Hello. I was fortunate enough to receive a Mavic as a Gift . I am very excited to do the right thing and so after my initial "test flight" in my back yard. I stayed about 20 ft up and just tried out the camera in "beginner mode" . I landed and started to do some research.
I am not going to be using the drone for commercial purposes. I only wish to go to safe flying areas and enjoy the technology.

Can someone confirm the following assuming I am just wanting to fly for fun/hobbyiest :
1. I need to register my drone for $5 for three years with the FAA.
2. I do not need to take and pass the UAS part 107 test to fly my drone legally in the USA.
3. Might be a good idea to join the AMA for $75/year to fly in parks available for RC aircraft.

I am VERY new to all this and started to do my research. I welcome all information.

Thanks!

1. I need to register my drone for $5 for three years with the FAA.

Correct, assuming that you plan to fly within the United States.

2. I do not need to take and pass the UAS part 107 test to fly my drone legally in the USA.

Correct, since you said you don't plan to fly commercially.

3. Might be a good idea to join the AMA for $75/year to fly in parks available for RC aircraft.

It might depending upon where you live.

I welcome all information.

Pay for either an insurance policy through State Farm or DJI's Care Refresh if you haven't already and take it slow.

1. Yes.
2. You only need to pass part 107 if you fly commercially.
3. Yes if you will fly over those parks. TBH, I don't see any reason to limit the drone's potential to some small parks.

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-3-15 13:19
1. I need to register my drone for $5 for three years with the FAA.

Correct, assuming that you plan to fly within the United States.

Thank you for the information! there is a lot of information out there and the reason I decided to come to the DJI forum rather than any other drone forum ultimately was because it is a DJI Drone.

I started to get confused as to what I actually needed to do and how to make sure I was legally able to fly while following the current laws (for the USA) so I appreciate the input from another fellow drone pilot. I don't want to have my gift of the Mavic turn into me being too scared to fly for fear of reprisals from FAA or other entities. There are a ton of Youtube videos where people received fines out there. Albeit they were doing some dumb things (in my estimation) with their drones but I wanted to be safe and fly safe as well.

I actually prefer to call it a quad over a drone myself.  

Chris F Posted at 2017-3-15 13:28
Thank you for the information! there is a lot of information out there and the reason I decided to come to the DJI forum rather than any other drone forum ultimately was because it is a DJI Drone.

I started to get confused as to what I actually needed to do and how to make sure I was legally able to fly while following the current laws (for the USA) so I appreciate the input from another fellow drone pilot. I don't want to have my gift of the Mavic turn into me being too scared to fly for fear of reprisals from FAA or other entities. There are a ton of Youtube videos where people received fines out there. Albeit they were doing some dumb things (in my estimation) with their drones but I wanted to be safe and fly safe as well.

There are a ton of Youtube videos where people received fines out there.

I'd guess that a lot of that is click bait. As of a year and a half ago the FAA had issued a whopping total of 20 fines to drone operators, though I'm guessing the number has increased a bit since then. Unless you plan to try to fly over the White House or something along those lines your chances of ever having a close encounter with the FAA are probably pretty slim. You're much more likely to get grief from regular citizens who've seen too many news stores about how the skies are filling up with killer spy drones flown by pervert pilots who live in their parents' basement and who are looking for any opportunity to invade peoples' privacy and photograph their children.

I actually prefer to call it a quad over a drone myself.

A lot of veteran pilots do, but most "laymen" don't know what that is so I've made my peace with "drone".