• Home
  • Blog
  • Info By Topic
    • Disney Armed Forces Salute
      • Disney Armed Forces Salute Full Details
      • Disney Armed Forces Salute FAQ
      • FAQ Friday Blog Posts – Your Most Asked Questions
    • Military Discounted Tickets
      • Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets
      • Regular Military Discounted Disney Tickets
      • Military Discounted Ticket Overview
      • Buy Military Discounted Disney Tickets Long Distance
    • Resort Hotel Information and Military Discounts
      • Resort Hotel Overview
      • Shades of Green – WDW’s Military Resort
      • Disney Armed Forces Salute Room Discounts
      • The Walt Disney World Resorts
      • The Disneyland Hotels
    • Walt Disney World Theme Parks
    • Disneyland Theme Parks
    • Dining Information and Military Discounts Overview
      • Dining at WDW for Military Families
    • Transportation Information and Military Discounts Overview
    • Disney Technology Information
      • Disney Technology Overview
      • PhotoPass and MemoryMaker Military Discount
      • Genie & Genie+ Service
      • Linking Disney Military Tickets and FastPass Plus Reservations
    • Outside the Parks Information and Military Discounts
    • Resources and Links for You
  • Info By Location
    • Walt Disney World
      • Walt Disney World Theme Parks
    • Disneyland Resort
      • Disneyland Theme Parks
    • Universal Studios
    • SeaWorld – Busch Gardens
    • Resources and Links for You
  • Shades of Green
    • Shades of Green Overview
    • Shades of Green Prices
      • Shades of Green Eligibility
      • Shades of Green Regular Prices
      • Shades of Green Discounts
      • Shades Of Green – Disney Price Comparison
    • Shades of Green Guest Rooms
      • Shades of Green Standard Rooms
      • Shades of Green Poolside Rooms
      • Shades of Green – Disney Value Resort Comparison
      • Shades of Green – Disney Moderate Resort Comparison
      • Shades of Green – Disney Deluxe Resort Comparison
    • Shades of Green Ticket Office
      • Shades of Green Attraction Ticket Sales Office
      • Shades of Green – Preorder Tickets
    • Shades of Green AAFES Store
    • Shades of Green Dining Overview
    • Shades of Green Transportation Overview
    • Shades of Green Pools
  • Get a Disney Quote
  • About MDT
    • Our About Page
    • Our Team
    • Roll Call (Featured In)
    • Support MDT
    • Contact
    • Brands & Advertisers
    • Bloggers/Writers
    • Disclosure Policy
    • Support Military Disney Tips
  • Updates
    • Newsletter
    • Facebook

Military Disney Tips Blog

By Military for Military

Ears of Experience Military Disney Vacation Experts
Home » Blog Posts » Disney Genie Service Replaces FastPass+ and FastPass, and MaxPass

Disney Genie Service Replaces FastPass+ and FastPass, and MaxPass

By Steve 11 Comments

Big changes are coming this fall at Walt Disney World and Disneyland!

Yesterday evening Disney announced the expected release of the Disney Genie Service this fall for both Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort.

Note: This is our initial announcement post, please see our new Disney Genie and Genie+ Service Page for full details.

UPDATE: 21 Oct 2021 – Patrick AFB ITT advises that very soon you will be able to add Genie+ to your military tickets at the time of purchase.

UPDATE: 8 Oct 2021 – Disney Genie and Genie+ go into effect on 19 October 2021 at Walt Disney World. Disneyland will follow later.

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.

Disney Genie Service Replaces FastPass+ and FastPass, and MaxPass

Image Courtesy Disney

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 dining reservation limits and currently theme park reservations) are over. Many complained about the lack of spontaneity that the old paper FastPass System allowed..

Disney Genie will be a totally Day Of  system!

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

Disney Genie Service Replaces FastPass+ and FastPass, and MaxPass

Image Courtesy Disney

How Disney Genie Works

The 3 levels of Disney Genie Service are:

  • Disney Genie
  • Disney Genie+
  • Individual Attraction Selections

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, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure will have a virtual queue!

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 Service Replaces FastPass+ and FastPass, and MaxPass

Image Courtesy Disney

Disney Genie+

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

Genie+ costs $15 per day per person at Walt Disney World and $20 per day per person at Disneyland.

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 Disney World it would be $240.

You may purchase single days as you enter the parks, but this eliminates the Disney Resort guest advantage (which we’ll get to in a sec).

Genie+ allows you to use the “Lightning Lane” (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 slots at the various attractions. After selection one you’ll do other things while waiting on your time slot to open. Once your slot opens you’ll experience the attraction by entering the Lightning Lane. Afterwords you’ll then be able to select your next attraction at which you’ll use the Lightning Lane. You can do this continuously all day long and multiple parks.

Attractions with virtual queues will be excluded from this part of the service from what we’ve heard.

Disney Genie+ will also include:

  • 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 will be tour type trivia that you can play about your current location in the parks

Photo features from what I’ve seen 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 WDW and after entering a park at DLR.

WDW Lightning Lane Attractions at Launch

WDW Lightning Lane Attractions for Genie+ and Individual Attraction Purchase

Individual Lightning Lane Attraction Purchases

This is a pay to skip the line feature that can be used to purchase scheduled times to arrive at two highly demanded attractions each day using the Lightning Lane entrance.

Two attractions in each park will be available for this service and, these 2 will not be available for the Genie+ service! It’s a either or…

Guests can use this option without paying for the Genie+ Service.

Examples given are Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom Park and the upcoming Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at EPCOT.

Disney indicated that attractions covered by this pay to skip the line feature will not be included in the regular Lightning Lane scheduling of Genie+.

This feature may be used at more than 1 park per day, which is good for Park Hoppers!

Pricing for this option will vary by date, attraction and park. Prices start at $7 per person per attraction and go up (the initial highest price quoted by Disney is $15 for Rise of the Resistance.

This announcement also seems to indicate that attractions with virtual queues (as Remy’s is mentioned) will sell excess time slots if the queues don’t fill up.

Guests staying at Select (We are assuming Deluxe) Walt Disney World Resorts can purchase Individual Attractions at 7 a.m. the day of their visit.

All other WDW guests can purchase after entering the parks.

Disneyland guests can purchase after entering the park.

 

Disney Genie Service Replaces FastPass+ and FastPass, and MaxPass

Image Courtesy Disney

When Will Disney Genie Roll Out?

Disney has only said “This Fall.”

I expect it will be in place for the 1 October 2021 50th Anniversary Celebration kickoff.

It could start that day or roll out sometime earlier in September.

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!

This MDT Post By: Steve Bell

Steve is the the Military Disney Tips Founder. He a retired U.S. Military Member who's been touring the Disney Parks since 1971! Steve's mission is to help military families with their Disney vacations in every way. Check out Steve's Bio.

Subscribe to Steve's email newsletter to get website updates and news by clicking this link.

 

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
  • Dining Overview Page
  • Transportation Overview Page
  • Technology Overview Page
  • Shades of Green, WDW’s Military Only Resort

Military Disney Tips' Recommended Disney Travel Agent

Save on your Disney Vacation With Ears of Experience

Ears of Experience Disney Only Travel Agency. Military family owned and operated! They know all the ins and outs of Disney military discounts!

 
   


Filed Under: Disney Military Discounts Tagged With: Disneyland, My Magic Plus, Technology, Walt Disney World

Comments

  1. Katie B says

    31 August 2021 at 09:00

    Thanks for these important new updates, Steve. We usually vacation at WDW, so that’s where these changes impact us the most. Even though the new Genie+ system offers more flexibility, I’m disappointed that this is a fee-based service.. I appreciated how the FastPass+ system, while not as spontaneous, was included in the price of our tickets. We’ve visited other theme parks over the years, and I’ve always been a little irked when they offer a few-based advantage system. One of the things I’ve always admired about Disney is that they didn’t. Until now.
    I’m curious to see what other readers think, especially those who wanted more flexibility and spontaneity in their planning. I understand I don’t have to pay for the basic service, but the trade-off is no Lightning Lane entries.

    Reply
    • Steve says

      31 August 2021 at 09:26

      Hi Katie,

      Thanks so much. You’ve brought up some great points! So many complained about the need to make FastPasses 30 to 60 days ahead of time or risk having to stand in a 3 hour line. On top of that, when trying to get a specific high demand attraction, having the day you could get a Fastpass not line up with Advance Dining Reservations that you might have had to make 180 days out in order to get a high demand restaurant.

      Universal has has the paid Express Pass for years and while pricey to buy outright comes as part of your stay at one of their 3 premier hotels which are priced more like Disney Moderates. I’d expected Disney to do the same and include the Genie+ with a Deluxe Resort stay. The only nod to staying in a more expensive Disney Resort seems to be the hint that the Individual Attraction Selection will allow those staying at “Select” (I’m assuming Deluxe) Walt Disney World Resorts can purchase Individual Attractions at 7 a.m. the day of their visit.

      I know there will be lots of folks put off by Disney’s switch to a paid FastPass which they have broken up into 2 tiers, Genie+ for most FastPasses and Individual Attraction Selections for the most desired ones (and then still virtual queues on top fo that).

      Reply
  2. Amy Campbell says

    31 August 2021 at 16:22

    Has there been any discussion on how will this affect Annual Passholders or Florida Residents? Also, will this have any impact on the guest assistance programs for people with disabilities?

    Reply
    • Steve says

      31 August 2021 at 16:57

      Hi Amy,

      As I understand it the new system will work in some fashion with or in place of the DAS system.

      I’ve heard rumor of a Genie+ AP add on to come and with no need to do aything in advance like we had to with FastPass, single-day, day of in app purchases of Genie+ are workable.

      Reply
  3. Frank Dolcater says

    31 August 2021 at 16:41

    Disney is also planning on adding a pre-arrival sign up for those with disabilities. I don’t have any information on how that will be incorporated into Genie ( if at all). The old way of signing up for disability access after you arrive will also be available.

    Reply
  4. SherryAnne Smith says

    1 September 2021 at 08:28

    Your article said for a 4 day Armed Forces Salute ticket you would be charged $60, do to pay this the first day you use your pass? I usually buy the 5 day then go twice during the length of the pass. And stay various days at SOG combining resort days, DS and 2-3 park days each stay..
    Does this mean I would pay $75 on my first day of use and would have the service for both trips to total the 5 days?

    Reply
    • Steve says

      1 September 2021 at 09:00

      Hi SherryAnne,

      WDW has only released the first basic info about this new system. They’ve said more info will follow.

      But from what they have said so far there will be 2 routes to go.

      1. Adding Disney Genie+ to your Disney Resort Reservation for the number of days on your ticket (or I guess the days on your reservation if it’s shorter – This is unknown now). It’s unknown if you can do this for Shades of Green right now.

      2. Purchasing Disney Genie the day of your visit in app day by day. So you’d pay 15 each day if you wanted to every day.

      There is no need to do this ahead like there was for FastPass. The one and only bonus for adding it to your resort reservation is making Individual Attraction Selection purchases at 7 a.m. rather than park open when staying at “Select” Disney Resorts. Select has not been defined yet.

      It’s going to be a learning process for guests and probably an evolving process for Disney for quite a while!

      Reply
      • SherryAnne Smith says

        1 September 2021 at 22:37

        Thank you, Steve

        Reply
  5. Jackie says

    20 October 2021 at 10:02

    How can I add Genie+ to my military tickets? I’m not able to do it on the app.

    Reply
    • Steve says

      20 October 2021 at 10:38

      Hi Jackie,

      My MDE app says “You will need to call your Reservation Provider or the Disney Reservation Center to add Disney Genie+ service to your existing package.

      Reply
    • Steve says

      20 October 2021 at 12:37

      Or you can purchase it the day of, each day on desired days via the app.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

How Military Disney Tips Came To Serve the U.S. Military Community
Ears of Experience - A Fee Free Disney Travel Agent

Ears of Experience is a travel booking company specializing in Disney vacations. Military family owned and operated! They know all the ins and outs of Disney military discounts!

Military Discounts for You

  • Military Discounted Scooters/ECVs
  • Military Discouned Stroller Rentals

Shop Amazon  |  Shop the Disney Store
Subscribe to the Newsletter | Contact Me | Advertise | Webmasters/Bloggers
About Military Disney Tips | Resources and Links | Roll Call (Featured in)
If you found this site helpful, please consider supporting Military Disney Tips

Marketing Disclosure | Privacy Policy | Copyright Statement

Why are there ads on this site?
© Copyright 2007-2023 Military Disney Tips is a Magic Shell Media LLC Website

Other helpful MSM sites: Universal Orlando for Military & Universal Orlando Guide

U.S Military Veteran Owned Business

FTC Disclosure of Material Connection: In order for us to maintain this website, some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links.
Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and/or believe will add value to our readers.
Military Disney Tips is not affiliated with, authorized or endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with: The Walt Disney Company, Disney Enterprises, Inc. or any of their affiliates, nor the Shades of Green Resort, NBC Universal, Universal Orlando Resort, or the Armed Forces Vacation Club.
Buy American!

No AI Allowed!