The Lowdown on Disney Genie - The Disney Parks New Planning Service

Hello, friend! It has been just about a week since Disney dropped the details on its new, in-app planning service. Now that the initial freak out and meltdowns on the Disney interwebs have occured, we can get to the business of breaking down this news and setting the facts straight. If you want to hear it direct for Disney: here is the detailed news for Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

What Is The News Exactly?

For any of you who may not have heard, Disney just recently announced that it will be launching two, new services: Disney Genie and Disney Genie+. Within Disney Genie+ is the announcement of a new service called Lightning Lanes, which will be a replacement to the pre-pandemic Fastpass. Now, the news of Disney Genie was actually dropped at D23 back in 2019 and fans have long been awaiting more news of this feature. Of course, the pandemic put a hold on many-a-thing. However, with Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary quickly approaching, Disney has been dealing out news like there’s no tomorrow.

Thus, we get to the Disney Genie announcement. Let me break down each of these and then we can get right to thoughts and questions… Because there is a lot. This is going to take a lot of testing and playing with the service to see what will work best for YOU in the future.

**No official date has been announced yet, simply that it should arrive this fall.

Disney Genie

In short…

Complimentary
Built in to My Disney Experience app
Personalized Itinerary Builder
Providing tips for your time in the parks
Forecasted Wait Times
Join available virtual queues and dining wait lists

Let’s break this down a bit for those of you who want more details. (You and I definitely get each other.) Basically this new feature will automatically be an option for you to include when planning your trip. No extra cost to you! As stated above, you can access those virtual queues and dining wait lists right from the app.

Even more than that though, you will have the opportunity to input your likes and interests and Disney Genie will compile an itinerary that includes current data at the parks. How detailed and truly personalized to you this will be…well, we still don’t know.

What we do know is that it will ask you questions to know your favorite rides and/or if you like thrill rides, princesses, or Star Wars. Based on what is generated, it will also include suggestions for when to experience those rides based on wait times. In addition, it will continually update that information throughout the day to ensure that you are maximizing your time.

Genie+

In short…

$15/day/person at Walt Disney World
Access to Lightning Lanes at mid and low tier attractions
Unlimited bookings (subject to availability) one at a time
Audio Experiences
Augmented Reality Photos

Essentially Disney Genie+ will get you access to a majority of the rides in the parks, excluding the most popular, by booking Lightning Lane passes one at a time. Booking will open that same morning at 7am EST. It will also include the extra features of having magical, audio experiences like an audio for “Cinderella’s Castle and special appearances from Disney characters while taking in-app photos.

However, the Lightning Lane part of the news is where the Disney parks fans lost their collective marbles. Many have been waiting for a long time for the free fastpasses to return and this paid feature was not the happiest of news for them.

Individual Lighting Lanes

There is an additional option to add top tier attractions a la carte for a separate price. Genie+ purchase is not required in order to purchase the a la carte, high-tier attractions. Limited to two attractions per day.

From Disney’s release… “Prices will vary by date, attraction and park. For example, the Lightning Lane entrance to Remy's Ratatouille Adventure will be $9 per person on October 19 and $11 per person on October 23. As another example, on both those dates, Lightning Lane entrance to Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain will be $7 per person, while Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will be $15 per person. Throughout the year, prices may be lower on some days and higher on other days. This option may be purchased at up to 2 different attractions each day.

Once launched, Disney Genie+ will be a feature that can be added to your flexible date vacation package before your trip. Contact me to get it added to your vacation package!

Which attractions are included?

Magic Kingdom

Individual Lightning Lane
Attractions include:

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Space Mountain

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane
Attractions include:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Haunted Mansion
“it’s a small world”
Jungle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
Mickey’s PhilharMagic
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Peter Pan’s Flight
Pirates of the Caribbean
Splash Mountain
The Barnstormer
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Tomorrowland Speedway
Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid

Epcot

Individual Lightning Lane
Attractions include:

Frozen Ever After
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane
Attractions include:

Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
Journey into Imagination with Figment
Living with the Land
Mission: SPACE – Green
Mission: SPACE – Orange
Soarin’
Spaceship Earth
Test Track
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Turtle Talk with Crush

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Individual Lightning Lane
Attractions include:

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane
Attractions include:

Alien Swirling Saucers
Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along
Disney Jr. Dance Party
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular - Returning December 19, 2021
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Muppet*Vision 3D
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
Slinky Dog Dash
Star Tours
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Toy Story Mania!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Individual Lightning Lane
Attractions:

Avatar Flight of Passage
Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane
Attractions include:

Celebration of the Festival of the Lion King
DINOSAUR
Feathered Friends in Flight!
It’s Tough to Be a Bug!
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Naʻvi River Journey
The Animation Experience

That pretty much covers the whole announcement of Disney Genie. So, let’s get to those questions and some of my thoughts…

Will there be an option for AP add-ons?

At this time, no.

Do we need to have Genie+ in order to get a la carte attractions?

Nope! You can do one or both option! Or you can choose to simply do standby/virtual queues. There are so many options for you!

What rides are included in Genie+?

Disney has not released that information yet other than to say that just about every ride that had fastpass will have lightning lanes. They will release an official list in the near future.

What will the best strategy be for getting all the bookings at 7am?

We are honestly all going to have to test this. With many of the vitual queues opening at 7AM the same day, now Genie+ Lightning Lane passes, and a la carte passes…you’re going to have to choose or have lots of devices and hands working to get everything you want right at that time. We are really just going to have to see what the best strategy on this is! But don’t worry, I will be guiding my clients on this as Disney Genie launches.

My Thoughts on Disney Genie

I love that Disney will be providing personalized updates right to you as you are visiting the parks. My biggest question is how personalized are they going to really be? Is Disney going to let you select “thrill rides” and send you straight to Mission: SPACE? I can imagine many unknowing guests would be a little shocked by the intensity of that attraction. I am sure there will be some kind of warning, but as my clients know, nothing really beats having an in person conversation with an expert about your interests for your trip.

I am very interested to see the logistics of Disney’s reasoning behind suggesting certain rides. For example, will the itinerary consistently suggest Carousel of Progress because the wait times are always low there even if it is not a guest favorite? (Though I do love me some “Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrow” lyrics.) Will they push you to areas of the park simply for crowd control rather than guest interests?

It is for these reasons that I will be deeply studying this feature when it launches in order to guide clients on how to best use it for trips. Typcially, we would have already talked over their interests before their trip. So, they will be able to use Disney Genie with skill rather than being influenced by it.

My Thoughts on Disney Genie+

I had the wonderful experience of using Maxpass in Disneyland back in 2019. I’ll spare you the details of it other than to say it was very similar to what Disney has announced with Genie+. What’s more, I loved it! The lines constantly moved. We hardly ever waited long in a standby line. The fastpass lines (now lightning lanes) where not overly crowded. Overall, it was such a pleasant experience and this break in fastpass allowed for a much needed reset on the service.

I truly think the lightning lanes are going to work out well even if Disney has to go through a bit of trial and error to get it to that point of success!

So many guests had complained about having to plan their trip out months in advance down to what ride they wanted to experience on what day. That’s a TON of detail to know way ahead of time. Now, Disney has shortened that time. I am super curious to see how well it works out and if it reduces the stress of guests. I have a good feeling it will, though I do wonder about those 7AM opening times.

What are your thoughts?