Disney Genie & Genie+
Disney Genie
This is a free service provided by Disney that is housed within the My Disney Experience app for Disney World and Disneyland. It serves as a personalized itinerary creator where you can add all rides, shows, parades, experiences, dining reservations, etc. that interested you into your “My Day” tab. This is helpful if you are really trying to hit certain shows or do rides at certain times.
Disney Genie is only available in the app so you must have a smartphone to access it.
This is their new way of placing mobile orders, completing check-ins, seeing forecasted wait times, getting into a virtual queue, etc. It can also show you a personalized tip board (with wait times, shows, etc.).
Finding Disney Genie
There are many ways to navigate to Genie. As an example, on the home page of your app you can follow: Summon Disney Genie — Start Now — Choose Your Party and go from there. If you purchased a Park Hopper, it can include that in your plans for you. You can then select what attractions, dining, experiences, entertainment, and general interest items you think you would like and it spits out an itinerary for you.
This must be done for each day. You can do it as soon as you have tickets and recommendations from your Northcutt Travel Agent, but it is not set in stone. You can always change things! The app is good about giving any additional information it thinks you might like regarding attractions and dining.
The Tip Board
This is a really cool feature because even if you do not load in your interests and preferences it will still show you all wait times, upcoming show times, cavalcades, etc. For the Lightning Lane attractions, it will show you the current return time offered, if it is not currently being offered, and how much it will cost to purchase if it is an Individual Lightning Lane.
Disney Genie+
This is the paid service that Disney has come out with in the My Disney Experience app that gives you access to make Lightning Lane selections listed as “Disney Genie+.” It is $15/person/day in Disney World and $20/person/day at Disneyland. Now, above we mentioned that Lightning Lanes can be listed as “Not Currently Offered” - this is most likely because they sold out the available return times. While it can be annoying, this does make some sense because if Disney allowed any number of people to get into the Lightning Lanes the wait times would end up not being any shorter than the standby line. The thing to remember with this is that Genie+ itself will not sell out. This means that yes, it is a possibility that more people can buy Genie+ than could be able to get return times.
You want to make sure that you know your top choices so you can make those selections first.
If you have a park hopper, you will be able to make selections across theme parks. This is very helpful because it means you can make Lightning Lane selections for your second park in the morning and not have to hope there are return times left when you get to that park in the afternoon.
How does making a Lightning Lane selection work?
Beginning at 7 a.m. you can make your first Genie+ selection. The app will tell you the available return times as well as when you can make your next selection. You are able to only make one Genie+ Lightning Lane selection at a time.
Normally, you have to wait until you use your pass to make your next choice. However, if you get an afternoon time you are not out of luck. They have a “2-hour rule” where you can wait 120 minutes from park opening and then you will be able to pick your next Lightning Lane. Note: 120 minutes from park opening; not 120 minutes from when you first make your selection at 7 a.m. - 120 minutes from the park opening time.
Another thing to make sure you remember is that you can only make a Lightning Lane selection once per ride. For example: if you get on at 7 a.m. and book Big Thunder Mountain Railroad you cannot go back later in the day and get another pass for that same Lightning Lane.
Other Features
Genie+ does not just include Lightning Lanes! There are also fun AR lenses and audio tours that you can take advantage of as you walk around the parks. These will take up quite a bit of battery life so just make sure if you use those you also make sure to utilize a portable phone charger. You won’t be able to make Lightning Lane selections if your phone dies!
Individual Lightning Lanes
These are the most sought after rides that have Lightning Lanes and are not included in Genie+. Anyone can purchase these whether they have purchased Genie+ or not. They vary in price depending on the ride and can have surge pricing as well.
You are able to choose up to 2 attractions per day and like the Genie+ Lightning Lanes you are not able to make the same choice twice. They also have limited availability.
How to make an Individual Lightning Lane selection
Just like Genie+, you will want to open your app at 7 a.m. to make your first choice. This is for guests staying at one of the Disney resorts, the Dolphin or Swan hotels, as well as Shades of Green. For those not staying at a Disney property, they are available for purchase beginning at the park opening time.
Things to Note
The Tip Board
This is our favorite thing in the app to use. It is easier to navigate than the “My Day” page and you can see all of the information in one spot. Just make sure you are looking at the correct park. The Tip Board defaults to Magic Kingdom so if you are not going to Magic Kingdom that day you will need to change the park first.
Genie+
This can be added when purchasing your Disney tickets, to existing packages, or day-of. If you purchase it before your trip you will have to add it to every day of your ticket. You are able to only purchase it for certain days but to do so you will have to wait until your park day. This is good if you want to save money and only purchase for certain days but it also means you will spend a few minutes doing that before making ride selections and therefore will most likely get much later in the day ride return times.
Virtual Queues
Disney is still utilizing some virtual queues. These are different than Lightning Lanes in that they are not a specific line but rather a way to get into the line itself. You do not have to pay to get into a virtual queue - you just have to have your app open at 7 a.m. and hope to get lucky.
Return Times
You get about an hour for a return time. For example: You pick Pirates of the Caribbean with a return time of 3:45 p.m. You will have until 4:45 p.m. to get in the Lightning Lane for that ride. This means you CAN have overlapping return times. So, if you paid for Seven Dwarves Mine Train and it has a return time of 3:20 p.m. have no fear, you can get in the Lightning Lane for it and once you get off you can trek over to Pirates and still be allowed in its Lightning Lane.
Realistic Expectations
Keep in mind that there will be thousands of other people at Disney the same time you are. This means that thousands of people will also most likely have Genie+ and be making Lightning Lane selections. You may not get the exact return time you want, you may not get the exact ride that you want, you may not get into the virtual queue that you want. Keep an eye on your app - cancellations and supplemental releases happen. Some of our Disney agents have gotten all of the ride selections that they wanted, and some of our agents have 2-3.
And, if nothing else, remember you are in the most magical place on Earth. The standby lines are decked out on most rides in ways that the Lightning Lanes are not. There are some rides that we like to wait in the standby line even if a Lightning Lane is available because we get to experience more that way - it feels more immersive (I’m looking at you Rise of the Resistance).
Here is a quote from one of our Disney experts, you can keep it in mind or read it then forget it: “I don’t let ride times stop me, but I don’t let them weigh me down either.”
If you have to wait in a line then you have to wait in a line. But, if you dislike the thought of 2+ hour waits, tell your Northcutt Travel Agent. We have options for you.
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Special thanks to Heath Novosad and Emily Thayer for their input on this blog post.