This afternoon Disney announced a new virtual planning assistant called the Disney Genie Service. Debuting this fall, the Disney Genie provides both free and paid planning tools for theme park guests and visiting families.
Free Disney Genie Services
Personalized Itineraries
Incorporated into the MyDisneyExperience app, guests can personalize their virtual assistant to pay attention to their specific interests – from individual attractions to more general categories such as Disney Princesses. Using this information, the Genie will create a customized itinerary with tips and suggestions for getting the most out of your day.
Wait Time Forecasts
In addition to showing current wait times for all your favorite attractions, the Genie will forecast future wait times as well – allowing you to make an informed, strategic decision before committing to an attraction queue.
Improved Restaurant Reservations and Mobile Ordering Capabilities
Make a dining reservation, see approximate wait times, or even join a restaurant list directly on your phone. Of course, you can also mobile order from select locations for more efficient service.
Paid Disney Genie Services
Here’s the bad news. Remember FastPass+ – that nifty feature on the MyDisneyExperience app that let you make FastPass reservations right from your living room, days in advance? Yeah. That’s gone. The FastPass we remember has now been replaced with Genie+ and Lightning Lane paid services.
Genie+
For an extra $15 per ticket per day, guests can add Genie+. For queue purposes, this is essentially FastPass+ without the major attractions. Guests can pick an available time window at select attractions like The Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. You can only hold one reservation at a time, however, so choose wisely!
Genie+ will also include Disney Parks themed audio experiences and augmented reality photo lenses to further enhance your day.
Individual Attraction Selection
Yes, that’s right. When it comes to high demand attractions like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (or presumably Flight of Passage), you’ll need to make an additional purchase – up to two selections each day.
Holidays at Walt Disney World Begin November 12!
Visit Disney’s website to learn more about the Genie. While I’m sure this is upsetting news for many, I am hopeful that the reduced usage of a FastPass+ type system will ultimately be beneficial for overall wait times and park experiences. We’ll find out for certain soon enough. In the meantime, the below video offers an entertaining overview of all the Genie services (both free and paid).
