When Disney first unveiled Genie+, it frustrated many fans at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort, because one of the key elements of the newly paid service, the ability to get access to Lightning Lanes, previously known as FastPass, had once been free. However, there are a few more perks that are offered as part of Genie+ that potentially make it worth the price, and Disneyland just added one that potentially makes it a significantly better deal than Genie+ at Walt Disney World.
Starting today, guests who spend $20 to purchase Genie+ at Disneyland Resort get access to Disney Photopass Lenses, Snapchat-like filters that add fun elements to your pictures like putting characters in the background or transforming you or your environment into something out of a Disney movie. Previously, this option had been available only in the Walt Disney World version of Genie+.
How Genie+ Compares At Disneyland And Walt Disney World
But that’s where the value of the two different versions of Genie+ gets more complicated. When Genie+ launched, Walt Disney World was given the Photopass Lenses, while Disneyland Resort guests got access to free Photopass, allowing them to keep whatever photos were taken by the official Disneyland Resort photographers. Each resort had something special to offer the other did not have. Now, Disneyland has picked up the Photopass Lenses, but Photopass is still only available in the Disneyland version of Genie+.
It’s true that Genie+ does cost $5 more at Disneyland Resort than it does at Walt Disney World, but even so you now get more for that money than you do for the $15 at Walt Disney World. Anecdotally, it also seems that the Lighting Lane features of Genie+ work a bit better at Disneyland as well. It would be one thing if Photopass only cost $5 at Walt Disney World, then things might balance a bit, but that’s not the case.
And at some point, probably soon, Walt Disney World’s Genie+ is probably going to see a price increase to $20. We were told at the outset that part of the reason Walt Disney World’s version was starting cheaper was that it was a new option for Florida, while Disneyland Resort guests were at least familiar with MaxPass, a previous add-on option, similar in some ways to Genie+ that cost $20. It will certainly be interesting to see if, when that price increase happens, some sort of additional features will be added to potentially make the increase more palatable.
Based on what The Walt Disney Company has said, Genie+ has been a success across the board, so exactly what gets offered likely isn’t going to have a massive impact on whether people take advantage of the option. However, it will be interesting to see how Genie+ continues to evolve independently at both resorts.
