Genie+ How to Use It & WHO Should Use It!

October of 2021 was probably the busiest month for the Disney Parks - and one of the newest pieces to the puzzle was the introduction of Disney Genie and the paid version, Disney Genie+. This has become your go-to planning tool that merges with the current My Disney Experience app. Here is the breakdown of WHAT it is, before we get into WHO Genie+ may or may not help.

Genie/ Genie + 101

What is it?

• Genie (the free version) is your itinerary packaged together while utilizing your existing MDE app. If you have dining reservations, mobile order windows, or Lightning Lanes (Genie+) Genie will organize your day on the My Genie Day tab. If you have notifications enabled it will also alert you by saying “time to eat - place a mobile order” or “it is time to check-in to your dining reservation” in an attempt to streamline your day. By using the Tip Board you are able to check wait-times for attractions and see showtimes for entertainment options.

• Genie+ is the paid version ($15+ per person, per day) of the service above. Here you will be able to book your Lightning Lanes for select attractions. Update 2022: Genie+ prices will fluctuate due to presumed crowd levels. The lowest it will cost is $15, and the highest we have seen (so far) has been $29.

How to Book

At 7:00am you can book your first LL. You must have Genie+ purchased prior to booking a LL. From the MDE app click the hamburger menu (bottom right):

1. Click My Genie day

2. Go to Tip Board and change your park to the correct park (having this done prior to 7am is highly recommended)

3. Scroll through the available options to find an attraction time you would like.

4. Click ‘Book Experience’ next to the predicted time.

5. Check to make sure everyone in your party is selected and click ‘Confirm’

6. PLEASE NOTE: Due to high demand of Genie+ and certain attractions the time you selected may have changed in the mere seconds it took to finish booking the LL.

7. UPDATE AS OF DECEMBER 2022: You can now modify your lightning lane selection without canceling. If you have selected a time, and now see there is an earlier lightning lane - you will be able to select "modify" to grab that new time.

Things to Know

There are several attractions that are not part of Genie+ because they are considered Individual Lightning Lane Selections and will require a separate purchase of anywhere between $15-25. These are also booked at 7:00am (or at park open if you are not staying at a Disney resort)

This includes: Space Mountain* (MK), Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (MK), Avatar Flight of Passage (DAK), Expedition Everest* (DAK), Rise of the Resistance (HS), Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway* (HS), Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (EPCOT)*, Frozen Ever After* (EPCOT), and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (EPCOT).

*The attractions with a star are currently being offered as part of Genie+ with no extra fee until August 7th 2022.

UPDATE AUGUST 2022: The underlined rides above are the only Individual Lightning Lanes left at Walt Disney World. After the "temporary" addition of Everest, MMRR, Remy and Space to Genie+ they did not go back up as Individual Lightning Lanes and can be used as part of the regular Genie+ service.

Who Should Use It?

Here is the thing about Genie+ and deciding if you should use it or not, it really depends on you, your party, and what parks you are choosing to go to. Parks like Animal Kingdom and EPCOT have the least amount of rides and could be tackled strategically without Genie+. Parks like Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are ride-heavy and see the longest lines, so Genie+ can come in clutch there! The questions I have my clients answer for themselves to decide if Genie+ is right for them are:

• Are you concerned with riding as many rides as humanly possible? If your answer is yes, regardless of the park you are in, then yes Genie+ can help you.

• Do you have little ones who don't like waiting in long lines? Been there! Genie+ allows you to book those rides in advance throughout the day which minimizes the amount of time you spend in line with "littles with the wiggles."

• Are you planning on park hopping? This is an interesting topic in general, but I have heard from many that like to park hop they purchase Genie+ in the morning and don't plan any lightning lanes for the park they plan to start in, but instead stack Genie+ throughout the day for the next park and it helps them skip all the lines once they've hopped into that next park!

• Are you planning on purchasing any Individual Lightning Lanes? The Individual Lightning Lanes, some love 'em, many hate 'em. These are your SUPER E-Ticket attractions such as Rise of the Resistance and the newly opened Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. There are a few other rides in the mix, but a lot of them are hanging out on regular Genie+ for now so we'll leave them out for the sake of time. If you are planning on purchasing an ILL, you may not care as much about something offered on Genie+ and really want to ride Rise of the Resistance. If that is the case, think about how you want to spend your time and money before purchasing both.

My Personal OPINION

I have used Genie+ and had a fantastic day, I have also NOT used Genie+ and had a fantastic day. The thing is, I have the experience to know which rides are better to rope drop, and which ones you can catch at the end of the day. There are times I like taking the guesswork out of it, and just purchasing the service so I can pick and choose what lines to stand in, and which ones not to. It all comes down to what your goal for your park day is, and how much you want to accomplish. My optimal preference is to purchase Genie+ and mix using your Lightning Lanes with stand-by queues to maximize your day. If you have a solid rope drop strategy - you will not have any problem getting on popular rides. What I have observed is that even with a productive morning - some prefer to have Genie+ on hand to ensure they can ride certain rides twice, or use the system to "stack" later lighting lanes if they plan on rope dropping.

Conclusion

I wish there was an easy answer to the question "is Genie+ worth it?" Unfortunately there are so many variables between you and your party's preferences, what is available at the time, the season you are in/crowd levels, and honestly just trial and error! If you are working with a Travel

Planner (like me!) we help you navigate all these decisions and give you our personal experiences using these services and NOT using these services to help you make your trip go smoothly.

So please, don't go it alone on this topic! Seek out the wisdom so you can get the BEST bang for your precious Disney bucks!