we will order breakfast. For instance, the last time we were in the parks, we were waiting for the ropes to drop around 7:45. I got on my app, ordered breakfast for us all at Red Rose Tavern for 9:30, got in the park, rode a bunch of rides for the first hour and half in Fantasyland, and then went and grabbed our breakfast during our time window. You are given a window to return. You will get a reminder from the app, but I suggest setting you own alarm. If you miss your window, your order will be cancelled. What blew my mind is the number of people not using this feature. When I walked through the doors to Red Rose Tavern and right up to the counter to grab our food, I passed about thirty people in a line out the door, waiting to order. I kept thinking about all the time they are wasting standing in line, that could have been used to experience more magic.
Not everything is something you have to mobile order way in advance. For instance, we were able to mobile order Blue Milk from Galaxy's Edge and popcorn from the Cozy Cone, and pick it up immediately. But be prepared with a backup option if you are starving and forget to order in advance.

Lastly, this is why you want to attached a payment method to your app when you set it up. This allows you to mobile order and charge it right to your card from the app. 

So, these are the basics of the Disneyland app. The best way to make sure you get the most of it is to play around with it before your trip. And, for the one of the biggest and most important features, check out this post about Genie Plus.