Disney is halting advance purchase of Genie+ at Walt Disney World

May 18, 2022 in "Disney Genie"

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Posted: Wednesday May 18, 2022 11:05am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney will no longer allow guests to purchase its Genie+ service in advance effective June 8 2022.

Starting June 8, Disney Genie+ will only be offered for purchase through the My Disney Experience app on the day of your visit. With this change, holders of all ticket types, including Annual Pass, multi- or single-day ticket, will only be able to purchase Disney Genie+ service on the day of the visit via the app, one day at a time, subject to availability.

Guests who have already made an advance purchase of Genie+ for 2022 dates will not be affected.

In a post on the Disney Parks Blog the company said, "We're focused on delivering the best possible guest experience, and this adjustment will help manage the incredibly strong demand our guests have shown for Disney Genie+."

Alongside this latest announcement, Disney also said that, "on average, guests who purchase Disney Genie+ service will continue to enter 2-3 attractions or experiences each day using the Lightning Lane entrance when the first selection is made early in the day.

Disney Genie overview

This latest update raises the possibility of Disney offering variable date-based pricing for Genie+ and giving them more flexibility in managing sales of the Genie+ service. A notable change in language today indicates that Genie+ is "subject to availability." Limiting sales of Genie+ would help Disney with improving attraction availability for those guests who purchase Genie+.

We also understand that Disney has been exploring the possibility of offering discounted Genie+ to some categories of guests. Annual Passholders have been one group who have felt that they should have some level of Genie+ included with their pass, or offered at a discount.

As it stands currently, Genie+ sales will begin at midnight, with Lightning Lane selections beginning at 7am. If Genie+ availability does become limited and sells out, guests may be needing to set alarms for midnight and 7am each day of their vacation.

Disney Genie+ is an option within the Disney Genie service that makes the former FastPass line available at select attractions, now called Lightning Lane. At Walt Disney World, the introductory pricing is $15 per ticket per day. Certain headline attractions are not part of Genie+, and Lightning Lane access at those attractions requires an Individual Attraction purchase which varies in prices.

Learn more about Disney Genie from our recent articles, including a Disney Genie FAQ, and Genie discussion on the WDWMAGIC Forums.

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Purduevian16 hours ago

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/lightning-lane-drop-times.984387/ This is what I've come up with so far (haven't looked in awhile, maybe I'll check again soon). If you are willing to pay, people have stated touring plans has a list as well. If you do pay for touring plans, don't share any of the information that is behind the payway! Good luck!

DisneyCane16 hours ago

My favorite thing to do with legacy FP, was to start the day in Epcot and, right before we left around 11:30, grabbed another TT FP with something like a 6:25 to 7:25 return time. Then go to another park and return to Epcot in the evening and get a "bonus" ride of TT with barely any wait. Those were the good ole days! With FP strategy we once took my sister-in-law to WDW for a single day and were able to ride all of the headliners at all 4 parks on a moderately crowded day.

nickys18 hours ago

You can but you will have the same restrictions as if you’d pre-booked them. Same park, little overlapping etc. A strategy for just booking one would be a very early return time so that once you tapped in you could then book any tiers in any park.

osian21 hours ago

Quick question - we know you can have three rolling LLs with MP, but you can only book a new one when you've used one up. So can you only get three rolling LLs if you've booked your three in advance? For example, if you've only booked one in advance then on the day when you're in the park can you book another two before you've used the first one?

arich351 day ago

Are there known drop times for Epcot rides day off?

wdisney90001 day ago

In Legacy FP days my brother and I did the same at Epcot rope drop (sans breakfast at Sunshine Seasons). We'd average 2 or 3 rides on TT and Soarin, SSE and usually 1 or 2 rides on El Rio Del Tiempo (now Gran Fiesta Tour) and head out of the park after getting lunch. And we loved getting an extra FP each before getting lunch (usually at Electric Umbrella) and handing them to a random couple on our way out.

MickeyLuv'r1 day ago

Right, and since we don't know when our BG will be called, and we have so little control over our LL return times, WDW has to allow a significant amount of grace. The day I was there Tiana's had some down time, so when it reopened we got in line, but we also had LL passes for 3 other rides. When we got in line for Tiana, according to the posted wait, we should have been okay to use our next LL, but then Tiana's took so stinking long, that we missed our next LL window entirely (SpaceMtn.?) By the time we got off Tiana's, we were well into the time window of our NEXT LL, which I think was Pirates, so we used Pirates first. It was afternoon in August, so plenty hot outside, and we had planned to take an afternoon break. Crossing the park twice wasn't going to happen. This is just one example when something beyond our control caused us to miss a LL window entirely. Early on, I tried to change some of the LL times, but it isn't feasible because there's a dearth of availability.

MickeyLuv'r1 day ago

I don't really see how they can close the loophole of allowing late LL use, at least not while: 1. they are still using BG 2. rides are unreliable 3. TS meal lengths are variable in a way that is unpredictable 4. we don't control our LL times. When booking the 3 initial passes, users don't get to choose return times, they are assigned. users are allowed to shuffle the times, and you can make them a bit later if you want, but as soon as you try to change them MDE shuffles the return times in a way that is somewhat random, and gives you later/worse return times with every shuffle. Once you are in the parks, you have no control over return times. Again, users can refresh, but the times assigned are random. The earliest time I could get for Tiana's was 3:30pm, and that was booking LL's exactly at 7am at 7days out. I would have much preferred an earlier time. I really wanted to be out of MK. After agreeing, I attempted (7days out at 7:01am) to refresh for an earlier pass, and all I got was much worse times, like 7:45pm, and even late PM options dried up within a few minutes.

MisterPenguin2 days ago

FP and Genie+ has always been 5 minutes early and 15 minutes late. The same for VQs and ILL. EXCEPT... GotG:CR stopped caring how late you were for ILL or VQ. 2 hours. 5 hours. They didn't care. Even if other VQ rides did care. Especially TRON, which was super strict. Unless you started to cry in front of the CM. Now?!... who knows. It's cats and dogs living together.

co100642 days ago

Used the new system today at DHS and have surprisingly been able to redeem all the multi-pass rides by now (1:45pm local time). I definitely prefer this to system to Genie+, but I may have had a different experience if I was staying off-property.

Purduevian2 days ago

Gottcha, I did a quick google search and lots of planning sites give the 15 mins, but I couldn't see anything on it from Disney. So: Officially official: Be on time Unofficially official: 15 min grace period In practice: 2 hour grace period Reality: Unlimited grace period at CM discretion

nickys2 days ago

That’s what CMs will tell you. Or what Plan Disney might say. 😁

Purduevian2 days ago

What does "Officially" even mean then if the light turns green after 2 hours?

nickys2 days ago

Officially it’s a 15 minute grace period. In practice though, the 2 hr grace period after the end time was in effect for G+ and is still in effect for LLs. And yes, the light turns green.