Walt Disney World announced 2023 vacation packages, and with that, the end of the Genie+ ticket add-on. This post covers details about the length-of-stay prepaid Lightning Lane booking option, why it's being eliminated, and other thoughts.
People Also Ask
Genie+ Changes Coming in 2024Earlier in 2023, Disney said, “We have heard from guests that they would like ways to plan with Disney Genie+ service and individual Lightning Lane selections before the day of their park visit, and we want you to know we are working on ways guests may do this for visits in 2024.”
With this change, as of June 27th, 2023, guests in Disney World will be able to buy Genie+ based on what (and how many) parks they want to visit. In other words, Genie+ pricing will actually be PARK SPECIFIC and your purchase will either be for a single park or multiple parks.
Underneath that you'll see LL Disney Genie+ Not Currently Offered. This means that all of the available Lightning Lanes have been booked. Now, it is possible that a few will become available as guests' plans change and they cancel Lightning Lanes, but getting one of those takes a lot of luck and pixie dust.
Can you have more than one Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation at a time? Yes. The Genie 120-minute rule says that you can always make a new reservation if two hours have passed since you made the last one, or two hours since park opening if you made the reservation before the park opened.
All guests, regardless of where they stay, are limited to a maximum of two pay-per-ride attractions per day and can only book a particular ride once per day. What about Annual Passholders? Annual Passholders will need to purchase Genie+ on the day(s) of their visit.
You may purchase individual—or à la carte—Lightning Lane entry selections for specific attractions that aren't offered through Disney Genie+ service. Purchase individual Lightning Lane entry for up to 2 attractions per day, one at a time.
Our answer is: YES, Disney Genie+ is worth it, but not for everyone. If you have room in your budget and you are a family who likes to do many attractions per day, then yes, you will probably find some value in the Disney Genie Plus service.
So, I was watching Aladdin the other night and caught onto something that I had not noticed before. Genie's three rules: Can't kill anyone, can't make people fall in love and can't bring anyone back from the dead. The second one is confirmed twice.
The Genie 120-minute rule says that you can make a new reservation at most 2 hours from when you made the last one, and this countdown timer doesn't change if you modify the reservation. If you made it at, say, 11 a.m., then your two hours will be up at 1 p.m. even if you modify the reservation at noon.
Back in 2023, Disney announced during Star Wars Celebration that there would be more stories and characters and all new adventures coming to Star Tours in 2024. And now we know at least one of those new stories and characters will be Ahsoka, as seen in the new Disney+ series bearing the same name.
Lightning Lanes exist for attractions that are access via Disney Genie Plus and via a la carte access purchases (more on this below). The new Disney Genie+ starts at $15.98 per day per person after tax at Walt Disney World and can go as high as $30 per person, per day.
Let me describe the difference between Disney Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes. Disney Genie+ is a magical upgrade to your ticket that allows you to select Lightning Lane entrances at over 40 attractions throughout the theme parks. These Lightning Lane entrances allow you to skip the regular standby line.
Is Disney Lightning Lane Worth it Conclusion. As a general rule of thumb we do find the Disney World Lightning Lane to be worth it if you can find a way to save 60 minutes per attraction at a cost of under $11.00 per attraction.
Genie+ allows guests to skip the line at the included attractions, once per ride per day. You can begin making your Genie+ reservations once you have entered the park for the day. You can make your selections across all of the theme parks if you have a Park Hopper ticket.
If you miss your Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation for an attraction, that's it for the day. You won't be able to make another one for that particular ride. Sometimes you'll be given a small grace period, but that's up to the discretion of the Cast Member.
You may be out of luck for purchasing Individual Lightning Lanes for any attraction if you're staying offsite on high crowd days. Rise of the Resistance used to be the clear winner of the popularity contest here, and that doesn't hold true anymore either. At all crowd levels, Flight of Passage sells out first.
“Until August 7, 2022, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, Frozen Ever After, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure (beginning May 31, 2022), Space Mountain and Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain will be included via Disney Genie+ service and will not be included as individual Lightning Lane entry selections.”
Genie Plus is definitely worth it for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, and if you don't like early starts, you might consider it for Epcot and Animal Kingdom. If you are park hopping, Genie+ is even better value as it maximises the number of rides you have access to.