Controversial Genie+ Change Hits Disney World — Here’s Why We Love It

A CONTROVERSIAL Genie+ change has hit Disney World but is it really as bad as you think? The answer might surprise you!

We’ve seen Genie+ change a number of times over the past several months. Some of these changes have made the system MORE confusing in certain ways, while others have made the system easier to use. On June 27th, 2023, Genie+ pricing changed to become park-specific. But has this change made the system better or worse? We’re breaking down what you need to know here.

What Is Genie+?

For those who may not be familiar with it, Genie+ is the PAID service that essentially replaced FastPass+ in Disney World. With Genie+, you pay a certain price and can then make Lightning Lane selections for many (but not all!) rides in Disney World.

Here’s how it works:

• Genie+ is housed in the My Disney Experience app
• You can start buying Genie+ at midnight on the day of your trip
• Once you buy it, you can make your first Lightning Lane selection at 7AM on the day of your trip
• You’ll take a look at the Lightning Lane return times and select the one you want
• Then, you simply wait for that return time to arrive
• Once it does, you’ll hop into that ride’s Lightning Lane (a.k.a. the old FastPass+ lane) to SKIP the standby line for that ride
• Then, you’ll make another Lightning Lane selection, and repeat the process typically 1 ride at a time

There are, of course, more rules and complications to know about but that’s the gist of it. So what has changed?

The Major Change

Genie+ was initially one set price when introduced in Disney World — $15 per person per day. Then, in 2022, Disney introduced surge pricing — which meant that the price of Genie+ would vary depending on the date of your visit. In 2023, Genie+ pricing changed again — this is the most recent update.

As of June 27th, 2023, Genie+ pricing is park-specific. Want to use Genie+ at multiple parks on one date? You’ll want to opt for the multi-park option — which is one price.

Only planning to use Genie+ at a single park? You can buy a single park option, but you’ll need to select what park you’re buying Genie+ for. Genie+ pricing will vary based on the date AND the park you want to visit. So, for example, pricing for Genie+ at Animal Kingdom on any given day may be much cheaper than pricing for Genie+ at Magic Kingdom on that same day.

Again, note that pricing will now vary depending on the date of your visit and the park you’re buying Genie+ for (or if you’re buying the multi-park option). We actually saw Genie+ pricing DECREASE on June 28th compared to June 29th.

On June 29th, Genie+ pricing was the same as on June 28th.

At first, you might think “Well, this is annoying!” If you don’t really like to plan and instead like to “wing” it — this change does add another layer of planning to your trip that you might find less-than-pleasing.

One complication we found out about is that Disney will NOT sell the multi-park Genie+ option if Genie+ sells out at ANY park. So if, for example, Genie+ sells out at Magic Kingdom (but is still available at EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom), both the Magic Kingdom and the multi-park Genie+ options will NO LONGER be available to buy for that day.

We have seen Genie+ sell out in the past under the old pricing structure. It’s not a common occurrence, but it does happen. So, again, you might be thinking, “That’s not a great change!” But what you might not be realizing is how beneficial this change actually is!

Why We Love It

Under the old Genie+ pricing structure, there was just ONE Genie+ price per day and it was automatically a multi-park offering. That might seem good from a convenience standpoint, but it was actually not so great from a selling-out perspective. Under the old structure, if Genie+ sold out at any park, the entire Genie+ service would sell out as a whole — meaning, it would become IMPOSSIBLE to buy Genie+ at that point for any park.

So, let’s take a time machine to before June 27th, 2023. Under the old structure, if Genie+ sold out at Magic Kingdom for the day, that would be IT. Genie+ as a whole would “sell out” and would become unavailable for any guest to purchase for any park.

How has that changed under the new system? Well, now let’s set that time machine to today — past June 27th, 2023. Under the new pricing structure, if Genie+ sells out at Magic Kingdom, the Magic Kingdom and multi-park Genie+ options will no longer be available to purchase for that day. BUT the Genie+ options for the remaining parks WILL still be available to buy.

So if you wanted to use Genie+ at Hollywood Studios, you could still buy access to the service for that individual park (even though the multi-park and Magic Kingdom options may have sold out).

There are a few things to keep in mind here if you find yourself in this situation where the multi-park Genie+ option has sold out, but Genie+ remains available at some individual parks.

Let’s say you start your morning in Magic Kingdom and didn’t buy Genie+. Your plan is to hop to EPCOT later and use Genie+ there. But the Magic Kingdom Genie+ option sells out, which causes the multi-park Genie+ option to sell out. No worries — you can still buy Genie+ just for EPCOT and use it there (assuming that park doesn’t sell out too).

What if you started your day in Magic Kingdom, bought the Genie+ option for Magic Kingdom only, and later the Magic Kingdom Genie+ option sells out (causing the multi-park option to sell out as well)? Later in the day, you decide to hop to EPCOT and want to use Genie+ there. What do you do? The multi-park option won’t be available to buy so you can’t choose that. But you will be able to buy the individual Genie+ option for just EPCOT. 

The cost might get quite high doing it this way — buying Genie+ for two or more individual parks, rather than just buying the multi-park option. But if it’s your only choice and Genie+ is a must-have, then at least it’s a choice you’ll have. For some, paying a higher cost might be better than not having the option of buying Genie+ at all!

What Else You Should Know About Genie+

That’s the biggest Genie+ change that has been made lately, but it’s important for you to know that more Genie+ changes are on the way. Disney has teased some BIG Genie+ adjustments for 2024.

Specifically, Disney has 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.”

So, it sounds like the ability to do some pre-planning with Genie+ could be on its way. Exact details haven’t been shared yet, but we’ll be on the lookout for those.

For more about Genie+ and how to use the service, click here for our full page. And stay tuned for more details!

What do you think about this Genie+ change? Tell us in the comments.

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