genie + - Haley Ever After Co.

January 31 2024

Walt Disney World GENIE + UPDATE 2024 EDITION

Haley Bradley More Disney Hacks DISNEY WORLD, genie, genie +, HACKS, Hollywood studios, magic kingdom

This system is no longer valid at the parks please check our NEWEST blog post on the NEW lighting lane multi-pass & single pass system for WDW parks click here

updated Genie + 2024

Disney has not made it easy on us with all the fine print of using Disney Genie+ Service and I’m afraid that has continued to ring true into 2024. This brief post will go over the changes and updates to Genie+ service for 2024. I will link to our blog post here for the complete instructions, hacks and tips on navigating genie plus.

The Major Changes to Genie + are as follows:

Prices will vary by park. As per when Genie+ first came out at Walt Disney world the price was $15 no matter what park you went to. it changed later to $20 a day and now in its current state it varies on the “popularity” of that park and each given day. Magic Kingdom will always be the most expensive due to its popularity and over the holiday season in 2023 the price shot up to $39 per person. It is anticipated to see this number as high as $45 in the 2024 holiday season. Animal kingdom will always be the cheapest with Epcot in next place and the Hollywood studios under Magic Kingdom for Price.
Genie+ service can sell out, This typically happens during peak seasons, for example Christmas and Thanksgiving. If you plan to go during this time and you want to purchase genie+ you can do this at 12am the morning of your intended park day. I recommend purchasing it as soon as you (12am of your park day) as you can get it for a lower Price than what it will be at 7am, which is when most folks go on to purchase.
Anyone staying on Disney property or off property may now book their first Genie+ experience at @ 7am. This is a great improvement for those staying off property to also get the opportunity to get lighting lane passes for popular rides.
Only Disney resort guest can purchase the Individual lighting lanes starting @ 7am. *Individual lighting lanes are à la carte rides.* This is primarily the most popular or newest ride in each park. You would purchase this ticket separate from your Genie+ service. You do not have to purchase both Genie + and the Individual lighting lane (ILL) to be able to do either. The Disney Resort guest do get the upper hand here as the Rise of the Resistance is the most popular Disney World ride, which is located in Disney’s Hollywood studios. The Rise of the Resistance is worth the purchase of the ILL or even the stand by as this is a 22 minute experience. This Attraction is number one for any star wars fan! This Individual lighting lane typically sells out right at 7am. Do not lose hope, always periodically check your app to see if more become available. You can also ride this by joining the standby line now available instead of the previous virtual queue.

The Virtual Queue is still available for either Tron in Magic Kingdom or Rise of the guardians cosmic rewind in Epcot. The Queue opens up twice a day once at 7am and then 1pm. This gives you a virtual spot in line and the app will send you a notification when it’s your turn to go to the ride and stand in line. This does not mean you will not have to wait in an actual line. I have done the virtual queue and still stood in line for about an hour.

Below is a list of all the Individual lighting lanes(ILL) for each park.

Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarf Mine Train, Tron (Also offers virtual queue)

Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage

Epcot: Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind (Also offers virtual queue)

Hollywood studios: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Also offers Standby)

Individual lighting lanes for non Disney resort guests can be purchased at the time the park opens.

*pro tip be sure to be up and book your first Genie+ attraction at 7am*

7am this needs to be your priorities: depending on your preferences and where you are staying

Join the virtual queue
Purchase genie +
Purchase individual lighting lane

The above is only a recommendation if you are not interested in the most popular rides you don’t need to worry about the virtual queue. Purchase your Genie+ and book a Lighting Lane for what you do want to ride.

Genie+ can run out of lighting lane spots so when booking at 7am be sure you are picking your top priorities.

These attractions below are going to be priority lighting lanes as these will run out and can be harder to get later in the day. I highly recommend if these are on your must do try to schedule these first.

Slinky dog dash in Hollywood Studios,

Jungle Cruise. Peter Pan’s flight in Magic Kingdom,

Remy’s adventure in Epcot,

Na’vi river journey in Animal kingdom.

A feature so many of us die hard Disney goers missed was the modify button. Say you have a lighting lane for 4pm-5pm for Slinky Dog but you wanted to do late lunch around 4 and push the Ride window time back, before this modify option was added you would have to check the app and see if another slot was available. You saw there was another later arrival window, you would have to cancel your current plan go back in and try to get the 7pm-8pm slot that said it was available now this issue caused a lot of headache as you may or may not get that slot and now your out of luck because you canceled your original! Disney heard our pleas and gave us a modify button. Now you select the experience you want to modify, then it will take you to a screen that will display all Genie+ experiences with times available and display your current one and what other time is available for that one. if you “fiddle faddle” by refreshing this screen a few times you make be able to get a better or sooner time you are looking for!

PRO TIP

you can book your next Genie+ lighting lane when one of the following happens:

As soon as you have scanned your ticket into the first one
if you miss you window for the attraction
it’s been 120 minutes since booking your first one. (not 120 mins from the return time for your next one but 120 mins from when you booked it.) For example, you booked your first ride at 9am for a slinky dog and your arrival window is 1pm-2pm. You can book your next ride on Genie+ for 120 minutes from 9am which would be 11am. The my Disney experience app will have that time you can book your next one at the top but will not send you a notification to book one so i recommend putting an alarm on your phone for 120 minutes(2 hours) and that way you don’t miss your window.

If weather or technical difficulties occur making the ride shut down and you have a lighting lane booked for this ride during the time it is closed the app will take care of it for you. The app will issue you a “multiple experiences pass” which you may use to skip the wait when that specific ride is back up OR you can use it on another experience to skip a line. This pass does have stipulation and it will tell you what/if there are rides you can not redeem it on. You can not use it in any other park if you are park hopping. This “pass” must be redeemed in the park that the ride went down in. If you are having any trouble with your app or Genie + there are always cast members throughout the park who will gladly help you.

Pro tip: if a ride goes down for any reason and you are issued the “multiple experiences pass” you can instantly go back into your app and book another Genie+ attraction without having to wait.

Last Pro tip is pinning your favorites to the top of your pin board on the My Disney Experience App. You will go into the App and click on set up my day and you can pin your favorite attractions to the top of your list so when you open the app it will show your personal favorites first! If later in the day you have already completed your top attractions you simply hit edit selections at the top and change out for your next must do rides you have in mind!

This was a brief update for what has changed or been updated for the Genie+ i will again link here to the full post that explains how to best utilize and navigate genie+

January 2 2023

Navigating Disney Genie

Haley Bradley Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, More Disney Hacks disney tip board, fastpass, genie, genie +

Disney has not made it easy on us with navigating all the fine print of using Disney Genie. Rest In Peace free fast-pass days! If you didn’t know, Walt Disney World (WDW) used to offer a fast-pass system you could schedule your rides 30-60 days in advance of your trip and it was free! If your anything like me (a Disney planner fanatic), then you know how devastating it was losing this and going to a system not only you pay for but you can only schedule same day passes! Don’t panic though because I’ve got you! I have spent countless time researching and then putting into action the Disney Genie system while in WDW.

I have some great tips and tricks on this system and how to really utilize it to your best ability. This post is a long one but it will lay the ground work for you to conquer using Disney genie and it’s services.

In true Genie fashion granting 3 wishes, you get 3 options to Disney Genie:

Genie planning tool	This comes with your park admission for free
Genie+	The optional paid service to make ride reservations for the majority of attractions at each theme park
Individual Lightning Lane	selection for high-demand rides not included in Genie+ for an additional cost per ride

What is Disney Genie?

Disney genie is a free tool offered to every park guest that is accessible through the My Disney Experience App. This tool offers suggestions based on items you select under the “My Day” tab. You can pick things you really want to do, see, eat and experience. Making these selections will then populate suggestions in the “tip board” tab. As you move through your day and you’ve accomplished things that were at the top of your list you can go back to your “My Day” tab and remove those and add new experiences that you want updates on. You can complete mobile food orders, join virtual queues and join a restaurant walk up wait list through Disney Genie. If you have questions, you can always ask the virtual assistant for help.

I highly recommend messing around with Disney genie prior to your trip. To do this, you will need to purchase tickets and link them to the My Disney Experience app first. Reminder, the free Genie tool is all suggestions and NOT set reservations.

*PRO-TIP the night before your park day, go ahead and set up “My Day”. Go into the Disney Experience app and click “set up my day” and then it will prompt you asking what park your looking at, for what date, what attractions etc.. This will pin your top picks to the top of your tip board for the day and then at 7am the following day, your top picks will be right there at the top for you to be able to make your first lighting lane selections. More about lighting lanes below!

Genie +

This is an optional paid service for guests with valid park admission and valid theme park reservation. You may elect to buy this the day of your park visit at 7am (whether if you are staying on a Disney resort or offsite) you can then select your first lighting lane, which will give you a first come first serve time window to report to that attraction.

Service highlights

Pricing varies by date and park starting at $15 (the price will not display until the day of your park visit).
You can book as many lighting lanes(LL) as you want based on availability.
Lighting lane(LL) arrival windows are first come first serve. It will give you the first available time.
This service grants faster access to over 40 attractions and character greetings across all 4 parks.
You can make Your initial Genie+ selection beginning at 7 a.m. on the day of your visit.
Once the initial selection is redeemed or the arrival window has passed or it’s been 120 minutes since making the most recent reservation, guests can make another selection up to park closing. (I will elaborate on this more below)
UPDATE-Lightning Lane (LL) selections made with Genie+ can now be modified, allowing you to change the time or even pick another attraction in the same park.(modifying your selection DOES NOT reset your 120 minute rule!)
Selections can be made across theme parks for eligible park hoppers.
Has augmented reality photo lenses within the my Disney experience app.
Audio experiences tailored to specific locations throughout the lands.

Okay let’s get into the fine print of Genie + and how best to use it!

You can book your first Lighting Lane(LL) selection at 7AM

You can book your second LL selection if one of these three things happens:

After you’ve scanned in at the attraction/experience for your first LL
The first LL expires, meaning you didn’t use it or missed the arrival window.
It’s been 120 minutes since you booked your last selection

Genie+ is first come first serve arrival windows for attractions. When you go to book something it will only give one time slot. Select it! Disney has recently changed where you can now modify these times without having to cancel the current LL selection.

The 120 minute rule doesn’t start until the park opens. Example you are going to magic kingdom for the day and it opens at 9AM you have already made your first lighting lane (LL) selection at 7AM. You will have to wait 120 minutes from 9AM to make your next selection *PRO-TIP: you only have to wait if you haven’t used your first lighting lane (LL) selection yet*

If you make your first Lighting Lane (LL) selection and it gives you a time window for that attraction between 9AM-10AM and you arrive at the attraction at 9AM and scan your ticket, then you have just redeemed your Lighting Lane (LL)! That means you can immediately go to your app and make another selection without having to wait for 120 minutes!

Now when the 120 minute rule really takes effect is when you make a selection but the first available time was later in the day say between 3PM-4PM you now must wait 120 mins from the time you booked that lighting lane to make another selection. So say it’s 9AM you booked lighting lane for 3PM-4PM you must wait 120mins from 9AM to make your next selection since you will not be able to redeem that selection sooner then 120 minutes.*PRO-TIP: set an alarm on your phone for 120 minutes so as soon as your eligible to make another selection you will know! The My Disney Experience App has updated and does display the next time when your eligible to make another selection, but it will not send you an alert for this!

Individual Lightning Lane

This selection is for high-demand rides not included in Genie+ for an additional cost per ride! Think of these as the most popular rides that always has a line.

Prices for individual lighting lanes will range between $7 to $25 and vary based on day and demand.

Here is where those Disney resort guest shine. Disney resort guests may book their first Individual Lightning Lane at 7AM. While non resort guests must wait until that park opens! That in mind, if you are a resort guest book, your Individual Lightning Lane FIRST before making your Lighting lane selection. I suggest this because Individual Lightning Lane can/will sell out quickly. If you are a non-resort guest, don’t panic, there is still hope! Disney has recently started cutting off Individual Lightning Lane purchases early in the morning. Which will then say “unavailable” in your My Disney Experience app then later on in the afternoon or evening they will pop back up again for purchase. I believe they have started this in hopes to help offsite guests. So be sure to check back periodically to snag any Individual Lightning Lane you wanted and missed.

You can book a maximum of two Individual Lightning Lane attractions per person, per day, and you can’t book the same attraction twice.
Times are not able to be changed or modified on Individual Lighting Lanes. Keep this in mind if you have dining reservations!

Unlike Genie+ Lighting Lane(LL) selections which are next available times only, you can pick individual lighting lanes for any timeframe that is available throughout the day. You can overlap your Genie+ Lighting Lane(LL) and individual attraction selections without any issue! Example you purchase a Individual Lighting Lane for Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind for 1:30pm-2:30pm, and overlap your Genie+ lighting lane for Frozen Ever After at 1pm-2pm, this way you could scan into the Frozen ride and while your in line book your next selection, then go ride Cosmic and have another ride afterwards!

Each park has there own Individual Lightning Lane

Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarf Mine Train

Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage

Epcot: Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind

Hollywood studios: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

You do not have to buy Genie + to buy an individual lighting lane. These are a la carte and you can use both services together or separate.

When booking individual Lightning Lane selections, note that the person making the RSVP will be the person paying and everyone in the party will be automatically linked. If your party consists of groups that would need to pay separately, you’ll want to edit the members of your party. The only problem is that you could potentially end up in different time windows for your ride reservations, especially if it’s a busy day and times are getting selected quickly. If you want to ensure that everybody rides at the same time, then book together and have individuals send money via Venmo (or some other money-sharing app) to the purchaser. I used this method when I went on both my recent trips. The my Disney experience app is literally WDW at your fingertips and making all our family plans and meal orders in one place was easiest and I just gave each person their individual bill at the end of our trip and they paid me back.

PRO-TIP: If you are having trouble with your My Disney Experience app or have a question seek out a guest relations cast member. They are located at the front of the park and can be found throughout the park, usually under a blue umbrella that states “Guest Relations” . They will happily assist. I’ve personally had some issues arise and the cast member helped me out no problem!

Conclusion:

Disney Genie can be an overwhelming system, but if utilized correctly it can be a efficient day planner for you and your family. I hope this post helped answer some questions, enlightened you with some pro-tips and you will refer back to for future reference. If you have questions or comments please leave them below!