Disney Genie and Genie+ Service

The Disney Genie is an update to the WDW My Disney Experience and Disneyland smart phone apps, that replaces FastPass+ at Disney World and both FastPass and MaxPass at Disneyland.

Updated October 11 2022 for Genie+ Price Changes and the addition of WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure to Genie+ at Disneyland
Updated August 3rd 2022 for permanent changes to the Genie+ Lightning Lane Lineup.
Updated May 18th 2022 for the discontinuation of Genie+ sales as part of a ticket at WDW.
Updated February 2022 for the discontinuation of Shades of Green Stars and Stripes Passes.

Gone are the days of planning ahead!

Many will be pleased that the days of making your FastPass+ reservations 60 or 30 days ahead of time, which did not line up with 180 days ahead for dining reservation are over. Many complained about the lack of spontaneity that the old paper FastPass System allowed.

Sadly, many now are wishing for a return to the days of FastPass+ and the new Genie system is severely lacking. Often the most popular attractions have their Genie+ reservations and Individual Lightning Lane purchases all gone within minutes of opening to Disney Resort Hotel guests at 7 a.m. each day. Add in high attendance period and Genie+ is almost worthless. Disney has taken steps to remedy this, but it’s not enough, read more about this in the Peak Periods Section below.

Disney Genie is a totally Day Of  system!

Disney Genie offers 3 levels of service, 1 free and 2 paid. And staying at a Disney Resort Hotel will offer scheduling advantages.

How Disney Genie Works

The Disney Genie Service is divided into 3 levels of service, 1 free and 2 paid.

They are:

• Disney Genie (Free)
• Disney Genie+ (Paid)
• Individual Attraction Lightning Lane Selections (Paid)

Disney Genie

At the basic free level Disney Genie will help you through your theme park day.

Simply setup what you are interested in doing, by clicking on rides and attractions, Or if you’re not sure just general interests like Star Wars or Princesses.

Then as you tour the park Disney Genie will let you know the forecast best times to experience those things in order to have the shortest standby wait times.

Here are a few more features:

• Get Itinerary Updates from Morning to Night: Disney Genie will continue to update the Guest’s itinerary throughout your day, so they can be more spontaneous and go with the flow.
• Find Favorites at a Glance: Guests can create their very own personal tip board to instantly see their favorites. It will display current AND forecasted future wait times, helping Guests predict when they might experience quicker entry to attractions.
• Disney Genie brings existing planning features together in one place. Guests can join a virtual queue at certain attractions, make dining and experience reservations, mobile order food at many locations, get help from a virtual assistant and more.

Did your catch that? Virtual Queues are not going away, WDW has been using virtual queues on their newest attractions for very long introductory periods. When Tron opens there will be 2 virtual Queues in operation (Tron and Guardians of the Galaxy).

The free Disney Genie service in the My Disney Experience app will “maximize your park time” via a personalized itinerary feature that will “quickly and seamlessly map out an entire day.” It will also offer forecasted wait times throughout the day and attraction suggestions, so you can save time in line.

Disney Genie+

The Plus level is the first paid level, offering a service just like the old paper FastPass System or Disneyland’s MaxPass.

Genie+ costs starting today 11 October 2022:

Walt Disney World

• Will also vary in price based on the date a guest is visiting.

Disneyland

• $25 per day when purchased in advance as an add-on with a new ticket or vacation packages.
• Single-day purchases for Disney Genie+ through the Disneyland app will begin at $25 per day, and may vary by date, based on demand.

This means that when purchasing through the app, more popular/higher attendance days will cost more!

Genie+ can be added to all Disneyland versions of military tickets at the time of purchase and afterwards. At Walt Disney World Genie+ can only be purchased in-app via you My Disney Experience app on the day desired (After 12:01 a.m.)

When purchasing ahead you must purchase for all days of your stay, so for a family of 4 using 4-day Disney Armed Forces Salute tickets at Disneyland it would be $240 to add it to all 4 tickets.

You may purchase Genie+ on a day-by-day basis for the days that you want it starting at a minute after midnight the day you want it. This holds true for both coasts.

Genie+ allows you to use the “Lightning Lanes” (the old FastPass Lines) at a variety of attractions and experiences at a designated time. The way it works is, Genie+ will show you an available 1 hour long time slot at the various attractions. After reserving one you’ll do other things (eating, shopping, other attractions in the standby line) while waiting on your time slot to open. Once your slot opens you’ll experience the attraction by entering the Lightning Lane for a shorter wait. Afterwords you’ll then be able to select the next attraction at which you’ll use the Lightning Lane. You can do this continuously all day long and multiple parks as long as there are options to pick from.

If you make a reservation for a time well in advance, you may make an another reservation 2 hours after making the first. So let’s say at the Magic Kingdom, at 8 a.m. you make your first Lightning Lane reservation to experience Big thunder Mountain at 4 p.m. You can then make a second reservation for any other attraction at any available time at 10 a.m.

Attractions available for Individual Lightning Lane Purchases are excluded from this part of the service.

Disney Genie+ also includes:

• Disney parks-themed audio experiences
• Photo features to capture your memories – augmented reality lenses for those visiting Walt Disney World Resort
• Unlimited Disney PhotoPass downloads from your day if you are visiting Disneyland Resort (why it costs more at DLR)

I understand the audio experienced are tour type trivia that you can play about your current location in the parks. I haven’t used this.

Photo features are still and video character interactions with you in your pictures and selfies.

Guests can make their first selection at 7 a.m. the day of their visit at Walt Disney World and after entering a park at the Disneyland Resort.

Disney Genie+ Attractions

Each park has a long list of attractions that you may reserve Lightning Lane use via Genie+. These lists do not include what Disney considers the most popular attractions in each park. If you want to use the Lightning Lane on these attractions, you’ll need to pay more money (see Individual Lightning Lane Attraction Purchases below)

NOTE: During peak attendance periods the Genie+ system is less than ideal, being overwhelmed by the volume of guests and offering little in the way of good attraction selections for the cost. All Slinky Dog reservations will be takes within  a couple minutes after 7 am and most other good attractions shortly after the parks open.

Current Info:

Walt Disney World:

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections at The Magic Kingdom:

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Enchanted Tales with Belle
• Festival of Fantasy Parade
• Haunted Mansion
• “it’s a small world”
• Jungle Cruise
• Mad Tea Party
• Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Meet Ariel at Her Grotto
• Meet Cinderella and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall
• Meet Mickey and Minnie at Town Square Theater
• Meet Princess Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain (Closed for ReBranding)
• Goofy’s Barnstormer
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections at Epcot:

• Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival
• Journey into Imagination with Figment
• Living with the Land
• Frozen Ever After
• Mission Space
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Spaceship Earth
• Test Track
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• Turtle Talk with Crush

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage
• Disney Jr. Play & Dance
• For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• MuppetVision 3D
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Meet Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Tours — The Adventures Continue
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Toy Story Mania

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections at Disney’s Animal Kingdom:

• Festival of the Lion King
• Dinosaur
• Expedition Everest
• Feathered Friends in Flight
• Finding Nemo: The Big Blue and Beyond
• It’s Tough to Be a Bug
• Kali River Rapids
• Kilimanjaro Safaris
• Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost
• Na’vi River Journey
• The Animation Experience at Conservation Station

Disneyland Resort:

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections at Disneyland Park: 

• Autopia
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
• Haunted Mansion / Haunted Mansion Holiday
• Indiana Jones Adventure
• “it’s a small world” / “it’s a small world” holiday
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Star Tours — The Adventures Continue

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections at Disney California Adventure Park:

• Goofy’s Sky School
• Grizzly River Run
• Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: BREAKOUT!
• Guardians of the Galaxy – Monsters After Dark
• Incredicoaster
• Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Toy Story Midway Mania
• WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure

Individual Lightning Lane Attraction Purchases

This is an additional pay to use the Lightning Lane feature that can be used to purchase scheduled times (in hour slots) to arrive at two highly demanded attractions each day.

One attraction in each park is available for this service and, these attractions are not available for the Genie+ service! 

These are what Disney considers the best (or busiest)  attractions in each park!

Guests can use this purchase option without paying for the Genie+ Service, they are separate.

This feature may be used at more than 1 park per day, which is good for Park Hoppers! But you are still limited to 2 per day if used in different parks.

Pricing for this option varies by date, attraction and park.

Here are typical prices for each park (and typical usage):

Magic Kingdom

• Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train: high $12, low $10 (occasionally sells out)
• TRON Lightcycle / Run: Expect highest prices and daily sellouts

Epcot

• Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind: high $17, low $15

Hollywood Studios

• Star Wars Rise of the Resistance: high $25, low $20 (often sells out by 9 a.m.)

Animal Kingdom

• Avatar Flight of Passage: high $16, low $12 (often sells out by early afternoon)

Note: the later that you purchase, the later your return time will be.

Guests staying at Select Walt Disney World Resorts (WDW Resort Hotels, Shades of Green, & Swan and Dolphin) can purchase Individual Attractions at 7 a.m. the day of their visit.

All other WDW guests can purchase at the park opening time.

Disneyland guests can purchase after entering the park.

At Disney World you will then be able to select from available return windows and at Disneyland you will be given the next available return window.

 

Individual Lightning Lane Attractions

These are the attractions that Disney deems the most popular in each park and so charges additional and separate fees for Lightning Lane use.

Walt Disney World:

Disney Individual Lightning Lane Purchases at The Magic Kingdom:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Disney Individual Lightning Lane Purchases at Epcot:

• Frozen Ever After

Disney Individual Lightning Lane Purchases at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Disney Individual Lightning Lane Purchases at Disney’s Animal Kingdom:

• Avatar Flight of Passage

Disneyland Resort:

Disney Individual Lightning Lane Purchases at Disneyland Park: 

• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Disney Individual Lightning Lane Purchases at Disney California Adventure Park:

• Radiator Springs Racers

Do You Need Genie+ Every Day?

Public Service Announcement: You might not!

You should carefully analyze your desired attractions and spend some time watching return times in real time on the My Disney Experience app to see if you will want to purchase Genie+ for your whole ticket via the process above or purchase it only for the days you think you will need it via the app on the day in question.

On my most recent WDW trip (Nov 2021), the first one using Genie+, I did not add it to the 4 Disney Armed Forces Salute 4-Day Tickets for my party, rather we purchased Genie on 2 of our 4 park days at  Hollywood Studios and 1 of our 2 Magic Kingdom days. We felt no need for it at Epcot!

Also, on the days that we did purchase it we found the 3rd most popular attraction (the best you can reserve with Genie+ as the 2 most popular require an additional purchase) in our park for the day to be reserved through the end of the park day by 7:30 a.m.

Purchasing Disney Genie+

Disney Genie+ can be purchased 2 ways.

1. At Disneyland – As part of your military ticket, either at the time of purchase, or added on at a Disney ticket window (at any time prior to using the last day of the ticket). Both purchase options are for the full unused length of the ticket, even if you have used some days.
2. At both Disney World and Disneyland – Through a My Disney Experience in app purchase day-by-day as desired. At Walt Disney World you can purchase anytime after midnight (001 hours in l military time) and at Disneyland after entering a theme park for the day on each day that you desire to use the service.

NOTE: Starting 8 June 2022 at Walt Disney World Disney Genie+ will only be purchasable via the My Disney Experience App on the day of use! That means that you will no longer be able to purchase Genie+ as a ticket add-on. Any previously sold tickets that have the Genie+ add-on will be honored for 2022. This is for WDW only and does not affect Disneyland tickets.

 WDW is making this change due to the lack of perceived value of the service as it has been struggling under peak attendance periods. Disney says that those purchasing Genie+ will continue to enter 2-3 attractions or experiences each day using the Lightning Lane entrance, something they have said all along, but wasn’t always the case during peak periods.

So, for Disneyland you can decide to purchase Genie+ when you buy your tickets from your Base Ticket Office or other Military Ticket Reseller like Shades of Green or the Orlando ITT. Or if you later decide that you want to add the Genie+ option your can do so after arrival at Disney. The time to add genie+ would be when you activate you ticket(s). You can add Genie+ at any time until you finish using the ticket, but doing so after you’ve started using is a waste of money for example if you have a 4-day ticket and decide after using 2 days that you want to add Genie+, you will be charged for 4 days of the service but only get 2 days of use. Better yo purchase via the My Disney Experience in app purchase in that case.

Or for both Disney World and Disneyland you can think carefully about your schedule and decide if you want to/need to use Disney Genie+ every day of your ticket. Some days you might not want or need to. If so you can just buy for the days you want with the My Disney Experience in app purchase on the days you want it. Which is what I recommend doing anyway. (I don’t want it every day).

On my most recent November 2021 trip, we did the in-app purchase for 2 of our 4 park days.

Also remember the Lightning Lane purchases (for the best attractions in each park) are totally separate and additional purchases and do not require a Genie+ purchase and might be all you need for certain parks.

What Military Tickets Can Genie+ Be Added To?

When talking about adding this option to tickets I’m talking about at the time of purchase or at a ticket window, not the in app purchase.

Most people are familiar with the Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets, but as you may know, there are several kinds of military tickets.

• Disneyland Armed Forces Salute Tickets
• Regular Disney Military Ticket Discount for Disneyland

Disney Genie+ can be added to the Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets and the Regular Disney Military Ticket Discount for Walt Disney World and Disneyland (when Disneyland starts this service).

Do You Need Disney Genie+ On Every Day Of Your Ticket?

You may have noted above that I don’t think so.

On my last trip I only purchased it on 2 of our 4 theme park days.

The reason that you might not need Genie+ every day of your trip is that in some parks Genie+ saves you little time due the attractions normally having fairly short wait times as it is (except on the most crowded days of the year).

Be sure to make the Free Early Entry and/or Extended Evening Hours a part of your plans to experience the attractions that you’d like to!

Genie+ recommendations by park:

• The Magic Kingdom – Genie+ Top Recommended Park
  • 17 Genie+ Attractions
  • Thrill Rides and Many very popular kid’s rides
  • Can be a big time saver here
• Epcot – Genie+ Not Recommended Park
  • Only 9 Genie+ Attractions
  • Minimal Thrill Rides
  • Many have moderate to low wait times
• Hollywood Studios – Genie+ Second Recommended Park
  • 12 Genie+ Attractions
  • Many Thrill Rides
  • Can be a big time saver here
• Animal Kingdom- Genie+ Not Recommended Park
  • 8 Genie+ Attractions
  • Only a couple with long waits on moderate days

These recommendations assume that you will stay in the same park all day. Should you desire to Park Hop, purchasing Genie+ might be warranted if you are hopping from a not recommended park to one where it is recommended. Keep in mind that you’ll be using your Lightning lane reservations in the second park late in the day (after 2 p.m.) and many of the best attractions will already be fully reserved. Slinky Dog fills up reservations by 8 or 9 a.m.!

Over to You

What do you think about this big change?

Any Questions?

Let me know in the comments section just a little lower on this page!

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Planning a Disney Trip? Want to get the best military discounts that are available? Feeling a little confused? See Our Great Disney Discount and Planning Info:

• Disney Veteran & Military Discount Eligibility Guide
• The Military Family’s Walt Disney World Comprehensive Vacation Planning and Preparation Guide 
• Military Disney Tips Disney Packing Checklist 
• Disney Military Tickets – Your Start to Finish Guide

Learn about the Disney Armed Forces Salute the best military discount that there is for Disney. See our Topic Overview Pages:

• Resorts/Hotel Overview Page
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• Transportation Overview Page
• Technology Overview Page
• Shades of Green, WDW’s Military Only Resort