Any Apple Watch suggestions while at WDW?

[CAS239]

I've been tempted to get an Apple Watch, so this thread is great for me. i don't know anyone who has one, so I don't have any help there. I don't wear a regular watch, so it seems silly to get it for the watch features. I have a Fitbit that I use, so if it can duplicate that, it would be nice. Do you have to carry your phone at the same time to really optimize the features?

Yes you'll need to carry your phone with you. Or if you're at home it can sit somewhere while you do whatever. Your phone is linked to your watch via Bluetooth so it has to stay within range. It can operate fine without your phone on you or if your phone is dead, but you won't receive texts, calls, notifications, etc

I really didn't wear a watch either before getting my Apple Watch, but I love it. I've had it since last Feb and still haven't messed with it enough for its full potential.

I mainly use it so far and love it for being able to read/reply to texts without taking my phone out of my pocket, change the music playing from my phone without taking my phone out, seeing how far you've walked, sleep cycle

 

[mistyinca]

@Skywise I'm honestly not sure yet! I literally just got it and did the basic set up but I am still trying to figure it all out. I joined an on-line fitness group and lot of people in the group use it to track their activities so I thought I would try it. My 15 year old son has had one for quite a while and loves it! We got my DH one for Christmas and he said he wasn't sure if he was going to like it but he really does.

What app do they use to track activities? I've been using the native activity app, and it doesn't sync my workouts properly to myfitnesspal, so I'm thinking I need to find something else.

 

[rteetz]

What app do they use to track activities? I've been using the native activity app, and it doesn't sync my workouts properly to myfitnesspal, so I'm thinking I need to find something else.

As a runner I use runKeeper or the built in fitness app. I find both of those to work very well.

 

[FredtheDuck]

Re: carrying the phone, depends on what features. Needs to be near a phone for texts, calls, etc. For exercise though, gen 2 has GPS built in, so I don't have to take my phone with me when I run now in order to get an accurate record of my run.

For activity apps, I also use Runkeeper for running/biking and the native Activity app for most everything else.

Add me to the list of people who rarely wore a watch before I was given the Apple watch.

 

[JKalai]

I bought one at Best Buy to try it out as I was contemplating it. As they have a decent return policy, I thought that I could just return it within two weeks if I didn't end up liking it. I ended up keeping it because I really like the cool features that aren't really advertised as much as the fitness stuff.

Neat features I like:
- Pinging your phone if it is lost in your room from your watch
- Watch tapping your wrist if you use your phone for auto navigation (taps my wrist through carplay if you have it equipped)
- Watch tapping your wrist if you use your phone for walking directions in big cities (big help in NYC and San Francisco when walking around as I hate walking with my phone out and possibly hitting someone).
- The capability of always knowing when you are getting a message/phone call when your phone is on silent (as I'm always in meetings). It was always either a his or miss when trying to feel for the vibration inside your pocket.
- Storing songs in your watch so you don't need your watch when you work out with bluetooth headphones.
- Being notified via your watch if important emails come through (just need to label it as VIP) so you can filter all the other junk mail you get.

and the best feature...

- Not having to take your phone out every five minutes to check your notifications! Me and my SO both have apple watches now and used to always take out our phones to check things like email and texts and to keep an eye on important calls, even at Disney. Now we will get notified via our watch if anything really important comes up so we can focus on more of what is in front of us and enjoy our vacations more.

 

[100acreHiker]

LOVE my apple watch. I actually bought mine just before our last trip to WDW in early December, specifically so I could keep an eye on time without having to open up my purse and take out my phone, and so I could keep track of my steps (usually hit 17k a day there). Ways to use it when you're there: apple pay for souvenirs and food, have your watch ding you with alerts to let you know when you FP+ window is open (this is not via MDE, of course, but rather programmed into your calendar with an alert). Easy to start the stop watch to time your wait times in stand-by (if you care to keep track of that), weather alerts, etc. I also really like the reminders for mindful breathing--Disney is not the most relaxing place when you're in the parks. With all of the rushing, it was good to be reminded to take a moment and chill. Also, the Wallet App on your watch is the same as your phone, of course, so if you're flying, you can have your boarding pass on your watch to scan when you board instead of fumbling with paper tickets.

 

[mnmhouston]

Looking forward to trying the disney app and weather suggested here. Don't really use apps on it yet so those will be good to try! A word on the battery, you can set it to not "come to life" every time you move your arm, that saves on battery too.

 

[tarak]

When I'm out on my lunch hour, I have my phone with me. But I like the idea of getting an alert on the watch versus having to check the phone. I'm more tempted now, which is good and bad, I suppose.

 

[mnmhouston]

How is everyone dealing with or planning to deal with their watches and magic bands. The new magic keeper option is a good one. It sure I could deal with both on one arm or one on each in the dead heat of August!

 

[CarolynFH]

How is everyone dealing with or planning to deal with their watches and magic bands. The new magic keeper option is a good one. It sure I could deal with both on one arm or one on each in the dead heat of August!

I always wear a watch on my left wrist, which is where I like to wear my MB too so I can scan Mickey with left hand and use a finger on my right hand for the biometric scan. As you surmise, I found it difficult to deal with both, even in cool weather (long sleeve cuffs were hard to deal with on top of them). A couple of years ago DH bought me the Minnie watch slider, which I loved because I could wear just the MB and still know what time it was. Now that I have an Apple watch and like to use it to keep track of FP and ADR times, on our most recent trip (first trip with my Apple watch) I wore both but found it aggravating - although wearing the Apple watch close to my hand and the MB above it worked better than having the MB near my hand as I did previously. I knew we'd receive the MB 2.0 after arriving home, because we renewed our APs, so I bought the Magic Keeper carabiner. My plan is to clip it to my purse, unclip it with my left hand to scan Mickey and keep my right hand free for the finger scan. Our next visit is in May, so we'll see how that goes!

 

[mnmhouston]

I always wear a watch on my left wrist, which is where I like to wear my MB too so I can scan Mickey with left hand and use a finger on my right hand for the biometric scan. As you surmise, I found it difficult to deal with both, even in cool weather (long sleeve cuffs were hard to deal with on top of them). A couple of years ago DH bought me the Minnie watch slider, which I loved because I could wear just the MB and still know what time it was. Now that I have an Apple watch and like to use it to keep track of FP and ADR times, on our most recent trip (first trip with my Apple watch) I wore both but found it aggravating - although wearing the Apple watch close to my hand and the MB above it worked better than having the MB near my hand as I did previously. I knew we'd receive the MB 2.0 after arriving home, because we renewed our APs, so I bought the Magic Keeper carabiner. My plan is to clip it to my purse, unclip it with my left hand to scan Mickey and keep my right hand free for the finger scan. Our next visit is in May, so we'll see how that goes!

Looking forward to hearing all about it. I'm thinking the magic keeper too but don't want to clip and unclip, loses some of its convenience that way :-(

 

[rteetz]

How is everyone dealing with or planning to deal with their watches and magic bands. The new magic keeper option is a good one. It sure I could deal with both on one arm or one on each in the dead heat of August!

I wear one on each. I just find it easier that way.

 

[Jasper07]

I bought a carabiner with a retractable badge reel on etsy. I plan on clipping it to my bag or belt loop. The etsy store that I purchased from had Minnie and Mickey designs to choose from.

 

[mnmhouston]

Just received a set of magic bands for an overnight stay we have planned on Easter. I believe I will most definitely be going the magic keeper route! Love the retractable badge reel idea with it.

 

[CarolynFH]

I bought a carabiner with a retractable badge reel on etsy. I plan on clipping it to my bag or belt loop. The etsy store that I purchased from had Minnie and Mickey designs to choose from.

Yes, I'll look into this too. I agree with PP that taking it off/putting it back on my purse will probably get old pretty quickly.

 

[OKW Lover]

I'd love to be able to use my Apple Watch in place of a MB. It would be great to have my AP and FP integrated into the MDE app on the watch, so that I could just use it like people use a MB.

 

[CarolynFH]

I always wear a watch on my left wrist, which is where I like to wear my MB too so I can scan Mickey with left hand and use a finger on my right hand for the biometric scan. As you surmise, I found it difficult to deal with both, even in cool weather (long sleeve cuffs were hard to deal with on top of them). A couple of years ago DH bought me the Minnie watch slider, which I loved because I could wear just the MB and still know what time it was. Now that I have an Apple watch and like to use it to keep track of FP and ADR times, on our most recent trip (first trip with my Apple watch) I wore both but found it aggravating - although wearing the Apple watch close to my hand and the MB above it worked better than having the MB near my hand as I did previously. I knew we'd receive the MB 2.0 after arriving home, because we renewed our APs, so I bought the Magic Keeper carabiner. My plan is to clip it to my purse, unclip it with my left hand to scan Mickey and keep my right hand free for the finger scan. Our next visit is in May, so we'll see how that goes!

This thread popped up again so I thought I'd provide an update on my use of the carabiner! Yes, I did get tired of unclipping/clipping it to my purse, although I could do it more quickly once I swapped out the carabiner for a larger one that we already had. But I was also concerned that I might drop it at some point. So I decided to try clipping it to a lanyard, and that worked great! The lanyard was long enough that I could use my left hand to hold Mickey-to-Mickey and scan my finger on the other hand. And I threaded my DVC and AP sliders onto the lanyard clip so they're visible too. I think I'll use this configuration going forward. I really like wearing only my Apple watch on my wrist as normal, and also I've saved a lot of money by not buying special MB !

 

[patrickpiteo]

The newer Apple Watches do have a slightly improved battery. Also don't forget that they have the battery saver option you can turn on.

Generally when we're at Disney, after a full day when we get back to the hotel my watch (First Gen) is around 30-40% battery life.

Last weekend our busiest day we clocked 12.08 miles

I also turn off some notifications that I won't need there helps save battery life

 

[jescar831]

I have had my apple watch for the past four trips to WDW. I was kind of hoping that the Disney app would have watch function, but it doesn't. I would like to see a watch complication that has the next thing on your trip. For example, if you have a fastpass or ADR then it will show the time and where it is. However, the app does not have that kind of functionality. Hopefully they add that sort of thing. For now I just use the watch for the Mickey watch face for a little more Disney magic.

 

[patrickpiteo]

I have had my apple watch for the past four trips to WDW. I was kind of hoping that the Disney app would have watch function, but it doesn't. I would like to see a watch complication that has the next thing on your trip. For example, if you have a fastpass or ADR then it will show the time and where it is. However, the app does not have that kind of functionality. Hopefully they add that sort of thing. For now I just use the watch for the Mickey watch face for a little more Disney magic.

Just add your FP and adr to your calendar add alerts works