Disney has been working on the Disney Genie for years, and it was finally launched on October 19, 2021.
Change is never easy, but it is usually always GOOD! We just have to be open to it. Frequent Walt Disney World travelers were used to the paper Fast Pass system, and then Fast Pass+ came along and changed everything. Then, Covid came along and really changed everything. When the parks reopened, they did so with physically distanced standby lines only…and with the reduced crowd capacity, that was all that was needed. But, with the increase in crowd capacity comes an increase in wait times.
Introducing…the Disney Genie!
Disney Genie really has THREE parts to it: Disney Genie, Genie+ Lightning Lane, and Individual Lightning Lane.
Even though I’ve only used it on one super fast business trip last week…I’ll try to break it down the best that I can for you!
Everything you need will be found right in your MyDisneyExperience app. If you don’t already have this wonderful and useful app on your mobile device, you will want to get that right away & familiarize yourself with it. This app will be so important for you while on your Walt Disney World vacation…for reminders of park hours, daily showtimes, mobile ordering some of your food, wait times, and now for ALL that is Disney Genie!
The Disney Genie feature is complimentary to all guests. Anytime before your trip, you can tell the Genie which park you will visit on a given day…and then go through the prompts. I’ll show you some of the options from an upcoming trip I have in February. Here are the steps to create your Best Disney Day:
- Open the My Disney Experience app on your mobile device
- Summon the Disney Genie (for the first time) OR head to “My Day” & change the day to one that you want to customize
- When doing this for the first time, it will probably pop up with extra prompts to read through. I selected START NOW, for the first time entering information for this trip. NOTE: If you rub the lamp, something might pop out!
- Choose the first park day of your trip & the park you plan on visiting, then hit continue. For us it is February 13 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
- It will then ask for your travel party that you are planning for. Select them and choose continue
- You will then be able to select a few of your must do “TOP PICK” attractions while scrolling through the many options & choose continue when done. It won’t allow you to do too many for this planning service. Just remember, that these are only suggestions & your family can go with the flow throughout your day!
- It will then ask you to choose some extra options that are important for you…such as Disney Princesses, Star Wars, Thrill rides, etc
- The final thing it will ask is if you need reminders for attractions that have height requirements or accessibility options
- It then will work it’s magic! Since my next trip is a ways away yet, it tells me that in 100 days, Disney Genie will be helping me!
You will want to do this for each day of your trip. However, you don’t need to do it this far in advance. I just happen to LOVE planning our Disney trips, and talking about our Disney trips, and dreaming of our Disney trips…LOL! Feel free to wait until each morning during your vacation.
When you are actually at the park, your Disney Genie will give you many suggestions throughout your day…for what time it might be good to hit an attraction based on the estimated wait time. Sometimes, it might not make sense based on what you told it you were interested in. You can ignore some of those suggestions OR remove them all together. At other times, you might thank it for suggesting a show to watch while giving your tired tootsies a few minutes to rest! Genie might recommend something to you that you typically would skip…like Carousel of Progress or the Country Bear Jamboree. However, these interesting classics are a part of Disney history. You might be glad you listened to the recommendations!
What I feel like Disney is trying to accomplish with Disney Genie is to give guests options on how to fill some gaps in your Disney Days. I’ve never been a minute by minute planner on Disney trips. I feel that takes away from the fun & spontaneity of what could be many MAGICAL memories and moments. Especially when traveling with your kids! Have fun…loosen up…go with the flow…say yes to another Mickey pretzel…stop and watch the Mickey Celebration Cavalcade for the third time…go on it’s a small world yet again to watch those little eyes light up with amazement. I always ask my husband & kids for two must dos in each park. THESE are what I would tell Disney Genie that we want to see on that day. We make it a point to hit those at some point & also other fun attractions with shorter waits along the way. I would prioritize the most popular one as our “rope drop” choice of that day. What is Rope Drop? I’ll talk more about that in my helpful tips at the end of this post!
Beyond the complimentary Disney Genie are TWO add-on options for guests to consider. Both options include entrance into the Lightning Lanes found at many of those most popular attractions within the four Disney theme parks. There are TWO tiers for Lightning Lane attractions:
- The Genie+ attractions (found in the purple boxes)
- The Individual Lightning Lanes (found in the blue boxes)
Below is the current breakdown of attractions in each park & what group they are a part of.
GENIE+ with Lightning Lane
Genie+ is the first optional ADD-ON feature that is available to guests. It currently costs $15 per person, per day (+ tax). We can either add it to your package before you travel, and you can have it for every day of your ticket. OR, you can choose to add it yourself on the app, the day that you plan on using it. We chose to add it on the day for TWO of our four days of travel, as we weren’t there the full days on our two travel days. Anytime after midnight, we could add it. If you don’t already have it, the app will prompt you on this.
Once you have Genie+ added, you will be able to start selecting your Lightning Lane return times. The return times are 1 hour slots. You can begin doing this at 7 am on the day of your visit. It should be noted that the next available time will be the only option that show for each attraction. MOST of these will be close to park opening time. However, the more popular attractions, such as Slinky Dog Dash & Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, will quickly move to afternoon times.
Also, it should be noted that at this time, guests can only use the Lightning Lane once per attraction. If Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is your favorite attraction, you’ll probably want to grab a Lightning Lane return time for it. However, you will only be able to do that once per day. Any other time that you choose to ride it will need to be in the standby line.
Typically, you can book your next Genie+ attraction return time after using the current one…and continue doing so throughout your day. However, since our Slinky Dog Dash return time was in the afternoon, we could choose another one 2 hours after the park officially opened. After the park opens & you happen to choose a return time that is further than 2 hours away…you can choose a 2nd attraction when 2 hours has passed. That was confusing to me at first, but basically…just remember to look for another Genie+ return time after you use one OR after 2 hours. Or, randomly check the app and see what it allows you to do!
Individual Lightning Lane
There are TWO attractions in each park that you can pay extra for to skip the standby line. These 8 attractions are NOT included in Genie+. You do not have to have Genie+ added to your tickets in order to purchase these. You will probably notice that the Disney Genie will offer these to you throughout your day, especially if you’ve told it that they are among your must do attractions. Do you need to do this? Not at all. In no way am I recommending that you DO pay extra for these. You can wait in the standby line for all but 1 of these attractions. If you are able to get to the parks early to take advantage of the Early Theme Park Entry offered to every guest of a Disney Resort, you can head directly to one of these attractions & knock it off your list early! You can do the other later in the evening! HOWEVER, if one particular attraction is super important to your family & you can afford to pay the extra…GO FOR IT!
The individual Lightning Lane selections work a little differently than the Genie+ Lightning Lane selections. You can only make two per day and once you make your choice, it can’t be modified or canceled (though they will accommodate you if the attraction goes down). The costs for these will vary by date & attractions. We chose to purchase a few of these on our most recent business trip for various reasons. My boss hadn’t been able to experience Rise of the Resistance, so it was important to her. And Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure was brand new, so even though we had a boarding group…we chose to purchase the Individual Lightning Lane as well.
Our first day using Genie+ was a day we were going to be park hopping. We really wanted Slinky Dog Dash & the first available time was 1:40 pm. Though it was later than we hoped for, we grabbed it. We chose to also purchase Individual Lightning Lane return times for Rise of the Resistance and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Upon arrival to Hollywood Studios, we went directly to Tower of Terror as Genie suggested to us. We also hit Toy Story Mania after that!
When you have a Genie+ return time in your plans, maybe some Individual Lightning Lane return times, your dining preferences selected, and other interests noted…The Genie will start suggesting your next moves!
The most helpful part of Disney Genie is definitely the TIP BOARD! Make sure you check this out often during your park day. When looking at the Tip Board, you will see two areas: Experiences & Dining. In Experiences, you will be able to see what the current standby wait times are, as well as when the next Genie+ Lightning Lane time is (if using Genie+). In Dining, you will be able to see if any of the table service restaurants have walk up availability or if a reservation can be made.
Helpful Hints & Tips for you!
1) Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is currently using a virtual queue. So, you only have TWO options if you want to experience this brand new attraction. You will need to obtain a boarding group (I will tell you how in the folder I give you before you travel) OR you will need to purchase the Individual Lightning Lane.
2) You will probably find yourself using your phone much more often at first, while you are getting used to things. Be sure to bring an extra battery pack or two!
3) If you want to have some shorter wait times throughout your day, try to get to the parks EARLY for rope drop. ALL four Disney parks open 30 minutes early for guests of the Disney resorts. On our Magic Kingdom day, the park officially opened at 9:00 am. That meant that Disney resort guests could get in early. They started letting us in at 8:00 am, but held us by Fantasyland. Only Tomorrowland & Fantasyland are open early. Right at 8:30 am, we could start making our way to the first attraction of our choosing. We did so much during the 4 hours we were there that morning: Peter Pan’s Flight, it’s a small world, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, breakfast at Sleepy Hollow, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, People Mover, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, watched 5 character cavalcades, had a snack at Sunshine Tree Terrace/Aloha Isle, and did some shopping at the Emporium! Had we not arrived early, we wouldn’t have been able to hit those 4 big attractions before the main crowds got to the back of the park.
4) There are also many fun Disney PhotoPass Lenses that are found in your MyDisneyExperience app! And, even more special augmented reality lenses when you purchase Genie+. Be sure to play around with these for some memorable photo ops.
I know this is a lot to digest and read through. This at least gives you an idea of what the Disney Genie & beyond will be able to do for your future visits to Walt Disney World. It’s honestly so much easier to understand when you are there looking at it all in real time. Take some time before your next trip to explore the app. When you are in the parks & find yourself with questions, look for these blue tents & the Guest Experience Team will be able to help answer your questions. When our app was glitching, they helped us tremendously.
And, I’m trying to plan another whirlwind weekend business trip down next month to research and use Genie+ even more! I’ll probably do another post after that. If you have questions, please let me know & I’ll do my best to answer them for you.
Lisa loves ALL things Disney 