Do you believe in miracles?! Walt Disney World has made another change to Genie+ and it’s an unequivocally positive one! This post runs through recent changes to the paid FastPass service, explaining how this is an improvement for Lightning Lane power users and newcomers alike.
In the last several months, Walt Disney World has been making a ton of tweaks to Genie+ in an effort to balance supply & demand, improve guest satisfaction scores, and set expectations at a reasonable and realistic level. This has included eliminating the Genie+ ticket add-on, adding character meet & greets to the service, and “warning” guests that Genie+ essentially amounts to paid FastPass.
Most recently, Walt Disney World permanently moved one Individual Lightning Lane attraction per park to the Genie+ service in an effort to load balance. Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Hollywood Studios, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After at EPCOT, and Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom are all now included in the flat-rate Genie+ service after temporarily shifting there for the busy spring and summer seasons.
All of this has happened as the company’s executives have repeatedly commented that Genie+ uptake has exceeded expectations. CEO Bob Chapek has stated that Disney is “very, very encouraged” by the trends of guests who purchase the Genie+ service and caught the company by surprise. According to Chapek, “about 50% of the people who come through the gate buy up the Genie product” at Walt Disney World, which explains why there have been so many load-balancing efforts since Genie+ launched almost a year ago.
Today’s good news is that Walt Disney World has finally added a banner to the Tip Board in My Disney Experience that has been conspicuously absent since Genie+ launched last year. With this change, your next eligible selection time is prominently displayed within the Disney Genie+ Tip Board. Here’s a look at the new layout…
In the above screenshots, you should notice a purple banner at the top of the Tip Board that says “When you can book: 1:32 pm” as of 12:27 pm. This is pursuant to the 120 minute rule–the previous Lightning Lane selection was made at 11:32 am.
At 1:32 pm, that changes to “When you can book: Now.”
This is a minor UI change that makes a meaningful difference.
While it didn’t crack the top 3 for our Genie+ Wish List of Improvements for Walt Disney World, it was deserving of an honorable mention. This is especially true for first-timers who don’t read blogs like this one. To this day, we hear from people who were oblivious to the 120 minute rule until reading about it here–it’s not something actively advertised. (For the longest time, Disney’s official materials only indicated that Lightning Lane “selections can only be made one at a time” without mention of the 2 hour rule. The latter has since been added in some spots.)
More screenshots showing the app in action. Note that in the last screenshot the banner is gone–it’s not sticky, so it disappears once you start scrolling. (This is perfectly fine–having more screen space devoted to the wait and return times is the smarter move.)
This change is impossible to criticize. It’s an improvement for everyone, a small step forward on the ‘quality of life’ front that makes Genie+ more intuitive and user-friendly. Obviously, it’s not a panacea for all that ails the app feature, but it’s good to see UI issues are being addressed.
(Okay, it’s almost impossible to criticize this. Those power users who banked on the app’s opaqueness and hostile design to make it less usable for first-timers might be disappointed by improvements. But you can’t complain about Genie+ having awful UI and also about better UI making it easier to use!)
Previously, the only way to know when you were eligible to make another ride reservation was either by setting an alarm on your phone or simply attempting to make another Lightning Lane selection.
We sometimes did both–setting the alarm while also attempting to make a selection just to confirm that no quirks with the system caused the time to be different than what we expected. (That did occur from time to time, especially early on.)
Next, an update based on other recent news and questions we’ve received resulting from that. As you might’ve seen, Walt Disney World tweaked the Park Pass system earlier this week to add a modify button. As much as we’d love to see it, this has absolutely zero bearing on the feature coming to the Genie+ service. They’re two separate systems with separate teams.
Second, no recent changes should be viewed as a sign or evidence that Walt Disney World will soon be eliminating the 2 pm Park Hopper restriction. To the best of our knowledge, this is intended to stick around for the long term. Other tweaks could be made to Park Hopping, but that’s not likely to be one of them–the limitation helps with resource allocation and crowd distribution. We expect that rule to stick around through 2023.
Finally, I want to revisit the previous change made a couple weeks ago, covered in New Genie+ Change Disadvantages Park Hopping at Walt Disney World. With the last update, Disney removed the rule that automatically adjusted return times to start at 2 pm when Park Hopping.
Now, the system prevents you from booking a Lightning Lane if the current return time is before Park Hopping opens up. Meaning that if the ride you want to reserve has a current return time of 1 pm, Genie+ will not let you make that selection. You’ll be greeted with an error message that says, “select a new time that is included in your Park Hopper option.”
Our initial commentary was highly critical of this change, focusing on the frustrations for Park Hopping and “stacking” Lightning Lane reservations for afternoon arrivals. We emphasized how this would be more work for these guests, make the process more difficult, and likelihood of fewer Lightning Lanes per day on average as a result. All of that remains accurate.
The issue is that we underemphasized the upside for less knowledgeable first timers and those without the Park Hopper option (my numbers are dated by a few years, but last I knew, that was a majority of guests). The upside is that visitors spending all day in the same park will no longer be competing with Park Hoppers or Annual Passholders for Lightning Lane availability to quite the same degree. Many of you correctly pointed this out.
This is something we should’ve immediately identified and acknowledged, especially since our previous post about frustrating Genie+ changes (among many others) reminded readers that power users are not and should not be the intended beneficiaries of Genie+ changes. The whole Genie system and its policies were formulated in response to complaints from Walt Disney World first-timers.
Most commonly, this comes up in the context of same-day selections rather than those made 30 or 60 days in advance. While the latter is favored by many savvy planners and repeat visitors–disproportionately the readers of blogs like this one–it was not popular with park-goers as a whole. Most first-timers are not planning their day months in advance, and had no clue they could make ride reservations until arriving. By then, it was already too late.
Ultimately, Genie+ has a lot of problems. It’s convoluted, confusing, and counterintuitive in plenty of ways that are troublesome for first-timers and longtime fans. There’s still a lot of that to be resolved, and those improvements would more or less benefit everyone equally by virtue of fewer headaches and less screen time. The addition of this “when you can book” banner is one small step in that direction. It’s an unequivocal improvement for everyone.
Additionally, in revisiting the previous Park Hopper change through an objective lens, that is also a net positive. While it theoretically disadvantages Annual Passholders and knowledge guests with Park Hopper tickets who are attempting to utilize savvy strategy, we are not the target audiences for these changes. The goal is democratization, making it easier to use for more guests–reducing the concentration of Lightning Lanes among experienced power users. Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of that, instead judging changes on the basis of the benefits inured by us, personally.
If you have questions about the basics of using–or not using–the paid FastPass service, see our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for all of the foundational need-to-know info. This whole system is confusing and convoluted, so you might have a question or two-dozen. That answers all of the most common ones we’ve been receiving from readers.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
What do you think of the recent UI changes to Genie+ at Walt Disney World? Pleased to see this “when you can book” banner? Do you consider this a meaningfully positive improvement to the Tip Board? Will you purchase Genie+ or does this all sound like too much of a headache? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I don’t understand why they do not offer time options for the Genie+ rides (like on Fast Pass) so you could schedule your day without having to take something and release it if there is a conflict, unable to modify. As far as the smoothness and loading of rides, I still don’t understand why Disney does not have one “measuring station” at the front of each park. Once on your trip smaller children are carefully and officially measured, and it is coded into their wrist band with a photo. Now every ride with height restrictions will load more quickly, shady people cant switch bands around because of the photo, and we dont have children losing it because they rode the ride earlier in the day, or were measured early in the line and told they could ride, and then after a long wait in line are told they can’t, which has happened to many of us repeatedly. Makes for a miserable day for everyone, most especially the little kids. I know Disney doesnt often care about how happy the customers are, but for ease of loading, and better ride flow, as well as far less stress on the already stressed CMs this seems like a no brainer.
“CEO Bob Chapek has stated that Disney is “very, very encouraged” by the trends of guests who purchase the Genie+ service and caught the company by surprise.” Well DUH! They just found a way to charge for something that was free. They are making almost a half a billion dollars more for something they gave away. The only people outside of Disney’s top brass who find this admirable are politicians and prostitutes. Not sure there’s a difference there. So what are future trends we can look forward to? Bus passes and bus pass+ for those who want to sit. Lifeguard+ for assistance when struggling in the water. Mouth to mouth resuscitation extra. In room pay to play AC. Price increases as the temperature rises. Along the lines of the refillable mug they now have reusable utensils. Your choice of two utensils (fork, knife or spoon) that can be used at any restaurant at any park/resort for the length of your stay. Also comes with one free (for now) napkin. Cloth extra. No room service +. For a small fee Disney will make sure no one comes to your room at 5 am to vacuum.
And in a recent interview Chapek says there is more room to squeeze. Truely only the rich or insane will be going to WDW soon.
“After raising prices across Disney’s streaming services, including Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, Chapek told CNBC that price hikes will likely hit the Mouse House’s popular theme parks next.”
“The cost of theme park tickets have jumped over the years with data tracking firm SJ Data Visualizations estimating that the tab for admission tickets to the Disney World and Disneyland theme parks have climbed more than 3,871% in the past 50 years — dwarfing increases in visitors’ wages, as well as the cost of rent and gas.”
As long as Genie plus, lightning lane, reservations, etc, exist me and my family will be complete no shows at Walt Disney World. We are many many many time annual pass holders at the top level. But all this convoluted mess that you have to go through while trying to ride your favorite rides during a day at Disney world is enough to keep us away permanently if it isn’t dropped
Just another benefit for those who have deep pockets , nothing for guests visiting Disney world on a budget
Completely agreed! But even those of us who DO have deep pockets have been able to become this way because we can smell a MONET GRAB” a hundred miles away!!
Hi, Tom– I don’t know how anyone can think you’re a shill for Disney. You’re providing an immensely valuable service and, in my opinion, being both fair and objective. I just want to say, Thank You. Now, my question….In this post, you wrote: “Most commonly, this comes up in the context of same-day selections rather than those made 30 or 60 days in advance.” What selections can you now make 30 or 60 days in advance? Isn’t everything same day now? Sorry, but I’m old and confused easily. Plus, it’s cold and there are wolves after me!
Sorry for the confusion–that was a reference to FastPass+, which is fairly beloved among diehard WDW fans, but was bad for guest satisfaction among first-timers.
Good luck out there, Abe.
Ha! Nice catch of that reference!
Abe? not Maurice from Beauty and The Beast?
Hey Tom. I think there’s another rule change, but I don’t know how it works exactly. We’re currently at Disney World and started the day at Animal Kingdom, intending to hop to Hollywood Studios. Made our first reservation at 7am for Slinky around 6pm. The app then indicated that we wouldn’t be able to make a selection until 10:30, even though Animal Kingdom opened to all guests at 8, so it was two hours after Hollywood Studios open time. Not sure why this happened, wonder if you had any ideas.
Interesting. I’m not totally sure whether that’s a change or glitch. I’ve had some odd things happen with the 120 minute rule and park hopping reservations right at 7 am. I’ll try to determine if this is a consistent policy change, or more of that.
Genie+ is a perfect example of a product that is successful while still being a horrible product, only because there isn’t an alternative. While it costs more, the system at Universal is FAR better. The comparison is night and day.
At Universal you buy the add-on ticket, then simply go to the express lane of any ride you want to ride. Done.
At Disney, you 1) Wake up super early each and every day to so that you can 2) POUNCE on the app at 7am first to buy the pass then to snipe the popular rides before 7:01 am when they are all taken. Then 3) Spend the whole day in your phone – rather than enjoying the park – trying to plan out and grab later passes throughout the day.
Indeed. You said it all quite succinctly.
It is so true that Universal’s express lane system is so much better than Disney’s! I’ve wondered for years why Disney does not just have the same system. Personally I wish all express lane systems in all theme parks would end because they are just not fair to those who simply cannot afford them. But if we are forced to have to have them then why doesn’t Disney do it the same way as Universal? Its simple and much more worth the extra price you pay for it.
I agree, you have people walking around the park all day on there phones trying book rides. There so focused on there phones, that there not paying attention to how their walking or when the line starts to move again.
Comparison is night and day in terms of price, too.
Also, at UOR you have to wait 15-30 mins in Express Pass lanes while at wdw in Lightning Lanes you wait <10 minutes.
It does require a lot more skill to use LL, though. Luckily, we have Tom.
I’d be surprised if Disney ever went with a system that works like Express Pass, simply because Disney doesn’t do anything in that laid back of a manner.
However, they don’t have to go that far. Disney already has the template for a working and less frustrating line-skipping service that’s similar to Genie–MaxPass at Disneyland. It didn’t have frustrating UI or a convoluted mess of rules–it worked well.
Perfect way of describing this.
Most likely there are people who already bought genie+ because it’s available to purchase right after midnight then were able to score the early reservations right at 7am.
Tom Bricker is the best and most detailed Disney blogger out there, period. He criticizes and applauds Disney all the time, and not always in equal portions. His analysis is spot on. Anyone who thinks the banner isn’t helpful doesn’t understand the merit of booking GP as soon as your window opens. It makes the GP product worth more without having to have a PhD in Disney. Tom – BTW I am just home from my WDW vacation & by booking my my MK park day on 8/23 – a MNSSHP day – I did 11 rides b/tw 7:30 a – 10:40 a, w/ 2 coffee stops, w a combination of 1 paid ride, 2 GP & the rest stand by. Your advice was 100% on point – thank you!
Thanks for the kind words and glad to hear you had a good trip!
Although…2 coffee stops by 10:40 am? I think that would have me making 6 restroom stops by noon. That’s a bit inefficient! 😉
Useful improvement. I know people think Disney are money grabbing but I know lots of other places eg legoland in London where fastpass is way more expensive than what Disney are charging. Some people like to have a good moan about Disney World but nobody is forcing you to go 🙂 we just had a magical time there and really hope to go back one day. Everybody with upcoming trips – have an amazing time x
I bet the Legoland fastpass system is not nearly as confusing and non user friendly as Disney’s is. Does it require you to be up at 7Am to compete with millions of other people to book a fastpass? Does it require you to be on your phone constantly during your vacation to try and book rides so you don’t have to wait in a stand still line that was not your making or your fault but was designed by the park itself in order to slow your line down on purpose? If Disney is going to gouge us for more money then at least make the system easier to use and understand.
No matter what Disney does with Genie + it’s still a terrible system that requires management, which makes going to the parks stressful, I just can’t figure out why (for$100 bucks) have a one time fast pass that gives you the lighting lane for every ride 1 time, anytime, limit the amount sold… just like every other Florida park does. It works so smooth ( if you want to pay for it, your choice)
I need a brief summary of what to know for first time Genie + and Lightning lane user. Worst thing is I’ll be there Thanksgiving week. So many blog articles and I can’t keep up. Simple summary please!!!!
Hi, Rhonda. Tom has you covered. Scroll to near the end of this blog post and click on the hyperlink in this sentence: “If you have questions about the basics of using–or not using–the paid FastPass service, see our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for all of the foundational need-to-know info.” Have a fun trip! It’ll be crowded but super festive.
For people like me who are life long park goers, Genie+ stinks. I’ve been to Disney enough times, that my visits now include sleeping in. However, that means nothing decent left on Genie+. The wife and I still go to Disney, but the only time we get to ride the best attractions is during extra magic hours. It all come down to less flexibility for the customer. They now dictate that have get up at 7 if want any good reservations. If it weren’t for the wife, I’d probably wash my hands of it. Al
Genie + is not a success no matter how they try to spin it. I cannot agree enough with the commenters that it would be better to have NO line skipping at all. Everyone waits in the same line and the line pleasantly keeps moving with no skippers. Fair for all. I’m voting with my wallet, not going to the parks, and exploring all the other vacation options out there for the next couple of years, hoping enough people do the same that it forces Disney to see their error. I really dislike the choices of the current management and I hope many if you write directly to Disney to let them know how much we, the long time fans who pay their salaries, dislike the direction they are going.
For the record I do not believe Tom is “a shill for Disney”. He is out there trying to find out every tiny piece of information and detail to share with us so we can better plan our vacations. He wants to give Disney the benefit of the doubt because of his love of all things Disney and no matter how small any news is, good or bad news, Tom is on it and brings it to us. He sees this recent change in the Genie + thing as a small positive but that does not mean he does or ever has endorsed Genie+. He just understands its here no matter if we or he likes it or not so the best thing we can all do is try our best to understand how it works by staying up on all the news and changes that are about it. I think we should all keep in mind that it’s not a good idea and never fair to “shoot the messenger” just because we do not like the message.
I have followed Tom Bricker for many years and I have appreciated all the informational updates; however, that does not mean that I am precluded from sharing a concern with the messaging when I have one. Nobody was “shooting the messenger” – if anything, most are frustrated with Disney, not Tom Bricker’s blog.
“Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of that, instead judging changes on the basis of the benefits inured by us, personally.” – This comment was offensive to me – I am the one making the decision on whether or not to spend my dollars on WDW – of course I am going to base that decision on what benefits me personally – WDW has lost its “magic” for my family over the past couple of years for a multitude of reasons both inside & outside the parks – Chapek & Disney Corp. need to go find some “pixie dust” to align with Walt’s vision – he would not be happy.
That section of the posting was revisiting my own analysis and how my judgment had been clouded by personal bias. When reviewing or offering commentary about things, I try to do so as objectively as possible–not how something impacts me personally.
When you determine how to spend your money as a consumer, you should absolutely be thinking about how it impacts you personally. What is better or worse for you, etc. I’ve also encouraged people who are dissatisfied with any changes to reach out to Disney and explain how that’ll impact their business or spending with the company going forward.
I don’t think I’ve exactly been a cheerleader for Genie+ or Lightning Lanes. We have a ton of critical posts about the service and its frustrations. Most importantly, our park run-throughs routinely focus on how it can be avoided with other savvy strategy.
The problem for me in analyzing any line-skipping service is that there are always going to be winners and losers. None of these–not all standby, not paper FastPass, FastPass+ or Genie–changes capacity. It’s all a matter of rearranging the deck chairs, and having different guests or demographics come out ahead or behind. (The only way to change capacity is to build more rides, which Disney absolutely should be doing.)
My personal view is that an all-standby system is fundamentally most fair. Realizing that’s not a realistic recommendation, I think a line-skipping service that is as friendly as possible to first-timers is (objectively) best, even if it’s worse for me, personally.
my problem with genie+ is the extreme cost for the rather limited value. We visit as a multigenerational group of 9. That’s 9 times $16. or $144. Every day. That is a shitload of money to be exact. And when you consider that two of those in the group couldn’t even ride 3/4 of the rides due to height restrictions, the lack of value for money gets worse. And keep in mind that one of the adults has to hang out with the shorties, while the rest ride the ride. And no we mostly didn’t do baby swap as that would mean that the shorties would have to hang around doing nothing for twice as long. All while paying that shitload of money for genie+. We were just there in July, when the parks were heaving with guests. The lines for everything, even the worst rides on the planet were at least an hour long. But genie+ really only gets you on one E-ticket ride if you aren’t staying in the parks a full day. And no, we didn’t used paid lightning lane. That would be totally breaking the bank. I should add that i bought genie+ back when i could still add it onto our UK 14 day ticket. So i was able to add it on to the entire ticket for $10/day/person. It worked out to the addition of 100 pounds per ticket. Not insignificant. However, since i had bought it months prior, the cost didn’t eat at me. But if i’d had to buy it each day, there is no doubt i would have waited in the mile long guest services line to complain about the lack of value for money.
Suffice to say that our visit was less than magical this time around. After visiting every year since 1974 (close to 50 years of visits), this one is the last for now. We’ll wait to see if things change. If they at least put more entertainment/attractions in the parks to help with the insane lines.
We say this as a DVC family. So it’s an unexpected outcome. Or perhaps not.
Many have commented on the money grab / nickel & diming aspect of Genie+. Let’s put some numbers against that assertion. If we use the Themed Entertainment Assn (TEA) attendance data for WDW parks in 2019 (the 2020 data is badly skewed by the pandemic), and the fact that 50% of guests buy Genie+ (Disney CEO’s comment), and the fact that Genie+ costs $15 each, here’s how the numbers work out: MK: 20,963,000 x 0.5 x $15 = $157,222,500 AK: 13,888,000 x 0.5 x $15 – $104,160,000 HS: 11,483,000 x 0.5 * $15 = $86,122,500 EP: 12,444,000 x 0.5 x $15 = $93,330,000 Grand Total WDW estimated income for 2022 from Genie+ = $440,835,000 That’s $440 million, and change!
*Note that the 2021 TEA Index is not yet available.
Bob no one is denying the mouse is making a boat load of money from his friend the Genie. He ain’t never had a friend like him for sure! But that is because people who want to try and avoid the long stand still line that Disney created on purpose have no other choice but to buy it. Its like the Mafia charging people “protection” money that they must pay to be protected from the Mafia itself beating them up or killing them.
Two important aspects to keep in mind are 1) that 441 million does not include money they make on top of that by charging for each parks most popular ride. And most importantly 2) all that money is for something they gave for free and survived perfectly fine without charging for.
…Amen Mickey!! And all this extra money STILL not gotten their stock price rise back to the glory days WITHOUT Genie+/Lighting lane/Reservations, et al………..
This article felt like click bait because honestly all they did was add a silly banner and that is it. It does nothing in realty to make the genie + more desirable to purchase. The only people who I feel are even purchasing the silly service a novices/first time people. No one in their right mind who previously went to Disney thinks genie + is good. Also for those above please choose a better word than the R word.
i agree. I was going to ask him Tom if he’s a shill for Disney.
I agree with all of you I’m not a fan of Genie + but I’m a fan of my time. I refuse to wait in any line longer than 35-40 min, my time is too valuable. I recently came back from a 11 day trip and Genie + was worth every penny. Your already shelling out thousands of dollars what’s another $15 to plan out your day. Mind you if your not strategic with it then don’t bother. The best is if you park hopp. In one day we did everything in Animal Kingdom except Dino land then had reservations for Slinky dog, Toy Story Mania, Star Wars galactic, and Mickey and Minnie’s runaway rail. Stacked from 5:30 on. The key was to rope drop Avatar, have a fast pass for The Safari and we could almost walk on everything, Navi, Everest, kali, lion king show and still had plenty of time to spare. We actually went on Avatar a second time paying for the lightning Lane. So all in one day we did Flight of passage twice, Everest twice, Kali rapids, Lion King show, Safari, Character greets, Slinky Dog, Star Wars Galactic, Toy Story Mania twice, Mickeys Runaway rail, and that other spinner ride in Toy story Land. If your strategy is good it is so worth it.
you must have been there during low crowd levels. We were there in July and no way was any ride at AK a walk on.
Apparently, half of guests think G+ is good enough to be worth buying, a year after launch and all the complaints from longtime park goers like yourself. Time to adapt.
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