Is Disney Genie+ Worth It? Disney Genie+ Review and Explanation
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Disney Genie+ (Genie Plus) Review and Lightening Lane Explained
Disneyworld got rid of FastPass in August 2021 and introduced a new system called Disney Genie+ (Disney Genie Plus) on October 19, 2021.
If you want a clear explanation of Disney Genie vs. Disney Genie+ (Disney Plus) vs. Individual Lightning Lane, keep on reading for a CLEAR explanation.
Don’t bother going to the Disney site to try to understand Disney Genie vs. Disney Genie+.
Note: I’ll admit it. I HATE the new Disney Genie+ system. I used to love, love, love Disney (huge advocate, I even graduated grad school early to intern in their marketing department), but now it seems like Disney is just trying to suck out as much money as they can and push people to buy merchandise and food vs. enjoy the rides and atmosphere.
This review of Disney Genie+ includes:
- A clear explanation of Disney Genie vs. Disney Genie+
- Explanation of Disney Genie+ vs. Individual Lightning Lane
- An honest review of Disney Genie+
- What rides are eligible for Disney Genie+
- What rides are eligible for Individual Lightning Lane
Disney Genie vs. Disney Genie+ (Disney Genie Plus)
Below is more info about Disney Genie vs. Disney Genie+ (Disney Genie Plus) vs. Disney’s Individual Lightening Lane.
In summary, Disney Genie is free. It’s basically Disney’s app for your phone. The app (called Disney Genie) includes a map of the park and wait times.
Disney Genie+ is an “add-on” to your park ticket. For an extra $20-$30 per person per day, you can request to skip the line on certain rides. Disney Genie+ is kind of like the old FastPass but worse.
Disney’s Lightening Lane is an extra “add-on” that you must buy ON TOP of Disney Genie+. You must purchase a Disney Genie+ Lightening Lane pass if you want to skip the line for Disney’s most popular rides. The price to skip the line varies per ride but tends to cost around $10-$20 to skip the line per ride.
What is Disney Genie?
Disney Genie should really be called “Disneyworld wait times for rides.”
The “Disney Genie Service” is part of the “My Disney Experience” app and shows you the average wait times for popular rides.
Disney Genie has fancy algorithms and will recommend what time to visit each ride at a Disneyworld Park.
You can think of Disney Genie as a basic trip planning tool.
Think of Disney Genie as “Genie Blue.”
What is Disney Genie+ (Disney Genie Plus)?
Disney Genie+ is kind of like the old FastPass but worse.
Disney Genie+ is $25 extra per ticket per day and allows you to “skip the line” on certain rides at Disneyworld.
Note: Disney World increased the price for Disney Genie+ from $15 per day to around $25 per day on October 12, 2022. (Source: Disney)
Think of Disney Genie+ as “Genie Gold.”
Continue reading below for more details of how Disney Genie+works, a Disney Genie+ review, and an explanation of how Disney Genie+ compares to FastPass.
In summary: Disney Genie+ allows you to skip the lines on some rides, and it is worse than the old FastPass. If you are a Disney fan like me, you will likely be disappointed with the new Disney Genie+.
What is Disney Individual Lightning Lane?
Disneyworld’s Individual Lightning Lane allows you to skip the line for Disney’s most popular rides by paying an extra $8-15 (usually $15).
Think of Disneyworld’s “Individual Lightning Lane” as “Genie Platinum.”
“LL Individual Lightning Lane” is poorly named. It sounds like it is a skip the line feature for a single rider. It’s not. Think of “LL Individual Lightning Lane” as a FastPass for premium rides.
So even if you have already paid $15 per day per ticket, you’ll need to pay $15 extra if you want to skip the line on popular rides like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Frozen Ever After, Avatar Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Space Mountain.
Is Disney Genie Any Good?
As previously mentioned, Disney Genie is basically a planning app.
According to Disney, you can use the “complimentary new service to plan entry to popular attractions and maximize your time.”
In my opinion, Disney Genie is kind of annoying. It’s just a pain to select attractions and restaurants on an app.
If you are visiting Disney and NOT paying extra for Genie+, my recommendation is to pick which one or two rides you want to stand in line for at each park, and then try to enjoy the shows at Disneyworld that don’t have long lines.
To avoid lines, it’s also helpful to go to the parks before 10:30 am and after 5 pm.
How Does Disney Genie+ (Genie Plus) Work?
Disney Genie+ (Disney Genie Plus) is relatively simple to use.
To choose an attraction that you’d like to book, click on Tip Board within the My Disney Experience app, and then click on the LL Disney Genie+ button to book your experience.
Disney Genie+ Review: Disney Genie+ vs. FastPass
The new Disney Genie+ (Disney Genie Plus) system is WAY WORSE than the old Disney FastPass system.
Here are a few observations so far and a detailed review of Disney Genie+.
1. You can only book attractions the DAY OF with Disney Genie+
Gone are the days of booking an attraction/ride 6 weeks ahead of time and knowing that your family had a reservation.
With Disney Genie Plus, you can’t book any attractions until 7am the DAY OF.
I never used to plan attractions ahead of time with the old FastPass system (I could usually get all the rides I wanted by constantly refreshing the app), but this new feature is annoying if you want to plan things out ahead of time.
2. Disney Genie+ Only Works for SOME Rides
With Disney Genie+ (Genie Plus), you can only skip the line on some Disney attractions/rides.
Yes, you heard me right.
So even though you paid an extra $15 per ticket per day, you will only be able to skip the line for the “older” Disneyworld rides.
If you want to skip the line for more popular attractions, you’ll have to buy an Individual Lightening Lane pass.
Continue reading to see which Disney rides require an Individual Lightening Lane pass.
3. Expect to Wait 1-3 Hours Between Rides with Disney Genie+
With the old Disney FastPass, I could use a FastPass and then constantly refresh the app to get a FastPass for another ride in the next 30 minutes.
With Disney Genie+, I found that once I booked one Disney Genie+ experience, I usually had to wait 1-3 hours before the allotted time for my next Disney Genie+ attraction.
4. You Can’t Ride the Same Ride Twice with Disney Genie+
Love the Star Tours ride at Hollywood Studios?
Once you’ve used a Disney Genie+ on a Disney attraction, you can’t use it again.
This is a HUGE difference between Disney Genie+ and the old FastPass system, and it is extremely frustrating.
For example, my mom, brother, and I had Disney Genie+ tickets to ride Star Tours at 6:30pm. After we did the attraction, I noticed that Star Tours had a Genie+ available at 7:30pm.
When I went to book Star Tours again with Genie+ at 7:30pm, I got the notification that I couldn’t book the ride.
With Disney Genie+, you can’t skip lines for the same ride/attraction twice in one day.
5. Kind of useless because it doesn’t include every ride
If you think you can skip the line for all rides with Disney Genie+, you are wrong.
Disney Genie Plus only allows you to skip the line for Disney’s older/less popular rides.
There are some exceptions (like Disney’s Toy Story ride), but in general – Disney Genie Plus is worthless if you want to skip the line for popular rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Frozen Ever After, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Avatar Flight of Passage.
6. No availability for rides after 7pm
With the old Disney FastPass, I could frequently get FastPasses to popular rides at 7pm or 8pm by refreshing the app constantly.
With the new Disney Genie+ system, I found that no Disney Genie+ tickets were available for me to choose starting at 7pm, unless I wanted to go on a ride that had a 5-10 minute wait line, like the Muppets 3D show.
7. Can’t Choose Morning vs. Evening with Disney Genie+
With FastPass, you could choose whether you wanted to get a FastPass for a ride in the morning, afternoon, or evening to plan your day.
With Disney Genie+, you can only grab what’s available 1-3 hours from the current time.
This is horrible if you are trying to plan your day at Disneyworld, but don’t plan on getting to the parks until after 12pm.
8. Time Chosen Doesn’t Reflect Time Assigned
One problem with Disney Genie+ is that the My Disney Experience app frequently has glitches.
Sometimes you will select a ride for 1:30pm and then Disney Genie will assign you the ride for 2:30pm.
To be safe, always take screenshots of the ride/attraction you booked.
9. Difficult to Modify Attraction Times with Disney Genie+
With FastPass, you could modify the time for your attraction.
With Disney Genie+, you’ll need to cancel the attraction (which is not easy to do) and then try to rebook the time for a later time.
10. Disney Genie+ Reservations Doesn’t Show Up Under My Trips
In theory, if you click on My Day within the My Disney Experience app, you should see all the Genie+ attractions you booked.
Most of the time, you won’t see anything there.
So to be safe, take screenshots of the rides and attractions that you booked.
Summary – Disney Genie+ Review
In summary, I personally HATE Disney Genie+. There are so many glitches within the My Disney Experience app when trying to book attractions with Disney Genie+ and most of the great features of FastPass are gone.
However, if you want to skip the lines on most of the rides, you kind of have to suck it up and pay the $15 extra for Disney Genie+.
Disney Individual Lightning Lane Overview
Want to go on a premium ride at Disneyworld? You'll need to purchase a Disney Individual Lightning Lane pass.
Disney Individual Lightning Lane – How to Use It
If you want to pay an extra $15 (maybe $8 for some rides) to skip the line for Disneyworld’s most popular rides, you’ll need to buy a Disney Individual Lightning Lane pass.
To purchase a Disney Lightning Lane pass, open the My Disney Experience app, click on Tip Board, and then click on the LL Individual Lightning button.
Disney Individual Lightning Lane – Not Working
Did you just book a Disney Individual Lightning Lane for 11am, have it show 12:30pm on the next page, and then finally give you a timeslot of 2:30pm?
Yeah…that happens.
Unfortunately, Disney doesn’t hold your time for an attraction, so even if it only takes you 1-2 seconds to book an attraction with the Disney Individual Lightning Lane, you will very likely get assigned a time two hours AFTER what you planned for.
What Disney Attractions Require Individual Lightning Lane Passes?
Want to skip the line for a popular Disney attraction?
Then be ready to fork out an extra $15.
To skip the line on any of these rides at Disneyworld, you’ll have to pay a $15 premium on top of Genie Plus to skip the line.
These Disney attractions require you to purchase an Individual Lightning Lane pass to skip the line.
Magic Kingdom – Rides that Require Individual Lightning Lane Passes
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (may be $10)
Space Mountain (may be $7)
EPCOT – Rides that Require Individual Lightning Lane Passes
Frozen Ever After (may be $9)
Remy's Ratatouille Adventure ($9)
Disney's Hollywood Studios – Rides that Require Individual Lightning Lane Passes
Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway (may be $8)
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ($15)
Disney's Animal Kingdom – Rides that Require Individual Lightning Lane Passes
Avatar Flight of Passage ($11)
Expedition Everest (price: unknown – it was closed when I visited Disney)
Summary – Review of Disney Genie+ (Disney Genie Plus Review)
In summary, I hate the new Disney Genie+ (Genie Plus) system.
But if you want to skip the lines, you basically HAVE to buy the Disney Genie+ add-on for an extra $15.
If you want to go on a more popular ride now, you’ll then have to pay an extra $8-$15 ON TOP OF the Disney Genie+ price to skip the lines.
I honestly miss the REALLY old FastPass system, where you simply pushed a button on a machine and got a FastPass ticket. It was way more fun, easier to use, and didn’t require you to look at your phone all day.
Bonus: The Best Minnie Ears for Disney
Not directly related to Disney tickets and passes, but if you are visiting Disney and are a female – you NEED Minnie Mouse ears.
The Minnie Mouse ears at Disneyworld will cost more than $35. Instead, buy your Disney ears ahead of time from Amazon.
I bought my sister and myself these Minnie Mouse ears and LOVE THEM!
Disney Genie+ – Rides Included with Disney Genie Plus
Want a complete list of the Disney Genie+ rides?
Here is a list of every ride that you can skip the line with when you pay an extra $15 to add Disney Genie+ to your ticket.
Magic Kingdom Disney Genie+ Rides
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Haunted Mansion
“it’s a small world”
Jungle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Mickey’s PhilharMagic
Monster’s, Inc. Laugh Floor
Peter Pan’s Flight
Pirates of the Caribbean
Splash Mountain
The Barnstormer
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Tomorrowland Speedway
Under the Sea – Journey of The Little Mermaid
EPCOT Disney Genie+ Rides
Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
Journey into Imagination with Figment
Living with the Land
Mission Space – Green & Orange
Soarin’ Around the World
Spaceship Earth
Test Track
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Turtle Talk with Crush
Hollywood Studios Disney Genie+ Rides
Alien Swirling Saucers
Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
Disney Jr. Play and Dance!
Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
Muppet*Vision 3D
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
Slinky Dog Dash
Star Tours – Th Adventures Continue
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Toy Story Mania
Animal Kingdom Disney Genie+ Rides
A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King
DINOSAUR
It’s Tough to be a Bug!
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Na’vi River Journey
The Animation Experience
Feathered Friends in Flight!
FAQs about Disney Genie, Disney Genie+, and Lightening Lane
Here are a few FAQs about the Disney passes for skipping lines.
What rides are NOT included with Disney Genie+?
Even if you pay the extra $15 per ticket to purchase Disney Genie+, you will NOT be able to skip the line on the following rides unless you pay an additional $8-$15 to purchase an Individual Lightening Lane pass.
Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain
EPCOT: Frozen Ever After, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
Disney's Hollywood Studios: Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Disney's Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest
What is Disney Genie+ vs. Lightning Lane?
Disney Genie+ is an upgrade to your ticket that gives you access to skip the lines on some rides by entering through the Lightening Lane (the old FastPass lines).
When you pay $15 extra per ticket and purchase Disney Genie+, you skip the line for many rides at Disneyworld by booking the attraction (click on the LL Disney Genie+ button on the app) and then enter the attraction through the “Lightening Lane” at your designated time.
In contrast, you can only enter through the Lightning Lanes on popular rides when you purchase an Individual Lightning Lane pass on the Disney app by clicking on the LL Individual Disney Lightning Lane button.
What is Disney Genie+ vs. Disney Individual Lightning Lane?
Disney Individual Lightning Lane allows you to skip the line for Disney’s most popular rides (like Avatar Flight of Passage and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance) by paying an extra $8-$15 per ride.
In contrast, Disney Genie Plus (Genie+) is a set price of $15 per day per ticket that allows you to skip the line on most of Disney’s rides, but not the most popular Disney rides.
Both a Disney Genie+ reservation and a Disney Individual Lightning Lane purchase allow you to enter an attraction through the Lightening Lade (the old FastPass line) of an attraction.
I booked a ride with Disney Genie+ and now the attraction disappeared on the My Disney Experience app. What should I do?
Did you book an attraction with Disney Genie+ and then have it suddenly disappear from the “My Trips” section of the My Disney Experience app?
Oftentimes, Disney Genie+ will suddenly remove your attraction reservation.
To get around this, take a screenshot of the confirmation page showing your time and attraction booked, and then show that at the ride when your wristband/ticket doesn’t work.
Is the Disney Genie+ Worth it?
If you don’t want to stand in long lines for every ride, Disney Genie+ is definitely worth it, even though it is far more complicated to use and frustrating compared to the Old Fast Pass.
For example, my family was able to cut to the front of the line for Toy Story Mania and Soarin’ without standing in line for 50+ minutes.
FAQS about Disney Individual Lightning Lanes
Disney Individual Lightning Lanes allow you to cut the line for popular rides by paying an extra $8-$15 per ride.
Below are a few FAQS about the Disney Individual Lightning Lane passes for sale.
Disney Individual Lightning Lane Explained – What is it?
Disney’s Individual Lightning Lane is an extra charge ($8-$15) that you must pay if you want to skip the line on Disney’s most popular and newer rides.
Note: Don't let "Disney Individual Lightning Lane" confuse you with the term "Lightning Lane."
"Lightening Lane" is the old FastPass line at each ride.
Is the Disney Individual Lightning Lane worth it?
I personally hate the idea of paying $8-15 to skip the line for a Disney ride when you are already paying $110+ per ticket plus an extra $15 for Genie+, but you kind of have to buy an Individual Lightning Lane ticket if you want to ride on a popular Disney ride and not wait 120 minutes.
Have a Question About Disney?
Have a question about visiting Disneyworld?
Leave a comment below and I’ll help you out!
My family has been visiting Disneyworld for over 15 years now and I used to work at Disney, so I know a lot of the ins and outs.
Disney Resources to Plan Your Trip to Disneyworld
You may also want to check out these related posts to help you plan your trip to Disneyworld.
Disney Planning Guides
MouseSavers.com – Helpful site with tips on where to buy cheap Disney tickets
DisneyAddicts.com – Helpful site with tips on what day to visit each of the Disney Parks
Disney Outfit and Costume Ideas
Cute outfit ideas for Epcot at Disneyworld
What to wear to Disney – Disney outfits for women
The best Disney costumes for women (perfect for Halloween and dressing up)
Best Mickey Mouse Shoes for Women
Best Days to Visit Each Disneyworld Park Using Disney Genie+
Want to avoid the crowds?
These are the least crowded days to visit each park at Disneyworld (according to Disneyaddicts.com) and skip the lines with Disney Genie+.
Best Days to Visit Magic Kingdom at Disneyworld
Tuesday (Best Day)
Thursday (2nd Best Day)
Wednesday (3rd Best Day)
Sunday (4th Best Day)
Worst Days: Sunday and Monday
Best Days to Visit EPCOT at Disneyworld
Monday and Tuesday (Best Days)
Worst Day: Saturday
Best Days to Visit Hollywood Studios at Disneyworld
Tuesday and Thursday (Best Days)
Best Days to Visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom (DAK)
Best Days: Fridays and Sundays
More Disney Guides
What to Pack for Disney (Essentials to Pack!)
Best Disney Dog Halloween Costumes
On Dec 13, I purchased Genie + for 14 members of my family to be able to decrease the wait for Frozen and Ratatouille. I purchased all shortly after midnight. At 7:30 am, I tried to book either. Frozen was not available until after 7pm. By the time I checked Ratatouille which was not available, we had also lost Frozen. Neither were available for Genie all day. No other experience has more than a 10 minute wait. We paid $15 per person and were never able to use Genie.
I have been visiting Disney since 1976 with children and grandchildren and never had any problems. I had read the complaints about the system but I had to experience it personally to understand. I hope they make changes since the fees were not refundable. I could not even find a place to make a complaint.