Walt Disney had it right when he envisioned technology having an incredible effect on the future of theme parks. Smartphones have become an integral part of the Walt Disney World experience for everything from taking photos to booking dining reservations. Most Disneyphiles are familiar with My Disney Experience and other popular apps like Touring Plans, but did you know there are dozens of amazing apps that seemingly have nothing to do with theme parks that can make your visit way easier?
We’ve gathered together six of our favorite smartphone apps to hack your next theme park vacation. All of these are available for both Android and iPhone users. Have you ever tried any of these for a Walt Disney World or Universal Studios visit?
1. Life 360 – Keep tracking of the family
Screenshot: Jett Farrell-Vega, Life360 for Android
Many of us still remember the days when finding family members in Walt Disney World crowds required some serious “Where’s Waldo?” skills. Families have tried all sorts of wacky tactics to overcome the problem—bright shirts, tour flags, obscure meeting places, even carrying walkie talkies. Sure, in the age of technology you can call a cell phone, but who is going to actually hear it in Walt Disney World?
Enter the modern miracle of GPS.
Life360 is one incredible app for giving families peace of mind keeping track of loved ones. Once you sign up for a free account, the app runs quietly in the background of your phone to send a regular signal of your location to family members in your circle (everyone in your family circle needs the app installed and GPS turned on). While it isn’t always pinpoint precise, it can give you a good idea where party members are in the parks at any given time and even tell you how much battery charge they have. There is also an easy feature for manually checking in to send your location to loved ones, and the app also has a security alert option you can use in the event of an emergency. It has proved a lifesaver more than once for tracking party members who forget to check their phones.
2. Zello – Keeping in touch
Screenshot: Jett Farrell-Vega, Zello for Android
Were you one of those walkie-talkie carrying families? We were! If you miss the direct communication of walkie-talkies for quick conversations instead of placing a cell call, you might like Zello. Now, this is an app that was subject to a fair deal of confusion during Hurricane Irma. It isn’t some mystery sci-fi communicator that allows you to make calls without coverage—you still need cell signal or Wi-Fi to use it.
However, being Disney has Wi-Fi service almost everywhere in its parks, Zello is an attractive option if you want the ability to use Push-to-Talk to communicate with family. It makes staying in touch very easy. Do be sure and mute it during attractions, and it may be worth bringing a pair of in-ear headphones with a mic for longer conversations, but if you like the convenience of instant communication on Wi-Fi, this is one cool app! Kids and teens especially might have some fun with it.
3. Audible – Keep sane in long lines
Screenshot: Jett Farrell-Vega, Audible App for Android
Can’t stand long boring flights, long boring drives, and long boring lines? Audible.com might become your new favorite pastime for making hours fly. Unabridged audiobooks have become our go-to time sink for road trips, flights, and waiting in long lines at Walt Disney World. You can get the whole family plugged in listening to an audiobook using a headphone splitter like this one that we mentioned in our article about device hacks—just make sure you keep the line moving and put everything away before its time for pre-shows and boarding. Most unabridged audiobooks are long enough to fill even the lengthiest road trips and certainly cover the time it takes to board the busiest attractions at theme parks.
You can either buy audiobooks individually from Audible.com or sign up for a free membership trial. If you are a new user, you can get two audiobooks for free using this promotion 
4. Relax Melodies – Keep calm… Just keep calm
Screenshot: Jett Farrell-Vega, Relax Melodies for Android
Walt Disney World is a fun place, but it can also be a stressful one. Whether you have kids overwhelmed by the noise or if you struggle with social anxiety, sometimes you just need to be able to tune out the craziness and calm down.
If you bring a light pair of in-ear headphones with you, Relax Melodies is a great app for tuning out the bluster of the parks. Users can customize an extensive range of soundscapes using nature noise, relaxing music, white noise, binaural beats, and even isochronic tones to create your own private atmosphere of calm. It is a great option for settling little ones who need a nap, and it has become a must-use tool for long flights for us. It is also an awesome sleep aid. I almost can’t sleep without turning it on. If you are used to a specific set of sounds to fall asleep at home (even the hum of a city), try it out. The free version has a wide range of sounds, but I personally have found the paid version to be worth every penny.
5. Weather Underground – Take that, Florida
Screenshot: Jett Farrell-Vega, Weather Underground App for Android
Florida is a beautiful state, but it certainly has some testy weather. When it comes to keeping track of the Sunshine State’s temperamental skies, no app has more features for the thorough traveler than Weather Underground.
Weather Underground isn’t your average weather app. Yes, it delivers all the information expected in similar apps like Weather Channel or Accuweather—detailed forecasts, radar maps, and weather news. However, Weather Underground takes things to a whole new level of specificity. Users can easily access details on sunrise and sunset times, moon cycles, ozone quality, pollen count, how high the UV index is, hurricane reports, and even flu reports. A search through the Walt Disney World page can give visitors access to webcams from the area to see live footage of conditions, and you can even use the app to set up smart forecasts for daily activities like hikes and runs.
Oh, and Weather Underground has one particularly neat feature that trumps all competitors. You can completely customize how its data is used thanks to a very helpful connected app…
6. IFTTT – Hack your trip
Screenshot: Jett Farrell-Vega, IFTTT App for Android
I could easily write a full article on the endless potential for hacking your Walt Disney World vacation using IFTTT. For those who aren’t familiar, IFTTT stands for “If-This-Then-That”. It is a workflow automation program that allows you to set very specific macros for your phone that run in the background and make complex tasks simple. It is most commonly used to automating lights, A/C, and other systems in smart homes, but the possibilities for using this versatile program at Walt Disney World are myriad.
For example, using Weather Underground, IFTTT users can set their phones to automatically call or email every morning with a daily weather report. If you have party members prone to sunburn, you can set IFTTT to send you a notification every time the UV index rises above sunburn levels. You can also receive notifications regarding incoming rain, wind speed, pollen counts, and more.
If you like sharing trip updates to social media, you can automate the process across social networks by using IFTTT triggers. One example would be that when you share a photo to Instagram with a certain hashtag, you can have IFTTT automatically share that photo to Facebook (even to a specific album). The same applies to Twitter, Pinterest, and Foursquare. It definitely makes sharing trip photos easier.
You can also set IFTTT to back up your trip photos to OneDrive, DropBox, Google Drive, and other photo engines. Oh, and if your battery is constantly dying due to Wi-Fi hopping throughout the parks, you can set an IFTTT trigger to shut Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off when your battery reaches a certain percentage. Oh, and if you just want to do something fun, you can use IFTTT to set up a trip countdown notification. Pretty cool!
What unusual app is your favorite must-have tool for visiting theme parks?
