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 Genie was originally announced back in 2019 and now Disney is revealing how it will work

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.

Disney Genie overview

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 access to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will be priced individually and not part of the Disney Genie+ package

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.

Star Wars Rise of the Resistance will be available for individual Lightning Lane purchases at a price to be announced

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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wdwmagic10 days ago

First pricing for 2025 is out https://www.wdwmagic.com/genieprice.htm

RememberWhen12 days ago

Thanks for the update! I had gotten the same data you had elsewhere, so it definitely seemed like a glitch on the WDW end. Always grateful for all the information I get here!

wdwmagic12 days ago

That was actually a rare instance where the prices changed after being initially released. First time that has happened.

Brooklin Disney Dad13 days ago

Ultimately, we each have our own price point for budgeting a family vacay at Disney. You can complain on a forum, but wear your thick skin. Or you can go somewhere else, hoping that the demand for LLs, multi, etc. drops to lower prices to within your budget. They way my fam of 5 did DW 6 yrs ago will never happen again. I can live with that. Loopholes and extra perks are gone and won’t come back until there is a big shift in consumer spending. And that may take a few years.

Touchdown13 days ago

I’ve taken over a half dozen trips since this got implemented and was able to do it with 5.5 days in the park. Needed Early Entry to do it, but otherwise had no issues.

RememberWhen13 days ago

Thanks for the confirmation.

networkpro13 days ago

I won't pontificate drawing attention away from Lightning Lane. Currently LL works well for both standby and those who choose to purchase expedited entry. LL lanes are not overflowing and the standby lines move thanks to the removal of unplanned capacity consumption by DAS parties. Value of LL is the primary focus now and personal justification of it's cost based on crowd levels. Rides have a fixed maximum capacity per hour and planned consumption works well right now.

Fido Chuckwagon13 days ago

The numbers were wrong. Also, WDW clearly didn’t have access to numbers past the 21 day mark, the data they were publishing past that point was wrong. Nobody knows what the price will be past the 28th since that’s 21 days from now.

Fido Chuckwagon13 days ago

Yeah, so @wdwmagic’s numbers were wrong. I made my purchases today. It was up to $39 for basically all of Christmas week for MK. It did go up from last year.

RememberWhen13 days ago

Can we bop back a page here and look at LL pricing again? I’m trying to figure out pricing for our trip, which extends through New Years and into the first couple days of Jan. The page hosted by WDW Magic doesn’t list prices past 12/31. (It had been listing prices out a week further than I could see on MDE). And the price they had listed for the 28th at Epcot/MGM didn’t match what MDE eventually showed. It does now list the higher expected price. (Example: it had said $29 for MGM on 12/29. Now it says $35. But I can only see out through the 28th on MDE and now I don’t know what’s what. Just feeling frustrated with the whole system.

DisDude3313 days ago

Easily spoken by someone that the game (which is equal parts chance and skill) has treated well.

networkpro13 days ago

Life isnt fair. Play the game, make your choices, live with the consequences.

Ayla13 days ago

To be fair, very few people can take a leisurely, two week vacation. The average length is 5-7 days.

Cliff13 days ago

How were "official" posted wait times versus actual wait times? We are hearing lots of talk about Disney "inflating" posted wait times to scare people into buying into the app. I have two CM friends that told me that if a guest asks them what the "real" wait time is, they are MANDATED to repeat only the "official" posted time. They are NOT allowed to look at a que that they know is only 15 min and tell that to a guest. If the official time says 65min,..they must say that and NOT the "real" 15min. I'm sorry folks,...that does not bother the strong Burbank defenders here on this forum...but that bothers me. It's a dishonest way to get people to pay for something they might not need. They prey on guests that don't know better. Also,...do you know how to make lines LONGER at Pirates if they are not long enough? You deliberately take boats OUT of the water and keep less boats moving in circulation. Etc.. Keep that app money on your phone flowing!