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Disney Genie is out of the bottle, and your wish is our command. Disney Genie is coming to Disneyland later this year and has already debuted in Walt Disney World (and we frogs hopped right on it and tested it out!). Just like Aladdin was granted three wishes, there are three major parts to Disney Genie:
- The free Genie planning tool
- The optional paid Genie+ service to make ride reservations for the majority of popular attractions at the theme parks
- The individual Lightning Lane selections for high-demand rides not included in Genie+ for an additional cost per ride
We tried out Genie+ and individual Lightning Lane selections at Magic Kingdom and even hopped over to Animal Kingdom. With Genie+, we rode four major attractions within the first two hours of our day. We purchased individual Lightning Lane for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and rode early in the morning (and only waited two minutes while standby was a 60-minute wait!). We'll go through the process and our tips and tricks below.
Disney Genie is available at both Disneyland and Disney World, and we will do our best to cover all of the details and slight differences here in your one-stop shop for Disney Genie magical details. And keep hopping back — we'll continue to update as we learn more and strengthen our tips and strategies!
When Does Genie Launch? | What Is Genie? | Genie's Capabilities | Genie+ at Disney World | Genie+ at Disneyland | How Do I Get Genie+? | How to Use Genie+ | Individual Lightning Lane Selections | Tips and Tricks
When Does Disney Genie Launch?
Big news! Disney Genie is available, as of Oct. 19, 2021, at Disney World. No news for a Disneyland start date just yet, but it's coming soon!
What Exactly Is Disney Genie?
Disney Genie is a new FREE tool in the My Disney Experience app at Disney World and the Disneyland app at Disneyland. You can use this new technology to guide you through the theme parks with tips to help you reduce time in lines, discover Disney magic and take the guesswork out of planning your day.
Genie includes a personalized itinerary and recommendations feature that will map out your entire day. Just let Disney Genie know what you want to do under the "My Day" tab by selecting attractions, entertainment, dining and enchanting extras (such as building a lightsaber). You can personalize your day even more by selecting general interests you may have. Change your mind? Genie can handle that and readjust your itinerary to include what interests you while you are on the go. You can view your favorites and suggestions in one place on the "Tip Board" tab. You can also request to see height requirements and accessibility when planning out your day.
Disney Genie allows for flexibility. If you like to be spontaneous and go with the flow, Disney Genie will update your itinerary as you go. It displays current and projected ride wait times and helps you pick the best time to ride (kind of like what your favorite frogs have been doing for years to help readers maximize time and follow proven park plans based on our extensive experience in the parks). You'll be able to join a virtual queue, mobile order food, join a restaurant walk-up list and make reservations for dining and rides through Genie, just like you already do through the park apps, but all in one spot. If you do not like a suggestion, you can do a Swaperoo to swap recommendations. You can also remove specific attractions from your planning so they will not show up for the rest of the day. If you have questions, ask the virtual assistant for help. You ain't never had a friend like Genie!
You can start planning your trip ahead of time with Disney Genie, but you'll need to purchase tickets and link them to the My Disney Experience app first. Once you make your theme park reservations, you can start selecting your interests for each day of your visit. We recommend playing around with it at home before your trip so you can get comfortable with it.
Disability Access Service (DAS) Changes
If you have someone in your party with disabilities that make it difficult to wait in a standard queue, you know that the Disability Access Service (DAS) can be a trip-saver, but having to wait in line to set it up and getting return times can be cumbersome when dealing with special needs. Genie will be able to smooth out the process for you.
Eligible guests visiting on or after Nov. 1, 2021, can now pre-register for DAS Advance via live video chat (there is a chat button on the page) between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern. Guests can pre-register up to 30 days in advance of a park visit but no less than two days before arrival. The DAS participants may book up to two one-hour return windows for select experiences. Once in the park, DAS users may select attractions directly in the app. These options will be available in addition to the existing, in-person DAS program. Visit Disney's Services for Guests with Disabilities pages at DisneyWorld.com and Disneyland.com for more details. Guests with concerns regarding these changes and previously purchased tickets may contact (407) 939-4357 to discuss the options.
As the details roll in, we will be updating these hopful posts:
- Overview of Disneyland's Disability Access Service (DAS)
- Overview of Disney World's Disability Access Service (DAS) Card
The Power of Genie+
For a daily cost, Genie+ allows guests to select attractions and bypass the standby line, utilizing the Lightning Lane entrances (It's time to update our lingo — FASTPASS and FastPass+ entrances have been rebranded!) Selections are made one at a time for that day.
So how does Genie+ compare to FastPass+ at Disney World and MaxPass at Disneyland? The overall system is very similar to the old format, just with a cost factor now. Perhaps Disneyland visitors who used paid MaxPass will be less shocked than Disney World visitors who only knew free versions of FastPass+. (MaxPass was toadally worth it, BTW.) For Disney World, guests also bid farewell to deciding what ride they want to go on 30 to 60 days in advance. Guests familiar with either FastPass+ or MaxPass will find some similarities with Genie+.
Of course, these services differ slightly based on the resort you visit. Let's take a look at Genie+ at Disney World versus Disneyland.
Genie+ at Disney World
- Costs $15 per ticket, per day.
- Grants faster access to 46 attractions using the Lightning Lane entrance.
- Can make one reservation at a time throughout the day.
- Once the initial selection is redeemed or the arrival window has passed, guests can make another selection up to park closing.
- Does not include PhotoPass.
- Has augmented reality photo lenses (we had fun turning ourselves into genies!).
- Guests can make their initial Genie+ selection beginning at 7 a.m. on the day of their visit.
- Selections can be made across theme parks for eligible park hoppers.
- Standby lines remain free.
- Virtual queues are free but have a paid option with individual Lightning Lane selections.
- Audio experiences tailored to specific locations throughout the lands.
Magic Kingdom Genie+ Attractions:
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Haunted Mansion
- "it's a small world"
- Jungle Cruise
- Mad Tea Party
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- Mickey's PhilharMagic
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Splash Mountain
- The Barnstormer
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Under the Sea — Journey of the Little Mermaid
EPCOT Genie+ Attractions:
- Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
- Journey into Imagination with Figment
- Living With the Land
- Mission Space (Green and Orange)
- Soarin' Around the World
- Spaceship Earth
- Test Track
- The Seas Nemo & Friends
- Turtle Talk with Crush
Hollywood Studios Genie+ Attractions:
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
- Disney Jr. Play and Dance!
- Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular - Returns Dec. 19, 2021
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Muppet*Vision 3D
- Rock 'n' Roller Coaster
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Star Tours — The Adventures Continue
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Toy Story Mania
Animal Kingdom Genie+ Attractions:
- A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King
- DINOSAUR
- It's Tough to Be a Bug!
- Kali River Rapids
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Na'vi River Journey
- The Animation Experience
- Feathered Friends in Flight
Genie+ at Disneyland
- Costs $20 per person, per day.
- Grants faster access to 19 attractions using the Lightning Lane entrance.
- Guests can make one reservation at a time throughout the day.
- Once the initial selection is redeemed or the arrival window has passed, guests can make another selection up to park closing.
- Unlimited PhotoPass is included.
- All guests may book Genie+ and individual Lightning Lane attraction selections return times when they enter the park for the day.
- Selections can be made across theme parks for park hoppers.
- Standby lines remain free.
- Virtual queues are free but have a paid option with individual attractions selections.
- Includes classics such as Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad but also new rides such as Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
- Audio experiences tailored to specific locations throughout the lands.
Disneyland Park Genie+ Attractions:
- Autopia
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Haunted Mansion
- Indiana Jones Adventure
- “it's a small world”
- Matterhorn Bobsleds
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
- Space Mountain
- Splash Mountain
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Disney California Adventure Genie+ Attractions:
- Goofy's Sky School
- Grizzly River Run
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!
- Incredicoaster
- Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
- Soarin' Around the World
- Toy Story Midway Mania
How Do I Get Genie+?
There are two ways to get Genie+.
- Before Your Visit — You can purchase as an add-on to a ticket or vacation package. If you want to purchase in advance, buy a ticket with Genie+. Undercover Tourist is now selling multi-day tickets with Genie+ at both Disney World (and Disneyland soon)! Ribbit!
- Same Day of Your Visit — Existing ticket holders and annual passholders may purchase through the My Disney Experience or Disneyland apps (we were able to purchase at midnight). This is also the route you would take if you only want to use Genie+ for certain days but not your entire trip, or as a last-minute decision.
Previously, Disneyland annual passholders could add MaxPass for a flat rate for the year. No Magic Key or annual passholder add-on for the year has been announced at this time.
How to Use Genie+
All of the Disney Genie services live within the My Disney Experience app for Disney World or the Disneyland app for Disneyland. Now the top of the home page for the My Disney Experience shows your plans. Tapping the "My Day" link in the top right corner takes you to the Disney Genie service homepage. Here, you can purchase Genie+ (if you have not done so already) and begin planning for your day. Remember, Genie+ selections can only be made starting at 7 a.m. for that day only. Each experience can only be used with Genie+ once per day, so once you ride an attraction with Genie+, you won't be able to book another Lightning Lane time (but standby is always an option if you want to go again!).
In the app, once you've chosen your day, you will select your party, which will automatically select anyone with a valid ticket and park pass reservation. You can edit your party members at this time, if need be. Then, you can choose which attraction you would like to use for your first Genie+ experience. The arrival windows will be for a one-hour period, so you can arrive whenever during that time.
Once your arrival window has started, you will scan into the attraction or show by tapping your MagicBand, Key to the World card or MagicMobile pass to the Mickey touchpoints at the Lightning Lane entrance. Be prepared to tap again later in the queue. Once you have scanned into both touchpoints, you are free to book your next Genie+ selection. We tested it and found that the app would not change after the first touchpoint, but almost immediately let us book after the second touchpoint.
The arrival windows are fairly strict, so there is no reason to show up to the Lightning Lane way before your window starts. The system does let you tap in five minutes early with no issue, but nothing earlier. If running late, there is a five-minute grace period. There can sometimes be up to fifteen minutes late allowed, but that can be up to the specific attraction at that time. If you are worried that you will miss the window, we recommend trying to cancel and book a different time. We learned the hard way that if you miss your arrival window, the attraction is still used up for Genie+ access. So even though we never scanned into Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, the system would not let us book it again. Had we canceled instead, we could have made another Buzz Lightyear selection later on.
Pay-Per-Ride Individual Lightning Lane Selections
A few high-demand rides are excluded from Genie+. For these, you can make a la carte reservations, kind of like FASTPASS and FastPass+, but for a fee. Have Boarding Groups eluded you and your slow phone? If you have found no success with the free virtual queue, now you can buy your way in. Is the line for your favorite ride always too long? Now you can pay a one-time, per-ride fee to skip the line (for select rides). You can use individual Lightning Lane pay-per-ride selections for a particular attraction once per day. You can pay to upgrade for up to two different rides per person, per day. You may purchase both of them at the same time (even if you're hopping to another park). These can sell out quickly for popular attractions such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Individual attraction selections will be made on the same day of your visit and can be used across multiple theme parks, which is good news for those who love the park hopper option. You can book a maximum of two individual Lightning Lane attractions per person, per day, and you can't book the same attraction twice. This option is available to all guests with or without Genie+. You can purchase via the Disney Genie service in the My Disney Experience app at Disney World and the Disneyland app at Disneyland on the same day as your visit. Standby lines and free virtual queues remain as options for all individual Lightning Lane attractions.
Pricing for this option varies by date, attraction and park. For example, on Oct. 19, 2021, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure cost $9 per person, but say, on Oct. 23, it would cost $11 per person. On both of those days, Expedition Everest is $7 and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is $15. As of now, prices for individual selections will range between $7 to $15.
How early can you book? Guests of a Disney Resort hotel (and other select hotels such as Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels and Shades of Green) at Disney World can make their first purchase starting at 7 a.m. on the day of their visit. All other guests may book once the park opens for the day. That means if you are park hopping but not a Disney World hotel guest and want to make a selection for your second park, you will have to wait until the other park opens to purchase. The good news is you don't have to be in the tapped into the park to make the selection.
Unlike Genie+ selections (which are next available times only), you can pick individual selections for any timeframe that is available throughout the day. And we were toadally surprised to see you can overlap your Genie+ and individual attraction selections without any issue!
Pay-per-ride individual Lightning Lane selections at Magic Kingdom Park:
Pay-per-ride individual Lightning Lane selections at EPCOT:
- Remy's Ratatouille Adventure — offers a free virtual queue and pay-per-ride access (and yes, that means you could ride twice if you wanted to!)
- Frozen Ever After
Pay-per-ride individual Lightning Lane selections at Disney's Hollywood Studios:
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance — now offering a standby line
- Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway
Pay-per-ride individual Lightning Lane selections at Disney's Animal Kingdom:
Pay-per-ride individual Lightning Lane selections at Disneyland:
- Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure! at Disney California Adventure — the free virtual queue remains but now you can pay to skip the line
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland — the free virtual queue remains at Disneyland, but now you have another way to join the Rebellion
The individual pay-per-ride options are subject to change, and it should be noted that this a la carte option and Genie+ offer different attractions. You can use both services together or separately.
Tips and Tricks for Disney Genie
- For Genie+, you can only choose the next available timeframe for a show or attraction. For purchased individual Lightning Lane selections, you can pick your arrival window for any time that is available throughout the day. If possible, we recommend booking your individual attraction for an early afternoon window when wait times are at their highest. This allows you to maximize the time saved so you can get more rides in!
- When booking individual Lightning Lane selections, keep in mind that the person making the reservation will be the person paying and everyone in the party will be automatically linked. If your party consists of groups who would need to pay separately, you'll want to edit the members of your party. The only caveat is that you could potentially end up in different time windows for your ride reservations, especially if it's a particularly busy day and times are getting booked quickly. If you want to ensure that everybody rides at the same time, then book together and have individuals send money via Venmo (or some other money-sharing app) to the purchaser.
- You can only make one Genie+ selection at a time, but there is one exception. Because you can only choose the next available time window, the window can start as soon as five minutes later or hours away, depending on the ride and crowds. At noon, for instance, you might find that the next time window is at 7 p.m. To avoid being tethered to only one ride for seven hours, your ability to make Genie+ selections is "frozen" for two hours. So, at 2 p.m., you could make another Genie+ selection, despite not going on the 7 p.m. ride yet.
- Your Genie+ selections can overlap with your individual attraction selections, so you can max out your day with more efficiency. Just make sure you don't miss your arrival windows.
- As of right now, attractions with virtual queues, such as Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, will allow you to join a virtual queue and purchase an individual Lightning Lane selection on the same day. This means you could ride an attraction twice, once through a Boarding Group time and once through your individual Lightning Lane selection.
- Park hopping? Genie has got you covered. You can let the Genie planning service know what time you plan on being at the next park and it will add in suggestions throughout your day. We were even able to purchase two individual Lightning Lane selections for two separate parks in the morning with no issues.
We are sure you have loads of Disney Genie questions. Ask away in the comments below, and keep hopping back to this post for updates as we discover more about Disney Genie while we continue to use it.
Related: Your Frequently Asked Questions About Disney Genie
Keep hopping!
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