Here Comes Genie
Today is the launch of the Disney Genie service! With the retirement of Walt Disney World’s FastPass and Disneyland’s MaxPass ride reservations systems, this is a highly anticipated (and likely to be criticized) launch. While there is something to be said for testing the service out on it’s first day running in Walt Disney World, there is also a huge benefit of leaving it to the local experts to figure out first (which is good, because that is what we are doing…watching and learning).
What are Disney Genie and Disney Genie+?
Disney Genie service is an exclusive experience brought to you through the My Disney Experience app. The service is free and it works with your preferences and the traffic flow within the park to suggest an itinerary throughout the day. Basically, it analyzes your location, wait times and park traffic to create individual itineraries to maximize the park experience for guests.
Disney Genie+ is an additional service available for purchase ($15 per day at WDW and $20 per day at Disneyland Resort) that allows users to select particular rides and gain access to the Lightning Lane (or the attraction line that lets you skip the Stand-By queue) by allowing the user to select a window of time to arrive at that ride. Once scanned into the Lightning Lane, the guest can then pick another Lightning Lane entry time for another ride. Not all attractions are available using the Disney Genie+ service, but most crowd favorites are included.
What is NOT available through the Genie + Service?
Great question! There are two attractions in each of the WDW parks that are not part of the Genie+ Lightning Lane options: Space Mountain & Seven Dwarves Mine Train (Magic Kingdom); Frozen Ever After & Ratatouille Adventure (Epcot); Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway & Rise of the Resistance (Hollywood Studios); and Avatar - Flights of Passage & Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom). What does that mean? That means by purchasing Disney Genie+, you do not get access to the Lightning Lane for those rides. The free Disney Genie service will still monitor those rides and suggest them for Stand-By, but having Disney Genie+ will not help for those 8 attractions. However, you can purchase Individual Lightning Lane passes for an additional fee.
Disneyland will likely follow suit with regard to Rise of the Resistance, and California Adventure has already mentioned that Radiator Springs Racers will be one of the premier attractions not included with Genie+.
Individual Lightning Lane?
Yes. For those 8 attractions not included with Genie+, you can gain access using either the good old fashioned Stand-By line OR you can purchase an Individual Lightning Lane pass. These passes vary in price depending upon the attraction, as well as other factors, but generally range between $5 - $15. You do NOT need to purchase Disney Genie+ to purchase Individual Lightning Lane passes. There is a limit of 2 Individual Lightning Lane purchases per person per day.
What does all this mean?
We will be learning a lot over the coming weeks. Blogger/Vloggers will be out testing and dishing out tips and tricks, and I’m sure Disney will tweak things as needed. No one experience this week will be representative of the service as a whole. Things like park crowds, time of year, weather and individual park idiosyncrasies will all effect how the Genie works. In other words, we will have to wait and see what all of this means.
Where’s the magic?
In the days of FastPass, going to WDW used to mean that guests had to start planning months in advance if they wanted to get access to all the most popular attractions and restaurants. While it was exciting to think about vacation 60 days out, it took a tech-savvy person with time on their hands to really do it right. The retirement of FastPasses at WDW and the introduction of the Disney Genie changes everything. Now, guests can let the Genie guide them through their day, or pay to have a little more control with Genie+. Either way, it takes a lot of the stress out of the planning and allows for more in-the-moment engagement…which is awesome.
As for Disneyland, the Genie is essentially the MaxPass on steroids. So while the Genie is new, it isn’t too far off what guests at DLR were already pros at using. I imagine this launch will seem underwhelming to folks who call Disneyland home.
The real negative here is cost. At baseline, Disney is not cheap, and it likely never will be. Skipping ahead in line is a premium service that many theme parks peddle, so it was only a matter of time before Disney saw the advantage. The positive is that you don’t have to pay anything extra if you don’t want, and you still have access to a system that is made to improve the guest’s experience. Disney Genie will not be perfect, but it may be really helpful at making the parks easier to navigate.
If you take anything from this, don’t let someone else’s experience with the Disney Genie influence how you feel about it. Go in with an open mind and decide for yourself.
