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Disney World Is Changing The Genie Service. Here’s What You Need To Know.

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Good grief, Disney!!

It used to be that planning a trip to the Happiest Place On Earth meant nothing more than picking out clothes, packing a suitcase, and deciding how you would get there.

Those were the days, AMIRITE?!?

You could just play it day-by-day, and leisurely walk from attraction to attraction. No stressful planning involved.

Then Disney moved to the FREE FastPass. It was a convenient change — unless you were one of the people stuck waiting in the standy-by line for hours on end.

Oy, I remember waiting 3 hours to ride Peter Pan’s Flight at Disney World. I watched as the FastPass people were let right one while I stood there with aching feet.

Disney Moved To the Genie+ Feature

After the Pandemic of 2020, Disney World decided to go to the Genie+ feature. You could pay $15 per person per day, and get on up to 5 rides with hardly any waiting.

It was worth every penny! Although, it sucked for the people that were vacationing on a tight budget and couldn’t afford the coveted “Lightning Lane” offered through the Genie+ feature.

But now, Disney is changing yet again.

Going on vacation is supposed to be a relaxing time to refresh and unwind.

With the new changes that were announced on May 18th, vacationing at Disney is going to be FAR from relaxing for those people in charge of planning out the days.

Moms. I’m just going to go ahead and say Moms.

No longer are the days of planning ahead and getting restful sleep in between park days.

Here’s How The Genie+ Feature Is Changing

According to Yahoo, people can’t buy the Disney Genie+ feature until 12:00 a.m. on the day of visit. 

That means waiting up until pumpkin o’clock to make sure you get the feature before it sells out for the day — which happens hella fast.

Then only a few hours later, at 7 a.m. after you’ve had almost no sleep, the booking window opens. It is only then that you can begin reserving attractions. Which again, sell out hella fast.

So, it’s quite possible that you plan an elaborate Disney vacation — pay thousands upon thousands of dollars — and you won’t get to go on all the rides your kids have been begging for.

We are definitely seasoned veterans, and it frustrates us — I can’t imagine how people feel going to Walt Disney World for the first time.

Micah Goldsberry, Former Cast Member And Longtime Guest Of The Parks

The Genie+ feature is so confusing that many are reaching out to travel agents to help guide them in the right direction.

Even travel agents find it hard to navigate, though, and some have gone to preparing how-to guides for people to try to steer their way through the process.

Overall, my clients have not found this to be a worthwhile experience — I have had a handful, maybe 10 clients, book it, and they all hate it. They hate that you now have to pay for FastPasses, which were free pre-pandemic, they hate that you can’t book attractions until 7 a.m. the day of.

Jenn Greene To Yahoo Life

Here Are Tips I Have Learned From Using The Genie+ Feature

  • Stay up until 12am — even though it’s inconvenient — and get the feature as soon as it is available.
  • Be READY at 7am, and know the rides and attractions you want to use the Genie+ feature on. There isn’t really time to be fickle here. Know what you want, and go for it.
  • It is important to note that you can only take advantage of the 7am Genie+ booking window if you are staying on property at a Disney Resort. All other people have to wait until the park opens to book your “Lightning Lane” rides.
  • Use the Genie+ feature for popular rides and attractions. Don’t waste your time booking smaller rides or attractions that you can wait in a small queue to experience.
  • Have someone on ANOTHER device, ready to book the high-demand rides that are only available through the a la carte section (they cost more money). These would be things like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Rise of the Resistance, or Avatar: Flight of Passage.
  • Set an alarm every two hours to make sure you are taking full advantage of your Genie+ feature.
  • The feature will INEVITABLY glitch during the day. I can’t tell you how many times I booked a certain time, only to be given a different time when my booking went through. If / When this happens, go directly to one of the Cast Members that stand out under the blue umbrellas. If anyone can help you, they can.
  • I found that the Genie+ feature isn’t as useful at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom. It’s easier to just wait in the standby line for most rides. It’s only mildly useful at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You are going to get the most bang for your buck with the Genie+ feature at Magic Kingdom.
  • If you are planning on Park Hopping — good luck. It gets kinda confusing, and you have to REALLY plan every second of your day out. We have found that sticking with one park per day is the easiest — and cheapest — thing to do.

The new changes to the Genie+ feature are for Disney World ONLY at this time. Changes have not been announced for the Disneyland version of the Genie+ feature.

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