Quick! Open a new tab in your browser right now and head to My Disney Experience. Or, if you are reading this on your smartphone or tablet, download the free app. Create a login while you're there or use your disneyworld.com login information. I'll wait while you go do that. Then meet me back here

Yay! There you are!

My Disney Experience (MDE) is your control panel for your vacation. You can research things to do and places to eat, make dining reservations, create an itinerary, connect to your family and friends, view your PhotoPass photos, and (once you have linked park tickets) make your FP+ reservations (we'll get to that in a bit). Additionally on the app, you can view real time wait times for most attractions. Neat!

The two most important functions in my mind are My Reservations and Tickets and Family and Friends.

My Reservations and Tickets

In this section of MDE, you will be able to view all of your information that Disney has connected to your name and vacation. I cannot stress this enough: MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS CORRECT AFTER EACH CHANGE YOU MAKE. As you near your vacation, this will include any/all of the following:

• Resrot Reservation (if you are staying on property);
• Theme Park Tickets (unless you are purchasing upon arrival);
• Dining Reservations; and
• FP+ Reservations.

If resort, tickets, or dining information is incorrect, call Disney immediately with your documentation handy to rectify the issue. Human errors happen - whether on their end, or yours - and the computer only knows what's in the computer (pesky artifical intelligence, still relying on the falliable human for data input).

True story: on our January 2016 vacation, we happend to be going at the same time as some friends of ours from home. We decided to meet for dinner together one evening, and at first both made reservations at the same time (us a party of five, them a party of two) at the same restaurant. Then I realized that might not be the way to do it, so we were instructed to just make one reservation for seven people. Which, no problem, happy to do it, and we just ahd to push our reservation back fifteen minutes to accommodate the party size. When the resrvation showed up the next day it was coded as seven adults, even though it should have been six adults and one infant. I called back, and when I checked next it was coded for five adults and two infants. We decided my friend Mike was the other infant, but I'm not sure he could fit in a high chair! So I called back and they got it coded correctly for six adults, one infant. No harm, no foul, mistakes happen and it's okay.

This is a funny story with no serious consequences. Mike is an improv/sketch comedian and a hack of a writer, and we would have totally played along with it had they set out two high charis, and it would have made a hilarious story later. And the fact that this is the example story I have is a testament to the awesomeness of the Disney reservations system and its cast members. But what if your check-in date was listed incorrectly? Or you accidentally made your dining reservations for March instead of April? This is why this page is so important - check it after every. single. change. you. make. And know that sometimes it takes a few hours to update in the system.

Family and Friends

Making sure everyone is connected on your Family and Friends page allows just one person to make reservations for everyone and ensure that everyone's PhotoPass photos are connected. Sweet!

When you click on the page, it will ask how you want to find people:

• A list of people you may know (this is uncommon);
• Through a resort reservation; or
• By entering their name.

If you already have a resort reservation for just one room, everyone's names on the reservation will be listed as part of your party. But either a) each person will need to sign up for a MDE login or b) you need to list their name and check that you will be in charge of making reservations for that person. Either option is totally cool. If you're going down at the same time as other friends (like Mike and Anna, with whom everyone should go to Disney World with at some point) or have more than one resort room full of your traveling party, you can also link to them by entering their resrvation number.

A word of caution when linking outside your immediate travel party: the other travel party's reservations will show up on your Reservations and Tickets page, so make sure you know what you're looking at and who you're making changes for!

Once everyone is linked on this page, when you go to make dining or FP+ reservations on MDE, it will bring up a list of people to choose who you are making the reservations for. Easy peasy!

MDE. It's your friend. Spend some time getting to know it!

So, what is it?

Like its predecessor, FastPass, FP+ allows guests to book a one-hour time window to visit an attraction and bypass the standby queue, thereby minimizing wait times.

Uline the old FastPass system (which is still in use at other Disney parks), it is no longer a first-come/first-serve/who-can-sprint-the-fastest-to-the-attraction-kiosks. Instead, it allows guests to reserve attractions well in advance, either 60 days before check-in (for on-site resort guests) or 30 days (those staying off-site). This is a little hard to explain, so stay with me:

• A guest can make 1, 2, or 3 FP+ reservations in advance for a single park on one day.
• If you are staying on-site, you can make reservations for each day of your vacation 60 days prior to your check-in date. So, if you check in on October 2nd, you can make FP+ reservations beginning on August 3rd for every day of your vacatoin.
• If you are staying off-site, you can make resrvations 30 days in advance of each individual day of your vacation. So, if you are going to the park on October 2nd, you can make reservations for that day on September 2nd. For October 3rd, you will need to wait until September 3rd.
• Once you are in the park (say, like, on October 2nd) and you have used all the FP+ reservations you made in advance, you can make an additional reservation for any park by either going to the FP+ kiosks located throughout the parks or through the MDE app on your phone. Once you use that one, you can make another one, until the parks close for the day!

Still with me? I know, it's kinda confusing until you actually do it.

Disney complicates things further at both Epcot and Hollywood Studios, where FP+ attractions are separated into two tiers. When booking three of these in advance, you can choose one from Tier 1 and two from Tier Two, and even if you don't want to go to those attractions. The tiered attractions list in these two parks is relatively static, although from time to time they do change. The current lists can be found on the Parks pages for each park.

But This Is Vacaton! I don't want every minute scheduled! And who knows if I'm going to want to do the thing in I booked sixty days ago!

Admittedly, this is the largest complaint about the system. Realistically, however, it is an untrue (and in my mind, unfair) reaction to the FP+ system. With very few exceptions - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Toy Story Midway Mania, Soarin' Around the World, and Frozen (the ride at Epcot), all other attractions often still have FP+ availability the morning of, or at least day before.

With the exception of the few attractions listed above, if you need to change times on an attraction, cancel something, or replace one attraction with another, you can absolutely do it spontaneously and on the fly.

Even if you don't change your FP+ reservations, nothing will happen if you skip them. I'm having a hard time remembering a time when I actually used all of the original reservations I made. Sometimes I skipped something entirely, other times we waited longer for a bus than I was expecting so I jumped on MDE and pushed back our FP+ window to thirty minutes later. There's no reason to feel like you have to schedule your entire vacation around these reservations.

Except: if you are lucky enough to snag a reservation for one of the aforementioned attractions, I would schedule around these at all costs possible. Those attractions are hard to snag a FP+ for, and the lines are often very, very, long.

Five Star Mouse ProTip! I am a very big fan of only scheduling in advance the hard to get ones, or attractions I know I want to go on a few times and don't always want to wait in line or time it around a short wait time window. As soon as you check-in for your last reserved FP+ of the day, even before you're done with that attraction, you can jump on MDE and pick up another FP+. It's awesome!

Should I use FastPass+?

Absolutley. This is a free perk that's included in all types of Walt Disney World theme park admission tickets, and gives you a couple points throughout the day to have something scheduled, minimizing the So. Many CHOICES! overwhelmed feeling that can happe on a Disney vacation, no matter how frequent of a visitor you are. Plus, why would you wait in a two hour line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train when you could just wait five minutes?

People often ask me what I love most about Walt Disney World, and my answer is often (and not fascetiously) MAGIC BANDS. These waterproof RFID-enabled bands were introduced in late 2013, and work as your park entrance ticket and, if staying on-site, also act as your room key and gives you room charging privileges. Gone are the days of paper tickets and carrying a full wallet of cash and credit cards. Everything is right there in a colorful fashion accessory.

Want to read a really geeky article about the development of and technology behind the bands? Here you go.

Some people get nervous about this wearable piece of technology that carries all of their information, and that's understandable. But there are a couple of safety measures in place to protect both you and your information:

• The information itself is not stored in the band. Instead, it is linked to your MDE account in the same way that your park tickets, FP+ and dining reservations, and your resort information (if staying on-site) is linked.
• Each band that has charging privileges attached to it must be setup with a four-digit PIN, which must be entered before the transaction is completed and charges are applied.
• When entering the park, not only do you scan your band but you also place your finger on a biometric reader. This is not a fingerprint collection point, but instead captures the unique biometric measurements of your fingertip, and visitor data is deleted after 30 days. Honestly I don't understand this entirely and don't have a problem with Big Brother (or, Big Mouse, I guess), having data, but I trust them when they say they are not collecting fingerprints, do not keep it, nor do anything with that data.

If you are uneasy about using the Magic Band, you can elect to use the standard park tickets. But note: these are also RFID enabled and you must still use the biometric scanner upon entry to the parks.

If you are staying in an on-site resort (with the exception of the Swan and Dolphin resorts), each member of your traveling party will receive a free Magic Band that you can customize (choose from six different colors and put your name inside it) up until roughly one month before your vacation. If you are staying off-site but still want one, you can purchse bands ahead of time online or purchase them in the parks while at Walt Disney World and then link them to your MDE account. The bands available for purchase are not only solid color, but also have nifty designs!

MagicBand batteries last anywhere from 2 to 3 years, and you can use the same band on multiple visits if you so choose. Right now I have four bands attached to my account, and I could use any of them. Because sometimes you have to color coordinate your outfits.

While not technically part of MyMagic+, it is accessed through the MDE app and this is my site so I'm putting it on this page.

So what is PhotoPass?

Simply put, PhotoPass is a network of khaki vest wearing cast members with very large cameras stationed or roaming throughout the parks and select other locations throughout Walt Disney World. ANYONE can ask for a photo from any of these photographers, and after the pictures are taken you either scan your Magic Band or park ticket, and your photos will be available to view in the PhotoPass section of MDE, usually within 24 hours of when the photo was taken. If you elect not to use MDE, you can request a PhotoPass card and then enter that number into My Disney PhotoPass to view your pictures.

The photographers are all good, in strategic locations, and know what they're doing. It also gives your travel party the opportunity to ALL be in the pictures! They can also do MAgic Shots, which superimposes a Disney character into the photo. Fun!

Once your photos show in your account, you have 45 days to edit your photos, including fun borders and decorations, and make purchases. Options include individual prints, photo books, calendars, and more. But - it is very expensive. Individual prints run between $17 and $21.

So what is Memory Maker?

Memory Maker is a one time purchase of $169 ($149 if purchased at least three days in advance of when you will begin using it) that allows you unlimited digital downloads of all of your photos, plus full editing and decorating capabilities on the PhotoPass site before downloading. Once you have downloaded the files, you can do anything you like with those photos (print them through your favorite photo printing service, upload them to social media sites, etc.) - they are all yours! If you're guessing that you might end up with more than ten good photos of your family that you will want to print and keep, it's a good deal. Plus you receive ride photos as well as ride videos on select attractions, which are super cool and funny.

On our last trip my wife insistsed that we get Memory Maker, even though I was balking at the price. I believe her exact words were "THIS IS MY DISNEY." It's hard to say no to that.

And we loved it. I found myself not reaching for my camera every minute and could just enjoy the moments, knowing that there was a photographer to catch the memories for us. On just a seven-day trip, we amassed over 800 PhotoPass photos.

The other advantage? Only one person in your travel party has to purchase it. If your party is connected through My Family and Friends on MDE, anyone of those people can scan their band and the photos will all be in the same place. Neat!