FastPass+ and MaxPass have gone away, and 2 NEW, paid services have taken over at Disney World and Disneyland.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is an Individual Lightning Lane Attraction
Disney Genie, Genie+, and Individual Attraction Selection are the ways of the (Disney) World now, and we’ve had a chance to learn all there is to know. The services are available for all guests to use, but guests staying in Disney World Resort Hotels get an extra perk when it comes to one particular service. We’re taking a look at that perk and whether or not its worth booking a hotel room!
Disney Genie+ is a service through which guests are able to pay a set amount per day per ticket ($15 per day per ticket in Disney World, $20 per day per ticket in Disneyland) to choose the next available time to arrive at an attraction and use that attraction’s “Lightning Lane” (a.k.a. the old FastPass Lane). Essentially, this is a paid service that can help guests skip the lines at select attractions. Guests will be able to make 1 Genie+ ride selection at a time throughout the day (with some exceptions).
©Disney
Over 40 attractions are included in this service at Disney World and over 15 attractions are included at Disneyland.
Click here to see our step-by-step guide to buying Genie+ in Disney World!
In addition to Genie+, Disney has introduced something called Individual Attraction Selection (or pay-per-ride). With this service, guests are able to pay a certain amount to utilize the Lightning Lane for a specific, individual attraction. In other words, the guest is paying to bypass the standby queue (or virtual queue) for a single ride.
Lightning Lane Rise of the Resistance
Guests can only hold up to 2 Individual Attraction Selections per day (across all 4 theme parks in Disney World and 2 theme parks in Disneyland).
Click here to see our step-by-step guide to buying pay-per-ride selections.
The rides that are available through Disney Genie+ are different than those offered through Individual Attraction Selection. Individual Attraction Selection is being utilized for those highly popular Disney rides.
In Disney World, some of the rides included in this pay-per-ride service are: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.
Click here to see the full list of rides you can pay extra for!
The benefit for hotel guests comes in with relation to Individual Attraction Selection (pay-per-ride). All guests will have the ability to buy Individual Attraction Selections. Guests will be able to buy their first one when the park opens.
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
But, those staying at select hotels get a little bit earlier access. Disney has stated that those staying at Disney owned and operated hotels, The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, and Shades of Green at Walt Disney World Resort will be able to make their first Individual Attraction Selections at 7AM each day.
Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
Talk about a SERIOUS perk of staying on property!
Click Here to See if Genie+ Is Necessary in Disney World
This can be a big deal especially considering that these rides are some of the most popular ones in the parks. Booking those popular rides earlier can (generally) give you a better selection in terms of available return times. Just a few days after Disney Genie’s debut in Disney World, one of our reporters tried to get a pay-per-ride selection for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at 9AM (when the park opened), and the next available return time wasn’t until 5:40PM. Just seconds later, the next available return time wasn’t until after 7PM. We’ve also seen the pay-per-ride selections for Rise of the Resistance selling out not too long after the park has opened for the day.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
We also saw a similar situation with the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT. On Cosmic Rewind’s opening day, the Individual Lightning Lane cost a whopping $17. Although the park opened at 8:30AM on opening day, guests who weren’t staying at a Disney Resort hotel didn’t even get the chance to thrown down that cash, as the Individual Lightning Lane passes had sold out by 7:20AM.
Click Here to See Our Opening Day Coverage of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Not all hope is lost, though, as guests cancel their Lightning Lane reservations for a multitude of reasons, and refreshing the booking page throughout the day can sometimes win you a bit of luck! But, if you’re really trying to ensure that you have the very best chance of getting that coveted Individual Lightning Lane reservation, staying in a Disney Resort is the way to go!
Polynesian Resort
This certainly isn’t the case for all Genie+ attractions or Individual Lightning Lane attractions, though in our experience thus far — popular rides to tend to sell out early in the day. Not only that, but the time of year you visit the parks can make a difference as heavier crowds mean more people trying to book Individual Lightning Lane reservations.
Click Here to See the 5 Most Important Disney Genie Tips to Know Before You Go
Keep in mind that the rules are a bit different when it comes to making Disney Genie+ selections. For Disney Genie+, your first selection can be made at 7AM on the day of your visit at Disney World (this is for all guests: those staying at Disney resorts and those who are not), but can only be made once a guest is in the park over at Disneyland.
Lightning Lane at Toy Story Midway Mania
We’ll continue to keep an eye out for more updates and details about Disney Genie+, Individual Attraction Selection, and more. Stay tuned for more updates on that!
Learn all about Disney Genie, Genie+, and Individual Attraction Selection here!
All About Disney Genie, Genie+, and Individual Attraction Selection
BIG Genie+ Changes Being Planned For Disney World
FULL List of Rides Included With Genie+ in Disney World
3 Tips to OUTSMART Genie+ in Disney World Right Now
Please Stop Skipping These Genie+ Hacks in Disney World (They Really Work!)
Genie+ Tips for the Most Crowded Days in Disney World and Disneyland
Click HERE to See More About Disney Genie
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What do you think about the Disney Genie+ service? Tell us in the comments.
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disney is becoming a playground for the Rich…I have a trip in september for my 76 yo mothers 30th trip…when this is over Disney wont get another penny from me..EVER
Let me get this straight. For DW, I’d have to pay $15 per day, per ticket to get access to Genie+, and then have to pay an ADDITIONAL (undisclosed) amount per ticket for each individual ride over and above the $15? And the only perk for staying on property is that I can make my first selection at 7 am the day of my visit? Am I reading this correctly?? What kind of perk is that?
I may change my mind, but right now my feeling is: Nope. Not paying one more penny for express ride access.
SO once again Corporate Disney is ripping us off again. I’ll bet that they’ll raise ticket prices too. So you have the highest prices of ANY theme park and then will still have to pay an additional $60/day for a family of 4 and STILL not be able to get on the best or most popular rides in the park, unless you also spend MORE money for those rides. So now you’ll have to try and not only get this at 7am, but a boarding pass as well. Good luck with that!
Ugh, I’m over the constant drip drip drip of more money for the experience. We used to be an every year family. This will definitely make us an every 3-4 or maybe 5 year family.
It’s all too much I liked having my rides sorted days in advance ( not everyone’s cup of tea) I can see this giving me major headaches and anxiety, all my trips are planned so will see if next year will be my last trip , maybe it will work fine I will just have to wait and see
This seems awfully confusing and a lot of work just to get on ride. What was wrong with the old system? I cant speak for anyone else but it seems a little bit unfair to be on vacation and have to wake up at 7 am just to guarantee a chance to ride or otherwise wait for hours to get on a ride. I have a booked a trip next year and Im slightly discouraged now.
Disney has CROSSED THE LINE. What was free you must pay for now. The Fast Pass was GREAT and it was free. Now Disney wants you to pay to enter the park and then PAY to go on the rides. 2019 was our last of 29 visits to Disney. Our family has booked a Disney vacation for 2022 which we will now cancel. I have $1100 of Disney Gift Cards. Can I sell them back to you DISNEY?
What a waste! Disney has officially lost the last bit of magic!
Terrible, even more money. So upset
So at 7 AM you have to try to get in the Virtual queue for ROR, try to buy an Individual Attraction selection if you are park hopping to Remy or 7DMT and schedule your first Genie+ ride? That seems like a cluster.
There should be a better incentive for resort guests like one free Lightning pass for a headliner rides.
If we were not DVC, I would not push to stay on site for this minimal advantage.
Disney is walking a fine line with overpricing and over exposure to failure.
In other words, a surcharge to go on rides at the Parks!
Dos ey has got to know that this is completely confusing.
I’ve read all of these articles and it seems that DFB doesn’t really understand either.
What I gather is
– there are 3 different systems?
– It’s pay per ride?
– Something called genie and then there’s Genie+. Both keep getting thrown around.
This is rediculous.
Just disney to nickel and dime everything.
How soon till they go back to ABCDE tickets for each ride?
I just don’t und
Absolutely zero benefit. I can get up at the crack of dawn having paid a fortune to stay at the Grand Floridian to have to pay per attraction for something I thought I had already paid for in my main ticket? Why not stay at an offsite hotel where its a lot cheaper and concierge service really means “concierge”. FAIL!
I gotta say, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It’s a total money grab. Makes me not want to go to WDW anymore.
How is that a 7am money extortion gets to be a “perk”. A perk if you get it included in your Disney overpriced hotel stay. Disney have been so successful in cutting perks and reducing amenities that people get excited to jump on their phones at 7am to give more money to Disney? I think you need a reality check .
They are pricing the working family out of going to the “Magical place”
This doesn’t sound like a perk. It sounds like another long day requiring me to wake up early for a chance at a time slot….sounds familiar. Who is coming up with these ideas!?
This is horrendous. The magical express gone. Meal plans gone. Fast pass gone. Early reservations gone. What are the perks of staying at a Disney hotel? They’re GONE! I’m insulted. Have reservations for April. I may stay off grounds.instead.
I can’t believe you’re making this sound like it is a good thing. I’ve always preferred making my 3 fast passes in advance so I could plan my park day around them. It’s bad enough having to pay for something that used to be free, but I am not an early riser. I rarely get to a park before noon, so this is not a perk to be able to make reservations at 7 am. What it means is, even if I decide to pay the extra money for passes, odds are I won’t get anything I want just because I am a night person.
Another money grab. When will it stop? I am disgusted at how Disney has only become a bottomless money pit. First they eliminate Magical Express,then the express hotel check in service,then fast pass,taking away all perks that made for convenience for the guests. But obviously they do not care about convenience for their guests. I will be selling my DVC membership as the whole Disney Magic concept is nothing but a joke now…
GREEDY! GREEDY! GREEDY! They have just lost our business.
This makes your disney trip so much more stressful, why can’t they let you pick earlier like the old 60/30 day timing before you go? Aggravating to have to wake up at 7am the day of, especially if your not a morning person, just to pay now for being able to go on family favorite rides, and be disappointed if you can’t get in. This really was not in the consumers/vacationers interests at all. Of course Disney wants to make more money but at least make it more user friendly. I really don’t see the advantage of staying at a Disney hotel anymore, I feel Disney just handed over their competition hotels in the area a bunch of new customers.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Keith. I am so sick of Disney’s ever increasing greed. I was already upset about losing thousands of dollars on 100+ banked DVC points that they would not extend and on 6 APs that we barely got to use. This just makes me dislike them even more. Unfortunately, they will keep it up as long as people are willing to pay. Only if people rebel and refuse to buy into it will they change.
In the past when Disney was not giving DVC AP discounts, we just stayed there as our base to visit other places in FL. Others must have done the same, because they came out with one of their best AP discounts shortly afterward.
If people stop going to Disney, don’t pay the exorbitant price for special events, DVC members just stay in the hotels and go to outside parks, people flying in buy groceries or eat at less expensive restaurants outside of Disney since they now have to rent cars, etc., then Disney will start to make changes, because the only thing they really care about is the bottom line. All the pretense of caring about “Guests” is really caring about our money. It’s always been that, they are just eliminating the illusion that it was us they cared about.
And then they haven’t even brought the dining plan back I can only imagine the cost of the dining plan!
Something has to give people! This is getting ridiculous. I understand Disney lost millions during the shutdown but why all the price increases on everything all at once. Hotel rooms are so overpriced, tickets have gone up, food prices increased, housekeeping has decreased, no fastpasses, no late hours, no character interactions, no parades, no free airport transportation. We’ve lost some of the magic and we are paying more!
Disney’s primary objective is to separate you from your hard earned money. If it doesn’t increase revenue, it has no intrinsic value. I feel bad for my kids and grand kids because they will miss our many MANY trips to Disney World. We are priced out of the game and I’ll bet Walt is spinning in his grave. It is obvious that Disney will raise prices until they find the ceiling, the point where people will no longer pay. Then they might back off, just a bit… it’s a system used by many businesses to see just how far they can go. Well, you have gone too far this time, my Mickey Mouse friends. See ya later, Pal.
Disney is pushing our family to vacation where someone is not constantly charging me more for less. See you real soon….I think not.
This is beyond disgusting. So many things were already taken away while prices just kept skyrocketing. The magic is completely gone. Many people are saying, why stay on Disney property?, but my family is now forced to say, why go to Disney st all? So sad.
I think the customer base Disney is looking for is rich, morning people, lol. We were going to do a two week trip in January 2023 but we’re gonna cut it back to 5 days. The only reason we’re going at all is because it’s my nephew’s first trip and probably his last. For they money we would spend at Disney we can stay an entire week in an all inclusive resort with BUTLER service! Disney, give me a call when you are including actual perks with your cost. I do hope the backlash will convince the company to change just a little.
Brandon, I have a good handle on the info. Disney Genie is the basic planning app that will be accessed through My Disney Experience. It will include a Virtual Assistant, suggestions and help with itineraries, and new features like predicted wait times. Disney Genie+ is the first of two for-purchase add-ons. Genie+ will be $15 per person/ticket per day and will allow users to book a Lightning Pass for one attraction at a time. For that price you can book as many Lightning Passes as are available to you during a single day. You can use Disney Genie+ at multiple Parks per day. The second for-purchase add-on is Individual Attraction Selections. Guests can purchase up to two of these per day at any Park (good if you’re Park Hopping). Individual Attraction Selections pricing will vary depending on the attraction, the Park, and the date. These are one-time Lightning Passes for highly popular rides, so the rides available for Individual Attraction Selections will NOT be included in the attractions available with Genie+. Does that clarify things a bit?
Kevin, the $15 per person, per day would cover over 40 rides at Walt Disney World, but it would not include some of the most popular rides — like Remy and Rise of the Resistance. If you want Lightning Lane access to those rides, you’ll need to pay for them individually with the second new program, called Individual Attraction Selections. Disney has not released specific pricing for that service yet.
What would Walt say……….?
TaTa, Disney! I truly hope thousands of families stop going to your parks until you come to your senses and bring back the magic as well as reasonable prices. Until then, we will spend our vacation dollars elsewhere!
It made me laugh when Disney said we’ve been listening to what guests want… then came up with these results.
What a joke.
What did we do to you Disney to be treated so poorly?
The only demographic this helps out are 1 day off site guests who arrived on a last minute whim. Disney has kicked it’s loyal supporters to the kerb.
And why 7am? It’s meant to be a vacation.
I personally like the idea! There are certain rides my daughter and I have not been able to ride over the years due to we could not get fast passes for and the lines are too long. I will gladly pay $15 to get on a ride we have been wanting to ride and not have to wait! LOVE!!!!
Don’t think so. Pixy Dust is losing its luster. Constant changes leading to more cost but nothing for Mouseketeer s to gain or see. No bang for the buck. Disney executives aren’t listening. Have taken more exhibits and rides away than added. Continue to cut back. Wake up. Where’s Eisner when you need him
DFB Sarah,
I’m sorry but the article is confusing:
“ IN ADDITION to Genie+, Disney will be introducing something called Individual Attraction Selection.”
When you write “In addition…” it implies (at least to me) that you must purchase IAS “in addition” to Genie+.
Thank you for clarifying.
Still not paying for a non-perk.
I fully agree with all of the above that This is another Disney money trap.
From a DVC perspective, I wonder if Disney is removing all of the high value perks to drive resale prices down. Then, they couldn’t exercise ROFR (right of first refusal), and buy back a heap of points inventory. Then, they could introduce some shiny new perks (or renew old perks), and sell the points at higher prices when demand increases. Remember, you have to buy a minimum of 150 points directly from Disney to get the perks. This was just announced earlier this year (June I believe).
Disney is becoming more of a pay-to-play game. I am ok with this since not everyone goes to Disney for the same reasons. For some it’s rides, for some it’s character interactions, for some it’s photo ops and others it’s shopping. I get it. BUT, one thing to justify Disney’s crazy ticket prices and high hotel rates was that it included a lot of perks, like magic bands, magical express, dining plans, early and late magic days and sooner reservation system times than those not on property. Sadly, ALL of these perks are now gone and everything is at cost for everyone yet prices have not changed. So, instead of spending $300 a night for room and all these perks I would be paying $300 a night for room only. No thank you. We are going for the 50th anniversary but that may be the last time, and we are NOT staying on property for the first time in twenty years. Heading to Universal now. They have pay-to-play passes and such but their ticket prices are cheaper to compensate. Hopefully Disney will lose enough to change its practices.
Where did you get the information that staying at a Disney hotel gets you early access to Rise of the Resistance and other “premium” rides? I don’t see anything like this on the official Disney website or the exclusive interview with D’Amado. Sincerely interested in reading the fine print if you have a link with more info. Thanks!
Will be available to book at 7 am for guests staying at Disney springs Hotel?
I’m getting confused with all this information ☹️ Does this mean we have to pay an EXTRA $15 pp just for entering the parks?? Does it also mean we have to pay to enter anything in Disney. What’s next paying for a toilet pass or a restaurant????
We are going to Disney World in November, does the 7am ‘Perk’ include hotels at Disney Springs? We are staying at the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace. Thanks.
Wow what a bunch of whiny babies. I think its hillarious nobody ever complains about Universal with their crappy parks and the same expensive prices and a Fast-pass that is a fortune…and they have been doing it for years. So now Disney has one and they’re the bad guy ?? And Comcast is a bigger and more greedy company with horrific customer service. Never understood this. I m DVC, and sure Disney isn’t perfect, but we’ve been dozens of times to WDW, DL, Vero and are going to Alauni and Hilton Head next year…you just can’t beat Disney.
Universal has been doing it for years but now Disney is the bad guy ??? After 40+ trips the only thing I m sick of is people constantly complaining about Disney prices.
Funny how this is basically the old free fast pass system from years ago repackaged as a paid system. I’m sure paying for WiFi use and bathrooms are next. Thanks Disney for squeezing every penny out of the public. Cancel or scale back many projects and lackluster new lands. Can’t say when or if our family will go back. We all know Disney is in it to make money but greed for the shareholders can only go so far.
Amy, usually Resort perks do apply to the Disney Springs Area Resorts. I don’t see them listed on the Disney Springs Area Resorts website yet, so we’ll update if/when the info is released.
Why don’t they want lower middle class guests anymore? They eat at the restaurants and buy an awful lot of souvineers while on vacation.
This article mentions, “Disney has stated that those staying at Disney owned and operated hotels, The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, and Shades of Green at Walt Disney World Resort will be able to make their first Individual Attraction Selections at 7AM each day.” But I can’t find this information anywhere on Disney’s official website or in any of the D’Amaro interviews. Can you share the link where you found Disney stating this extra perk for staying at Disney hotels? Thanks!