Disney has officially unveiled the Disney Genie and the paid replacement for FastPass+. The Disney Genie is the new digital planning service coming this Fall to Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. This will be built into the existing My Disney Experience app and will contain a host of features.
The Disney Genie will be the new home of planning your day at Walt Disney World. Everything from estimated waits to restaurant booking will be contained within Disney Genie.
With the Disney Genie comes the introduction of a paid FastPass+ system. The Disney Genie+ service replaces the old FastPass+ system and allows guests to skip the line of most attractions at a fee.
Disney Genie+ Service
The base Disney Genie+ service allows guests to skip the line for many attractions. This will not include the most popular attractions, as those will be reserved for Individual Attraction pricing.
Via Disney:
For the price of $15 per ticket per day at Walt Disney World Resort and $20 per ticket per day at Disneyland Resort, choose the next available time to arrive at a variety of attractions and experiences using the Lightning Lane entrance. You can make one selection at a time, throughout the day. Disney Genie+ will also include Disney parks-themed audio experiences and photo features to capture your memories – augmented reality lenses for those visiting Walt Disney World Resort and unlimited Disney PhotoPass downloads from your day if you are visiting Disneyland Resort.
Individual Attractions
Not all attractions will be covered under the Disney Genie+ Service. Via Disney, some attractions will carry a separate fee for guests to enter the Lightning Lane. These will likely be considered “Tier 1” attractions and are the most popular rides at each park.
Schedule a time to arrive at up to two highly demanded attractions each day using the Lightning Lane entrance – like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom Park and Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure park (subject to limited availability; attractions not included with Disney Genie+). Pricing for this option will vary by date, attraction and park and will be announced closer to launch.
Thankfully, standby lines will continue to exist in the wake of the Disneyland Paris debacle over virtual standby lines. Guests can still elect to wait in the traditional line, assuming it’s open.
The days of booking out FastPass+ reservations 60 days before your trip are over. Now, guests will not be able to make selections until the day of their park visit. Guests staying at Walt Disney World resorts will have a slight advantage compared to regular guests.
UPDATE and important clarification: WDW resort guests will be able to reserve Lightning Lane “individual attraction selections” starting at 7am.
HOWEVER — there is no resort/onsite advantage for Genie+. ALL guests with Genie+ can book their first attraction starting at 7am.
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) August 18, 2021
The days of free FastPass+ reservations are over. Disney has decided to cash in on the service. We’ll have to wait and see how Disney Genie and the paid ride skipping pans out before we can make any recommendations. For now, it’s safe to say trips to Walt Disney World as we know them are forever changed.
