Last fall, Disney released the Disney Genie as a replacement for their FastPass+ system. While some guests welcomed this change with open arms, others (myself included, if I'm being honest) quickly rejected this newcomer. The FastPass system was familiar, and many were sad to see it go, but it is time to embrace the change and learn how to use the new "skip the line" system if you want to maximize your time in the parks and I am here to help! To start, let's talk about the free Disney Genie.
Disney Genie
Disney Genie is a complimentary itinerary builder within the My Disney Experience and Disneyland apps, that is available for every guest, whether you are staying on-site or off. You won't have to worry about knowing which rides to hit first or how to navigate the longer lines, because Disney Genie will do all of that for you! The Disney Genie will create a customized itinerary for you, using your list of priority attractions, to help you maximize your time in the parks, by offering personalized options based on the current wait times.
Cost:
This service is free to all guests.
Pros:
Guests can create their own personal tip boards to showcase their priority attractions in one place. Here, you will be able to view the current wait times, as well as the forecasted wait times for the day and the Genie+ or ILL availability.
Disney Genie will continue to update your itinerary throughout the day, so you can go with the flow and enjoy your day.
With Disney Genie, you can join a virtual queue, make a dining reservation, complete a mobile order or chat with a 24/7 virtual assistant if you have a question or need assistance.
Cons:
Guests will need to set up their personal tip board prior to their park day, in order to get the most personalized itinerary.
Now that we have talked about Disney Genie, the free planning assistant, let's discuss the two paid options: Disney Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane. This is where clients tend to get confused, as the old Fastpass lines have been renamed "Lightning Lanes" which begs the question: "Do you have to buy an Individual Lightning Lane in order to access the Lightning Lane for each ride?" The short answer is no, you don't, but let's look at the long answer and break down these two new options.
Disney Genie+
At Walt Disney World, Genie+ costs $15 per ticket per day and allows you to book a return window for most attractions in the parks. When your window is open, you will return to the attraction, scan your magic band or park ticket at the Mickey touch points and skip the line via the Lightning Lane queue. Typically, guests will wait no more than 15-20 minutes in line before boarding the attraction. At Disneyland, the concept is the same. However, it costs $20 per ticket per day and includes PhotoPass (or MemoryMaker at WDW), meaning that you will be able to skip the line and have access to your ride photos + any photos taken by the PhotoPass photographers throughout your park day.
Whether you are at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, you will only be able to book one Genie+ at a time, and you will only be able to book one Genie+ return time for any given attraction in the parks each day. However, you aren't limited to a certain number of passes within a day, so you can book as many as you want throughout your park day! With the old FastPass system, you were only able to pick your 3 selections ahead of time and then, you could add them 1 at a time after all 3 passes had been used. However, most of the FastPasses were usually gone or picked over, by the time you used up the initial 3. With Genie+, you can continue to select new return windows as soon as you scan at the Mickey touch points for your current selection or after 2 hours have passed. I will breakdown Genie+ strategies in another post soon! If you have ParkHopper tickets, you will also be able to book return windows across all 4 of the parks, based on where you are planning to hop in the afternoons. This is a new feature that wasn't previously available with FastPass+.
Cost:
This service costs $15 per ticket per day at Walt Disney World, and $20 per ticket per day at Disneyland.
Pros:
Once you have added Disney Genie+, you can make your first ride selection at 7am for all guests (staying on-site or off) visiting Walt Disney World, and at park opening for those visiting Disneyland.
You will be able to continue choosing Genie+ return times throughout the day, subject to availability.
There are two methods to booking Genie+: the 2-hour stacking method and the current selection method.
Cons:
Previously, Disney Genie+ could be added to your vacation package in advance. As of June 8th, 2022, guests will now have to wait until their park day to add it in the app. You can do this beginning at midnight.
You aren't able to reserve your first selection prior to your park day, so you will have to wake up early to choose your first Genie+ return time at 7am.
You are only able to book one Genie+ return time per day for any given attraction, meaning you cannot ride the same attraction twice using the Lightning Lane queue. Instead, you would utilize the standby queue to ride as many times as you like.
Individual Lightning Lane
With an Individual Lightning Lane (ILL), you are able to pay to skip the line of the top 2 most popular attractions in each park. This option is separate from Genie+, meaning that you are not required to have Genie+ in order to purchase an ILL. You can choose to use these two options in conjunction with each other, or each of them individually. The pricing for the Individual Lightning Lanes vary by date, attraction and park. This option is perfect if you don't want the stress of joining the virtual queue each morning, or if you don't want to waste hours of your park day standing in line for the more popular attractions.
Cost:
The pricing for Individual Lightning Lanes vary by date, attraction and park.
Pros:
This service allows you to pay to skip the line at some of the most popular rides in Walt Disney World and Disneyland. This saves you time, as these rides also typically feature longer wait times upwards of several hours.
When staying on-property, you will be able to book your two Individual Lightning Lane selections at 7am, but those staying off-site will have to wait and purchase their selections at park opening. This is one major perk of staying on-site at Walt Disney World, as most of the ILL return windows are sold out by park opening each day. If visiting Disneyland, all guests can purchase their ILL selections once they have scanned into the parks.
You can purchase the Individual Lightning Lanes without purchasing Genie+ for your park day. These two can be used in conjunction together, if you choose.
Cons:
While you can hold two Individual Lightning Lanes at once, you cannot book the same ride twice. Similar to Genie+, you are only able to "skip the line" once for an attraction each day. You can, however, use the standby queue to ride as many times as you like, if a standby queue is available. At this time, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is the only ride that doesn't offer a standby queue.
This service can be pricey, since it is "pay-per-ride", especially if you are also utilizing Genie+.
So, what are my honest thoughts on Disney Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane? Is it worth it? In February of this year, Tyler and I visited Walt Disney World and used these services for the first time. I had very low hopes, because I was still feeling very bitter that Disney had retired the FastPass+ system. But honestly, it worked out so well! We chose to use a mix of Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes each day to help us maximize our time in the parks and ride as many attractions as possible. These services helped us do exactly that! We were able to average 5-6 Genie+ selections (using a combination of the current selection and stacking methods), plus our 2 ILL passes each day. We did have 1 busier day, where the Genie+ return windows were selling out quickly, so it wasn't as effective. On this day, we averaged 2-3 Genie+ selections, in addition to our ILL passes. While this seems like a steep decrease, this is actually what Disney expects the daily average to be on any given day, so when purchasing Genie+, keep in mind that each day's selections will be different and some days may offer the opportunity for grabbing more passes, while other days, especially busy ones, may prove more challenging. Either way, these services are definitely worth the extra money, if you are wanting to stay out of the long lines, save money and get the most our of your Disney park day.
Wow, I know that was a lot of information, but I think that about covers it! I will share a blogpost soon with information on how to add Genie+ to your park ticket, more information on the two methods for utilizing Genie+ and a sample Genie+ and ILL day. Until then, what are your thoughts on this new update to the Disney parks?
Ready to book your next magical vacation? I am always happy to help! Simply fill out this form and I will have a quote to you ASAP!
xo, Leah
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Images: Castle (Theme Park Alex), Disney Genie Graphic (Disney Tourist Blog)
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