Since the integration of Disney Genie (and the demise of FastPass) at Walt Disney World, I've been curious to know how the service would impact my planning experience at the parks. So I put Disney Genie to the test during my last trip in March! The good, the bad, and the suggested improvements are all shared below.
On October 19th, 2021 Genie Service officially launched at Walt Disney World on the Disney World app as a complimentary service with options for guests to pay to skip lines for attractions. Immediately after the launch, parkgoers tested the new service leaving their reviews across the web, which some included the disappointment of now having to pay to skip to the front of rides. One common opinion is how confusing the associated rules are to use Genie+ to schedule attractions. Prior to Genie, guests planned their Disney vacations in advance and could detail when they would experience attractions by booking FastPass. Now, parkgoers can't schedules rides in advance of their trip and have to wait until the day of their visit to make their selections at the four theme parks. I recommend guests understand how to utilizie Genie+ prior to their next vacation. Here are some of the most important guidelines.
Genie+ Basics
Although Genie Service is free, in terms of scheduling attractions it is limiting as it only provides guests suggestions and views of the current ride times. For $15 a day per person, Genie+ allows guests to pay to skip the lines of attractions with Lightning Lane. Guests can also pay directly to skip to the front of highly demanded attractions without using Genie+.
Lightning Lane Categories and Rules
Disney categorizes Lightning Lane Attractions as "Individual Lightning Lane" or "Genie + Lightning Lane". Certain highly-demanded attractions such as Rise of Resistance, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, and Avatar: Flight of Passage are included in the Individual Lightning Lane category, however the list of attractions can change throughout the year. Individual Lightning Lane attractions can be purchased separately without purchasing Genie+ for the day. Prices will vary throughout the year per attraction but can start at around $7 and increase depending on the ride's popularity.
Only 2 Individual Lightning Lane attractions can be purchased during any given day and only 1 Genie + Lighting Lane can be used per attraction each day. For example, you can purchase an Individual Lightning Lane for Remy's Ratatouille Adventure and park hop to Hollywood Studios to ride Rise of Resistance in the same day to maximize your Individual Lightning Lanes. If you aren't park hopping you can also maximize both Individual Lightning Lane attractions at one of the theme parks. As an example of utilizing Genie+ for attractions, if you use a Genie+ Lighting Lane to ride Haunted Mansion, you can not redeem another Lighting Lane for Haunted Mansion that day. The one-ride-only rule also applies if you schedule a Lighting Lane for a ride and do not redeem it. You must cancel a scheduled Lighting Lane in order to book the same attraction that day. If not, you've lost the Lighting Lane eligibility for that attraction even if you don't ride.
Only one Genie+ Lightning Lane experience can be booked at a time. This means that you must redeem your scheduled Lightning Lane before you can book another.
Guests staying on property at a Disney resort can use the Disney World app to summon the Genie at 7 AM each day (before non-Disney resort guests) to make their Genie+ reservations for their pre-reserved theme park. Not only does this add an extra step during your vacation, but it can also be stressful. Popular rides like Rise of the Resistance or Avatar: Flight of Passage sell out QUICKLY. Rise of Resistance has been known to sell out all Individual Lightning Lane passes for the day in a matter of minutes.
Park Hopping begins at 2 PM each day and Disney Genie can be utilized at all the parks a guest visits in a day, which means all the rules to experience an attraction still apply. Although guests can begin scheduling their Individual Lighting Lane and/or Genie+ Lightning Lane attractions at 7 AM everday, the app will only showcase attractions to experience via park hopping for redemption at times starting at 2 PM.
Personal Experience and Recommendations
During my last trip, we stayed at the Walt Disney Dolphin hotel in the Boardwalk area. Pros of this location include the peaceful Boardwalk and its surroundings and the walkability to both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. I highly recommend staying at one of the five hotels in the Boardwalk area because it makes park hopping between the two parks easy and accessible. Initially, I thought park hopping would make Genie+ more favorable. However, I realized that we experienced lower waits for some of our favorite rides without booking them using Genie+; so the app was not used for booking as often as I expected during the trip. Also, Genie+ sometimes suggests Lightning Lanes for attractions at times that are hours later than the current time, which makes it more of a challenge for scheduling because only one Lightning Lane experience can be booked at a time before you can redeem another one. My party and I didn't favor the idea of waiting to ride an attraction 2 hours later with Genie+ when we could accomplish more attractions during the present time without using the service.
Closing Thoughts
Now that Disney requires guests to make a theme-park reservation for the day, I would love to see the 2 PM park hopper rule eliminated because it is impossible to schedule attractions before 2 PM at a park that is not your reserved park. There were several times throughout the trip when I would check the wait times for attractions at other parks, noticed very low wait times, and wished I could park hop before 2 PM. Are you really getting your money's worth for the park hopping experience if you can't book rides at the theme parks before 2 PM? I don't think so. It's no secret that Disney tickets have increased in price throughout the years. So why should guests have to pay a premium for park hopping when it isn't valid the entire day?
Another con of Genie+ is that it may prevent some guests from fully experiencing the parks, as they are more connected to their phones to utilize the service to schedule attractions, make dining plans, and more. The Disney theme parks are beautiful and filled with magical details everywhere you look, so being consumed by Genie+ during your trip can potentially ruin one of the key principles of the parks, which is to enjoy time with your loved ones at a magical place.
But let's not end on a bad note. I will say that once you become familiar with it, the Disney Genie is fun to use. I like the friendly reminders and notifications Genie provides to inform guests of upcoming reservations. It's also great that the service is integrated with the My Disney Experience app because one member of your party can plan and book experiences and attractions for your entire group (if everyone has previously shared their plans).
Is Genie+ worth purchasing for your trip? I would say it depends on several factors: the time of year you are visiting, the parks you plan to visit, your budget, and the attractions you want to experience during your trip. I prefer purchasing Individual Lightning Lanes over Genie+ because the service is not needed if you are aiming to ride popular attractions like Rise of Resistance and Avatar: Flight of Passage and you can still skip lines without paying the additional fee of $15 for Genie+. Additionally, I wouldn't purchase Genie+ for Animal Kingdom and EPCOT. There are more rides at Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom so it makes sense to utilize Genie+, yet with the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, I have a feeling a Lighting Lane will be helpful to increase your chances of riding it.
Vacations should be enjoyable and reduce stress, not add to it. Using Genie+ at Disney World for the first time was slightly stressful for me. I hope this post educates and helps first time users of Genie+ who are planning their next Walt Disney World trip.
What do you think about Genie+? Let me know your thoughts and comments below. As always, thanks for reading and have a magical day!