Disney Genie is Walt Disney World’s newest Magical invention and for those who haven’t used it before, it can be quite confusing! To help us understand Disney’s new, Magical invention, I will break down what Disney Genie is all about, where and why you use it and what it has to offer!
Disney Genie is made up of 3 elements:
So, what exactly IS Disney Genie?
Disney Genie is a free tool in the My Disney Experience app which offers tips and tricks to avoid long lines and offers a personalised itinerary with recommendations based on your interests to help you plan your day at Disney. Though, if you prefer to leave your day at Disney up to chance, you can be spontaneous with Disney Genie and continuously change/ update your interests as the day goes on or check current ride wait times. You’ll also be able to order food, join virtual queues (ah the one good thing to come out of the Pandemic – less queuing!), join a restaurant walk-up list and make reservations.
What about Genie+ ?
Genie+ is Disney Genie’s optional paid extra that allows guests to bypass the standby line – it is what we have all referred to previously as a ‘FastPass’. The FastPass/ FastPass+ lanes have been replaced with Lightning Lane as guests can select one ride a time on any given day.
Genie+ will cost guests $15 per day (a very healthy number if you ask me) and grant access to over 40 attractions across the parks. Only one reservation can be made at a time and once the arrival window for your selected ride has passed, guests can make another reservation. Genie+ selections for onsite resort guests can be made from 7am, and for off site from park opening on the day of your visit to Walt Disney World and can be used with virtual queues. Before you visit, Genie+ can be purchased as an add-on to a ticket or you can purchase Genie+ through the My Disney Experience app on the day of your visit.
At each of the theme parks a selection of rides are included in the Genie+ package. For Magic Kingdom 17 attractions are available including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and Peter Pan's Flight. At EPCOT 9 attractions are available including, Soarin' Around the World, Test Track and Mission Space (Green and Orange). At Hollywood Studios Genie+ is offered for 12 attractions including, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Slinky Dog Dash and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Finally, at Animal Kingdom Genie+ covers 8 attractions including, DINOSAUR, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids and Na'vi River Journey.
Pay-Per-Ride: Individual Lightning Lane Rides
A few extremely popular rides that experience high demand are not included in Genie+ and guests can make separate Lightning Lane pay-per-ride selections (once per day) to skip the queues. There is also an option to pay and upgrade to select 2 different rides, per person, per day.
Individual Lightning Lane Ride selections will need to be made on the same day of your visit and for those who are using Park Hopper, selections can be made across the theme parks on one day. You can select a maximum of 2 individual Lightning Lane Rides per person, per day, and you cannot select the same attraction twice. Also, purchasing an individual Lightning Lane ride can be done with or without a previous purchase of Genie+. Individual Lightning Lane purchases can be made via Disney Genie within the My Disney Experience app on the same day as your visit.
Prices for Individual Lightning Lane selections will vary and have been known to range from $7 per person (Expedition Everest) to $15 per person (Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance).
Guests who are staying at a Disney Resort hotel and other select hotels (such as Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels) can make their first Individual Lightning Lane purchase at 7am, whereas the rest of the public can make their purchase once the park opens for general admission. Unlike Genie+ you can select any time to ride (rather than the next available time slot), and you can overlap your Genie+ and individual Lightning Lane selections!
The Individual Lightning Lane selections are only offered for a select few rides at each Disney park: at Magic Kingdom you can choose Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Space Mountain, at EPCOT you can choose from Remy's Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios you can select from Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, and at Disney's Animal Kingdom you can choose from Avatar Flight of Passage and Expedition Everest. Though, these ride selections are always subject to change.
Is it worth it?
As UK Disney fans have been unable to visit Walt Disney World for so long, Disney Genie, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane have all been piloted on American visitors…who have been loving it! Many guests have reported wait times as low as 2 minutes for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train when purchasing Individual Lightning Lane access (the regular wait time was 60 minutes)! We personally cannot wait to get back to Walt Disney World in 2021 and 2022 to try out everything Disney Genie has to offer!
Information is subject to change
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