Walt Disney World is rolling out a series of app and website updates over the coming weeks and months aimed at making vacation planning less stressful, including a new trip checklist, AI-powered search and updated booking tools, Disney executives revealed during a media presentation last week.
The focus throughout the presentation was pretty straightforward: simplify planning, make booking easier, and help guests feel more more prepared before they arrive.
Executives pointed to guest feedback as the reason for many of the recent and upcoming changes, especially around frustrations with navigating the My Disney Experience app, booking dining reservations, understanding Lightning Lane, and figuring out what steps guests still need to complete before their trip.
Some of the recent changes are already being well received by guests, according to Disney. Combining “today’s plans” and “future plans” into a single “My Plans” section with dated tabs inside the My Disney Experience app improved ease of use ratings in the app by 8%, according to the company.
Disney also said updates to the dining reservation search, including easier date-range and location searches, improved satisfaction by 5% and led to record-high website ratings. This is a personal favorite of mine. The previous dining search method was awful.
Other recent updates include both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort making it possible to book park reservations inside the app. Before the update, you had to leave the app to book and manage park reservations on the website. This was long overdue. Disney also added a new visual flow for the resort check-in process, to make it more clear when there were remaining steps to complete the online check-in process.
Both of those changes rolled out in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, moving Lightning Lane selections from day-of booking back to a pre-arrival system led to a double-digit increase in both ease of use and overall satisfaction, according to Disney.
Disney framed the change as a response to guest feedback, but many guests had been calling for the return of pre-planning ever since Genie+ replaced FastPass after the pandemic. The day-of booking Genie+ system added stress and forced guests to spend more time on their phones during park days, so it’s not surprising satisfaction increased once Disney shifted planning back to pre-arrival.
The company said Spanish translations are coming to the My Disney Experience app soon, marking the first time the app will support another language.
Disney executives and spokespeople also walked through several additional app updates planned for later this year and showed internal mockups of the redesigned experience. However, Disney declined to publicly share the visuals, saying elements of the app’s design could still change before launch.
Here’s a recap of the features arriving later this year:
A lot of the upcoming work centers around a redesigned homepage in the My Disney Experience app.
Executives acknowledged that one of the biggest problems with the current app is finding basic information. The redesigned version brings trip details, reservations, travel parties, and planning reminders into one main area.
Disney previewed a new app layout that organizes the app more around the guest’s actual vacation instead of the current app’s homepage that shows every feature and item as individual tiles in a long list.
One of the biggest additions is a new “trip checklist” feature. Disney said it’s designed to help guests keep track of everything they still need to do before arrival, especially first-time visitors and families who may not know all the booking windows and planning steps.
This is separate from the hotel check-in checklist, which includes adding your credit card on file, making room requests. This checklist will include reminders for:
Lightning Lane booking windows
Dining reservations
Resort online check-in
Ticket setup
Adding tickets to your phone’s native wallet app (another new feature coming later this year)
If you have sailed Disney Cruise Line before, the checklist sounds familiar. Disney acknowledged it took them too long to borrow this idea from their friends over at DCL.
Executives described the goal as helping guests feel “prepared, confident, and ready for arrival.”
Disney is also adding a vacation countdown timer similar to the one already featured in the Disney Cruise Line app.
The app’s search function is also getting a much-needed overhaul.
Disney said guests are increasingly searching using full questions instead of short keywords, so the updated search system will use AI-generated summaries to answer questions directly inside the app instead of only showing lists of links or FAQs.
Executives used examples like finding chicken fingers at Magic Kingdom or getting attraction information through conversational searches.
During my trip last week, I searched for things like “What time does Magic Kingdom close tonight?” Instead of getting a helpful answer, or even relevant search results, the first result was “Up Close with Rhinos,” an add-on experience at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
So yes, it’s pretty clear the app’s search function needs work, and I’m hopeful these updates will bring a meaningful improvement.
Disney did not confirm which AI systems are powering the feature, but confirmed AI is being used to simplify planning and surface information faster.
Another major change involves how guests connect trips with family and friends.
Currently, linking plans can involve invitation emails and several manual steps. Disney said the new process will work more like sharing a link through text messaging, allowing guests to quickly connect trips to someone available in their phone contacts.
A guest will be able to select someone directly from their contacts and send them a link that connects their accounts for shared trip planning.
Executives said many guests currently revisit the website multiple times while comparing hotels, pricing, transportation options, and vacation offers. The updated site is meant to simplify that process, including adding a much-needed price comparison calendar that should make it easier to compare dates, rates, and promotional offers.
The update will also include a visual look on the website that more closely matches the visual look of the updated app.
New website features will include:
Flexible date searching across broader timeframes
Price comparison calendars
Resort comparison tools
AI-generated resort summaries designed to highlight relevant details for a specific customer
Transportation information and estimated travel times to parks
Disney said the goal is helping guests better understand which resorts and vacation timing work best for them without needing to dig through multiple pages.
Executives also highlighted broader efforts aimed at families, particularly through Cool KIDS’ SUMMER offerings. Disney pointed to special ticket deals, family-focused entertainment and activities, and free water park admission on arrival day for Disney resort hotel guests as examples of giving families more flexibility during their trips.
Disney said the water park benefit has been especially popular because it gives guests something easy to do on arrival day without needing to commit to a full park itinerary, and many families using the offer were visiting Disney’s water parks for the first time.
Throughout the presentation, Disney emphasized that guests plan vacations in different ways, whether through travel advisors, Disney reservation centers, or entirely on their own online. Executives said those planning methods remain important, especially for first-time visitors and larger families, but many of the new app and website updates are focused on making self-service trip planning easier and less stressful.
Disney said most of the new Walt Disney World features are expected to roll out over the coming months, with Disneyland updates planned to follow later.
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