At Disney World and Disneyland, "linking tickets" refers to the digital process of connecting your physical or digital park tickets to your My Disney Experience (or Disneyland app) account. This is a critical step because a ticket is not "active" for advanced planning until it is linked. Once linked, the ticket is assigned to a specific person in your "Family & Friends" list, which then allows you to make theme park reservations, purchase and manage Lightning Lane selections (formerly Genie+), and link your PhotoPass photos. Linking is done by entering the ticket's ID number or scanning the barcode with your phone's camera. Importantly, linking a ticket doesn't "lock" it to a person until they actually enter the park for the first time; however, once linked to an account, it allows one "lead" person to manage the entire group's itinerary, ensuring that everyone in the party gets the same return times for rides and can be easily scanned into the park using a single mobile device or MagicBand.