📍 GPS Trail
The GPS Trail records a breadcrumb path of everywhere you walk during your park day — entirely on your device, with no data sent to any server. After your trip, sync the trail to the web planner to watch an animated playback of your day on an interactive map.
VIP feature: Recording a new trail requires an active VIP subscription. Previously recorded trails are always viewable, even if your subscription has lapsed. The web planner trail visualization is free for everyone.
▶️ Starting the Trail
Set up and begin recording before you enter the park.
Tap the trail toggle (📍) near the top of the Home screen to open the setup sheet.
The toggle appears in the status bar area alongside the date selector. If you don't see it, make sure you're on the Home screen (not Rides or Dining).
Choose a resolution and tap Start Recording.
Medium is recommended for a full park day — it records a point roughly every minute while you're moving, balancing accuracy and battery life.
When prompted, grant "Always" location permission.
iOS requires "Always" permission for background location recording — "While Using" will stop the trail whenever you switch apps to check a wait time. Go to Settings › ParQwish Pal › Location and select Always if you missed the prompt.
The trail indicator turns green with a pulse animation — you're recording.
A live stat line below the toggle shows distance walked, points recorded, and elapsed time. These update every 30 seconds.
🎢 During Your Park Day
Trail recording runs fully in the background — just enjoy your day.
Use the app normally — adding items, checking wait times, scheduling shows.
Recording continues in the background while you use any part of the app, and even when the app is not in the foreground.
Tap the trail toggle at any time to pause or stop recording.
Pausing is useful during long sit-down meals or shows where you won't be moving. The trail resumes exactly where it left off when you tap Start again.
⏹️ Stopping and Exporting Your Trail
At the end of your day, stop recording and export the trail data to the web planner.
Tap the trail toggle to stop recording. Your final stats appear.
Stats shown: total distance (miles), total time, number of GPS points recorded, and average speed.
Go to Settings › Data & Sync › Export. Make sure GPS Trail is toggled on.
Set the date range to include today (or all your trip days if you recorded multiple days).
Tap Generate Export, note the 6-digit code, and share the file.
🗺️ Viewing Your Trail in the Web Planner
Import your sync file and explore the animated map in the Publish phase.
Import the sync file on the web planner. Select your trip, tap Import, choose the file, enter the code.
See the Data Sync guide for full import instructions if this is your first time.
Open the Publish phase and scroll to the "Where You Walked" section.
Each day you recorded appears as a card showing distance, time, and points. Tap a card to expand the map.
The Leaflet map renders your full path as a coloured line with a green start marker and red end marker.
Completed itinerary items (rides, shows, dining, places) appear as colour-coded dots on the map. Hover over a dot to see the item name and scheduled time.
▶️ Animated Playback Controls
Watch your day unfold step by step on the map.
Tap ▶ Play to start the animation. A moving dot traces your path in real time.
A ghost trail (20% opacity) shows your full route at all times. The active portion draws in at full opacity as the dot advances.
Use the speed selector to change playback rate: 1×, 2×, 5×, or 10×.
10× is useful for a quick overview of the whole day. 1× gives the most satisfying recreation of the actual pace of your visit.
Drag the timeline scrubber to jump to any moment. Timestamps show start, current, and end times.
Tap ⛶ Expand for a fullscreen map overlay — scroll or pinch to zoom in on any area.
Fullscreen mode is especially useful on a large monitor for sharing your trail during a trip recap conversation.
💡 Tips for best results
- Charge your phone fully the night before — background location recording uses extra battery on long days.
- Start recording before you enter the park so the entrance plaza is captured.
- Use Medium resolution for a typical 8–12 hour park day. Switch to High only if you want precise per-attraction paths.
- If the trail indicator looks stuck when you re-open the app, toggle it off and back on — iOS may have suspended the background task.
- Trail points are stored locally by date. You can record multiple trip days and they'll each appear as separate cards in the web planner.
- The trail is completely private — it never leaves your device unless you explicitly export and share the sync file.