MDE App Blowing Our Budget?!

[emilik]

The only thing we used the app for in the parks was the Wait Times. I had all our other info on index cards. The cheap tablet is a great idea if you think you will need the app!

 

[disney1990]

Pull up MDE on your computer. No App involved. If you make all your FP+ before you leave home, you won't need to access at the parks. Just print everything out.

 

[Jeff_G]

I have a t-mobile pay as you go cheap $50 android phone. You can pick them up at Best buy or Wal-Mart and they will run the MDE app just fine. Since you are already a Tmobile Pay as you go user you can just swap in your sim card and away you go.

 

[CrystalCarrington]

We have saved really hard for this holiday. We are flying from UK. It's costing us about £15k or $21k. We've been planning & saving since 2012. It's been a real struggle but it will be worth it.
Buying new iPhones & iPads, I was completely against. But DH explained to me 4 things;
1. We need new phones anyway.
2. The cameras on the iPhone 5s' are incredible!
3. We have a 10 hour flight, we can download loads of apps/games/films.
4. Although we could spend the extra money on more time at disney, having the app means that after we use our first 3 fastpasses, we'll still be able to view wait times and manage other reservations on the go. Effectively making our time in the parks more efficient.

Needless to say, we both "bought" each other new phones for our anniversary and the kids got tablets for their birthdays. So really we haven't actually lost any money.

 

[momof1princess]

OP, I had the same issue-smartphone is about 3 years old, and Google play store told me the MDE app wasn't compatible with my device. I went to Amazon.com on my phone browser, looked up the MDE app, and d'l it from there. It works just fine.

 

[ceecee]

Pull up MDE on your computer. No App involved. If you make all your FP+ before you leave home, you won't need to access at the parks. Just print everything out.

 

[ellone]

Pull up MDE on your computer. No App involved. If you make all your FP+ before you leave home, you won't need to access at the parks. Just print everything out.

But it's also helpful for checking out wait times for attractions. We used it a lot for that. Also used it in AK to help us find some character locations easily.

 

[WishesLuv]

I really think you will regret not having access to the MDE app while you're there at the parks. We highly utilized it and got 6-7 FP's per day. We would select our additional FP's at the kiosk and then found there were more/earlier times available on the app on my phone. Without the app, there's no way we would've gotten so much done. Not to mention having parade, fireworks, and wait times in the palm of your hand. We LOVED it and found it really maximized our trip time.

Also - the lines for the kiosks were quite long (15-20 minutes) while we were there at the beginning of the month. I can only imagine they will get worse as the summer goes. You won't want to be going to them for every change.

 

[mommycrawford]

Perhaps you could get a cheap android phone on a no contract carrier and just activate for one month...I use Virgin mobile, so this is what I did last summer.

(We had been stuck in THE WORLD one year prior, after a hurricane, because we travelled by train and tracks were affected in the Carolinas ...had I had a smart phone, I would have known before the night that was supposed to be our last. It would have saved considerable stress! That's what gave me the final push.)

You can terminate after the month, and reactivate as needed.

 

[Melany502]

Ok... I didn't read the other responses, but does your phone have Internet? You can just go to their mobile website to access MDE... You don't need the app. The app sucks for me and I typically just end up using the website.

 

[jm0925]

Well this is frustrating.

One of the ways we save a significant amount of $ is having slightly older model phones (they are smart phones - just 3-4 years old), paired with a TMobile pay as you go plan. Works for us. (or has up til now...)

I also have a Kindle Fire ($99 vs several hundred $ ipad).

Trouble is, I've been trying to download the My Disney Experience app, and apparently it isn't compatible with any of our devices.

Now, I can't believe it, but we're actually considering buying a $400-$500 phone, just so we can "keep up with the Mickeys" at WDW! Way to totally blow the budget.

We're going in July, so high season, and just a few weeks away - so no time to budget properly - and I'm really struggling with the decision to spend money we don't really have vs. struggling with high crowds without any on-the-fly MDE access.

What to do?

I wouldn't go out and pay several hundred dollars for a new phone just to have the app especially if its not in your budget. I would revert back to the paper and pen method of writing down your reservations and keeping the information on you. If you really need to change any of them, as other have said there are other ways to do that. I know there are a lot of mixed feelings about the app but the one thing that I really found convenient when we went in February was the ability to see the wait times for the rides. The helped us decide which rides to head to and which to visit later on. We didn't use FastPass at all.

 

[pigletto]

I absolutely would not take on that expense just to have MDE. You can use the kiosks, or even better, buy a refurbished or used iPod touch and use the app on that. I had a brand spanking new iPhone on our last trip (December) but we're Canadian and didn't want huge cell phone bills so we used wifi. It worked maybe half of the time in the parks and was pretty slow even when it did. It worked perfectly in the room though, and any adjustments I wanted to make I made in the room the night before or in the morning before we left. Ideal? No. But I really wouldn't say it's worth such a big expense for something you don't need.