Disney Genie+ and ILL$ Details & FAQ - Launches 10/19 at WDW, Paid "FastPass" at WDW and Disneyland (date TBD)

[Liquidice]

Disney Genie, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane Selections (ILL$) officially launch on 10/19/21 at Walt Disney World
Details here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/genie/
and here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/genie/lightning-lane/

Deni Sunderly has a great article on WDWInfo explaining how Genie, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane Selections will work when it starts on 10/19/21!

https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-storie...ney-world-oct-19-weve-got-all-of-the-details/
The part we're most interested in is the paid "Fastpass" - now called Genie+ service which seems similar to Disneyland's MaxPass - but it is $15 per day per person at WDW, $20 per day per person at Disneyland. You can get 1 Lightning Lane Pass at a time and then get another pass once you've used the first one (there is reportedly a "cool down timer" between requesting passes though - latest estimates are after 2 hours you can get a 2nd Lightning Lane pass, see FAQ I have heard 90 minutes).

However it seems to only include "Tier 2" attractions. For E-ticket attractions, it sounds like you will need to pay for Individual Lightning Lane selections (ILL$) - and you can only get 2 of those per day.

From Disney World's Website:
-------------------------------------------------
How It Works
Starting October 19, our new Lightning Lane entrances will be introduced at a wide variety of attractions and entertainment experiences, available through 2 options, which can be combined.

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections
When you take your day to the next level by purchasing Disney Genie+ service, you can select arrival windows for Lightning Lane entrances that are available at more than 40 attractions and entertainment across all 4 theme parks, one at a time throughout the day.
Price
Disney Genie+ service will be available for $15 per Guest per day.

Individual Lightning Lane Selections (ILL$)
For some of our most highly demanded attractions, Lightning Lane entry will be available for purchase individually. Guests may purchase and select an arrival window one at a time for up to 2 attractions a day. This option will be available for all Guests—with or without Disney Genie+ service.
Price
Pricing and availability will vary by date, attraction and park. Be sure to check the My Disney Experience app on the day of your visit for current prices and attraction availability. (Range currently seems to be between $7 and $15 per person per ride).

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Can I still get a paper Fastpass or any kind of Fastpass for free?
A: No this is not an option any longer. The only options for "skip the line" for attractions is to pay for Genie+ for 40+ attractions at WDW and 15+ at DLR and for certain attractions to pay individually for a Lightning Lane Pass (prices have not been announced yet).

2. Do I need to buy the Genie+ for $15 to obtain a Lightning Lane pass for Individual Lightning Lane Selections (ILL$) like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train?
A: No you do not need to buy Genie+ to purchase ILL$.

3. What rides will be included in Genie+?
A: For WDW it is advertised that 40 rides will be included with Genie+. This means that some rides will not be included. The rides where you can buy ILL$ will NOT be included in Genie+. Disney has officially said that Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at WDW will not be included.

Here is the official list of rides which you must pay separately for (Individual Lightning Lane Selections or ILL$):

Disneyland Park

• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Disney California Adventure Park

• Radiator Springs Racers
• WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure

Magic Kingdom

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain

EPCOT

• Frozen Ever After
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

• Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain

More details on what rides are available for ILL$ and Genie+ available here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/genie/lightning-lane/
and https://disneyland.disney.go.com/genie/

4. Will there be a Genie+ Annual option for Annual Passholders and Magickey holders like there was with MaxPass?
A: At this time, Disney will only be offering a pay per day option to all guests for Genie+ but they have stated they will consider other offerings in the future.

5. What happens if I buy a Lightning Lane pass for a Tier 1 attraction and the ride is down?
A: We honestly don't know yet at this point. Total conjecture - but I would assume you could potentially trade it for a different Lightning Lane Pass for a different ride OR you could get a full refund - but nobody knows for sure yet.

6. Do I have to purchase Genie+ for the entire length of my trip?

No, you can purchase for your entire trip or same day 1 at a time.

• Before Your Visit, for the entire length of your trip:
  Available as an add-on to a ticket or vacation package for the duration of visit. Purchase via Disneyworld.com or authorized travel professionals.
• Same Day of Visit, for a single day:
  Available for single-day use for existing ticket holders or Annual Passholders. Purchase via Disney Genie service in the My Disney Experience app.

7. Will Genie+ and ILL$ purchases be available during Extended Evening Hours and Early Entry for Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests?
No, only standby lines will be in use during these times.

8. Will Genie+ and/or ILL$ work with Park Hopping?

Yes, you will be able to make a reservation for after 2 pm in a different park than the one where you started your day and have your Disney Park Pass reservation. You are still limited to 2 ILL$ passes per day.

9. Will I be able to "stack" Lightning Lane Passes with Genie+ and hold more than 1 LL Pass at a time?

According to this post (Link) yes, similar to the way MaxPass worked, if you select a LL Pass that is more than 2 hours away, you will be able to make a 2nd LL selection after 2 hours have elapsed. For example, it is currently 9am, and you select a LL Pass for a ride at 5pm. At 11am you will be able to make a 2nd selection.

10. How many times can I ride the same ride with Genie+ (e.g. Can I ride Haunted Mansion using the Lightning Lane more than once with Genie+)?

According to theme park journalist Carlye Wisel during the initial launch of Genie+ you will only be able to obtain one Genie+ Lightning Lane per ride, per day but this could change over time. Source:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1443663711235985414

11. How much will Individual Lightning Lane Selections (ILL$) cost?
Prices will vary by date, attraction and park. For example, the Lightning Lane entrance to Remy's Ratatouille Adventure will be $9 per person on October 19 and $11 per person on October 23. As another example, on both those dates, Lightning Lane entrance to Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain will be $7 per person, while Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will be $15 per person. Throughout the year, prices may be lower on some days and higher on other days. This option may be purchased at up to 2 different attractions each day. (Source)

12. Once I select an ILL$ time and ride, can I cancel or change it?
Currently, Disney has said you will be unable to change or cancel an ILL$ selection once you have purchased it. It is unknown what Disney will do if the ride is broken down or unavailable at the time you have selected.

13. What time can I select my first Genie+ LL and purchase ILL$?
For all guests who have purchased Genie+ you will be able to make your first LL selection at 7am.

For guests staying at an onsite hotel, you will be able to make your first ILL$ purchase at 7am. For all other guests, it will be at the time the park opens.

14. More questions answered from Day One experiences on TouringPlans here:

https://touringplans.com/blog/genie-testing-what-we-learned-in-one-day/

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

RIP fast pass plus, I shall miss you.

and I shall also miss going to WDW every year, because it was more affordable.

 

[Liquidice]

I think the crappy thing about this is the $15 per day or $20 per day is like Maxpass but it is only for "Tier 2" attractions. For E-Ticket attractions, you need to pay individually for this ride.

There is also no free option at all - at Disneyland where MaxPass was $20 per day per person you could still get paper Fastpass tickets for free. Now it seems the only option is to pay.

And you can only get 2 E-Ticket attraction Lightning passes per day.

I was also really hoping for free passes if you're staying on site - but based on the way this looks, I don't think that will happen.

 

[kwdw]

Knew this was coming, and I am sure there will continue to be many, many folks happy to pay this, but for a 10+ year Disney fan - this is going to make me feel VERY, VERY negatively about the company for a LONG time. I hate the increase in added fees they have been doing the past few years.

 

[4077]

What I think is most interesting is that with EVERY change of this sort that takes away or charges more there are all the complaints and “I’ll never go agains.” Then we follow up with until it starts hurting Disney they will keep finding ways to squeeze more $ out of each guest (naturally as a business would do). What I wonder if we will ever see is do we reach an actual tipping point where they have gone too far? Or will there ALWAYS and FOREVER be enough people who will keep feeding the mouse no matter how many “undesirable” moves with reductions or increased costs there are? For all the talk of “when it starts to hurt them” over the years, I don’t feel like they will reach that point… barring another HUGE economic hit, and who knows even then… they lived through this one…

 

[BrianL]

Knew is was coming, and I am sure there will continue to be many, many folks happy to pay this, but for a 10+ year Disney fan - this is going to make me feel VERY, VERY negatively about the company for a LONG time. I hate the increase in added fees they have been doing the past few years.

It is tough to swallow, BUT the fact is the demand for this sort of thing is there. The demand has bene overwhhelming their capacity - charging for that is the natural outcome. It's unfortunate, but it's where we're at right now. They could be pushing it too far though, and if they do, demand will fall. We'll just have to see. I'm not thrilled about it, though there are some aspects I do like. I do think it could've been worse though, so there's that at least.

 

[BrianL]

What I think is most interesting is that with EVERY change of this sort that takes away or charges more there are all the complaints and “I’ll never go agains.” Then we follow up with until it starts hurting Disney they will keep finding ways to squeeze more $ out of each guest (naturally as a business would do). What I wonder if we will ever see is do we reach an actual tipping point where they have gone too far? Or will there ALWAYS and FOREVER be enough people who will keep feeding the mouse no matter how many “undesirable” moves with reductions or increased costs there are? For all the talk of “when it starts to hurt them” over the years, I don’t feel like they will reach that point… barring another HUGE economic hit, and who knows even then… they lived through this one…

Fact is, dmeand is there right now for sure. We'll just have to see how things unfold.

 

[_bp_5_]

15 a day per person for “tier two fast passes” aka genie plus. Not the headliners like FOP or Seven dwarves. Then pay extra for the tier one fast pass rides aka individual genie options like RoR or Remy’s. But can you have one of each. Sigh. So much money.

 

[Liquidice]

Disney was "smart" to only allow 2 E-Ticket Lightning Passes per day. This ensures that VIP Tours still have a place and it also drives people who can't afford a VIP Tour to stay longer at WDW if they want to ride all of the E-Ticket attractions using the Lightning Lane. At least thats what I'm sure their thinking is -- in truth I wonder if people will end up shortening their stays to be able to afford all of these extra fees.

 

[maverikv]

The one thing I like about this is that the rides you pay ala carte for are ones my kid won't go on, so now I can just pay whatever just for me, hop right on, and then go back to the stuff we all want to do. Very situational though and no guarantee it will actually work out that way

 

[whiporee]

I held out hope but I was wrong. Congrats to those who were right.

 

[Liquidice]

I wonder if they will include it as an option for Annual Passes at WDW the same way you could buy MaxPass with the DIsneyland AP? That might make it a little easier to swallow if you could pay for an entire year of Genie+.

 

[TioAdis78]

I held out hope but I was wrong. Congrats to those who were right.

Not a big win, to be honest. We are all on the same-ish boat.

 

[Aravan24]

No real value for us so we won’t bother with Genie+. We have already quit staying on property because of the sky-high rates, paid parking, and all of the perks that made it “worth it” being stripped away. Hard to justify paying $200+ a night for POP Century when I can stay at Cabana Bay Beach Resort at Universal, I’m a family suite, for $150 a night and walk to Volcano Bay.

 

[rstevens333]

What I don't get is the free Genie tier. Do you simply pop in your preferences and it recommends when you should go to them? Kind of a traffic shaping thing?

Here's hoping the G+ (R.I.P. Google+) paid tier isn't totally brutal on passholders.

I liked Maxpass the one time I went to Anaheim. I love using the Touring Plans Lines app to spontaneously move through the parks with a minimal plan. Maybe this won't be too bad?

 

[spiders]

I'm not terribly thrilled about the idea of paying for yet another thing that used to be included. However, I am also happy that something will be back in time for our upcoming trip this fall. At the end of the day, I know I'm definitely going to buy it -- there is absolutely zero chance that I won't. For a family of 4 for 7 days it will be about $400 after taxes. I guess it's still cheaper than a single Christmas party.

 

[mercuryvenus]

I think the optimized itineraries are huge. Those should reduce wait times on their own. Anyone who has used Touring Plans knows that.

 

[slyster]

I may have missed it but when does this begin?

 

[Yahweh]

I was hoping it would be a lot more expensive than $15 a day. It is at that price range where I won't pay for it, but many people will. And that will make it much more challenging to navigate the parks for those of us who only have stand-by lines as an option.

Really disppointed!

 

[chefski]

Just another nail in the affordability coffin, I sure hope they offer something to those staying onsite because quite honestly I do not see any reason to stay onsite anymore. I mean all the perks that you got previously have now gone.

Pay for parking at hotels, 60 day for ADR (I know you get 10 days of stay but even so its not that great compared to not staying onsite) 30 mins early admission unless of course you want to pay more for a deluxe resort. It just seems that it won't be sustainable for a lot of people.

It says something when I can fly from the UK, hire a car, stay in a hotel for £4k but I have to pay the best part of £2k for Disney tickets. When we first went in 2009 it cost us around £400 -£450 for a combo ticket for all parks. now to go to Disney,Universal and Seaworld etc it is around £750 ($1020) per person.

West Coast road trip next time for us I think.