On October 19, 2021 Walt Disney World released Genie, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane Selections. We knew it was coming, for a couple of years in fact, but details were sketchy and until it was released there were still some unknowns.
I had a planned conference in Orlando the week of release and extended my trip to experience Genie for myself.
This isn’t going to be a post of pictures, it’s just a lot of information, mostly my thoughts on the product and who would benefit from using Genie, purchasing Genie+ and/or the Individual Lightning Lane Selections.
Let’s stop here and talk a little about the terms:
Genie – Free and included with your My Disney Experience account. It’s an updated itinerary for your day, updated throughout the day to maximize fun.
Genie+ – Paid, $15 per ticket, per day and can be found within Genie. This gives you access to the Lightning Lane entrance to 40 rides throughout the Walt Disney World theme parks. You can cancel and change these selections.
Individual Lightning Lane Selection (“ILLS”) – Paid, pricing varies by date and attraction. This is completely separate from Genie+. One does NOT include the other. These selections will be made within Genie. There are currently two ILLS options in each theme park and are some of the most popular rides or attractions at Walt Disney World. These selections are non-refundable once purchased and cannot be changed or canceled.
Lightning Lane – the physical entrance to a ride or attraction that will be used for return to a Genie+ selection or an Individual Lightning Lane Selection.
First, Genie is FREE and is found within the My Disney Experience Account app, not on a desktop/PC. Genie+ is a paid addition to Genie with a cost of $15 per person, per day. The Individual Lightning Lane Selections (“ILLS”) are also within the Genie portion of the app but are independent of Genie+ meaning you DO NOT have to purchase Genie+ to purchase the ILLS.
Genie is intended to be a guide throughout your day at the Walt Disney World theme parks. The system will know which Park you will be visiting based on your Park Pass Reservation. Genie works it’s magic at 7am each day. You tell Genie what you’d like to experience throughout the day – attractions, characters and even food.
If you decide to purchase Genie+ either ahead of time with your resort package or ticket only purchase you will be able to make your first Genie+ selection at 7am. These are one selection at a time (with some caveats). You’ll choose one of the attractions that offers Genie+ through the the app and you’ll receive return time window. Think of this like the “old” Fastpass system or Fastpass+ system. You can go to that pre-selected ride or attraction within the allotted window of time and access the ride or attraction through a special line – now it’s the Lightning Lane.
Individual Lightning Lane Selections can be made at 7am for guests of certain Walt Disney World Resorts and at park opening for all other guests. This is a great perk of staying onsite at a Walt Disney World Resort. You have a jump on the purchase of the ILLS, which in the case of Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, is very helpful. You’ll also have a better selection of return times for your ILLS when purchasing at 7am. This is one difference between ILLS and Genie+ selections. ILLS return times will have a range to choose from, while with Genie+ selections you’re assigned the next available time.
When adding Genie+ on a day by day basis, you can make the purchase at midnight of the day you’d be visiting the park. Is it necessary to add it at midnight? No. You would want to add it prior to 7am so that you could then make your first Genie+ selection at 7am or you could do it later, especially if you’re not looking for early return times. Since I have an Annual Pass to Walt Disney World I had to add Genie+ to my ticket each day of my visit. The same would be true for those using discounted Military tickets.
If you’re still with me, I’ll now tell you my thoughts on them all.
Let’s start with Genie. I’m a Disney veteran. I’ve been with no Fastpass available, with Fastpass, Fastpass+ and I’ve used MaxPass at Disneyland. I’ve learned to plan my day (and the day for my clients) on my own so I found many of the Genie recommendations to be a bit “off”. For example, on the day I was visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios it wanted to direct me to Lightning MacQueen’s Racing Academy at park open. That’s just not a good use of time.
Genie+ has essentially replaced the Fastpass+ system. Yes, it’s now a paid system. Does every single visitor need Genie+? No. Is it super convenient to bypass a long standby line? Yes. There are a couple of drawbacks vs. the Fastpass+ system but there are also some definite positives. With the old system you chose 3 Fastpass+ options 60 days in advance. Essentially locking in 3 return times 2 months before actually arriving for your vacation. Maybe you really didn’t need that Fastpass after all once you saw the standby wait time, maybe you didn’t want to ride a ride but you had to use those before obtaining any others. With Genie+ you are choosing one selection the day of your visit. You use that one, you can select another, then another as long as there is availability. Biggest drawback? It’s no longer free to access the rides.
Let’s talk about the ILLS. The name of this has been tweaked a few times. This is a paid per ride option. You are paying to ride a specific ride at a specific time. For all rides that offer ILLS there is a standard standby line that can be used except for one – Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Remy’s still offers the Virtual Queue and now the ILLS, no standby. I DID purchase a couple of ILLS. Did I truly need to? No. If I was a big Star Wars fan I probably would have purchased one for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance vs waiting in the Standby Line. I think it would also depend on the time of the year you are visiting, your willingness to wait and for me, temperature. I wouldn’t wait in the line (a lot of it outdoors and uncovered, in the heat of summer).
I LOVE Remy so I did purchase an ILL for that ride, after also obtaining a Virtual Queue return time, and I wanted to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in the evening so that was worth it to me.
The bottom line is you need to decide what’s important to you, specific family members and your family as a whole. Standby Lines still exist. You do have that option. You CAN purchase Genie+ on a day by day basis for specific members of your family, you can’t do this when adding to a resort package or to your tickets in advance. You CAN purchase ILLS for specific members of your party. Maybe there’s a huge Star Wars or Frozen fan in your party. Buy the ILLS for them only, or just a couple of people in your party. Everyone else can get take a break while they ride. Maybe you know in advance that grandma isn’t going to ride rides, does she need Genie+ for the day? Nope. Would it be beneficial for some attractions like the Frozen Ever After Sing a Long? Maybe. If you are a die hard, ride everything, every coaster and more than yes, Genie+ is for you. Do you not want to wait in line? Genie+ is for you.
I’ll be working with my clients to help them determine if Genie+ will benefit them for their next trip to Walt Disney World.
When you’re ready to visit Walt Disney World Resort I’d be happy to help you do the same!
Happy Travels!
Betsy Walker Travels 