Rumors have circulated for years that Disney would institute a paid FastPass system at their parks. It finally happened with the arrival of Disney Genie Plus (and the corresponding Lightning Lane) last fall. A fee of $15 per person per day at Walt Disney World ($20 at Disneyland) was added for the new service. Disney also split out a small group of super headliners for Individual Lightning Lanes (ILLs) with additional fees.
There are excellent primers that explain the nuances of this program and offer tips for maximizing reservations. I’d recommend the Touring Plans Teaches videos on YouTube from Becky Gandillon and start with this Genie 101 explainer. Becky was also a guest on this week’s podcast and has written excellent articles with similar information and tips. I’m not here to dig into the service on that level. Instead, I’m going to describe my experiences and ways Disney should improve Genie Plus.
We recently spent five nights at Walt Disney World and enjoyed a day at each park. It was our first visit back to the resort since before the pandemic in 2019. I had a blast returning to Florida and checking out attractions like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. This was also my first time using Genie Plus and booking ILLs, and I have a lot of thoughts. The Spring Break crowds in late March led to long standby lines, so we definitely needed these services. Let’s dig into the pros, cons, and everything else from Genie Plus!
Preparing for A New Service
Our vacation was a last-minute decision, and we only booked our stay at the Swan about six weeks prior to our arrival. Unlike with FastPass Plus, this short timing did not hinder us from booking attractions. However, I needed to spend some serious time learning about Genie Plus and how to book upcharge attractions. The level of anxiety is different with this new system, especially prior to my first use. It’s pretty straightforward on the surface, but using the app in real time is very different.
A primary complaint about FastPass Plus was having to plan 60 days (or more) prior to a visit. We woke up early on that day and selected three attractions in each park with hopes of planning correctly. Genie Plus solves that issue but extends that anxiety to every day of the trip. The 7 a.m. wake-up time removes the early planning but adds a different layer. It resembles paper FastPass in putting everyone that pays for the service on a level playing field. Instead of running for Soarin’ or Toy Story Mania, we’re trying to press buttons. Heading into our trip, I worried about this scramble so early in the day.
We purchased our park tickets that included Genie Plus; the high crowds made it a necessity. Even if the service didn’t work perfectly, I suspected it would allow us to skip a few long lines. We also planned to spend extra for the ILLs. My goal was to avoid stress during our trip with extra money decisions. Instead, we just included the upcharges in our budget. Since we hadn’t visited Walt Disney World for a while and had never experienced several attractions, it was an easy choice. That doesn’t mean that the extra cost didn’t sting a little. I just didn’t see an alternative for this trip. Let’s take a a day-by-day look at our experiences with Disney’s new system.
Day 1 – EPCOT: A Promising Start
Despite the positive title, I didn’t enjoy my initial experience with Genie Plus. My plan was to book an ILL for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure so we could arrive in the morning and experience it. I selected an open time around 10:30 a.m., but it jumped to 2:30 p.m. before I could choose it. I quickly shifted gears to booking a Lightning Lane for Test Track. That time also changed all the way until 8:30 p.m. I tried an online chat with Disney to solve the issue and quickly realized that wasn’t helpful. Instead of spending time with guest relations, we just modified our touring to fit the times.
Thankfully, the rest of the day worked out much better. Here’s a summary in order of the attractions we experienced through the Lightning Lane or as ILLs (as noted):
- Journey Into Imagination with Figment
- Living with the Land
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Frozen Ever After
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (ILL for $9/person)
- Spaceship Earth
- Test Track (booked at 7 a.m.)
In most cases, I booked the Lightning Lane shortly before the reservation time. The exception was Frozen Ever After, and that was a surprise given its big popularity. I stumbled upon the afternoon reservation around midday, and it must have come from a quick cancellation. Our only standby waits were Canada: Far and Wide, Gran Fiesta Tour (no Lightning Lane), and the green version of Mission: Space. Genie Plus worked out great, especially when even Figment had a 45-minute line. It would have been challenging to navigate EPCOT on such a busy day.
Day 2 – Disney’s Animal Kingdom: An Easy Path
One interesting aspect of this new system is the way it spotlights where each park needs help. The Studios has a lot of headliners, but not enough complementary pieces. Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a beautiful park with a lot to offer during a full-day visit. However, it could still use a few more rides and shows (at a minimum) to offer guests more to do. On slower days, paying extra for Genie Plus doesn’t seem necessary. That wasn’t the case on our trip, but this park was the slowest overall.
Expedition Everest was closed for refurbishment, which left only four Genie Plus attractions to target. We ended up riding three from that group. Here’s how we did at the Animal Kingdom:
- Na’vi River Journey (booked at 7 a.m.)
- Flight of Passage (ILL for $11/person)
- Dinosaur
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
It was a scorching day, so I hoped we’d end up riding Kali River Rapids. But I wasn’t ready to wait an hour for it after the Lightning Lane reservations expired. I should mention that we didn’t arrive until after 11, so this was a shorter visit after our full day at EPCOT. We hit the major attractions, saw the wondrous Disney KiteTails show, and ventured out early to spend time at the pool. Genie Plus made things easier, but I suspect we could have gone without it if we arrived earlier. The cost allowed us to sleep in and have a leisurely morning. Everest helps, but Disney needs to add more to this park in the upcoming years.
Day 3 – The Magic Kingdom: Depth and Some Challenges
The general consensus is that The Magic Kingdom is the most valuable park for using Genie Plus, and I think that’s true for the most part. On slower days, I suspect you could spend the entire visit just using the service and never wait standby. Our day was extremely busy (and also hot and humid), so we didn’t fully maximize it. However, we still barely waited in line and just did our best. We mixed our Lightning Lane reservations with theater shows like Carousel of Progress and the Country Bear Jamboree. Here’s a summary of our reservations on this day:
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- “it’s a small world”
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (ILL for $10/person)
- The Jungle Cruise (booked at 7 a.m.)
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (replaced Splash Mountain)
- The Haunted Mansion
Our top priorities were The Jungle Cruise to see the new scenes and Splash Mountain, and we booked reservations for both as my first two reservations. We were essentially using the stacking strategy with Seven Dwarfs Mine Train also in a similar timeframe in the early evening. Unfortunately, Splash went down right before we arrived for our Lightning Lane and was down for most of the night. We also weren’t able to reserve Space Mountain and decided to avoid the long waits there. Our longest standby wait was 25 minutes for Pirates of the Caribbean (45 minutes posted), so that was a positive. We spent about 12 hours in the park, and the biggest hurdle was not getting overwhelmed by the stifling humidity.
Day 4 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Choose Your Headliner
On the busiest days, the limitations of Genie Plus are strongest at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You might only get the chance to experience one headliner as guests snag all the top reservations. Our top priorities were Rise of the Resistance and Runaway Railway, and storms were expected for most of the day. Therefore, we avoided trying for Slinky Dog Dash at 7 a.m. and just focused on other popular attractions. Our experience reveals the need for more secondary attractions at the Studios to help expand capacity. Here’s a summary of our reservations on this final day:
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (booked at 7 a.m.)
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (ILL for $15/person)
- Toy Story Mania
- Star Tours
- Meet Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight
Another factor was the quiet refurb of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which only had one elevator operating. That led to standby waits of over 100 minutes throughout the day. We also were exhausted after staying at The Magic Kingdom until 11 p.m. the previous night, so we didn’t arrive at the Studios until late morning. We did ride Milennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run using standby and waited about 40 minutes (posted 55 minutes) in the evening. Catching up in the hours before closing is probably the best move even on busier days.
I was surprised that Tower, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Smuggler’s Run were all booked by the time of our second Lightning Lane reservation. We picked Toy Story Mania at that point, and it was smart with even that standby line at 60 minutes. I still had a blast at the Studios and enjoyed everything we did, but it’s hard to do everything in a single day. The park needs more capacity as soon as possible.
Improving Disney Genie Plus
Now that we’ve covered our experiences using the service, it’s time for the big question. How should Disney improve Genie Plus? Nearly everyone recognizes there are issues that need help, so where do we start? I’ve narrowed the updates down to three main changes. If Disney fixed these problems while also continuing to add ride capacity, Genie Plus still has potential to work out okay. None of these will be a shock, and the real obstacle is figuring out the best way to resolve each challenge.
1. Change the 7:00 a.m. Booking!
In theory, the idea of booking reservations on your park day makes sense. It allows you to avoid having to plan so much in advance and just enjoy the visit. Unfortunately, the system doesn’t lead to that type of relaxed experience. First of all, Disney requires park reservations selected in advance by everyone. Second, making the first reservation time at 7 a.m. means that we all must wake up early to get the most desired Lightning Lanes. Finally, the fear of losing out due to slow fingers or Internet challenges leads to more anxiety well before that park day. I woke up at 6:50 every morning, and it wore me out after multiple days.
What’s the best way to change the booking time? Since park reservations are remaining, I’d suggest two weeks before your park day (or start of your stay for Disney resort guests). This doesn’t revert back to the extended advance booking of FastPass Plus but aligns to when most guests have reserved their parks. It also gives people that pay a premium to stay on site another benefit. You can book the first reservations for your entire stay before off-site guests, but with a smaller advantage than 30 days.
Another possibility is setting up a time on the prior day like 7 p.m. when most guests are awake. The downside there is everyone rushing to their phones and having to schedule every day around it. I’d prefer that you can book all your initial Lightning Lane reservations in one shot like with the prior system.
2. Stop the Time Jumps!
If Disney can only make one change to Genie Plus, this is the obvious choice. Waking up early isn’t great, but it doesn’t complete mess with touring like the time jumps. We’ve all been conditioned with concert tickets, dinner reservations, and other online bookings that our choices will remain in place at least for a few minutes. There’s typically a helpful countdown clock to remind you how much time you have to enter credit card info, reject the insurance, and finalize your selection. The omission of any guarantee for Lightning Lanes (and even the paid ILLs!) is the most head-scratching part of Genie Plus. The potential to end up with conflicting reservations at the same time (including ADRs) is way too high.
This problem seemed most prevalent with the ILL reservations during our trip. The times jumped every time I purchased one, and Remy’s and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train each changed by four hours. This happened within seconds while I was confirming payment information. At a minimum, the time you view on the confirmation screen should match the final reservation. Guests are paying significant dollars to skip the lines or even get the chance to experience Cosmic Rewind. You’re able to select times for ILLs, so those should lock in place at least for a few minutes.
Unlike the 7 a.m. change, this improvement wouldn’t require a change in how the process works for guests. It feels like an system update that should be possible given how other services operate. I hate to use Ticketmaster as a positive example for anything, but in this case that model works much better. This change also wouldn’t decrease the number of guests using the system; it would definitely lead to higher satisfaction. Disney has to be aware this an issue; will they take the time to fix it?
3. Let Us Modify Reservations!
One of the elements that made FastPass Plus more effective was the ability to change reservations during your park day. Unlike paper FastPass, you could adjust the rolling FastPasses (when available) to best fit with your touring strategy. Genie Plus still uses your phone and My Disney Experience, but it restricts your ability change Lightning Lane reservations. Your only choice is to delete and rebook an attraction at a different time. There’s a risk that by the time you select the option pictured, it’s no longer available.
The ability to modify reservations could also benefit Disney because they’ll have a better gauge of when guests will actually use the Lightning Lanes. It also could provide more immediate availability for popular attractions. For example, if I’m standing in Japan in EPCOT and have a Test Track reservation expiring soon, I would change to another attraction or shift the time. The result would be an open Lightning Lane for another guest at Test Track. Using the current system, I might try to run there or even just wait until it expires. This doesn’t benefit me or the other guests hoping to grab a reservation. Genie Plus needs more flexibility, and this a fairly easy fix to give us more ways to use the paid service effectively.
The Latest Disney Genie Plus Changes
Disney keeps tinkering with Genie Plus, and they made another change in May. Guests can no longer purchase the service in advance or as part of a package. My approach to just include Genie Plus with my tickets won’t be possible starting today. I understand why Disney made this change; they’re hoping it will lead to more Lightning Lane availability early in the day. They’re underestimating the disruption caused by not allowing us to buy Genie Plus until midnight before our park day. If waking up before 7 a.m. wasn’t enough, most of us will have to stay up late to buy it each time. This only impacts Walt Disney World, where reservations are scarcer.
A related change removed the language that Genie Plus will never sell out, and that’s a notable adjustment. Disney could cap our ability to purchase the service to increase the Lightning Lane supply. Waiting until 7 a.m. to buy Genie Plus could be a poor decision on busier days. I understand the logic of Disney’s actions, but what they really do is spotlight the larger issues with the parks. The issues with attraction availability with Genie Plus highlight the lack of ride capacity to match attendance increases during the past few decades. These tweaks can’t solve that challenge and my create new issues.
My Overall Thoughts on Disney Genie Plus
I’ve spent much of this article describing challenges with Genie Plus, but we mostly had a good experience on our Spring Break trip. It can work on the right day and with a flexible touring approach. We didn’t have any ADRs and largely ate counter service on our trip, so it was easier to respond when times jumped. We also didn’t expect to ride every headliner since it won’t be our last Walt Disney World trip. I mention this experience because it shows there’s potential for the system to work okay. However, Disney needs to focus on changes that will improve the guest experience using Disney Plus each day.
Now that Genie Plus has been in place for a long enough time, Disney needs to focus on tests within the park. They should treat it like a new video game with bugs that need to be fixed. I would hope Disney also has the ability to run simulations of guest behavior. If they lock in the reservation times, what unforeseen impacts would that change have on other aspects of the service? They have shown a willingness to make significant updates with limited advance notice. Why not look at usability issues that are causing many of the complaints?
Like I mentioned earlier, Disney’s biggest need is more capacity to handle the increased demand. It’s not just about massive headliners like Cosmic Rewind either. They attraction replaced Ellen’s Energy Adventure, which wasn’t as popular by the end but could handle thousands of guests each hour. All the parks need complementary attractions that aren’t replacements for past attractions. These secondary rides and shows don’t have to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and could have a shorter time for design and construction. This is especially true at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which needs at least 4-5 more attractions to provide a well-rounded park.
For Genie Plus to function effectively, Disney needs to combine updates to improve the guest experience with consistent investments in the parks. EPCOT needs Moana: Journey of Water, the Play Pavilion, a Mary Poppins attraction, AND Cosmic Rewind. The Studios and Animal Kingdom could use a similar mix of smaller rides (no spinners!) with their popular draws. If Disney is unwilling to invest in the parks to meet the demand, Genie Plus will continue to fall short. It’s a lot to ask, but it’s not an impossible task. Disney is hearing the complaints; will those negative responses lead to a new sense of purpose?
Related Articles: Disney Genie Plus
Listen to my full trip report from our return to Walt Disney World on Episode 166 and Episode 167 of The Tomorrow Society Podcast.
How FastPass Changes the Theme Park Experience (8/10/2015 Article)
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