Disney Genie

[cruiser]

I am going to Epcot and Animal Kingdom at the end of April.  Last time we went, we did the Fast Pass to get onto some of the rides without the long wait.  I understand there is now a Disney Genie, but I'm trying to understand how this works.  I'll be staying at the Hilton at Disney Springs, if that gets us any benefits.  Can someone help me understand the process and what my best options are?  I don't want to miss getting on a couple of key rides we want.  Thanks!

[devonpow]

Following. We go in April and I’m very confused. I need someone to explain this to me like I’m 5 lol

[mrsslocombe]

There are two paid options for getting on rides: Genie + and Individual Lightning Lanes. You can buy Genie + ahead of time or any time day of, however you ONLY make reservations day of starting at 7am if you are staying on property, park open for everyone else. At the Hilton you will have to wait until park opening.

Individual Lightning Lanes are only available for purchase day of, starting at 7am.

Genie + is similar to the old fast pass system. It usually costs $15 per day per ticket (price is variable depending on demand). Starting at 7am each day you can book your first Genie + reservation for that day (so no pre-planning). You can make your second/third etc reservations after you scan your reservation at your current ride OR if your first reservation is late in the day, then your next reservation can be made two hours after park opening.

For example: Magic Kingdom opens at 9am. You open the app and make a reservation for 9:10-10:10 Big Thunder Mountain. You scan your app at 9:15 at Big Thunder, now you can open up the app and make your next reservation. There's a 10:30-11:30 Haunted Mansion available. So you book that. Scan at HM at 10:30, now you can make an 11am It's a Small World, etc. By booking the earliest available rides you are able to get more reservations, but they might not be your top priorities.

OR, if you want to prioritize only certain rides: at 7am you open your app and book a 5:15-6:15pm Jungle Cruise. Magic Kingdom opens at 9am, so at 11am you can book your next ride. There's a 3:00-4:00 Pirates of the Caribbean one, so you book that. Then at 1pm you open up the app and you can book your next one, it's an 8:00pm-9:00pm slot to visit the Princesses. Your next reservation can be made at 3pm. And so on and so on. This tactic means you will get fewer slots, but you will hit your priorities.

Individual Lightning Lanes are only for: Flights of Passage, Expedition Everest, Rise of the Resistance, Remy, 7 Dwarves Mine Train. These all have individual pricing, up to $15 per ticket. You can buy both Genie + and Individual Lightning Lane. Or just one or the either. So if Rise is a priority, you can just pay the $15 and skip Genie +.

Personally...I hate this system. I hate paying the extra money, I hate that it's a gamble about how many rides you can actually get reservations for. I think it's only worth it for Magic Kingdom and HS, Epcot and Animal Kingdom have very few attractions. Since you are not staying on property, it is unlikely you will be able to get a reservation for the attractions that run out most quickly (Jungle Cruise, Slinky Dog, Frozen).

But the good thing is, you can buy it one day and see if its worth it, and skip it the other days if it ends up being a waste of money.

For Individual Lightning lanes, the one benefit is that if the ride breaks during your reservation time, you can go back later than day. or Get a refund (Rise of the Resistance and Remy break A LOT. During my recent trip RR was down 3-4 hours each day, Remy was actually down for a day and a half plus multiple shorter breaks). So if any of those rides are top priority it may be worth it to shell out the money, especially since you are off property and can't use the Early Morning Magic Hours.

[lauren170]

We are going in a few days and most of the parks are sold out, so I’ll update after we go. In prepping, I’ve found watching tik toks / YouTube videos and seeing it to be helpful. By far the biggest complaint is you may click a time but by the time you get to the confirmation it has changed out many hours later.

[lauren170]

Also only Disney property (and some odd property) guests can book ILLs at 7am, but anyone with Genie + can book at 7am

[devonpow]

So you scan the app, not magic band as you go into the ride? I find that annoying for some reason

[mrsslocombe]

Mar 21, 2022 17:03:25 GMT -5 devonpow said:

So you scan the app, not magic band as you go into the ride? I find that annoying for some reason

You use either your magic band OR the card they give you. Not your phone, sorry that wasn't clear.

[devonpow]

Mar 21, 2022 17:23:25 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

Mar 21, 2022 17:03:25 GMT -5 devonpow said:

So you scan the app, not magic band as you go into the ride? I find that annoying for some reason

You use either your magic band OR the card they give you. Not your phone, sorry that wasn't clear.

got it- I’m less annoyed now! Lol

[midwestmama]

You may want to check for sure if the Hilton Disney Springs is considered "on property." If it's not, I wouldn't bother getting Genie+ (personal opinion). We paid extra for Genie+ when we went to Epcot for one day, on 12/20/2021, and got one LL pass for a 5:30-6:30 slot for Soarin'. By the time we got to the park (because if you're staying off-property, you can't make LL reservations until you get to the park), all LL reservations for all the good rides for the whole day were gone. We checked throughout the day for timeslots to open due to cancellations, and that's how we got the Soarin' reservation. To us, it certainly wasn't worth the additional amount we paid.

I'm with mrsslocombe, I hate the new system.  TBH, it was kind of the last straw for us feeling like Disney is nickle-and-diming guests (and feeling like we're not getting the value for what we paid).  At this point, my family has gone to WDW enough.  We'd rather spend $10,000 (assumes staying at a non-"Value" level Disney property) on a nice vacation somewhere else. 

[quesyrah]

We LOVE genie+!!!

I have used it at both Disneyland and Disney World.

I have seen a lot of criticism in FB groups that it’s hard to use and people don’t understand it.

I found it very easy to use. I spent some time on the app in the weeks before we went so that once we were there I knew how to use it. I also figured out which rides booked our first so I knew what to make as our first selections. Everyone can make their first selection at 7 am. Where on property guests get the advantage is being able to buy the individual lighting lanes at 7 am while everyone else has to wait until park open.

We did have 2 days in each park which helped, but we could have gotten away with 1 using Genie+. We rode every single ride in all the parks, and only waited in line for the few rides that aren’t on Genie+.