When Disneyland and Walt Disney World reopened they did so without their popular FastPass options that allowed guests to skip most of the line on many attractions. Fans have been wondering for some time just when, or if, FastPass would return. Following the announcement that Disneyland Paris would see a paid version of FastPass there was increased expectation that something similar would arrive in the domestic parks, and now Disney has confirmed that. FastPass and FastPass+ are officially gone, and are being replaced with a for purchase expansion of the new Disney Genie service.
Disney Genie was announced back in 2019 as a new mobile app service that was designed to make planning a Disney vacation easier. Expected to arrive in 2020, that obviously didn't happen due to the global pandemic, but today Disney confirmed that Disney Genie will arrive this fall. While most of the Disney Genie's capabilities will be free for guests there will be two paid add-ons, one that appears to resemble Disneyland's version of MaxPass, the mobile based FastPass option, and another that more closely resembles Disney World's FastPass+.
The Disney Genie+ service will cost $15 per ticket per day at Disney World and $20 per ticket per day at Disneyland and will let guests choose the next available window of time to visit one of several attractions. Guests will have access to this option throughout the day, picking one attraction at a time. When the window comes up, you enter through the Lightning Lane.
There will also be a second option that will allow guests to pick a specific time to visit some attractions, and guests can pick up to two rides per day. The cost of this option will vary depending on the date, the attraction, and the park. It seems that this will only be for high demand attractions that are not already part of the Genie+ service.
While there are certainly going to be a lot of people who are less than happy with the fact that the replacement for FastPass costs money, when the previous systems did not, it was basically inevitable that this was going to happen. While nearly every theme park and amusement park has some sort of line skipping option, nearly all of them have been paid options. FastPass was one of the few that was free, and so this is Disney really just getting in line with the market.
And the fact is there were a lot of people who didn't like FastPass. While nobody likes standing in line there's a feeling from many that, especially at Disney World, FassPass+ made standby lines slower than they would have been. Some have even advocated for a paid system because, by its nature, fewer people will use it, and thus it won't be as disruptive to the standby lines, making them move faster.
Added costs aside, on paper there's reason to be optimistic. The Disney Genie+ option will give guests the ability to skip a few lines over the course of their day, which will be nice, and if there are one or two rides you absolutely want to be sure you get on, that option will also be there.
Beyond these paid replacements for FastPass, Disney Genie will include a number of other free services, among them is that it will help users predict when certain ride wait times will be low, and therefore guests can use it to avoid long lines for free, at least in theory. We'll have to wait and see how it actually works when it comes out. It will also manage mobile food ordering and reservations for table service restaurants. It promises to constantly update your itinerary in order for guests to make the most of their experience.
A specific launch date for Disney Genie was not announced but it will hit some time this fall.
