Disney’s Genie and Disney Genie+: Everything You Need To Know
Rumors have long been flying around for a new service coming to the Disney Parks in the US. All that was known was that Disney’s Genie would be coming and replacing the MaxPass, which replaced the FastPass system.
Finally, the long-anticipated information for Disney’s Genie and Disney’s Genie+ was officially released on August 18, 2021, which gave parkgoers some insight into this new feature and the benefits that it would bring.
With a release date of Fall 2021, there is much to cover and little time to see what Disney’s Genie and Disney’s Genie+ are all about.
With a catchy new promotional video on Disneyland’s website, there were a lot of comments and questions stirring around this new service coming to Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
I won’t lie; I became a little skeptical of the change when I first saw the information circulating on social media. Like most people, I’m not a big fan of change, especially when it comes to changes in the Disney parks that I love.
However, I pushed all of my skepticism aside and decided to research everything about Disney Genie and Disney’s Genie+ to see what it was all about. And I can say that after all my research, I can confidently say that this is a very cool feature coming to the parks.
I created this post to help break down the details of what these services offer guests and how they can be beneficial.
When is Disney Genie and Disney Genie+ Getting Released?
Originally, Disney Genie and Disney Genie+ just had a blanket release in of Fall 2021. Without any specifics for Disneyland or Walt Disney World.
Disney Genie officially launched in Walt Disney World on, October 19, 2021. And officially launched in Disneyland on December 8, 2021.
Now that it has been out for a little bit, let’s break it down and see how beneficial it is.
What is Disney Genie?
Disney Genie is a multi-dimensional feature that is coming to the Disney Apps. It is available through both the Disneyland App, as well as My Disney Experience (Walt Disney World App).
There are three levels, or dimensions to this feature, each holding different perks.
The three levels are Disney Genie, Disney Genie+, and Individual Lightning Lane. Disney Genie is a free feature, whereas Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane do cost an additional per person, per day.
Additionally, there are some differences between these services from each park. Both Disney Genie and Disney Genie+ hold different offerings at Disneyland and Disney World.
This post will be focused on both parks; Disneyland and Disney World.
If you need specific information on Genie+ services for a specific park; check out these posts:
Genie+ at Walt Disney World
Genie+ at Disneyland
Let’s break down what each of these levels or features offers.
Why is it called Disney Genie?
Based on one of the most popular Disney characters from Disney’s Aladdin, Genie. This feature is named after the beloved Robin Williams character from the 1992 movie. Why?
The feature is designed to help ‘grant’ your wishes. So what does this mean?
This Disneyland App and My Disney Experience App feature helps optimize the best plans based on your preferences. Helping give guests suggestions for rides, eateries, and shows to help make your trip one for the memory books.
It is another way that Disney is trying to make their app a one-stop shop for their guests. And making it easier for families to plan their trip, so they can spend more time enjoying their time rather then planning when they are at the parks.
The Break Down of Disney’s Genie
It is available through the Disneyland and My Disney Experience app. Disney’s Genie is one of the newer features added to the app. At first, there was no specific date of release, but currently (October 2023) it is available for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Disney’s Genie is the baseline, complimentary service that is available to all guests who are visiting any of the U.S. Disney Parks.
Now I know what you might be thinking, “Red, free things are never worth it when they have a paid offer attached to it too.”
So let me stop you right there!
Even though this service is complimentary, it does provide many different tools to help you plan your trip prior to entering the parks! It can really help make a great experience for guests who decide to utilize it.
What does Disney Genie do?
Genie is designed to be your personal itinerary maker to help you get the most out of your trip. This way you can spend more time enjoying the parks, and less time in the parks trying to plan what to do next.
It does this by optimizing the best itineraries and plans based on what you enjoy and wish to see. Thus making it completely customizable to what you and your group need and want.
Disney Genie does this by giving you different tips and recommendations for what would help make your trip ideal, based upon items that YOU highlight as important for your trip.
That’s right, as you are working with Disney Genie, you get to select from various options what are the important parts of the trip that you wish to have happen. For example, meeting characters or great dining (more details on how to do this specifically below).
The complementary service, Disney Genie, is designed to be your editable personal itinerary maker to help you get the most out of your trip.
Cultivating some of the best itineraries and plans based on your desires! ‘Granting’ your Disney wishes when it comes to planning the trip.
This way, when you’re at Disneyland or Walt Disney World, you can enjoy the parks more and not worry about what to do next.
How Disney Genie Works
This complimentary feature is designed to be simple and completely user-friendly. This way, even if you aren’t a Disney pro, you can utilize and create a great trip.
There are two primary ways that you can get started. Each one is based on your Disney knowledge and experience. You can select the one that is best for you.
Disney Genie allows you to plan your day by attractions specifically or by interests that your family/group has.
If you know which rides you want to go on, I recommend selecting based on attractions. Simply go through the list and highlight the ones that you want to see.
Or if you aren’t quite sure what you wish to go on, select based on the different interests of your group. You simply highlight the type of things that are interesting to your group and go from there.
This includes character greetings, parades, shows, rides, snacks, etc.
Once you enter the types of things you wish to focus on for your trip, Disney Genie shuffles through thousands of possible suggestions and ideal itineraries.
Disney Genie does this, giving you all the best options to capitalize on your time in the parks. You were ensuring that all the time is well spent.
Now, to do all this, your park tickets and reservations must be linked to your account. Without this, the Disney Genie magic just won’t work.
It needs the park tickets and reservations to analyze the estimated crowds for your trip entirely.
Looking for a more customized Disney itinerary for your trip?
Red the Traveler offers Disney Trip Itinerary Services.
Email: red@redthetraveler.com for an inquiry request
Disney Genie Tip Boards
Disney Genie gives you recommendations during your trip through what it calls Tip Boards.
These Tip Boards are the best recommendations that Genie has for your day in the park(s). Since these are just recommendations, you can change and adjust any of the recommendations that you don’t like.
There are two different Tip Boards to review for your trip. The Attraction Tip Board, and the Dining Tip Board. Covering everything that you could possibly need help with while in the parks.
The attraction tip boards give you live wait time for various rides, and can even show you the estimated wait time for the rest of the day.
The dining tip board does the same thing but for dining experiences!
Allowing you to see when the next mobile order time slot is, any available dining reservations, or if you wish to join the waitlist for a restaurant.
Helping you select the best dining experience in case you missed making a reservation before the trip. Or if you wish to have a bit more spontaneity in the planning of the trip.
Disney Genie+
This is the paid option of Disney Genie, that is available to guests visiting Disney parks. Since this is the paid version of this feature, it gives you everything that you get with Disney Genie, plus a little bit more.
The cost of Genie+ varies between Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Disneyland costs around $30* per person daily, and Walt Disney World costs around $25* per person daily.
*Prices for Genie+ at Walt Disney World vary by which park you are visiting. Check out Genie+ at Disney World for a total cost breakdown.
Some might see the extra cost as being too much. The cost of everything that is included is an incredible deal.
If you wish for information on Genie+ and a specific park, check out these posts:
Genie+ at Walt Disney World
Genie+ at Disneyland
What’s Included in Genie+
With Disney Genie+, you still get the tip boards and suggested itineraries that you get with Disney Genie. But you also get Lightning Lane access to dozens of attractions.
At Disneyland, you get access to Lightning Lane access to 11 attractions. Disney California Adventure you get Lightning Lane access to 8 attractions.
At Walt Disney World, guests who purchase Genie+ will get Lightning Lane access to 22 attractions at Magic Kingdom, 12 attractions at Hollywood Studios, 11 attractions at Epcot, and 10 attractions at Animal Kingdom.
Now, I do say attractions and not rides for a reason. Where most of these are rides, Disney’s Genie+ also provides access to other attractions such as parades, shows, and even character meet and greets.
For a full breakdown on which rides are included with Genie+, check out our blog posts specifically on Disney Genie+ for that park.
At Disneyland, guests who have Genie+ will also have access to unlimited downloads of PhotoPass Photos. These are photos that are taken by Disney’s photographers or photos from the attractions that are taken during the ride.
Recently, guests at Walt Disney World got their PhotoPass included with the purchase of Genie+.
Additionally, they can unlock different lenses (filters) to use around the park when taking photos.
What are the costs?
Costs vary by which park you go to. Disney has stated that Genie+ will cost $25 per ticket daily at Disney World. Genie+ will cost $30 per ticket per day at Disneyland.
Something important to remember is that this feature needs to be purchased per person per day.
This means that if you are a family of 4, you will need to purchase 4 Genie+ passes every day in the park.
Only those with the Genie+ pass can use the Lightning Lane options available through Genie+.
Individual Lightning Lane:
Simply put, Lightning Lanes have replaced the FastPass system that was in place at Disney.
There are two different types of Lightning Lane, and it is best not to confuse them.
The first Lightning Lane is what is included when a guest purchases Genie+. This allows guests lightning lane access to the approved list of rides at no additional cost, just the cost of Genie+.
Then, there is the Individual Lightning Lane option. Some more popular rides aren’t included in the Genie+ Lightning Lane package but are available for purchase a la carte.
This allows guests to purchase Individual Lightning Lane access to more popular rides at a flat rate. Guests will still need to buy these per person per day.
And a few rules go with purchasing the Individual Lightning Lane access a la carte.
For starters, guests are only allowed to buy two a la carte Individual Lightning Lane access to rides per day. Guests can only purchase an Individual Lightning Lane access to a ride once.
This means guests cannot buy 3 Individual Lightning Lane passes for Radiator Springs Racers in one day. They can only buy the Individual Lightning Lane pass once for the day.
Additionally, guests can only book one Individual Lightning Lane access at a time.
You can book another attraction once you have scanned your pass, during the allotted time slot.
Which rides are Individual Lightning Lane?
At the Disneyland Resort, two attractions are available for Individual Lightning Lane. They are Rise of the Resistance, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway in Disneyland, and Radiator Springs Racers in Disney California Adventure.
At Walt Disney World Resort, five rides are available for Individual Lightning Lane throughout the 4 parks. They are Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, TRON Lightcycle at Magic Kingdom; Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT; Avatar –Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom, and Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios.
It is important to note that these attractions that are Individual Lightning Lane are changing. With attractions being added and removed from this list often.
Disney Genie Updates:
Since Disney is constantly improving and updating its features, this is where all the updates released on Disney Genie and Disney Genie+ will be listed.
To help prevent any confusion, all of the updates will be dated, with the most recent update at the top.
UPDATE: May 18, 2022
Disney announced that for Walt Disney World ONLY, Disney Genie+ Services will NOT be available for purchase prior to park visit.
Originally, when Genie+ first launched, it was a ticket add-on that could be booked in advance with hotel and ticket reservations. However, this will change starting June 8, 2022.
Starting June 8 guests that plan on visiting Walt Disney World, only be able to purchase Genie+ the day of park visit, subject to availability and only one day at a time. Disney is hoping that changing to this day of purchasing will help with the increasing demand for Genie+ services.
IF you already have a Walt Disney World resort vacation stay booked for 2022 and you have already purchased Genie+, they will honor that purchase.
This change of same-day purchase applies to all new bookings for 2022 and 2023. The 2023 theme park tickets and hotel package rates will become available on June 8th as well.
This update ONLY affects Walt Disney World. Guests visiting the Disneyland Resort will still be able to purchase Genie+ as a ticket add on to their package.
UPDATE: December 9, 2021
Disney Genie officially launched at Walt Disney World on October 19, 2021. And formally launched in Disneyland on December 8, 2021.
Disney Genie+ FAQ:
Here are some of the more popular questions about Disney Genie and Disney’s Genie+. Once again, if you need park-specific questions answered, check out our posts on Genie+ specifically for that park.
If you have further questions, please email me; red[at]redthetraveler. com and I will be happy to answer any questions you have.
How is it different then Fastpass/Maxpass from before?
Honestly, it doesn’t seem like it is really that much different from the Maxpass option that was available at Disneyland before the pandemic.
The price point is now higher than the cost was for MaxPass, but you do get additional features with Genie+ that weren’t available with MaxPass.
Is it worth the cost?
Yes, even though the price for Genie+ is a little steep, it is definitely a good investment when you calculate all of the wait time that you’re saving when you’re there.
However, this does also assume that riding attractions is one of your top priorities when you’re in the parks.
Will I be able to get on rides without it?
YES! There will still be a stand-by lane available to those who do not wish to pay for extra access.
Similar to what Disney did with FastPasses and MaxPass. There was an option for paid access to booking fast passes, and there were also stand-by lanes.
Additionally, Disney still plans on using the virtual queues that they have been using for extremely popular rides.
The Wrap-Up: Disney Genie+
There is a lot of information to go through when it comes to understanding Disney Genie and Disney Genie+, as there are subtle differences between the two that can make all the difference.
The new Disney Genie is essentially a complimentary itinerary building service available through the Disneyland and Disney World app. It provides various options for you to create an itinerary prior to your trip. Allowing guests to enjoy their time in the park, rather then spending all their time wondering what to do next.
This complimentary service allows you, the guests, to select what’s essential for your Disney trip and make recommendations accordingly.
If guests wish to upgrade this service and purchase Genie+, they will have access to shorter wait times at dozens of park attractions. Which will also help guests maximize their time in the parks doing things that they enjoy the most.
Standby lanes will still be available for guests who do not want to purchase Genie+, making this service optional.
The more popular and newer attractions that aren’t included in the Genie+ attractions list will be available for purchase through an Individual Lightning Lane service that is also available.
All of these new features and services were created with the guest in mind, and finding a way to really have guests enjoy their time in the park rather than struggle to plan what to do next.
