Why Does Disney World Track My Location?

When you’re in Disney World, you may not realize that they use a lot of information to help you make the most of your park day, and a lot of that information comes directly FROM you.

Disney uses tools like biometrics, their MagicBands, My Disney Experience app, and more to track you around the resort to better enhance your experience, believe it or not. If this sounds a little scary, we totally get it! However, let’s break down exactly what Disney tracking your location means, and when it may be happening during your trip.

Biometrics

When you scan your finger to tap into a Disney World park, that’s using biometrics! Not only does this keep someone else from using your ticket and pretending to be you, but it also indicates to Disney who’s in a certain theme park at what times.

While it doesn’t necessarily mean much to Disney where YOU particularly are, it is helpful for them to figure out how many people are in a park at one time. Yes, they can take a look at their ticket sales and park pass reservations for a certain park, but on Good to Go days for passholders (days where you don’t need a park pass reservation), and for people who’ve bought multi-day date-based tickets and don’t need to make park pass reservations, the biometrics help Disney see how many individuals have tapped into a park on a certain day.

This data can help them figure out when the most popular days of the year are (and therefore how many park pass reservations and ticket sales to allow), as well as what days aren’t as busy (which could result in Good to Go days for Passholders, or perhaps some ticket deals to help travelers save money). However, as you don’t need to tap your fingerprint anywhere else in a Disney park, or at any hotels, this isn’t the main way Disney keeps an eye on where you are.

The My Disney Experience App

Allowing access to your location on the My Disney Experience App is entirely voluntary, but if you allow it, this is the easiest way for Disney to see exactly where you are throughout the park. Now, again, they’re not literally looking at YOU to see where you are, but the data used from this allows Disney to see how many people are in a park at a certain time, as well as where they most frequently go/what attractions they experience.

Allowing access to your location helps YOU a lot, too! Many of the features that make the app convenient rely on knowing your location. Not only will the app then know exactly where you are when you pull it up, and therefore show you what attractions and restaurants are close by, but you’ll also be able to get step-by-step directions anywhere you need to go. I’ve personally used these ALL the time, and they’ve saved my butt multiple times. You never know when you may get lost in the parks, and this helps solve that issue!

If you choose to use the free version of Disney Genie, Disney’s recommendations to you will take into account where you are in the park, as well as where everyone ELSE is. If Haunted Mansion is at a 50 minute wait already and the app can see that more people are headed that way, Disney Genie very likely may recommend you head there LATER in the day. It’s a clever way Disney attempts to mitigate crowds in certain areas without you even knowing.

Allowing this in the app will also allow you to see what restaurant walk-up wait lists are nearby, what restaurants, restrooms, first aid services, etc. are closest to you. This can often save you countless minutes in the park when you’re trying to do something quick, or want to make your way to your next attraction, ASAP, but need to take care of dining reservations, Lightning Lane reservations, or other in-app necessities first.

MagicBands

Additionally, every time you tap your MagicBand against a Lightning Lane checkpoint, use it to pay for your meal or snack, or your MagicBand+ interacts with a character statue or show, it’s making note of where you are. Disney’s official language on this is that, “MagicBand+ devices are not GPS-based and do not enable collection of continuous location signals. However, we may be able to detect the location of Guests who choose to use or wear MagicBand or MagicBand+ products while visiting the Walt Disney World Resort and certain other locations.”

This information also helps Disney to see what attractions are most popular, especially among Lightning Lane users.

If you really prefer for Disney to not know where you are, or don’t want them keeping an eye on you as much, we recommend not using a MagicBand, and avoiding tapping your ticket (whether digital or physical) wherever possible. Instead, of tapping your MagicBand to pay, you can use cash (or purchase a Disney gift card with cash to use at the few cashless locations around the resort), or use your debit or credit card. Additionally, we recommend not allowing location services on the My Disney Experience app, but while it can be used without it, we do warn you that the app will be more difficult to use, and some features won’t be available.

If you’re looking for a travel agent to help with your vacation, we recommend our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!

While it may seem a little scary at first to allow Disney to use your location while you’re on vacation, we’ve experienced firsthand how much easier it makes your experience. However, always know that you can turn off the setting at any time, whether you’re still on your vacation or back at home. Be sure to stay tuned to AllEars for all the latest Disney news to help make your next vacation the best it can be.

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