While the focus for just about everyone has been on the new “paid FastPass” service known as Disney Genie and Lightning Lanes (and how to make sense of the system), what has been often overlooked is that part of this new system is actually free for all Disney guests to use.
As we’ve noted previously, there are actually several components to Disney’s new Genie System: Disney Genie (this is the free part), Genie+ (paid) and Individual Attraction Selections (IAS) which are also known in many places as Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) attractions (also paid). I shared info a few weeks ago about the two paid aspects of Genie, so today is all about the free part.
Because everyone likes “free” right?
First, let’s start with making sure we are all talking about the same thing.
What Is Disney Genie?
Disney Genie is the complimentary offering available to all guests visiting Walt Disney World and will be available to guests at Disneyland at some point. The “Genie” can be found in the My Disney Experience app, so no need to get a second app for this. It’s all available in your My Disney Experience.
As to “what it does”, Disney tells us that the free Disney Genie service ‘offers new features that let guests create their “best Disney day”. These features include a personalized itinerary creator that will help with planning park time. Similar to a navigation app on a phone, Disney Genie will continually update the guest’s itinerary from morning to night as the day changes. Guests will be able to check out wait times and wait time forecasts, a real-time personalized tip board with attraction and dining recommendations, tips to build around existing plans like dining reservations and Park Hopper hours, and more to help optimize your day based on your preferences.’
So that is the goal, and again to reiterate, we are only talking about the free Disney Genie today, not the two paid options.
I personally found the idea of a navigation app to be helpful in understanding how Disney Genie will work. Basically, the Guest tells Genie what they want to do, what their interests are, and what they already have planned, and Disney Genie will – throughout the day – provide real time planning suggestions in order to help Guests make the most of their day.
So that’s for starters – we now know what the ‘free Genie’ is meant to do. But how do we use it?
How to Use Disney Genie
To start using Disney Genie, the first thing you’ll need to do is make sure your My Disney Experience app is up to date. If you haven’t updated your app recently (or haven’t downloaded it at all yet), you’ll need to do that first.
Once you’re all updated, then to use Disney Genie, you will need to set your preferences for each day of your trip. Based on these preferences, Disney Genie will show two tabs for you to use as you visit the parks each day:
- Tip Board – This tab offers information on attractions, shows, and dining, based on your preferences, as well as stand-by wait times and wait time forecasts.
- My Day – This tab includes your daily plans such as dining and activity reservations, as well as recommendations based on your existing plans.
Still with me? Great, now let’s figure out how to tell Genie all about what we want for our trip.
First, you’ll want to select a date, and who will be with you. Genie will automatically show the park that you have reservations for and will show a list of all the attractions in that park. Select the ones that you are most interested in experiencing. Each attraction will note whether it offers “Lightning Lane Included with Genie+” or is a “Lightning Lane (Individual Attraction Selection)”, and you can make note of those for later. But for now, you just want to tell Genie what is most important for you to see and do, so select any/all attractions that are priorities for you to experience.
After that, you can also select restaurants where you’d like to dine, and Genie will recommend best times for both Mobile Order and Walk-Up Waitlist if available. You can then also select any special interests you have, and general types of dining (like casual, character, dining events etc.) Lastly, Genie will ask if there are any Height Requirements or Accessibility things to consider.
And that is basically it. Now if you have park hopper tickets and want to select some attractions for a different park later that day, go to My Day again, scroll to the bottom and select Plan for Your Next Park, and repeat. Disney Genie will note all of your preferences for each day and will make recommendations for the best way to achieve everything you want while you are at the parks.
Is Disney Genie Worth Using?
At this point, the jury is still out on this and as with many things related to Disney vacation planning, your mileage may vary based on how you use it. Genie is not meant to remain the same throughout the day, it is dynamic and is supposed to automatically adjust throughout the day based on what is happening as to crowds, lines, and things like weather closures. And Guests can also modify their priorities at any point as well, and Genie will adjust accordingly. Genie is also supposed to take into consideration recommendations made to other guests, so that everyone isn’t being sent to the same attraction at the same time. Still, guests will want to compare what Genie *suggests* with what makes common sense: if it is park opening and Genie wants you to go to Prince Charming Regal Carousel first thing rather than Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – which is waaaay more popular than the carousel – let your common sense prevail here. Keep in mind that one (unadvertised) goal of Genie is to spread folks out around the parks, and not have everyone go to the same attraction all at the same time. And that’s a good goal – up to a point.
So, while I would certainly consider exploring what the *free* Disney Genie offers, I would also monitor the recommendations throughout the day, and do what ultimately makes the most sense. When I visit in a few weeks, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing!
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