For more than a decade, Disney World guests have leaned on the My Disney Experience app as their go-to planning tool. It’s been the place to check wait times, grab Lightning Lanes, and keep dining reservations in order. One of its most underrated perks? The Family & Friends List, a free feature that kept everyone’s plans synced up with a few taps.
This week, however, guests logging into the app got a shock. A pop-up message announced that the Family & Friends List was “unavailable” and directed users to head over to Disney’s website instead. Just like that, the feature vanished from the app, ending 13 years of convenient in-park planning.
A Major Inconvenience
Losing the ability to add or manage your travel group from inside the app might not sound huge at first, but for families on the ground, it’s a real problem. Imagine waiting in a crowded line only to realize you can’t link your cousin who just joined for the day. Instead of fixing it with a quick tap, you now have to pull up a browser, log in, and hope the website loads smoothly before your reservation window closes.
Guests are understandably frustrated, with many saying this feels like a step backward. Disney has marketed the app as the ultimate trip companion, but the sudden removal makes it feel incomplete.
Why the Change?
Disney hasn’t said whether the shift is permanent. The company often tinkers with the app to smooth out glitches and streamline systems, and some speculate the move could help ease server strain. Still, the timing is baffling—especially after recent updates to dining reservations earlier this year.
If Disney’s intent is to reduce crashes, it comes at the cost of guest convenience. For most visitors, losing easy access in the middle of the parks is more frustrating than any temporary bug fix.
What’s Next?
For now, the only option is to use the Disney website if you need to link family or friends. That means more time spent on your phone and less time enjoying the magic. The bigger question? Whether this is just a temporary hiccup or the beginning of broader changes to My Disney Experience.
Either way, after 13 years of reliability, this quiet removal has left millions of guests rethinking how they plan their days at Disney World.
I hope this is temporary but it feels like another decline in the Disney wheel of progress. They simply cannot continue to take features and benefits, while doubling or tripling prices, and not innovate, expecting people to keep showing up. My family was a big Disney fam, D23 members, Disney+ subscribers, multiple trips a year, bought pins and merch year round etc.
Due to their recent changes and blatant price gouging we have cancelled 3 planned trips, our subscriptions, and are spending our money elsewhere. A regurgitated Indiana ride and a Monsters “land” isn’t going to bring us back. I don’t foresee us visiting again unless they check themselves and get priorities straight. Actually survey park goers like myself rather than cater to the whims of greedy shareholders. Figure it out @Disney, you’re a dying brand!