Disney just made a HUGE news announcement about the future of the Disney ride system. First, FastPass+ and MaxPass will be retired at Disney World and Disneyland. Next, the NEW Disney Genie planning service will be available this fall, and there are 2 new paid FastPass-like systems being introduced. There’s a lot to take in and it is all a bit confusing. So, today we will focus on Disney Genie and Disney Genie+. What are they and how are they different? Then we will cover what we know so far about the Individual Attraction Selections. We’re breaking down everything you need to know right here.
Disney Genie
Disney Genie is a planning service that will be built into the My Disney Experience app in Disney World and the Disneyland App at Disneyland Resort. This FREE Disney Genie service will “maximize your park time” via a personalized itinerary feature that will “quickly and seamlessly map out an entire day.” The idea is that you can tell Disney Genie what rides you want to go on, what types of general things you’re interested in, and the Genie will create a personalized itinerary for you. There will be a tip board where you can see certain attractions and other suggestions. It will show you forecasted wait times, lightning lane availability, and more. That could help you decide whether to ride an attraction now or wait until its wait time is expected to be less.
Genie will help you make dining reservations, recommend spots relative to your plans where you can place a mobile order. It will show you the next available mobile order time, help you place the mobile order conveniently through the app, and can be used to join a mobile dine walk-up waitlist. There’s even a dining tip board where you can see all of the reservations that are available, waitlist times, etc. for restaurants nearby.
Disney Genie’s itinerary will continuously update throughout the day to help you optimize your plans and help you get the most done with your day. IMPORTANT NOTE: The Disney Genie is entirely FREE. You won’t have to pay anything to utilize the Disney Genie planning service when it rolls out this FALL. Check out the video below to get an overview of Disney Genie:
Disney Genie+
Now let’s look at how Disney Genie+ is different. Genie+ will be built into the Genie system, making it easy and convenient to access. IMPORTANT NOTE: Genie+ is a PAID service. To get access to Genie+ you’ll pay $15 per ticket per day at Disney World, and $20 per ticket per day at Disneyland. With Genie+ you’ll get the chance to choose the next available time to arrive at a variety of attractions and experiences and use the Lightning Lane for that attraction/experience. The Lightning Lane is essentially what Disney previously called the FastPass+ lane. So first, you see a desired attraction has an available lightning lane entrance time within a certain time frame. You’ll make that selection, and when the time arrives, you can hop in the Lightning Lane and skip the standby line for that ride. Once you’re done with that ride, you can select another available Genie+ Lightning Lane time for a ride, and so on, throughout the day. You’ll only be able to make 1 Lightning Lane selection at a time.
In many ways, Genie+ is similar to the MaxPass service that existed out at Disneyland. If you pay for the Genie+ service, you’ll also get access to some extra things like Disney parks-themed audio experiences, Augmented Reality photo lenses in Disney World, and unlimited PhotoPass downloads from your day at Disneyland Resort. Even after Disney introduces the new paid ride services, you’ll be able to utilize the traditional standby queue system or virtual queue system (for those rides that offer that service).
Most guests can purchase Genie+ in advance for their trip. But, guests won’t be able to actually make Genie+ Lightning Lane selections until the day of their trip. At Walt Disney World, guests will be able to make their first Disney Genie+ ride selection at 7AM on the day of their visit and includes over 40 attractions. At Disneyland, guests can make their first Disney Genie+ selection once they’re in the park and include over 15 attractions. So far Disney has mentioned attractions like Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. NOT ALL attractions will be available through Genie+. If you want to skip the standby line for the attractions that are NOT on Genie+, you may need to utilize Disney’s second PAID service: Individual Attraction Selections.
Individual Attraction Selection
With this service, Guests pay for each individual ride separately. You’ll pay to schedule a time to ride select, high-demand attractions. When your return time arrives, you’ll go through the “Lightning Lane” and skip the standby line. This is similar to the individual paid FastPass system introduced at Disneyland Paris. Guests may want to utilize this Individual Attractions Select service for very popular attractions that have long wait times or are difficult to ride. The attractions available through Individual Attraction Select will NOT be the same attractions available for you to select through Disney Genie+. At this point, Disney has indicated that Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom, Radiator Springs Racers in Disney California Adventure Park, WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure at Disney California Adventure Park, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at EPCOT will ALL be part of the Individual Attractions Select offering.
Note that guests will only be able to pay for up to 2 Individual Attraction Selections per day. Guests will be able to book their desired Individual Attractions Selections WITHOUT purchasing Disney Genie+. In other words, you can simply have your regular ticket, and add on this Individual Attraction Selection option to it for an additional fee. You’ll purchase each of these attraction selections as a separate transaction. You will be able to select multiple members of your group for 1 transaction. If you want to purchase a second Individual Attraction Selection that would be a separate transaction.
For these Individual Attraction Selections, guests will make the selections on the day of their visit. Guests at Walt Disney World can make their selections when the park opens. If, however, you’ll be staying at a Disney-owned and operated hotel, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, or Shades of Green at Walt Disney World Resort, you’ll actually be able to make your selections a bit early. For those select guests, selections can be made at 7AM.
Annual Passholders and Magic Key Holders
Disney World Annual Passholders and Disneyland Magic Key Holders will have full access to the Disney Genie services. At the launch, both will be able to add Disney Genie+ and/or Individual Attraction Select Lightning Lane selections on the day of their visit. Disney will be looking into other enhancements for Passholders and Key holders using Disney Genie in the future. No discount information or yearly add-on options for Genie+ have been announced at this time. Annual Passes are still not for sale at WDW, but it was announced they will be available before the 50th Anniversary.
Final Thoughts
To summarize, Disney Genie is a FREE planning service that can show you wait times, suggest attractions/restaurants, and create a personalized itinerary for you. Disney Genie+ is a PAID, FastPass-like service where you’ll see the next available time to arrive at an attraction and use the Lightning Lane. You’ll be able to make 1 Lightning Lane selection at a time. Not all rides’ Lightning Lanes will be available through the Genie+ service. Some will require an additional purchase through the Individual Attraction SELECT feature. As always, standby lines and virtual queues (where available) are still an option for guests to utilize. Check back as we continue to learn more about Disney Genie, Genie+ and related features. Watch for an upcoming FAQs post and a more comprehensive look at how they will work for you and your vacation experience. As always, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.