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.

Discuss on the Forums

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DranthJan 19, 2025

He was asked about the past and not specifically FP or FP+ but in context, FP+ is my understanding and would match the reports of cast members on the ratios they would use to let guests through each line.

LaketravisJan 19, 2025

Was the bolded referring to FP, FP+, or both? My point was that FP+ was prototyped and engineered to become a pay-for feature from the outset. They knew exactly what they were doing at each phase - increased availability and heightened awareness of the FP+ offering came at the expense of substantially increased SB wait times. Of course it was not sustainable but again, it was intentional. As well as eventually establishing consistent yet reasonable SB wait times regardlesss of current park load (yield management) while maintaining the perceived need to purchase an alternative. So here we are today, over ten years later where the majority of park attractions have consistent wait times no matter how lightly or heavily loaded the parks are yet the perception of needing to pay more for "quicker" access is maintained. Yup, it's been years since 4 hour wait times at WDW were featured on the national evening news. Quite the delicate balance, mission accomplished. Oh, but wait - where is that price point that causes pain and decline in revenue? Have they found it? Are they paying attention to the sacrificial revenue lambs that are suffering at the expense of LL sales? We shall see.

DranthJan 19, 2025

Operationally, it was a problem by the end. The vast majority of line capacity was coming through the FP lane. We had some information posted by Len just a few weeks back spelling this out: Current LL: When asked about FP era: 75-80% is ridiculous and not sustainable. I don't like an offering going from free to paid any more than anyone else but logically, it makes sense if you are a business and you need to reduce utilization. It reduces use through customer self-selection even before the tighter controls you can place on the product as well as makes stockholders happy with a new revenue stream. Paid line skips, revamping DAS access (not commenting on if this was right or wrong, just that it was done), and attendance levels more in a manageable range given park capacity have all combined to make a trip completely doable without needing a line skip on most days for most people.

LaketravisJan 19, 2025

FP+ wasn't a problem, it actually served as the model for a revenue based system. I was given a Magic Band and a prototype app in 2012-2013 and told I could pick three rides a day in addition to pulling paper FP's over the course of several visits that year. At the last "meeting" of our focus group we were asked to rank FP+ over/under FP against various metrics and also to put a dollar amount (bracketed choices) on the value we thought FP+ brought. I of course put $0 but obviously my opinion didn't mean crap 😂.

DranthJan 19, 2025

Sure, technically they could have done anything but getting FP+ usage to drop to the current levels of LL would have required a massive reduction making it essentially useless without massive changes to how it worked (number of selections, re-rides, additional selections post using three, etc.). I would say it was both. FP+ was a problem that had to be fixed. It needed to change so that it wasn't eating so much capacity. Charging for a skip the line service is one way to accomplish that goal. That it also created a new revenue stream just made it the obvious best choice from a business point of view.

PurduevianJan 17, 2025

I mean obviously Standby and Rope drop are options. However, the quantity/frequency that I am able to get on attractions will get worse if they move to a LLPP/Standby only system.

Disstevefan1Jan 17, 2025

I have also see posts here saying families were able to get on attractions without having to purchase LLMP so there are ways.

PurduevianJan 17, 2025

I sure hope not... I don't have the money for LLPP and I can typically do everything I want to do in a day with LLMP. And before someone comes in to tell me that the standby lines would be so short if they got rid of all the skip the lines I would still be able to do everything I wanted with a minimal wait... My "worst" trip to Disney was in October 2021 right before G+ launched and there was no skip the line (still had a great time, just not as good of a time). If the options were LLPP or standby online, I would visit a lot less.

Disgruntled WaltJan 17, 2025

For sure. They've basically looked at all aspects of their parks and resorts and said, "Why aren't we profiting from _____?" Then they made it so they are.

nickysJan 17, 2025

Hang on, is this why you think they introduced G+ rather than free FP+? That there were too many people using it that they decided it didn’t work. I think they simply decided this was a way to get some new revenue. Paid versions were already in place at DLP and at least one of Tokyo and Shanghai (possibly both) before WDW. When it was first rumoured the discussion included variations of all existing options. So they saw good sales in the other parks and wanted the revenue.

Jrb1979Jan 17, 2025

I personally think they need to get rid of LLMP and just have the Premier Pass. Keep that limited.

PurduevianJan 17, 2025

How would reducing the number of passes help the people buying LLMP? Wouldn't that just make rides sell out faster, causing people to get less lightning lanes per day, thus devaluing the upcharge? Disney for sure wants people to feel like LLMP is worth it so they buy it next time/tell their friends they should buy it.