Disclaimer: This dictionary only includes terms that you need to know. It does not include super-nerd terms that are totally unnecessary.
Advance Dining Reservation (ADR) At 6am, 60 Days prior to your arrival, the booking window for dining reservations (at “Table Service Restaurants” only) opens. If you are staying “On Property,” you can book dining reservations for your entire stay (up to 10 days). Instructions on how to do this effectively are in the next section.
Cast Members Anybody who works at the Disney Parks/Resort Hotels. You will recognize them by their themed clothing and/or name tags.
Dining Plan Though temporarily not offered (there are rumors that it is returning),there are multiple pre-purchased dining package options that include a daily selection of restaurant meals and “snacks.” Once these return, they will be available for purchase with your vacation package. This is an option to consider if you would like to manage your food intake/budget ahead of time.
Early Theme Park Entry A perk for staying “On-Property” or at select ‘Good Neighbor Hotels” — you can enter the parks thirty minutes before they officially open, allowing you to squeeze in a popular ride first thing in the morning.
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours A benefit to those staying at Deluxe Resorts, Deluxe Villas, The Swan/Dolphin/Swan Reserve, or Shades of Green, the parks stay open for these guests for two extra hours on select nights. This perk allows these guests to request to join an additional Virtual Queue for Cosmic Rewind: Guardians of the Galaxy, starting at 6pm.
Friendship Boats EPCOT Resort area boats that connect the nearby hotels (Yacht/Beach Club, Boardwalk Inn, Swan/Dolphin/Swan Reserve) to Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. (Another Friendship boat sails only within the EPCOT theme park’s World Showcase area.)
Genie The free online planning service that offers personalized daily park itineraries on the My Disney Experience App. The suggestions are based on your Attraction interests and projected wait times.
Genie+ The paid online planning service (managed on the My Disney Experience App) that allows you to enter the faster “Lightning Lanes” and therefore skip the regular “Standby Queues” at various attractions throughout the day. Daily Genie+ service can be purchased starting at 12am on each day of your park visit. Beginning at 7am on the day of your park visit, you can make your first reservation of the day. Only one attraction reservation can be made at a time, and your next reservation cannot be made until you have either A) tapped/scanned in to the Lightning Lane for your Reserved Attraction, or B) waited two hours since making your previous reservation. You can only ride each Genie+ ride once per day. You can make your second reservation 2 hours after the park has opened, or after you’ve scanned in for your first ride. The purchase of Genie+ includes a pack of PhotoPass Lenses that you can use to add magic to your Disney World Resort selfies.
Good Neighbor Hotels A selection of hotels in the area that are not on Disney property, yet offer certain Disney World benefits, such as Vacation Packages, Transportation to the parks, and in some cases, Early Theme Park Entry.
Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) Totally separate from Genie+, this is a pay-per-ride system for the few rides that are unavailable to reserve on Genie+. Available to purchase starting at 7am for Resort Hotel Guests and at Park Open Time for others, an ILL reservation enables you to reserve a time to skip the “Standby Queue” for these “special” attractions. You can only ride each ILL ride once per day.
Lightning Lane The entry lane found at many attractions that is reserved for those who have purchased Genie+ or an Individual Lightning Lane.
MagicBand A Disney World Resort wristband that syncs to your My Disney Experience App/Account, allowing you to scan/tap into the theme parks and ride queues; unlock your Disney Resort room; charge transactions to your credit card on file; and load Photopass photos into your My Disney Experience Account.
MagicBand+ This new MagicBand does everything the original does, plus, it interacts with features found throughout the parks and lights up during the Fireworks shows. It comes with a rechargeable battery.
Mears Connect This paid bus service that offers roundtrip service between the Orlando Airport (MCO) and your Disney World Resort hotel.
Memory Maker The Memory Maker is an optional photo package that includes unlimited digital downloads of your “PhotoPass” photos (see PhotoPass definition below).
Minnie Vans These red + white polka-dotted minivans have just returned to WDW. They seat up to 6 guests, are equipped with two car seats, and they pick you up and take you anywhere within Disney World Resort property. Launch the Lyft app to check availability and pricing and book your super-cute transportation.
Mobile Order Service You can use the My Disney Experience App to locate participating restaurants, and order your food for pickup, in advance or at the next available pickup time. Once you’ve arrived at the restaurant, check in on the app to let them know you’re ready to eat. It’s best to plan/order ahead if you think you’ll be hungry at a projected time.
Monorail This iconic Disney World transportation system has been in operation since 1971. The Monorail’s three separate lines include the Magic Kingdom Resort line (connecting the Contemporary, Grand Floridian, and Polynesian Resorts to the Magic Kingdom Theme Park and the Transportation and Ticket Center); the Express Monorail (riding only between the Transportation and Ticket Center and the Magic Kingdom); and the EPCOT monorail (connecting the Transportation and Ticket Center to EPCOT).
My Disney Experience This is the vacation management system that you access via the app and the Disney World website. This is how/where you manage everything. After you create an account, use My Disney Experience to link your Park Tickets and Hotel Reservations; make Park Pass Reservations; link your friends’ and family’s accounts to yours, and reserve your ADRs along with your Genie+, and ILL rides. Download the App early and become familiar with it.
On-Property Official Disney World Hotels that are located within Disney World Property (including the Swan/Dolphin/Swan Reserve, which are owned/operated by Marriott).
Off-Property Hotels that are not official Disney World Hotels and are not on the WDW Property.Some of these hotels are considered “Good Neighbor” Hotels and offer certain perks (read about “Good Neighbor” hotels above).
Park Hopping Guests who purchase park hopper tickets can visit multiple parks on a single day. You can enter your second park starting at 2pm.
Park Pass Reservation System Disney World requires that each Theme Park Guest makes a reservation for the first park that they wish to attend on each day of their vacation. Those who are “Park Hopping” need only make a reservation for the first park they will attend. Reservations can sell out, and it is advised that guests make their park reservations right away after purchasing their tickets. (Guests will not be able to enter the second park they wish to visit without scanning in to their first park beforehand.)
PhotoPass This is the professional photo service offered throughout the park. It includes photographs taken of your travel party during rides, character meet n’ greets, character dining, and complimentary sessions with professional photographers stationed throughout the parks. Downloading/printing the photos will require a purchase, either a la carte or as a package.
Quick Service Restaurant These dining establishments do not require advance reservations and do not have walk-up lists. They are first-come first-served, and food is picked up at the counter after it is ordered either on the app or in person. There is no table service at quick service restaurants.
Resort-Wide Charging Privileges Guests staying at Disney Resorts can charge purchases to their resort hotel bills.
Rope Drop This is a term you may hear from die-hard WDW Fans who arrive at the parks at the crack of dawn and stay till the stroke of midnight. (Okay— some people rope drop and then return to their resorts for afternoon naps). The “Rope Drop” refers to the moment that the Cast Members begin letting people in to the parks each morning. Guests often show up before the posted hours begin, with the hopes of being let in a bit early and sprinting over to the ride of their choice. If your kids get up super early, or if you are only going to a park for one day, this technique might be worth it (if your body will keep up with your spirit)!
Skyliner The Aerial Tram/Gondola system that connects EPCOT’s International Gateway to nearby Resort Hotels (Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach Resort, and Riviera Resort) and Hollywood Studios. This is a good way to Park-Hop between EPCOT and Hollywood Studios.
“Stacking” is a technique for building up multiple back-to-back Genie+ reservations for later in the day. If you book reservations for the afternoon/evening every 2 hours, then you end up having a bunch of rides lined up for you at the end of the day. (See “Two Hour Rule” for more information.)
Standby Queue/Line the regular walk-up line that you enter if you do not have a reservation/return time
Table Service Restaurant a dining location that includes a wait staff
Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) the Magic Kingdom Resort area transportation hub where A) Non-Disney Buses and Non-Disney Taxis pick up/drop off for the Magic Kingdom park and B) the Magic Kingdom Monorail line connects to the EPCOT Monorail line.
“Two Hour Rule” This refers to Genie+ reservation techniques. If you do not scan in for a reserved Genie+ ride within two hours of making a reservation, then you can make an additional reservation at that 2 hour mark (i.e. “Stacking” rides). For example — if at 9am you make your first Genie+ reservation for a ride at 3pm, then at 11am (provided the park opened at 9am) you can book another reservation for a different ride (let’s say at 7pm). Throughout the morning, you either can ride attractions using the Standby Queues; Virtual Queue; or do ILLs, instead of using up your Genie+ reservations. Then, at 1pm while you are sitting down for lunch, you will be able to make a 3rd reservation (let’s say that 3rd reservation is for 8pm). After lunch you can do another Standby Queue, let’s say, and then at 3pm you can book an additional Genie+ ride (let’s say for 4pm). This means that your afternoon/evening has a line-up of rides — including reservations at 3pm, 4pm, 7pm, and 8pm. If you are Park Hopping, you can set up evening rides for the 2nd park you are going to.
Virtual Queue For newer rides that have a large anticipated demand, Disney has created a Virtual Queue System that is accessed through the My Disney Experience App. Virtual Boarding Groups for specific rides open up at 7am (from anywhere), 1pm (from inside the park where the attraction is), and in certain cases, again at 6pm (for example, for guests who have access to Extended Evening Theme Park Hours for that day). See the Virtual Queue section below for tips on how to secure a Virtual Boarding Group.
Walk-Up List Some Table Service Restaurants have last-minute/day-of availability via a walk-up list. You can check a restaurant’s status by looking it up on your My Disney Experience App, or scanning the QR code near a host stand. Please note that this feature is not something to rely upon during a busy season. When in doubt, “ADRs” are the way to go.