Disney recently made some HUGE news announcements. FastPass+ and MaxPass are being retired at Disney World and Disneyland, the NEW Disney Genie planning service will be available this fall, and there’s not 1 but 2(!!) NEW paid FastPass-like systems being introduced.

There’s a LOT to take in, and honestly, some of it can be very confusing. So, today we’re focusing on two separate things — Disney Genie and Disney Genie+. What are these things? What do you need to know about them? How are they different but also interconnected? We’re breaking down everything you need to know right here.

Disney Genie

Let’s start with the Disney Genie. Genie is a planning service we had been hearing about for a while. As we mentioned, Disney Genie is a planning service. The service will be built right into the My Disney Experience app in Disney World and the Disneyland App at Disneyland Resort.

Basically, the idea is that you can tell Disney Genie what rides you want to go on…

…what types of general things you’re interested in (i.e. princesses, roller coasters, etc.), and the Genie will create a personalized itinerary for you taking all of your wants into consideration.

There will be a tip board where you can see certain attractions and other suggestions. It’ll show you wait times, lightning lane availability (more on that in a second), and more.

You’ll also be able to see forecasted wait times and more. That could help you decide whether to ride an attraction now or wait until its wait time is expected to be less.

When it comes to dining, Disney Genie can do quite a bit. It’ll help you make dining reservations, will recommend spots nearby that are convenient in relation to your plans where you can place a mobile order, will show you the next available mobile order time, will help you place the mobile order conveniently through the app, and can be used to join a mobile dine walk-up waitlist. There’s even a dining tip board where you can see all of the reservations that are available, waitlist times, etc. for restaurants nearby.

Disney Genie’s itinerary will continuously update throughout the day to help you optimize your plans and help you get the most done with your day.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Disney Genie is entirely FREE. You won’t have to pay anything to utilize the Disney Genie planning service when it rolls out this FALL.

Check out the video below to get an overview of Disney Genie.

Disney Genie+

Disney Genie+ is, however, different. Genie+ will be built into the Genie system, making it easy and convenient to access.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Genie+ is a PAID service. To get access to Genie+ you’ll pay $15 per ticket per day at Disney World, and $20 per ticket per day at Disneyland.

What do you get if you pay that $15 or $20? Well, with Genie+ you’ll get the chance to choose the next available time to arrive at a variety of attractions and experiences and use that attraction/experience’s, Lightning Lane. The Lightning Lane is essentially what Disney previously called the FastPass+ lane.

So, you might see that Alien Swirling Saucers has an available lightning lane entrance time between 12:00 and 1:00PM. You’ll make that selection, and when the time arrives, you can hop in the Lightning Lane and skip the standby line for that ride.

Once you’re done with that ride, you can select another, available Genie+ Lightning Lane time for a ride, and so on, throughout the day. You’ll only be able to make 1 Lightning Lane selection at a time.

Important note: Most guests can buy Genie+ in advance for their trip (though Annual Passholders have a slightly different situation). But, guests won’t be able to actually MAKE Genie+ Lightning Lane selections until the DAY OF their trip. At Walt Disney World, guests will be able to make their first Disney Genie+ ride selection at 7AM on the day of their visit. At Disneyland, guests can make their first Disney Genie+ selection once they’re in the park.

At Disney World, Genie+ will include over 40 attractions. At Disneyland, Genie+ will include over 15 attractions.

What rides will be included? So far Disney has mentioned things like Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. Note, however, that NOT all attractions will be available through Genie+. If you want to skip the standby line for the attractions that are NOT on Genie+, you may need to utilize Disney’s second paid service. We won’t get into that here, but you can click here to learn more.

In many ways, Genie+ is similar to and an evolution of the MaxPass service that existed out at Disneyland.

Click here to see how Genie+ is different from MaxPass.

If you pay for the Genie+ service, you’ll also get access to some extra things like Disney parks-themed audio experiences, Augmented Reality photo lenses in Disney World, and unlimited PhotoPass downloads from your day at Disneyland Resort.

Overview

So, generally, Disney Genie is a FREE, planning service that can help show you wait times, suggest attractions/restaurants for your day, and create a personalized itinerary for you.

Disney Genie+ is a PAID, FastPass-like service where you’ll see the next available time to arrive at an attraction/experience and use that ride’s, Lightning Lane. You’ll be able to make 1 Lightning Lane selection at a time. But not all rides’ Lightning Lanes will be available through the Genie+ service. And remember, standby lines are still an option. Disney Genie+ is if you’re looking to get into that Lightning Lane!

We hope that helps break things down a bit. We’re continuing to work on giving you all the information you need to know about Disney Genie. Click on the links below to see more of our articles explaining the services Disney has announced:

• Click here to learn about Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection, including what attractions have been listed for each and more details
• Click here to see what Annual Passholders need to know about Disney Genie
• Click here to see how and why you’ll pay for individual rides with Individual Attraction Selection
• Click here to see more about the features of the FREE Disney Genie planning service (different than Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection)
• Click here to see how Disney Genie+ is different from MaxPass
• Click here to see how being a hotel guest will benefit you with the Individual Attraction Selection service

The service will launch this fall and we’ll keep a lookout for more updates.

Get all the details on Disney Genie, Genie+, and Individual Attraction Selection here!

What questions do you still have about Genie and Genie+? Tell us in the comments.