Disney ParksPlanningTips
Genie+: The Good, Bad and Ugly
A big part of My Disney Experience is Disney Genie. Through this feature, Guests can get projected wait times and be given an overall touring plan. This is an excellent feature for Guests who don’t want to make a schedule before their trip. Disney Genie can help Guests navigate the Parks.
Genie+
As part of Disney Genie, Guests visiting Walt Disney World can also choose to add Genie+. This feature is a paid feature that Guests can add starting at midnight. The price of Genie+ fluctuates depending on crowd levels. Starting price remains at $15, but during the last month, we have seen Genie+ reach the peak price of $35 per person per day.
By purchasing Genie+, Guests are given access to the Lightning Lane (the entrance to the ride/show/meet and greet) to around forty rides and attractions throughout the four Disney Parks. This is a great way to bypass the long lines and save time during your Disney vacation.
Individual Lightning Lanes
Another feature within Disney Genie is Individual Attraction Selections which are individual rides that aren’t included with the purchase of Genie+. If Guests want to use the Lightning Lanes for these rides, they must purchase them al-a-carte. The cost for this range, as well, depends on the crowds.
To help you navigate the features, we have the good, bad, and ugly of this feature. By providing you with this information, Guests heading down to Walt Disney World can determine if this additional cost would benefit their group or something they can skip.
The Good
Fewer Lines
The biggest positive to Genie+ is the ability to skip the standby lines and save that time in line to do other fun experiences throughout Disney Parks. With Genie+, you typically won’t wait longer than 15 minutes for even the most popular rides, such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Most experiences, such as Big Thunder Mountain, Toy Story Mania, and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, allow Guests to walk right into the experience.
Genie+ does save you a lot of time in line throughout your Disney vacation. By using Genie+, you can visit other experiences, such as shows or parades, that you might not be able to enjoy if you are standing in line.
Stacking
Another great feature of Genie+ is that you can “stack” throughout the day. If you aren’t heading into the Park until later in the day or plan on taking a break for swimming, you can still make Genie+ return times every two hours.
Doing this allows Guests to have a few rides scheduled with Genie+ before they arrive in the Park for the day or head back in the evening. This is a fantastic way to have a ride-focused time without waiting in long lines.
Modification
Just recently, Disney updated Genie+ by providing a modification option. This is a huge bonus. Guests can now make modifications for both rides and timing. This is a massive bonus as it allows Guests to adjust quickly throughout the day.
Before this, Guests had to cancel their Genie+ reservations and hoped they could grab a new one. We love this further adjustment because it allows more flexibility with the overall system.
Skipping the longer standby lines and having the opportunity to stack Genie+ reservations are reasons why this feature is something we use while at Disney.
Related: Must-Know Genie+ Facts for Walt Disney World
The Bad
7 am Alarm Set
Even if you are a rope dropper, setting the alarm each morning to book your first Genie+ reservation at seven can be frustrating. It would be nice to be able to indeed sleep in the morning, and that is often needed during a Disney trip.
No Set Times
Another feature that can be frustrating is that you aren’t able to choose your return time. Guests are given the next available time slot and can either take it or move on. This can be hard when you have dining reservations already planned. Having to select the next available time slot, Guests have to be flexible in their Park plans and be able to adjust on the fly.
We are glad that Disney now has the modification option. This helps slightly in the area when finding return times that fit into Guests’ plans.
Multiple Rides
Finally, we wished that we could use Genie+ to ride more than once throughout the day. We realize that Disney is trying to spread the selections out between Guests, but it would have been nice to have been able to ride our favorites multiple times during a day instead of having to choose rides that might have been less interesting to us.
We found those aspects wrong when using Genie+ during our Walt Disney World vacation.
The Ugly
The Cost
Finally, we find two things to be “ugly” about Genie+ while at Walt Disney World. The first is the cost. It is hard for many to pay additional money for a vacation they already pay thousands for. When you are looking at the price for a family, Genie+ can be a substantial additional cost.
No Guarantee
Our last point that we find to be ugly regarding Genie+ is that even with paying for it, you aren’t guaranteed to ride your favorite ride. We often see selections for popular rides such as Slinky Dog Dash, Jungle Cruise, and Peter Pan’s Flight booked with 7 a.m. time slot minutes.
If we are playing for that much money, it would be nice to know that we would have the opportunity to ride the must-do attractions for our group.
Genie+ does have some great features that can help Guests experience more of the Disney magic with less time in line during their trip. With that said, we still think some areas could be improved.
If you choose to use Genie+ during your trip, check out our post on which rides you should prioritize to avoid missing out.
