Disney Genie Service Overview: The New FastPass [2024]

Key Takeaways

• Disney Genie is a free planning tool that helps visitors optimize their day at Disney parks with real-time updates.
• The service includes Disney Genie+ (a paid upgrade), which offers access to Lightning Lane entrances for select attractions and reduces wait times for popular rides.
• Disney Genie+ costs $15 to $29 per person per day at Walt Disney World and $25 per person per day at Disney Land.

If you’re planning a trip to Disney, you already know that it can be confusing and overwhelming. From new rides and snacks to tips and tricks, there is a lot of information out there.

Well, to add one more thing to your list, let’s take a look at Disney Genie, an in-app service that aims to make your next trip to the parks more enjoyable by suggesting rides based on wait times and your personal preferences.

Depending on the last time you visited, you may be more familiar with FASTPASS, FastPass+, and Disney MaxPass. Now, guests at Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California have the option of using Disney Genie and Disney Genie+, a paid version of the free service.

Guests can also pay for à la carte express access to select rides. Yes, that’s 2 additional charges on top of your park tickets. Yes, it’s more money. Yes, it’s confusing. Yes, it can be worth it. Yes, we are going to break it all down for you. Let’s get into the details so you can really maximize your next trip to Disney.

Disney Genie

Disney Genie is a free planning tool built into the My Disney Experience and Disneyland apps. The idea behind the service is to help guests have a more enjoyable park experience by optimizing their time in the parks.

Planning a day at Disney can be complex and overwhelming for many, and this is Disney’s attempt to make the planning process easier for those who don’t treat a park day like a competitive sport — but don’t worry, there will still be some of that! The technology behind Disney Genie uses algorithms based on estimated wait times to help you plan your park day according to your preferred itinerary.

Before you arrive at the park, you can log in to the app and tell the Genie exactly what rides, attractions, experiences, and meals you want to have, and the Genie algorithm will, in theory, lay out a plan for you so that you can spend more time enjoying the park instead of waiting in lines.

Bottom Line:

Disney Genie replaced Walt Disney World FastPass+ in 2021. While there are some similarities, there are some definite differences between the 2 programs.

Disney Genie+

The pandemic brought the suspension (and ultimately the retirement) of Disney FastPass+ at Walt Disney World and FASTPASS and MaxPass at Disneyland. They have now been replaced with Disney Genie+.

Disney Genie+ is an optional paid service that lets guests skip the line and head right to the Lightning Lane entrance on select attractions.

Guests can select 1 ride at a time throughout the day and have access to unique in-app experiences based on the park they are visiting.

Disney Genie+ at Walt Disney World

Disney Genie+ costs $15 to $29 daily per person at Walt Disney World, and guests can choose from over 40 rides. If you have a Park Hopper ticket, you can select rides and Lightning Lanes across parks.

The complete list of Disney Genie+ rides at Walt Disney World includes:

Magic Kingdom

EPCOT

Hollywood Studios

Animal Kingdom

Your purchase of the service includes unique audio experiences while inside Walt Disney World parks and access to augmented reality lenses while using the app.

Guests staying at Walt Disney World Resorts can purchase Genie+ starting at midnight on the morning of their planned visit and can book Disney Genie+ attractions and à la carte attractions (more on that below) starting at 7 a.m. on the day of their park visit.

It is not imperative to stay up late the night before your park day to buy Genie+; purchasing it about 15 minutes before the 7 a.m. drop should be good enough. On rare occasions, Genie+ can sell out. So, if you are visiting during a particularly busy time (Christmas, spring break, etc.), it may be worth it to guarantee success, but as of this writing and according to general consensus among Disney boards, it has never sold out before 7 a.m.

Those visiting the park for the day (but not staying on Disney property) can also book Disney Genie+ attractions at 7 a.m. but can only book à la carte attractions at park opening, regardless of whether they’ve entered the park or not.

Disney Genie+ at Disneyland

Disney Genie+ costs $25 per person per day at Disneyland, and guests have 21 rides to choose from.

The complete list of Disney Genie+ rides at Disneyland includes:

Disneyland Park

Disney California Adventure Park

Just like Disney Genie+ at Walt Disney World, guests are able to access unique audio experiences and augmented reality lenses while using the app. However, in addition to those features, guests at Disneyland Resort also have unlimited Disney PhotoPass downloads from their day at the park.

Guests visiting Disneyland (regardless of where they are staying) are only able to book Disney Genie+ attractions and à la carte attractions once they enter the park. This, of course, is subject to change.

Individual Lightning Lanes

Lightning Lanes are an à la carte service that allows guests to use the Lightning Lane entrances at some of the most high-demand rides and attractions in the parks. This could be good news for some people, especially those trying to get on rides with Virtual Boarding Groups that haven’t been lucky enough.

Rides like Radiator Springs Racers that aren’t included in the Disney Genie+ service can be purchased separately.

There is a limit of 2 selections per person per day, and pricing varies based on dates.

Lightning Lanes

As mentioned above, Lightning Lanes have now replaced Disney FastPass+ queues.

In order to access these express lines, guests either need to pay for Disney Genie+ or pay for an à la carte single ride.

Although it is certainly a bummer to have to pay for something that was once free, this does open up the opportunity to guarantee that you can experience certain rides. No luck getting a Virtual Queue Boarding Group? Just buy your way on!

Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World

The list of Lightning Lane rides at Walt Disney World includes:

Magic Kingdom

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• “TRON” Lightcycle Run

EPCOT

• “Guardians of the Galaxy”: Cosmic Rewind

Hollywood Studios

• “Star Wars”: Rise of the Resistance

Animal Kingdom

• “Avatar” Flight of Passage

Lightning Lanes at Disneyland

The list of Lightning Lane rides at Disneyland includes:

Disneyland Park

• “Star Wars”: Rise of the Resistance

Disney California Adventure Park

• Radiator Springs Racers

Lightning Lanes can cost up to $25 each.

Final Thoughts

Disney Genie is yet another tool to help you maximize your time while visiting Disney parks.

While many complain about the extra cost, it has proven to be quite a popular add-on despite the approximately 10% increase in a daily visit to the parks.

With the option to pay to skip the line, Disney now has a financial incentive to see long lines, which has been the case ever since its introduction.

Overall, Disney Genie can improve the Disney park experience, and we don’t think that anyone is surprised to see a paid component to it.