Today is Disney World’s fourth-quarter earnings call, which means the company is reporting on their financial status.
Magic Kingdom
One of the topics that Disney covered in this quarter’s report was the release of Genie+. When Genie+ was first announced, a lot of people had a negative response to it. In fact, more than half of our readers said they would not pay for Genie+ in Disney World. The new program debuted in Disney World in mid-October — so how many people are actually using it now?
In case you’re not familiar with Genie+, it’s the new paid FastPass-like system in Disney World. Guests can pay $15 per ticket, per day to skip the lines at certain attractions. They do this by reserving “Lightning Lanes” at those rides, which are shorter queues that bypass the standby line.
Lightning Lane Sign
According to the fourth-quarter earnings call, nearly a third of Disney World guests are buying Genie+ for their vacation.
Pirates of the Caribbean’s Lightning Lane
According to our social media poll back in August of this year, about 47% of our readers said they would buy Genie+ in Disney World and Disneyland. So while Disney hasn’t quite reached this number yet, it’s very possible that the number of Genie+ users will grow over time as guests become more familiar with it and as more time passes.
Jungle Cruise Lightning Lane
We will continue to monitor Genie+ and how many people are actually using and paying for the service.
Winnie the Pooh now has a Lightning Lane!
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Read MORE about Disney Genie and Genie+ 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
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Are you planning to buy Genie+ on your next Disney trip? Let us know in the comments.
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Nope. Will not by Genie+. Disney has gotten ridiculously expensive while providing less and less”magic”. Instead of trying to go back multiple times a year, I doubt we’ll go at all in the next few years. Just not worth it for my family.
Not a fan of Genie at all. Just another means of raising the ticket price by not raising the advertised ticket price. I do not care for the new CEO and his money grabbing antics.
It’s awful that they got rid of the free service of fast pass. I bought genie+ and STILL had to pay an extra $7-$13 for high reman rides lightening lane entry. I easily spent an extra 1,000-1,500 dollars for a family of 6 to use genie +/lightening lane AND the high demand lightening lane… Just to skip lines. Although I love skipping lines. Not sure if it’s really worth it. Just another money making scheme. If you’re paying 10k for their hotels/tickets/etc… lightening lane or genie plus should be included in that cost.
People need to boycot Disney or service will get much worse and costs will increase even more.
So in a smoke and mirrors way, Disney increased the price of park admission. While not required, based on a significant percentage opting in, it immediately pushes up the per capita spend.
How many times can you get slapped in the face before you fight back?
I just returned from Disney World, I was at early entry rope drop each day and was able to get on two of the best rides first thing in the morning . I did buy the LL for the fancy rides but I did not purchase Genie +. I refuse to wait in lines longer than 45 minutes and that was rare. I did a lot of things that I haven’t done in many years such as the tiki room, the country Bears, and The Muppets movie, my days were full. I attended each park on two days And split my days at Hollywood studios and the animal kingdom with EPCOT, And during my stay I did every attraction that I wanted at least twice
Genie Plus, pay $15 a day more per person plus pay extra for the popular rides.I hope the percentage of Genie Plus Users falls below 33 percent.
Don’t buy it! If it isn’t successful then they will get rid of it
We were just there the week it started and we bought the Genie+ for the first two days, but it was a rip off! We paid an extra $300.00 for the two days for 9 people, and were only able to use it for a total of three lightening lane rides as the time in between each fast pass was two hours or more. The only way it might be worth the money is if you are there from park opening to park close, or if you could book more than one fast pass at a time like I heard you can do at Universal.
Hi, please could you tell me what rides these were ? Many thanks . Nicki
Genie+ worked great on our recent vacation, much better than the old FastPass system. Don’t think of it as paying $15 extra. Disney was going to raise ticket prices anyway. Would you rather that Disney just raise ticket prices $15 and include Genie+ for “free”? You were going to pay more either way. Now you have the option of purchasing a discount ticket if you don’t need FastPass/Genie+. I hope no one is purchasing Genie+ for our vacation there next year – the short Lightning Lane lines and availability to ride any ride were great.
Genie+ is an absolutely terrible service. First you have to pay for it, which isn’t even my biggest objection! My biggest problem is you can’t plan your day ahead. first you can only start picking attractions at 7:00 in the morning then you cannot pick the times you want. You have to take what the Genie gives you. Then all day you have to stare at your phone to look for new selections and constantly refresh your screen. How do I enjoy the Disney Magic when I’m looking at my phone all day? And you are almost forced to buy it because if you don’t you will be standing in long lines all day. No fun waiting 2 hours to ride Seven Dwarves. Unlike the Disney Vloggers out there us average people are not in the parks every day, when we are there once per year or once in a lifetime we have to ride as much as we can. I have one more trip planned although I may cancel it but that is for sure my last one. I will just have memories when the Magic Kingdom was about magic and not all about MONEY.
Interesting, Disney has raised admission prices every year, including this year, and up until now FastPass was free. Are you saying you’re pleased that they raise prices and charge for Lighting Lane? It appears that a lot of Disney visitors are young and have no idea of Walt’s original intention.
Friend tried to use it yesterday at Epcot. It kept erroring out or not letting his family book anything. I did not purchase genie+ since been to the parks so many times and was glad I did not purchase genie+. He thought it was a rip off given he paid $45 for nothing
Have you considered how many people who have reservations that feel forced into buying these scalper tickets so their family vacation won’t be a waiting disaster?
DVC member since 1992 and just returned from a 7 day stay. Being one that doesn’t enter the parks until after 1PM and stays late, I have no intention of buying Genie+ and getting up at 7:30 to make FPs. My wife and I went into MK at 3PM on day one. Did Monsters, Inc. All queues seemed to be 70+ minutes so we got in the Peter Pan line since the weather was bad and it is indoors. The line took 85 minutes. By then, it was time for our 6PM dinner Ressie. We saw the fireworks after dinner and because of the crowd and park closing at 10PM, it just wasn’t worth it to hang out. One ride!!! AT the Studios on Monday, the line for Runaway Railway was 70 minutes. I only got in it to test how fast it moved because I didn’t believe that many people would pay for Lightning Lane. Surprisingly, lot did. The line took 60 minutes. This new system is horrible. Just give me my 3 FP+ for the day.
Disney has raised prices on EVERYTHING. What I can’t understand is why the Disney Genie Plus limits us to ONE RIDE A DAY ON A PARTICULAR RIDE. Can you PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW THIS MAKES SENSE FOR ANYONE. Please help me to understand. THANKS
Ron, unfortunately Disney hasn’t released its rationale for this, so I don’t have an answer for you.
I hope that WDW continues raising the prices. The crowd levels are still not acceptable and need to be lower. The higher the prices get, the less people that are in the parks each day. As a guest, THAT is what I want. I have found that WDW is oversold and far too crowded on an average day.
Ron, I likewise have no idea.
This past week I was at Epcot. WE did NOT purchase the Genie+ personally but part of our group did for the three of them. The Genie+ was a total failure. It kept erroring out (they have a Pixel 6 a new phone) , would not let them book any time slots, etc etc. They wasted money and could not use it at all that day.
Also tried out the virtual Queue’s for Reme and had no luck, even refreshing at 7am and 1pm, slots were instantly gone and LL option to pay per ride, no luck either.
Luckily we where staying offsite at an Early Entry hotel so that made the difference in us getting on a few rides before it got nuts.
I have to say overall not a great experience at EPCOT for those who had been before, half the park is in construction, and it takes a lot longer to get anywhere due to it (the 5 minute cut through now is 20). The part of our group who had their first time enjoyed it but I think they would have enjoyed it so much more if it was the old fast pass system.
Appears to be only negative experiences on this page. We just returned – 7 adults and 5 children – from 5 days in the parks and had a blast. Using Genie+ we averaged 10-12 attractions per day plus all the other activities that only require stand-by. We refused to wait longer than 15 minutes at any attraction. Reports say 33-50% of guests on any given day are buying Genie+. Obviously, the demand is there. You want to complain about prices? Try Universal. That’s a rip off. We’ll take Disney any day. Had a magical time!