Make the Most out of Mobile Magic

(image source)

As a former Disney Cast member and Disney Guest as well, I know the frustrations of trying to navigate through Walt Disney World the most efficient way possible. (Although, I guess I can be biased since I got to know Magic Kingdom like the back of my hand during my employment.) Not everyone's a Disney Employee or is able to hire a Guest Relations Cast Member to take them around the parks, allowing them in-the-know information about the park and lines.

Fortunately, the Disney Company has developed the Disney Mobile Magic app, which available in the Google Play Store for Androids as well as the Apple App Store for iPhones. It's free and was launched in 2010.

On start up, the app immediately tries to find your phone via GPS to pinpoint your location, but it's not necessary to use it; it'll just turn off any location-based features. If GPS can't find you, you're able to pick between Walt Disney World (the resort in Orlando, Flordia) or Disneyland (the resort in Anaheim, California). Because I'm more familiar with Walt Disney World, I'll be describing what will be displayed on the screen for that resort only.

Upon choosing Walt Disney World with GPS off, a list prompts "Walt Disney World has a lot to offer. What would you like to explore?" and includes a list of the parks and several resorts.

• Magic Kingdom
• Epcot
• Disney's Hollywood Studios 
• Disney's Animal Kingdom
• Typhoon Lagoon
• Blizzard Beach
• Downtown Disney
• ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
• Disney Resorts

Upon clicking any of the locations, you're either given a sublist of other locations within those areas or a list of today's events and a guide map of the area (after the sublist, those will show up as well). If you want to go back, you have to Relocate, which will have you try use GPS again. This is kind of troubling for me as a person who's currently not at a park, but it does make sense since it's an app geared more toward current Park Guests.

Maps are marked with Stars for locations of interest showing times they're open and upon clicking them, you can view that location's schedule, its description, handicap/hearing accessibility, how to get there, mark it as a favorite, or set a reminder for that place.

For parks, there's a list consiting of:

• Guide Map
• Attractions - Shows wait times for rides/FastPass availability
• Characters - Where/When characters are available
• Dining - Where to eat/Make reservations/View Dining options
• Today's Events
• Weather
• Games - Try a Disney Park trivia game!
• My Favorites - Your list of favorite locations
• Transportation - Information on travel by monorail, ferries, or ground transportation
• Shopping - Where to shop and when shops are open
• Guest Services - Find locations of Guest Relations, Bathrooms, First Aid, Baby Care, ATMs, Smoking Areas, Automatic External Defibrillators, Picture Spots, and Disney Vacation Club Information Centers

Resorts have a list that says:

• Guide Map
• Recreation - Locate activities found on the resort
• Dining - Find restaurants and book reservations
• Weather
• Transportation - Monorail/Bus/Ferry information
• Games - Disney Trivia again!
• My Favorites - List of your favorite spots
• Shopping - Where gift shops are and when they're open
• Guest Services - Information on Resort Benefits & Info, Restroom locations, ATM Locations, Smoking Area locations, AED locations, and Disney Vacation Club Infromation Center locations

Although really helpful, especially for booking restaurant reservations, I do recommended NOT relying on the app MOST OF THE TIME for information. Use it as a resource, but don't be afraid to rely on the nearest Cast Member to clarify any doubts.

As a former Character Attendant, ALWAYS double check on character times with Character Attendant Cast Members for accurate times/when to return. I had a lot of angry Guests come up to me with the excuse of, "But the app said they'd be out till XX PM!" Yes, the character is out that long, but sometimes their lines will close before then, because we have to determine how many people they can see so they actually LEAVE at that time.

CAST MEMBERS CAN BE YOUR BEST FRIENDS, SO DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK US QUESTIONS. If we can't find the answer, we'll try our best to find through another person. We want you to enjoy your vacation and YES we do know how much money you probably spent on this trip. Most of the things we warn you about are for not only Cast Member Safety, but your safety as well.

Dangerous Design

Not to have the title throw any of the readers off, but I have a thing for alliteration titles.


It's my last semester as an Undergraduate at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu, HI, and hopefully I'll be graduating in the Spring with a degree in Digital Media.

Here's the catch: my major was discontinued as of Fall 2011, if I'm not mistaken. I had the option of keeping it or moving to the new on, Integrated Multimedia. I said to myself, "Eh, what the heck, I've already done two years of this stuff, so I'll just stick with it." And stick with it I did.


Although, I didn't really foresee the dwindling amount of enrollment in some classes which would cause cancellations in the future. Well, I didn't really have to deal with it until THIS semester a.k.a. my LAST semester.

Myself (right) in my Character attendant uniform
with Aladdin (left; my favorite character)
dressed as Prince Ali.

I was away from the island May 2012 to the first few days of January 2013 since I was in Orlando, FL participating in the Disney College Program at Walt Disney World. I was a Character Attendant at Magic Kingdom for seven months.

I was also taking 4 online classes through HPU while I was there since I had to keep my status as a full-time student in order to maintain my scholarship through the university--which was hard as a full-time employee at the busiest theme park on Earth. The only means of contacting anyone back home was either by phone or internet.

I was able to find out about Spring 2013 registration around late October through someone posting on Facebook about being able to get all the classes they wanted. After work, I hopped on to try register myself (after paying the Technology Fee that doesn't really matter to me since I'm off the island), only to find out 3 out of the 4 required classes for my major were not available.

MULT 3470 TV Studio Production
MULT 3560 Video Production II
MULT 3700 Radio Production

Upset, I called my advising counselor about it a week after and she said she'd email the heads of my department. Unfortunately, I didn't get any information, so I tried calling her again around mid December. She sent another message, and I got nothing. The whole thing was really frustrating since I was over 6000 miles away and it wasn't like I could hop on a bus to head to downtown Honolulu to talk to my counselor and professors in person. I honestly felt hopeless. It wasn't until I came back to have a face-to-face meeting with her 5 days before school started and she sent ANOTHER email, I got a phone number and someone to talk to.

I was able to substitute MULT 3470 for MULT 4702 Mobile Design and MULT 3700 with Advance Motion Graphics. I also was able to organize a Direct Study of MULT 3560 with Dr. Britos... Well, I still need to get the request signed by the Chairman and the Registrar). Once everything's sorted out, I can submit my petition to graduate.

I'm not exactly sure how Mobile Design can replace TV Studio Production, but we were running low on MULT class choices I think since I've taken all the other MULT classes available. It's not a class Digital Media majors are required to take, so it didn't even cross my mind during my initial registration process. I was told about the Advance Motion Graphics class by other video production students that were in the Integrated Media major, geared more toward Cinematic Production, but, to be honest, video production isn't really my cup of tea.

I'm kind of interested on what Mobile design has to offer since I mostly focus on web and print design, so it will be interesting to concentrate on a different platform.

I'm looking forward to what this semester will bring (especially through all the headaches I had to go through to get here).