Out with the old….in with the Genie. Disney Genie, that is. Coming later this fall to both the Walt Disney World Resort, as well as the Disneyland Resort will be Disney Genie. This will be a complimentary and convenient new digital service that is designed to create the best Disney day. Disney touts that Disney Genie will allow planning to be easier, for Guests to have more flexibility and for better tools to help Guests make the most of their visits. Disney Genie will guide Guests through the theme parks with tips that can help them reduce time in lines, discover magic around every corner and take the guesswork out of “what’s next.”
Guests will find Disney Genie in the My Disney Experience and Disneyland apps. The goal is to maximize your park time for Guests. There will be a personalized itinerary feature that will quickly map out an entire day, from attractions, foodie experiences and entertainment, to general interests like Disney princesses, villains, Pixar, Star Wars, thrill rides and more. All Guests will need to do is tell Disney Genie what they want to do and it will do the planning for them.
Additional features will allow Guests to have Disney Genie continually update your itinerary throughout your day, allowing for more spontaneity. Guests will also be able to create their very own personal tip board to instantly see their favorites. This tip board will display current AND forecasted future wait times, helping Guests predict when they might experience the attractions. Disney Genie also brings existing planning features together in one place. For example, Guests can join a virtual queue at certain attractions, make dining and experience reservations, mobile order food at many locations, get help from a virtual assistant and more.
But that’s not all! There will actually be two paid options that will be available for Guests, should they choose to utilize them. These paid options will allow Guests to utilized the Lightning Lane entrance.
The first of the paid options is called Disney Genie+ service. For the price of $15 per ticket per day at Walt Disney World Resort and $20 per ticket per day at Disneyland Resort, Guests can choose the next available time to arrive at a variety of attractions and experiences using the Lightning Lane entrance. (This is similar to what MAXPASS was at Disneyland.) Guests will be able to 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, like augmented reality lenses for those visiting Walt Disney World Resort and unlimited Disney PhotoPass downloads from your day if you are visiting Disneyland Resort.
But there will be some attractions that are not a part of Disney Genie+. For those attractions, you’ll have the ability to purchase individual attraction access for high demand attractions. (Think Seven Dwarf Mine Train). Guests can schedule a time to arrive at up to two highly demanded attractions each day using the Lightning Lane entrance and skip the standby line. You’ll pay for this service for each individual ride separately.
Pricing for this access will vary by date, attraction and park. These Lightning Lane selections will be made on the same day of the Guest’s visit and can be used across multiple theme parks, which helps for those who have purchased the Park Hopper option.
Also, Guests won’t have to purchase the individual attraction access or Genie+ for every person in their party. Only those who will be riding the specific attractions. So if you buy the individual access and have a little one who won’t be riding something like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, you will only have to pay for the Guests who will actually be riding.
In addition, you don’t have to purchase individual attractions or Genie+ every single day of your trip. If you had a seven day trip, and you only want to purchase three days worth of individual attractions access, you can do that.
So, why would you want to use this individual attraction option or Genie+? Well, these options will get you on very popular attractions that likely have long wait times or are difficult to ride.
All attractions will continue to offer a traditional standby queue, or a virtual queue at certain attractions like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
That means that you’ll still be able to wait in the standby line for Seven Dwarfs or Haunted Mansion if you want to ride the attraction. But, if you want to skip the standby line, you’ll need to buy the individual attraction access or Genie+. Same will go for something like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. You can buy individual attraction access or join the virtual queue.
Want to learn more about Disney Genie? Take a look at this video:
So wait….what does this mean for FASTPASS, FastPass+ and Disney MaxPass? Well those services will officially be retired. With Disney Genie, Guests will be able to choose from all of the new options, a mix of them or none at all. This flexibility will allow Guests to continue to have a great experience no matter how they decide to plan their Disney day.
In addition, there will also be some changes to the Disability Access Service (DAS) program. There will be brand new options to enroll in the program pre-arrival and for DAS participants to select arrival windows for attractions directly in the app. These options will be available in addition to the existing, in-person DAS program.
Ok….we know this is a LOT of information and we’re going to have more details to share with you as we learn them. Stay tuned to The Mouse For Less for all the latest.
