Hey there!

As I sit down and get ready to dive into the big news we've gotten this week I've got to be honest and say that it's a tad bit overwhelming. We got a lot of new information yet we don't have all the information yet. Lots of new terms and names, and a whole new system for planning our upcoming Walt Disney World vacations. So if you're feeling a little confused or freaking out about it all... SAME. 

 

If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, we learned that Fastpass is retiring and being replaced with a new paid system. It's a topic many Disney fans are upset about, and not without reason. I talked about my initial thoughts in my Instagram stories (if you missed it I've saved it for you here) and I've had a few more days to read learn and think about it.

So we will be getting into the details of what we know so far in this email, and then I'll end with my thoughts on it. Which are significantly different than many in the community (which I'm used to really) but if you're someone who's super plugged in and has been reading and watching a lot about this, then maybe it'll give you a slightly different perspective. Oh, and we'll also touch on the week's news because there was some of that as well. 

So grab a coffee, (or a cocktail I won't judge), and let's jump in!
 

This week, we had some big news that will drastically change how we plan our Walt Disney World trips in the very near future. Fastpass didn't return when Disney World reopened last July and for the last 13 months, we've been without any type of system for shortening wait times. All attractions have been operating with just a traditional standby line with the one exception of Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios, which uses a virtual queue system. 

There has been much speculation on whether Fastpass would return and lots of rumors about getting a paid FP system. In fact, those rumors have been running around for years, way before the parks closed and reopened. Disneyland Paris just debuted their new paid system, and Disneyland in California has had its paid Maxpass system for years now. Disney Genie was introduced back in the summer of 2019 at the D23 expo, and it was known even then to be a way to better manage crowds in the parks and upsell guests on premium experiences. With the increase in wait times since capacity has stopped being reduced, the writing has been on the wall for Walt Disney World. 

So first let's do a very brief overview of the main points that we've learned:

• Fastpass plus is permanently retired.
• The Fastpass plus queue line is now renamed the Lightning Lane (LL)
• Disney Genie is a free planning tool that will be integrated into the My Disney Experience app to help you plan your day while you're at the parks. 
• Disney Genie+ (notice the plus- yes this is going to be confusing as heck for a while) is a paid upgrade that will give you unlimited all-day access to the Lightning Lane for most attractions at each park, which you will "book" through the app one at a time for $15 a person per day. 
• Certain premium (highly popular) attractions will not be available thru the Genie+ option and instead can be reserved for a separate price, on an "a la cart" basis such as Seven Dwarves Mine Train and Rise of the Resistance. (no price info yet)

So that's the bare bones of this. Let's go deeper into each point. 

Genie is a personalized planning tool that will be built into the My Disney Experience app and will help while you're at the park, suggesting what to do next based on your preferences and current wait times and location. This will be free and obviously optional to use. Here's Disney's feature list: 
 

• Get Itinerary Updates from Morning to Night: Disney Genie will continue to update your itinerary throughout your day, so you can be more spontaneous and go with the flow.
• Find Your Favorites at a Glance: Create your very own personal tip board to instantly see your favorites. It will display current AND forecasted future wait times, helping you predict when you might experience quicker entry to attractions.
• Enjoy More Flexibility and Fun: Disney Genie brings existing planning features together in one place. Join a virtual queue at certain attractions, make dining and experience reservations, mobile order food at many locations, get help from a virtual assistant and more.

The tool sounds fine, and how much it will help remains to be seen. But I'm sure it'll be good especially for those unfamiliar with what's available at each park. Now let's talk about Genie+.

 

Let's break down what we know about Disney Genie+. This is the paid upgrade that will essentially replace the old Fastpass system.

Just as a reminder, what we used to think of as the Fastpass queue (essentially a shorter line that allows you to bypass the standby line and get to an attraction with a quicker wait) is now called the Lightning Lane.

Each attraction (or show) that used to offer a Fastpass option will now have a Lightning Lane option to shorten your wait. But you will have to pay to have access to this quicker lane.

There are two ways to do this depending on the attraction. You can buy the Genie+ option will include most of the attractions in one bundle. Or you can buy access to certain premium attractions which will only be offered as a separate "a la cart" price. Let's take the first option, Genie+. 

Genie+ will operate very much like the Disneyland Maxpass system used to. You can choose the next available time to ride, one selection at a time all day long. As soon as you ride you can select another one with no limit. If you zoom in on that shot above you'll see the screen on the right has the current wait standby time listed and then the next time slot for Genie+ listed as well.

So say you're standing in Tomorrowland trying to decide what to ride next. You pull up the app and see what the wait times are. If you bought the Genie+ add-on then you'd tap on that 11:40 Lightning Lane for Buzz and go ride. Then you can grab the next one, say for Space Mountain, and so on. Allowing you to use this shorter Lightning Lane all day long.

This may sound confusing if you haven't tried Maxpass before but think of it as a throwback to when we had paper Fastpasses, (except now you don't have to go to the location to get a pass, you can just do it on the app). When we had the paper ones, you grabbed the next available time slot and pretty much rode fairly soon. Occasionally a ride was more popular and the time slot would be a little farther out. In that case, you would have listed on the paper pass the time that you'd be able to grab another one. They haven't clarified yet if the new Genie+ will allow that as well, but it seems to make sense that it would. (Maxpass at Disneyland worked this way as well.)

So in our example above, if after riding Buzz at 11:40 you wanted to ride Space Mountain but the time slot wasn't until 2:30 you could grab it, but it would let you pull another Lightning Lane selection before 2:30, so you wouldn't be stuck not able to use it until after then.


Now, let's talk about this other option, what I'm calling the "a la cart" method. There will be certain premium attractions that will not be included with Genie+. These will have to be purchased separately. Disney hasn't given us the pricing or many details on this yet, so it's hard to really speculate how this works with planning your day. But they have listed both Mine Train at Magic Kingdom and Rise of the Resistance as being among the attractions that would not be included with Genie+ and will instead be available for optional purchase.

Disney says you can  "Schedule a time to arrive at up to two highly demanded attractions each day using the Lightning Lane entrance". This sounds more like the old Fastpass method, where you have a reserved time slot in your day for two attractions.  This is a separate thing from the Genie+. You can buy one or the other, or both. 

Okay so I know we have questions on all this. I'll be compiling all of this into an article that will be updated as we continue to learn more. I just decided to go ahead and directly email you guys the info, but going forward I'll be sharing the link to a full article you can bookmark when we have new updates. Here are some frequently asked questions:

When will this new system start?
We don't know a date but Disney has said "Fall 2021". Since it likely needs to launch before they can start selling Annual Passes again, and they've already said that passes will be sold before the 50th on Oct. 1st, that means we can assume this will launch sometime in September. That's just an educated guess so don't hold me to that. 

Will Annual Passholders be able to use this?
Yes. Disney has said that when this is first launched they will be able to buy it as an add-on to their day like any other park guest. While they haven't mentioned it yet, it seems likely they would eventually have an option for you to add it onto your pass for a flat fee for the year. They had this at Disneyland so that would make sense at some point. 

Will this work with park hopping?
Yes, you can use the Genie+ option for the whole day whichever park you're in. Not sure yet how that will work with the individual premium Lightning Lane purchases. It says two, so it's unclear if both have to be at the same park. But if you're able to choose a time slot you can choose based on where you know you'll be at a certain time that day. 

How will this affect standby wait times?
There's no way of knowing that as we haven't ever had a paid system like this before at Walt Disney World. We will have to see. But I will definitely test park strategies both using this new add-on and without it so we will figure out what changes and adjust as needed to help minimize wait times. But, it's unlikely this will not slow down the standby lines as much as Fastpass did, as there were so many people using that system, and it seems likely this will be fewer people now that it's not free. 


Will you still need Park Reservations?
Yes, Disney has said that the reservation system isn't leaving however, now that capacity is back to normal getting a pass isn't really an issue. Aside from highly crowded times like holidays, it's unlikely you'll have many issues getting the reservations you're looking for, even for Passholders now. 

Will there be any perks for those who stay at Disney World resort? 
The only one they've mentioned so far is that resort guests will get first dibs at those individual Lightning Lane purchases, at 7 am the day of, versus park opening time for everyone else. How much of an advantage that will be remains to be seen. I'm assuming there will be a limited amount of those available each day, so maybe with something like Rise of the Resistance, they will be gone quickly for the day and resort guests will have a real advantage there, but we will have to see. 

How many individual Lightning Lane attractions can each guest book (buy) per day?
Looks like the max is two and they have to be different so you can't do Rise twice in one day. 

Do you have to buy Genie+ to be able to book (buy) the individual Lightning Lane selections? 
No, they are separate things and there's no overlap between them. If an attraction is offered as an individual Lightning Lane selection, it won't be offered on Genie+ and vice versa. 

 

My thoughts:

I pretty much covered this in my stories (linked above) but I will recap by saying that I don't see this as a bad thing. I know it's another fee for an already expensive trip and I do get that. But I was honestly expecting it to be a lot more than $15 a day. And maybe it's because of that expectation that I wasn't shocked by this.

But here's the thing. No one likes waiting in long lines all day. It just kills the guest experience. Demand is higher than ever for Disney World in the past few years and I don't see that changing anytime soon. People complain that it's too crowded and wait times are too high. 

 

Okay so I know we have questions on all this. I'll be compiling all of this into an article that will be updated as we continue to learn more. I just decided to go ahead and directly email you guys the info, but going forward I'll be sharing the link to a full article you can bookmark when we have new updates. Here are some frequently asked questions:

When will this new system start?
We don't know a date but Disney has said "Fall 2021". Since it likely needs to launch before they can start selling Annual Passes again, and they've already said that passes will be sold before the 50th on Oct. 1st, that means we can assume this will launch sometime in September. That's just an educated guess so don't hold me to that. 

Will Annual Passholders be able to use this?
Yes. Disney has said that when this is first launched they will be able to buy it as an add-on to their day like any other park guest. While they haven't mentioned it yet, it seems likely they would eventually have an option for you to add it onto your pass for a flat fee for the year. They had this at Disneyland so that would make sense at some point. 

Will this work with park hopping?
Yes, you can use the Genie+ option for the whole day whichever park you're in. Not sure yet how that will work with the individual premium Lightning Lane purchases. It says two, so it's unclear if both have to be at the same park. But if you're able to choose a time slot you can choose based on where you know you'll be at a certain time that day. 

How will this affect standby wait times?
There's no way of knowing that as we haven't ever had a paid system like this before at Walt Disney World. We will have to see. But I will definitely test park strategies both using this new add-on and without it so we will figure out what changes and adjust as needed to help minimize wait times. But, it's unlikely this will not slow down the standby lines as much as Fastpass did, as there were so many people using that system, and it seems likely this will be fewer people now that it's not free. 


Will you still need Park Reservations?
Yes, Disney has said that the reservation system isn't leaving however, now that capacity is back to normal getting a pass isn't really an issue. Aside from highly crowded times like holidays, it's unlikely you'll have many issues getting the reservations you're looking for, even for Passholders now. 

Will there be any perks for those who stay at Disney World resort? 
The only one they've mentioned so far is that resort guests will get first dibs at those individual Lightning Lane purchases, at 7 am the day of, versus park opening time for everyone else. How much of an advantage that will be remains to be seen. I'm assuming there will be a limited amount of those available each day, so maybe with something like Rise of the Resistance, they will be gone quickly for the day and resort guests will have a real advantage there, but we will have to see. 

How many individual Lightning Lane attractions can each guest book (buy) per day?
Looks like the max is two and they have to be different so you can't do Rise twice in one day. 

Do you have to buy Genie+ to be able to book (buy) the individual Lightning Lane selections? 
No, they are separate things and there's no overlap between them. If an attraction is offered as an individual Lightning Lane selection, it won't be offered on Genie+ and vice versa. 

What will change with the standby or virtual queues we use now? 
Nothing. They will still be available as before.

Will I have to buy the Genie+ add-on for the entire length of my trip?
They haven't said yet but if it's like other similar programs you could buy them only on the days you wanted. For example, when we visited Disneyland we didn't buy the Maxpass on our shorter park days, and only did on the long park days when we would get the most value out of it. 
 

My thoughts:

I pretty much covered this in my stories (linked above) but I will recap by saying that I don't see this as a bad thing. I know it's another fee for an already expensive trip and I do get that. But I was honestly expecting it to be a lot more than $15 a day. And maybe it's because of that expectation that I wasn't shocked by this.

Here's the thing. No one likes waiting in long lines all day. It just kills the guest experience. Guests don't like it and Disney doesn't want it for them either. Demand is higher than ever for Disney World in the past few years and I don't see that changing anytime soon. People complain that it's too crowded and wait times are too high. And I get that. The options we've had are to visit during lower crowd times or spend more to buy optional perks. Things like the After Hours parties, the paid extra Fastpasses that you could get at Club level, or really splurge and do something like a VIP tour. 

And yes, in a perfect world they would open a 5th park or only design attractions that have really high capacity so wait times weren't an issue or any of the various things people suggest they do. And maybe some of those will happen in the future, who knows? But for right now, we have high demand and no way to fulfill it all. 

So as long as people keep coming, attendance keeps growing, and things get sold out despite price increases, there isn't much incentive for Disney to make things cheaper. And that's just the hard truth of it.  I really hate to think of people getting priced out of going because I want everyone to have the opportunity to visit, but it's true that it's getting more expensive. 

However, on the flip side, in the context of a Disney trip, this isn't a massive additional cost. Depending on your family size, it's likely that for less than the price of one After Hours event you can get all of your family the Genie+ for your trip.  

Let me also say that when I first tried the paid pass system at Disneyland I was super skeptical. I didn't like the idea of paying for fast passes and looked at it as a cash grab. Then I actually tried it. And man was it a game-changer. I was the ideal person that it was created for - the tourist who traveled from far away who was trying to fit everything into a few days. And it allowed me to do just that. With minimal stress and no need to plan my whole day in advance. It was wonderful and I was converted!

Disney largely considers their Maxpass system to have been a huge home run with guests, and most fans will gladly sing the praises of it. But this was NOT the case when it was first announced. Maxpass was met with a huge uproar from fans especially locals. Will Genie+ end up the same way? With fans speaking out in anger but ending up loving the new program? That remains to be seen but I feel like there are good odds.  

Plus there are still lots of things we don't know. There are ways that Disney can bundle some of these into resort packages, or include them with certain levels of resort rooms, or even offer them free with certain specials the way they do the Dining Plan. This could increase the value of staying onsite since many of the perks (Magical Express, free Magicband) are leaving. 

And keep in mind that comparing the Genie+ system to the Fastpass system isn't really apples to apples. The Fastpass system was used by everyone and while it was great if you could grab one, you often still had a wait, sometimes the Fastpass line would end up as long or longer than standby.

With a paid system, you're going to have far fewer people using it. Which means the value of it goes way up. Now instead of just shortening your wait, it could make many attractions a walk on. And being able to use it all day means you'll be getting far more than just the three initial Fastpasses we got before. Yes, we could get more, but usually, by the time we finished all three of our time slots the day was mostly done. 

There's lots for us to learn and when this launches there will many strategies to test. But rest assured that there will still be many ways to do Disney without these optional add-ons. You won't have to do them if it just doesn't work in your budget. I'll be testing park days using none of them, using just Genie+, using just the individual add-ons, and using both. So you'll have more options than ever to do Disney in the way that works best for you. 

And worse case, if this new system is really just garbage and doesn't benefit the guests at all, then Disney will end up changing it or scrapping it altogether. Let's at least wait and give it a chance and see what it's really like before we decide. 



Here's Disney Parks Blog full article on Disney Genie, and inside there they have links to two different videos, one a preview, and one a more detailed video. 
 

• Restaurant Buffets Return: Lots of new menu updates for many favorite WDW restaurants that had done away with their original buffet menus. Biergarten, Nine Dragons and Crystal Palace just to name a few. See all the details here. 

•Splash Mountain Changes: New updates on the changes that will be made to Splash Mountain making it Princess and the Frog theme. Check them out here. 

• Disability Pass Updates: Disney is making some changes to their Disability pass including the ability to book attractions before you go. The in-person method will still be available too. Check here for all the details from Disney and here for an article that breaks down the changes a bit more. 

• Cirque de Soleil Show: The white tent at Disney Springs has been dark for a while but a brand new show will be debuting November 18th and will run nightly for guests. I have a feeling this show is going to be incredible and I got tickets for the opening night- I'm so excited! Here's the ticket page. 



In case you missed it:

• Park Hours Increased: Hours have been expanded at pretty much all parks so if you're planning a trip make sure you check the current hours for the days you'll be visiting here. 

• Happily Ever After to End: Disney has confirmed that HEA will not be coming back.  “EPCOT Forever” will also conclude its limited-time run on September 28, and you have until September 29 to see “Happily Ever After” at Magic Kingdom Park. Here's the full article. 

• Halloween & Fall Foodie Guide: The fall season is underway, and Disney has their master list of all the special seasonal food options throughout the parks and resorts.  See the full list here. 

• Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser: We finally got some real concrete details on the experience we used to call the "Star Wars Hotel" which we've since learned is far more than that.  I made a whole video explaining all about the experience . Here's Disney's article on it as well with a new video preview. 

July 15th- November 20th: Food & Wine Festival at Epcot  July 19th: Polynesian Resort reopens August 10th- October 31st: (select evenings) Boo Bash After Hours Party at Magic Kingdom August 26th- Animal Kingdom Lodge reopens Sept. 28th: Final showing of Epcot Forever Sept. 29th: Final Showing of Happily Ever After Oct. 1st, 2021: Disney World's official 50th Anniversary begins Nov. 8th- Dec. 21st: Very Merry After Hours Party tickets here Nov. 18th: "Drawn to Life" show opens at Disney Springs (tickets)

Okay that's a wrap for me- breaking down all the Genie info has melted my brain I'll be getting some more coffee right about now. Hope you guys have a great week!

Serena  ✨🏰✨ PS: If you've missed any of my past emails or want to go back and reference something you can go here.