Best Smartphone for MDE - and Dummies

[Patience]

I am firmly in the iPhone camp. We had an android phone and it was also glitchy and froze a lot. If you don't want to pay for a monthly data package, buy an ipod touch and download the MDE app and whatever other apps you want.

 

[HubbDave]

One issue with the iPod strategy is you will find more pockets with no WiFi than you will find with no cell coverage

I also found WiFi in parks to be a bit slower than when I had 4G LTE.

But yeah, an otherwise good idea.

 

[alldiz]

Dont mean to hijack but fellow "dummy" here...

I have Iphone and I have had a magic kingdom app that tells wait times, park hours. dining menus' etc.

Is this the same app?? If not what does MDE do instead??
Thanks
Kerri

 

[CNYDisneyFan]

I have the iPhone 4S and have the MDE app. I like it alot and may get the iPhone 5S when I have my upgrade in March.

 

[MattRyan]

IMO, the iPhone OS is easier to learn and use than most Android OS.

Apple is about to release both a new iPhone and a cheaper version of it with a hard plastic instead of glass in the coming month or two.

As far as battery life, I was in Disney two weeks ago as a MagicBand tester and used the MDE app on my iPhone 5 as well as taking pictures with it. I would arrive at rope drop and not leave until after the park closed. I always returned to my hotel with more than 30% battery life left. If you are running out of battery, it is just poor management. You can buy "cases" to put on phone that will provide more battery life.

 

[karly05]

OP checking in here. Thanks for all the feedback, I really appreciate everyone's comments and experiences. Keep 'em coming! I'm not in a hurry, probably waiting till later this fall/Christmas shopping season (?). I've never had an i-anything before, so don't really have a loyalty to either side going in. I didn't know about the iPod as an option, but I could really stand to upgrade to a full Smartphone (Disney trip use is just the motivation I need to make the upgrade).

To answer alldiz's question, MDE is "My Disney Experience," where you manage all your reservations, ADRs, etc. The MDE app is used in making/managing FP+s "on the fly"/in the park; that's really the key factor here.

 

[Overexcited]

Dont mean to hijack but fellow "dummy" here...

I have Iphone and I have had a magic kingdom app that tells wait times, park hours. dining menus' etc.

Is this the same app?? If not what does MDE do instead??
Thanks
Kerri

There are a bunch out there. Disney's is blue with a white Mickey head and a circle around it. You log into it like their web page.

 

[amie416]

If you go for a Droid, make sure you choose a model with a screen that can be easily used in sunlight. Some models, including my friend's Samsung (not sure which specific model), have so much glare that the screens are almost impossible to use outside during the day. When I took her sailing last week, the difference between trying to read her phone's screen and my iphone's screen was remarkable...

 

[Overexcited]

Dont mean to hijack but fellow "dummy" here...

I have Iphone and I have had a magic kingdom app that tells wait times, park hours. dining menus' etc.

Is this the same app?? If not what does MDE do instead??
Thanks
Kerri

Forgot, that post is from the other Kerri

 

[GarrettJD]

I have an iPhone 5 and the MDE app runs well on it. Aslo, I use it as our primary camera for the parks. I don't know how I ever got by without it.

As for a charger, I bought one of these from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Dual-Port-Lightning-Thunderbolt-Incredible/dp/B009USAJCC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377441873&sr=8-1&keywords=anker

You just charge this up at an outlet overnight, then bring it to the parks along with your charge/sync USB cables. It holds about 4 full charges for an iPhone 5. You can also charge 2 devices at once. my DW and I would both plug in our phones when we sat down to eat or at a show, and we never came close to running out of juice.

 

[jennyerin]

Here now. I have an S3 and although I can view my itinerary, I have not been able to change any FP+ with the one. It may be a reservation issue since our reservation is in husband's name and MDE in mine but one of the CM said that it currently doesn't work as well on Android and that there will be a new update soon. All CMs have iPads so it is much more seamless with apple products. Plan to try the iPod touch soon....

 

[DisneyWisher]

Dont mean to hijack but fellow "dummy" here...

I have Iphone and I have had a magic kingdom app that tells wait times, park hours. dining menus' etc.

Is this the same app?? If not what does MDE do instead??
Thanks
Kerri

It's a different app that let's you see actual wait times and FP return times(among other things). I say actual because other apps rely on guests to post. Disney is in charge of MDE. Right now according to MDE Sunday 10:47 TSM 65 min wait FP return is 5:20-6:20. Disney wait times app (not run by Disney) says 40 min wait time.MDE is much more accurate.

 

[HubbDave]

I dunno about it being more accurate. We have found MDE wait times to be inflated by a bit. Maybe 25% at times?

While not perfect, we found the Touring Plans app more realistic

 

[DisneyWisher]

To OP personally we are an iPhone family. Daughters have them (they are adults) and I even got them for my parents (my 69 yr old mother is addicted to Candy Crush). Love FaceTime (video phone chat). I just upgrade 3 of our phones over Christmas. I got the iPhone 4 and it cost 99 cents each.

 

[karly05]

If you go for a Droid, make sure you choose a model with a screen that can be easily used in sunlight. Some models, including my friend's Samsung (not sure which specific model), have so much glare that the screens are almost impossible to use outside during the day. When I took her sailing last week, the difference between trying to read her phone's screen and my iphone's screen was remarkable...

Oh, wow, that is an excellent point and something I had not thought of. Thanks for bringing that up!

 

[Overexcited]

I have an iPhone 5 and the MDE app runs well on it. Aslo, I use it as our primary camera for the parks. I don't know how I ever got by without it.

As for a charger, I bought one of these from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Dual-Port-Lightning-Thunderbolt-Incredible/dp/B009USAJCC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377441873&sr=8-1&keywords=anker

You just charge this up at an outlet overnight, then bring it to the parks along with your charge/sync USB cables. It holds about 4 full charges for an iPhone 5. You can also charge 2 devices at once. my DW and I would both plug in our phones when we sat down to eat or at a show, and we never came close to running out of juice.

Thanks for this post! I just went and ordered one. I was worried about my phone dying as it is my camera as well!

 

[lroger01]

If you want to go cheap see if you can find a friend, family member or co-worker with an old smartphone lying around. Like the iPod touch, an old android or iPhone phone will do the same thing.

Really, all you need is wifi access, MDE, and an email account to use in place of text messages. Other things like games, music and audio books will work with it too (though new content may not be accessible without a wifi signal).

Odds are you can get a better quality phone by borrowing (or purchasing off eBay) then buying a cheapy pay-as-you-go phone.

 

[Sparkly]

I love my Android. Totally purchasing extra batteries to keep with it- great idea for running apps all day because they drain the battery life like nobody's business.

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

I would definitely recommend the IPhone 5.

It is exceptionally easy to use.

Pop into the Apple store and play around with it for a while.

Also, I recommend the lowest data plan, currently $20/300mb of data..Carries won't tell you this but if you keep "cellular data" OFF, you will only pick up wi fi. You can turn the data on/off as you need. I did up my data durning my trip to WDW and dropped it back down at the end of my billing cycle.

Good luck choosing!