If you have spent the last few years missing the old Fastpass system, while simultaneously lamenting over the work and confusion of Genie+… well, listen up! Because there are some big changes coming to Disney World!
Starting July 24th at Disney World’s four theme parks, the current “Genie+” will go away, replaced by a brand new system! There is a lot to discuss, so let’s get into it!
First, what is (was?) Genie+? It’s a system that allows guests to reserve an attraction or experience (think Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom or the Frozen Sing-Along in Hollywood Studios) ahead of their park day. You would purchase daily for each person, then dive into the app at a breakneck pace at 7am each morning, hoping to secure not only a Lightning Lane for a favorite attraction, then also a purchased time for an Individual Lightning Lane. It was a system that could be confusing, stressful, and frustrating, sometimes made even stressful if your WiFi was not working.
Out of the gate, Genie+ had its fans, but had many, many detractors. And finally, Disney has heard the feedback and has revealed the changes coming in only a few weeks!
Genie+ will go away, and will morph into the “Lightning Lane Multi Pass”, a paid service that will allow you to select multiple attractions per day for your vacation.
Beginning at 7am Eastern / 6am Central, at 7 days prior to their check in date, resort guests (including Shades of Green and the Swan & Dolphin) can select up to THREE attractions at one theme park per day, for their entire length of their stay (up to 14 days). Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot will have a “tiered” list, basically meaning “Choose 1 from this list, and 2 from this list” while Animal Kingdom will not be tiered, rather just one list of attractions and experiences.
These selections can be modified later, and once in the park, after you use your first selection, you can choose another in the same park or if you have a park hopper option on your ticket, at a different park (further selections are subject to availability).
For those off-property, or with non-date based tickets (think Annual Passholders, Main Entrance Passes, comped tickets, etc), and with no on-site stay, your reservation window will open up at 3 days prior to your first park day. The Lightning Lane Multi Pass can also be purchased on the day of your park visit as well.
The Individual Lightning Lane attractions will now fall under the “Lightning Lane Single Day Pass”, which will let guests purchase highly popular attractions and reserve their specific time ahead of their trip. These can only be used once per each experience, and guests can purchase and reserve up to two Single Day Pass reservations per day. If your ticket includes the Park Hopper option, you can also reserve these at different parks, and you can utilize this option even without purchasing the Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
So if you use both, you can actually have up to FIVE attractions or experiences reserved before you even arrive at the park! For example, with a purchased Multi Pass, and purchased Single Day Pass selections, with a park day at Magic Kingdom (and a park hopper ticket), you could have on your schedule Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean, all with specific windows to ride, with Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at Epcot, and Star Wars Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios — all reserved a week before you even get to Magic Kingdom!
Pricing will likely change as the Genie+ price can change from week to week, sometimes day to day, and we may not know the pricing until just before, or maybe on July 24th. And if July 24th falls in the middle of your trip, you can make your Multi Day and Single Day Pass Lightning Lane selections on the morning of July 24th for the remainder of your trip.
This new system can be used interchangably with the Disability Access Service (DAS Pass) as the two programs are not connected.
For Disneyland, however, only the names will change. The Genie+ system will remain in place, but will begin using “Multi Pass” and “Single Day Pass” for it’s system.
And unfortunately at this time, international guests will not be able to make Lightning Lane passes or take advantage of the early planning until they arrive in the United States, even if the 7-day planning window begins before that.
For more specifics, including getting Multi Passes and Single Day Passes for your trip on July 24th or after, contact your favorite Upon a Star Travel Advisor!