There was a time when a Disneyland day meant a paper map and a lot of guesswork. Today, your phone does almost everything, from wait times and Mobile Order to Lightning Lane and virtual queues.
Phones have also been part of the fun. For years, the Play Disney Parks app let guests play games while waiting in line and interact with places like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Disney retired that app earlier this year, leaving fans wondering what would come next.
Now we have an answer, and it’s more ambitious than a simple replacement. Walt Disney Imagineering is putting unfinished digital experiences directly into guests’ hands and asking them to help decide which ones are worth finishing.
It’s a rare peek into the creative process that fans fell in love with in The Imagineering Story on Disney+. This time, though, you’re not just watching. You’re helping.
Introducing the Labs
The new app is called Disney Imagineering Labs, and it lets Disneyland guests playtest digital experiences that are still in development. Scott Gustin shared the news, noting that an AR game in Galaxy’s Edge is first up, with an interactive park guide on the way.
NEW: Walt Disney Imagineering just launched a new app that lets Disneyland guests playtest digital experiences that are still in development. First up is an AR game in Galaxy’s Edge. An interactive park guide is coming soon, too.
Magic Key holders get first access, and Disney wants feedback to help shape what comes next. The app will launch for all Disneyland guests in early 2027.
More: https://t.co/SC43Xgj7v2
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) November 10, 2026
The experiments are a collaboration with the Disney Experiences Technology team, the same group behind Disney’s official park apps. The goal is for the best experiments to eventually graduate into the Disneyland app or into a standalone app of their own.
A few key details:
- The app is launching at Disneyland Resort only, with no Walt Disney World version yet.
- Magic Key holders ages 13 and older get early access.
- All Disneyland guests are expected to get access in early 2027.
- Star Wars: Secrets of the Spire launches November 10, with Disneyland Enchanted Guide following soon.
As part of a media preview, Asa Kalama, executive, Creative & Interactive Experiences at Walt Disney Imagineering, walked a small group of reporters through both experiments before they tried them hands-on.
A Park Guide That Talks Back
Let’s start with the experiment many guests might end up using most. Disneyland Enchanted Guide is an AI assistant you can speak to with push-to-talk or type to, and it draws its answers directly from Disney’s own information.
The idea is to help guests stay present in the park instead of digging through menus on their phones. In early hands-on testing, it handled a wide range of questions:
- Building a lightsaber: It pointed to Savi’s Workshop in Galaxy’s Edge, noting the $249.99 price plus tax and the reservation requirement, and mentioned the complimentary Youngling saber-building experience, which doesn’t include a lightsaber to take home.
- Late breakfast: It listed Jolly Holiday, the Plaza Inn character breakfast, and Carnation Café as open options.
- Theming questions: Asked whether the Rainbow Ridge post office sign marks a real post office, it explained that it’s a themed detail tied to the mining town that inspired Big Thunder.
- Off-topic questions: Asked about a Harry Potter castle, it said it can only help with Disneyland.
It can also watch wait times for you and send an alert when a line drops below a set number, and it pairs with Bluetooth wearables like Meta glasses or earbuds.
There are gaps. The guide can’t see your account yet, so it won’t know how many Lightning Lanes you have left. Questions about parade times or which characters are out in Galaxy’s Edge pointed testers back to the Disneyland app or a cast member, and it couldn’t confirm when Disneyland’s handmade candy canes would be available.
Slicing for the Rebellion
The experiment launching first is Star Wars: Secrets of the Spire, an augmented reality adventure set in Black Spire Outpost.
Princess Leia enlists your help to track down encrypted Imperial signals hidden throughout the land. Those signals contain pieces of coordinates for an Imperial starpath unit, and the Empire is looking for them too.
Holding up your phone like a set of macrobinoculars, you follow a tracker that vibrates as you get closer to each signal. Once you find one, you “slice” it by moving your phone to collect white data packets and avoid the red ones. Each success triggers sounds or lights in the land, and your progress saves if you need to take a break.
When the chapter wraps up, an Imperial officer makes you an offer. Take a payout from the Empire, or send the coordinates to the Millennium Falcon and stay loyal to the Rebellion.
This is only the first chapter. Imagineering wants to learn whether guests enjoy this style of storytelling, and whether they like holding up a phone to play, before deciding if a full mission is worth building.
Rough Edges Included
What makes Labs different from a typical Disney app is how upfront it is about being unfinished.
Each experiment opens with an info card explaining what it is and what Imagineering hopes to learn. Then there’s a status label. “Early development” means you should expect unfinished visuals, temporary voice-over, and maybe a crash or two. “Taking shape” signals that the concept works and is being polished. “Nearly complete” means it’s close to ready for a wider release.
When you finish, the app asks for your feedback. Disney wants to know about bugs, but more importantly, whether the experience is actually fun or useful. That input decides what happens next. An experiment might get updated, move into the Disneyland app or a separate app, or quietly disappear.
So if you love something, enjoy it while it lasts. Disney says it will send notifications when experiments are added or changed, but there’s no guarantee your favorite will still be there next time.
Help Write the Next Chapter
It’s not often Disney asks guests to weigh in before something is finished. With Imagineering Labs, fans who spend a lot of time in the parks finally get a real say in what the future might look like.
We want to know where you stand. Would you use an AI guide like Enchanted Guide on your next trip, or do you prefer the regular Disneyland app? And if you’re a Magic Key holder who tries Secrets of the Spire, which side did you choose, Empire or Rebellion? Drop your answer in the comments. We have a feeling this one’s going to spark some debate!
