Disney Genie revealed - Walt Disney World's next generation of FastPass with pay-per-ride options

Aug 18, 2021 in "Disney Genie"

Posted: Wednesday August 18, 2021 4:24pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

After years of speculation, Disney has finally taken the wraps off its Genie project and revealed how it plans to reshape the Walt Disney World theme park experience.

Disney has today announced that Disney Genie, part of the My Disney Experience app, will arrive at Walt Disney World and Disneyland in fall 2021.

Genie+ will be available at Walt Disney World for $15 per person per day, and will include access to the Lightning Lane (previously the FastPass line), for one attraction at a time, with a designated arrival time. In addition, top tier attractions not included in Genie+ will be available for individual purchase at a price not yet announced. We understand from various sources that Disney will be asking between $4 and $24 per person, per ride, depending on the category of attraction.

Most attractions that were previously part of FastPass+ will be included in the flat-rate Genie+, but top-tier attractions and new attractions like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Remy's Ratatouille Adventure will require an individual purchase for Lighting Lane access.

According to Disney, "Disney Genie service will maximize your park time, so you can have more fun. It includes a personalized itinerary feature that will quickly and seamlessly map out an entire day. From specific attractions, foodie experiences and entertainment, to general interests like Disney princesses, villains, Pixar, Star Wars, thrill rides and more – just tell Disney Genie what you want to do and it will do the planning for you."

Disney Genie features

Disney Genie will offer a number of free features that do not require the $15 Genie+ option, including:

  • Get Itinerary Updates from Morning to Night: Disney Genie will continue to update your itinerary throughout your day, so you can be more spontaneous and go with the flow.

  • Find Your Favorites at a Glance: Create your very own personal tip board to instantly see your favorites. It will display current AND forecasted future wait times, helping you predict when you might experience quicker entry to attractions.

  • Enjoy More Flexibility and Fun: Disney Genie brings existing planning features together in one place. 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.

The Lightning Lane

The Lightning Lane entrance replaces the FastPass line, and is available for purchase via two services:

Disney Genie+ service (available for purchase): For the price of $15 per ticket per day at Walt Disney World Resort and $20 per ticket per day at Disneyland Resort, choose the next available time to arrive at a variety of attractions and experiences using the Lightning Lane entrance. You can make one selection at a time, throughout the day – from classics like Haunted Mansion to thrill rides like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and newer favorites like Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (attractions subject to limited availability). Disney Genie+ will also include Disney parks-themed audio experiences and photo features to capture your memories – augmented reality lenses for those visiting Walt Disney World Resort and unlimited Disney PhotoPass downloads from your day if you are visiting Disneyland Resort.

Individual attraction selections (available for purchase): Schedule a time to arrive at up to two highly demanded attractions each day using the Lightning Lane entrance – like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom and Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure park (subject to limited availability; attractions not included with Disney Genie+). Pricing for this option will vary by date, attraction and park and will be announced closer to launch.

Disney has not yet provided a list of attractions that will be part of the individual purchases, but we expect to see Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, Space Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Test Track, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, Flight of Passage and Kilimanjaro Safaris to not be part of Genie+ and instead require an individual purchase.

For all guests at Walt Disney World, the first Genie+ selection can be made at 7am on the day of the visit. Guests staying at Walt Disney World Resort hotels will be able to make individual Lightning Lane attraction selections at 7am, ahead of day guests who will not be able to make selections until the park opens.

Lightning Lane selections will be made on the same day of your visit and can be used across multiple theme parks. Attractions will continue to offer a traditional standby queue, or a virtual queue at certain attractions like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

Disney is also making some enhancements to the Disability Access Service (DAS) program, including new options to enroll in the program pre-arrival and for DAS participants to select attractions directly in the app. These options will be available in addition to the existing, in-person DAS program. 

Walt Disney World Annual Passholders will be able to add Disney Genie+ for $15 on the day of use, but there will not be an option to add it to the pass for use throughout the year.

Detailed overview of how Disney Genie works

Disney Genie, Genie+, Lightning Lane Frequently Asked Questions

See our Disney Genie FAQ for answers to common questions about the new service.

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Nottamus16 hours ago

Yes, agreed! We were just there last week and ALL waits were pretty low. Low enough to where we didn’t pay anything ride related, but still managed to ride all we wanted - sometimes multiple times . The longest line in waited in was tron, which was 35 mins. Easy peasy.

Disstevefan118 hours ago

Its good to see them adjust downward sometimes :)

IanDLBZF1 day ago

JD801 day ago

I guess a little bit of that old money was spent. Wonder if they got a good interest rate.

DCBaker2 days ago

It appears Lightning Lane Premier Pass has sold out at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios for Monday, November 25:

Purduevian2 days ago

Just returned from the trip. If anyone is interested this is how it all went. We had a 21 month old with us and really had no interest in SM or Mission space for this trip MK: 11/14/24: Track 1: 8:30am HM>1:55 Peter Pan> noticed SM was broken, booked it x2 for ME passes while down(1 used for JC, 1 went unused)> 4:40pm Mermaid Track 2: 9:30am Pooh>11:15am Buzz> 12:30pm Big Thunder> Basically instant Pirates (kept pushing until we wanted to ride)> 4:20pm Barnstormer (didn't use) Track 3: 3:15pm Tiana>3:30 Carpets>4:40pm Dumbo Also Standby: Tiki room, Country Bears, Small World, people mover EPCOT 11/16/24: Track 1: 9:30am Nemo>Soarin was pretty instant, but pushed to 11:40ish> Track 2: 10:50am SSE>11:30am Living with the Land> noticed Figment was broken turned into ME (unused)> Keep moving figment back, to whatever time I wanted, but never ended up using it Track 3: 12:05 Frozen>5:30pm Remy Standby of Grand fiesta tour. Also, side note went to AK on 11/13, there was no need for LLMP. We didn't ride FOP, but our longest wait of the day was 11 mins for Navi.

Splash4eva9 days ago

Unless money was a make or break decision. Why would anyone want to wait in line willingly when there is another option?

DisneyDreamer0811 days ago

Yep been there 😂 I won’t say getting both LLs is impossible but you would likely have to try multiple times throughout the day. When my kids were younger, we would rope drop one and LL the other.

arich3511 days ago

We could but with a 5 and 4 year old, we try to avoid 45+ minute waits lol. We do have extra magic hours on Monday when we go next month so we will probably try to hit those two rides for sure.

Purduevian11 days ago

Remy sometimes has a 1:48pm drop time. It's not every day but it's your best shot if Remy is sold out for the day

DisneyDreamer0811 days ago

Are you able to wait standby for one? Both have queues that are mostly indoors (Frozen more so) so maybe book Remy first and if you can’t get Frozen maybe try to wait standby. I know that can be tough if you are traveling with kids. I was there in August with my 13 year old and we opted not to do LL for our Epcot day. We did Remy at rope drop and figured we would just wait standby for Frozen. The posted wait was 45 minutes but I timed it and we only waited 25. So you never know, you might get lucky.

Purduevian11 days ago

If anyone is curious what a non-resort guest can get my booking window opened today. I got HM 8:30am, pooh bear 11:20, Tiana 4:20 Nemo 9:40, SSE 1050 and Frozen 12:05. I hope to push everything up but not bad for not getting the on-site perk. EDIT: In case anyone cares. The same night I booked things I was able to move Pooh Bear to 9:30am, Tiana to 3:15pm, and Nemo up 10 mins to 9:30am. Honestly if I had my full choice of LLs at 21 days out, this is pretty much what I would have picked outside of pushing Nemo and SEE to park opening.