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Disney Parks have retired FastPass, FastPass+ and MaxPass. They are gone for good! Replacing this service is Disney Genie and Disney Genie+. The new Disney Genie service will be available at both Disneyland and Disney World sometime this fall. So, what does all this mean? I’m going to break it down for you!
Disney Genie
Disney Genie is a free planning tool that will be available inside the Disneyland and Disney World apps. You can select what you want to do and it will let you know the best time to do it. You can also use Disney Genie to join a virtual queue at certain attractions, like Rise of the Resistance. You can also use Disney Genie to make dining and experience reservations and mobile order food.
Disney Genie+
Disney Genie+ service is available to purchase and will cost $15 per ticket per day at Disney World and $20 per ticket per day at Disneyland. You simply choose the next available time to arrive at a variety of attractions and experiences. You can using the Lightning Lane entrance when it’s your time to enter the attraction (Fast Pass lanes are now called Lightning Lanes). You can make one selection at a time, throughout the day for rides like Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and more. (just like previous Fast Pass selections, attractions subject to limited availability). Disney Genie+ will also include Disney PhotoPass downloads from your day if you are visiting Disneyland. Disney Genie+ is very similar to the retired MaxPass at Disneyland where you pay a daily fee that offers skip-the-line benefits via your smartphone.
A La Carte Options
Select rides will be considered an “a la carte” purchase, they will not be included with your Disney Genie+ purchase. This means popular rides like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Radiator Springs Racers will have an additional fee per ticket if you want to use the “lightning lane”. The fee will vary depending on how busy the parks are that day. Rides with virtual queues will also have an “a la carte” purchase option. You are limited to a maximum of 2 purchases per guest per day.
There will still be free virtual queues, but there will also be a paid option if you miss out on nabbing the free virtual queue option. There will not be stand-by lines for rides with virtual queues. When Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure opens up at Epcot it too will have a virtual queue. You do not have to buy Genie+ in order to buy the a la carte options, they are a separate purchase.
How do you purchase & book Genie+
You can add Disney Genie+ to the purchase of your ticket (once it’s available in the fall) or you can purchase it the day of your visit. If you are visiting Disneyland you can purchase Genie+ once you’ve entered the park gates. Disney World hotel guests can book Genie+ and a la carte options at 7am each day. Guests not staying at a Disney World hotel can book Genie+ and a la carte options at park opening time.
Additional info.
- Disneyland Genie+ will grant you access to over 15 attractions
- Disney World Genie+ will grant you access to over 40 attractions
- You can book Genie+ for multiple parks if you have plans to park hop.
- You can not add Genie+ as and “add on” to a Disney Magic Key (annual pass)
- The start date is not known yet, we just know it will start sometime this fall.
My thoughts
I am bummed the free FastPass option is gone, our family took advantage of that service on every visit, we very rarely waited in a stand-by line. Other parks like Universal have been using a pay to “skip the line” service for years and I figured it was only a matter of time before Disney adopted the same plan. I will have to hold off on my thoughts until I actually see the service in action and get a feel for if it’s a necessary thing in order to skip waiting in long lines. I do think the option for the a la carte purchase is a decent idea if you only have one day in the park and you weren’t able to get on the virtual queue for rides like Rise of the Resistance. I probably won’t ever use it, but it may be handy for some. We are heading to Disney World in the fall when this new service should be in use. I’ll take one for the team and try it out to let you know all the ups and downs.
If you are planning a trip to Disneyland (or Disney World) I highly recommend using Get Away Today to book your hotel and ticket package. You can also use their services to just purchase Disneyland tickets as well. They offer some of THE BEST discounts around and I have used them on multiple occasions. You can add their “peace of mind” plan for fee and that will allow you to change or cancel your trip without any additional fees. Their customer service is the best! Even better, if you book a 2-night or longer hotel and ticket package and use the code THRIVING10 you will get an additional $10 off the package price. Every little bit helps when it comes to saving money at Disney! Make sure you check out our honest hotel reviews of all the hotels we have used around Disneyland. For even more Disney tips and information, check out these posts as well.
- Complete Guide to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
- Ultimate Guide to Disneyland Snacks
- Complete Guide to Pixar Pier
- Visiting Disneyland in the Fall
- Make a custom lightsaber at Savi’s Workshop
- Review of the Caribbean Beach Resort at Disney World
- Our tip for saving big of official Disney Parks souvenirs
- Highlights from our trip to Disneyland Paris
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