Disney's Genie Plus
Updated: Jun 23, 2023
Are you and your family looking to make the most out of every single minute of
your Walt Disney World vacation? If you answered “Yes”, then Disney’s Genie+
might be a good option for you. The new Genie+ system allows guests with
theme park tickets or annual passes to make Lightning Lane reservations
throughout their theme park day to guarantee an opportunity to ride specific
rides throughout your day. The way that Disney has offered opportunities to skip
the lengthy lines has looked very different over the last several years.
*Update to Genie+ as of June 23, 2023
Starting June 27, Disney will begin offering a new pricing structure to how you use Genie+. The pricing will be based on which park you plan on visiting offering some cost benefits for those using Genie+ at Animal Kingdom and Epcot. It appears as though Park Hopper option will cost the most followed by Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. There is no word yet on if anything else will change besides the pricing structure. Stay tuned as new developments occur.
History of Skipping Ride Lines
If you enjoyed a Walt Disney World vacation before the pandemic began, then
you are more likely to have experienced the Fast Pass system that allowed you to
plan your rides for your vacation well in advance. With the Fast Pass system, you
were able to reserve three rides per theme park day of your vacation 30 days in
advance. With this system, there were also tiers to choose from. Fast Pass was
also included with booking a Walt Disney World vacation, adding no additional
cost to you. Many people absolutely loved this planning aspect of a Disney
vacation and believed that this system was nearly perfect. Before Fast Pass online, there were physical kiosks which guests would rush to so that they get physical Fast Pass Tickets printed off for the rides of their choosing. The days of Fast Pass are gone and have been replaced by the current version called Genie+.
How Does Genie+ Work?
The new Genie+ system is housed within the My Disney Experience app on your
smartphone. One of the biggest negatives to using Genie+ is that you have to
purchase this option the day of your theme park visit, and you need to wake up
before 7:00 AM to make your first Lightning Lane reservation. Gone are the days
of planning out your perfect vacation up to 30 days in advance, and in comes
early morning wake up calls to begin planning your perfect Disney day. Another
huge negative is that Genie+ costs you up to $29 per day, per guest, plus tax. The
cost depends on the demand and crowd level for that day. Genie+ typically
ranges from $20 to $25 with prices extending up to $29 for crowded times
throughout the year like Thanksgiving week, Christmas, and New Year’s week.
Each guest over the age of 3 needs Genie+ if they want to skip the long lines. This
can really add up for larger families. For your typical family of 4, this could cost
you an extra $100 per day plus tax. There are also some premium attractions that
cost extra as well. Though, you do not have to purchase Genie+ to purchase
these premium Individual Lightning Lanes.
A Typical Genie+ Day
What does a typical day using Genie+ look like? To maximum your money spent, I recommend waking up around 6:50
AM to make sure you have Genie+ purchased for all guests in your party. Then,
you can make your first Lightning Lane selection at 7:00 AM. I also recommend
purchasing up to 2 of those premium Individual Lightning Lanes for an additional
charge at this time. After this initial rush of booking Lightning Lanes, you must
wait until 2 hours after park opening or if you use that Lightning Lane, whichever
comes first. I will outline a typical day later in this article, along with all the
attraction offerings on Genie+. The main thing you need to understand about
Genie+ is that once the park opens, you can basically reserve a new Lightning
Lane every 2 hours throughout the day unless you use up your Lightning Lanes
first. So, there is an added benefit to reserving Lightning Lanes that come sooner
rather than later. I highly recommend downloading the My Disney Experience
app ahead of time and playing around with it to see which attractions typically are
in higher demand. Let’s look at the list of Genie+ attractions offered.
Magic Kingdom (19 Attractions)
*Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Individual Lightning Lane – additional cost) $9 - $12
*TRON Lightcycle / Run (Individual Lightning Lane - additional cost) $20 - $25
“it’s a small world”
Barnstormer
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mickey’s PhilharMagic
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Peter Pan’s Flight
Pirates of the Caribbean
Space Mountain
Tomorrowland Speedway
Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid
Hollywood Studios (14 Attractions)
*Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Individual Lightning Lane – additional cost) $20 - $25
Alien Swirling Saucers
Beauty & the Beast Live on Stage
Disney Junior Play and Dance!
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Muppet Vision 3D
Rock n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
Slinky Dog Dash
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Toy Story Mania!
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
EPCOT (12 Attractions)
*Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (Individual Lightning Lane – additional
cost) $14 - $17
Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
Frozen Ever After
Journey into Imagination with Figment
Living with the Land
Mission: SPACE
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Seas with Nemo & Friends
Soarin’ Around the World
Spaceship Earth
Test Track
Turtle Talk with Crush
Animal Kingdom (9 Attractions)
*Avatar: Flight of Passage (Individual Lightning Lane – additional cost) $12 - $15
Dinosaur
Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
Festival of the Lion King
Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond!
It’s Tough to be a Bug!
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Na’vi River Journey
As you can see, the Magic Kingdom has the most ride-based attractions. If the
premium Individual Lightning Lanes interest you more, you may opt to purchase
those individually rather than purchasing the Genie+ add-on. You can only book
up to 2 Individual Lightning Lanes per day and they can be at different parks (1 at
each of the 2 theme parks you visit that day). One benefit of Individual Lightning
Lanes versus choosing Genie+ attractions, is the ability to pick a time slot that
works best for you. If you want to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train before your 5:30
dinner reservation, it is likely that you can find a specific one-hour time window
from 4:00 – 5:00 as opposed to taking what you are given. Genie+ attractions
release time windows beginning at the theme park opening time and as the day
progresses, the time windows get later & later in the day. In other words, the
later the time for an attraction, the more in-demand that attraction is and will
likely not have anymore available times to choose from the later in the day it gets.
They do run out and it depends on the day.
In Conclusion
Genie+ is a somewhat confusing system until you actually use it. Personally, I
enjoy what the system offers my family of four, two of which are under the age of
5. Genie+ saves us time waiting in lines and avoiding some meltdowns which are
guaranteed to occur at some point in a vacation. I do not enjoy the cost of Genie+
and wish that taxes weren’t tacked on top of the charge. However, time is money
when you are on a Disney vacation. The question is – what’s more important to
you – time or money?
Listen to the podcast to learn more about Genie+:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-joel-new-world-a-walt-disney-world-podcast/id1629745310?i=10
Would You Be Willing to Purchase Genie+?
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