Hey Disney? 36 Things That Surprised Me About the Newest Hotel Perk in Disney World

I’ve stayed in every Disney World hotel and there’s one BIG change coming to all of them.

Hey Disney! is a voice assistant that Disney has developed alongside Amazon Alexa that is set to be added to all Disney World hotel rooms. I stayed in a Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort room that had Hey Disney! during its limited rollout and these are the 36 things that surprised me most about it.

Ahead of its full rollout, Hey Disney! has been added to rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. I recently stayed for a FULL TOUR which you can watch below right now! You can even see Hey Disney in action.

1. Hey Disney! has a very easy to access button that mutes the mic but no easy-to-find off button.

2. The plug and cord for Hey Disney! isn’t tucked away and inaccessible. If you want to unplug it, it’s right there on the side table.

3. It’s touch screen. The voice commands work but you can also navigate the menus like you would a tablet.

4. You have to say “Exit” to end a line of voice commands if you don’t resolve it. So, if you’re asking about park hours and decide you’d rather hear about the weather, you can’t just ask it about the weather mid-sentence.

5. The mute is incredibly helpful because of the number of times you might say something that sounds too close to “Hey Disney” while you’re in your room.

6. You can talk to the Magical Companion — the new character designed for Hey Disney! — or Alexa, and they can each help with different things.

7. Hey Disney! can do a LOT. Like, a lot a lot. Looking through the menus took me about 10 minutes just to see what the different options are.

8. The park hours information is surprisingly thorough. It will even note when Early Entry begins.

9. Hey Disney! could not tell me what time one of the restaurants at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort would close that night.

10. Hey Disney! will improve as time goes on and it learns how to be more helpful.

11. There’s a surprisingly thorough intro video when you arrive in your room.

12. Hey Disney! walks the line of talking too much and getting all of the information out. I was surprised that it didn’t say a lot of stuff that I didn’t want to hear like voice assistants sometimes can.

13. You can send in requests for bedding, towels, and beverage supplies to be brought to your room. When these requests are sent to Disney, they don’t send a recording of your voice.

14. You can set alarms and timers! We knew this was coming but Disney World hotels haven’t had alarm clocks for some time, and timers could be super helpful during the rush to get ready.

15. Hey Disney will tell you a joke from Disney pals OR from the Magical Companion. There are riddles, too.

16. The jokes were mostly pun-based, but kids will love them.

17. The weather details were super thorough, and the graphics were helpful to reference!

18. You can go on interactive “adventures” with Disney friends — including the Muppets.

19. Some of the fun elements require you to say and do certain things like “harumph” along with Sam Eagle.

20. Every day, you get a new message from a Disney character. Mine was from Mater from Cars during my stay!

21. All of the character messages from your stay can be found in “Play My Messages.”

22. Perhaps the best things about Hey Disney! are the beautifully crafted soundscapes. I wish these were available on YouTube!

23. Disney has designed soundscapes from many different movies like Coco (with music from the film and the sounds of celebration) and Frozen (familiar tunes, icy winds, and footsteps through the snow).

24. One of the soundscapes is even Disney Parks-themed! Listening to it, I could hear the turnstiles, walking down Main Street, and making my way into Tomorrowland.

25. When you use Hey Disney! to call for a Cast Member, you can specify in the assistant which kind of Cast Member you need from Guest Room Services, to Maintenance, and more!

25. You can ask Alexa most anything you would ask it at home. I checked in on Tom Holland’s age, and the system gave me his date of birth, place of birth, and estimated net worth.

26. When using the internet-connected elements, there is an onscreen option to report inappropriate images in the instance that one pops up.

27. Hey Disney! warns you not to talk all at once when playing trivia.

28. The home screen constantly shows the time and current temperature outside.

29. My message from Mater encouraged me to head to Carborator County which felt a little like it was telling me to go to Cars Land…in Disney California Adventure…across the country.

30. You can ask, “Hey Disney, what can you do?” to get an overview of what it can do. This is important as the service evolves and adds new features.

31. The graphics on screen were surprisingly cute.

34. It’s great to be able to make magic for kiddos at any time with access to Disney characters.

35. Alexa can check your flight status.

36. The system was surprisingly helpful and surprisingly fun. I spent much of my stay listening to the soundscapes while I worked and absolutely loved them. Plus, I found myself thinking of questions to ask every once in a while, and Hey Disney! was a lot easier than Googling. That said, I think the exposed plug is definitely great for those that are uncomfortable with an internet-connected mic in their room — even if you can mute it.

Will you use Hey Disney! in Disney World? Tell us in the comments! 

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