Experienced Disney World enthusiasts know the best times to visit the Magic Kingdom—the best times to hit up the most popular rides or which days statistically bring out fewer guests, like Moneyball for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. But for the rest of us a trip to Disney World is an exhausting waiting game.
Ninety percent of guests coming into the Disney parks bring smartphones, The Walt Disney Company told Variety. The company launched a program over the weekend that makes use of guests’ pocket computers called the Play Disney Parks mobile app. The Play Disney Parks app is supposed to be a virtual extension of the theme parks—but it’s also a way to keep tired, overheated guests happy while they wait in hours long lines.
Jonathan Ackley, best known for his work on LucasArts’ The Curse of the Monkey Island, is executive creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney’s famous research and development department. Ackley is one of the brains behind the new gamification of Disney’s parks. In 2012, Ackley created Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, an alternative reality game that kids and non-kids could play at hidden stations throughout the park.
Play Disney Parks users have to be at Disney for the app to work. Different games are activated in specific attractions, like a game called Playset Party available in line at Toy Story Mania in Disney California Adventure or Andy’s Boardgame Blast! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Some features interact with environmental cues in the parks as a way to bring players off their phones and back into the park. Certain games are played “pass-the-phone” style for a similar reason—a family bonding thing.
Of course, there are rewards and achievements for completing challenges and experiencing attractions around the Disney parks.
Disney expects the app to evolve with the parks; for instance, new stuff will come to the app when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge launches in 2019 at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort.
Play Disney Parks is free-to-download on iOS and Android devices.
