Is Disney Genie Plus Worth It? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

Updated on October 22nd, 2022 to reflect new Disney Genie + pricing!

On December 8th 2021 Disney Genie Plus was released in Disneyland after being available for a month at Disneyworld. Genie Plus is the replacement for the Max Pass service which allowed guests to obtain their new fast pass without having to physically go to the location of the ride. It also provided free photo downloads which Genie Plus also provides. The question everyone is asking the most is if the Disney Genie Plus service is worth the cost so here is my personal option and everything you need to know.

How Much is the Disney Genie Plus?

Update* First I am noticing a lot of confusion about the cost. The Disney Genie Plus is now on a sliding scale based on how crowded the park is. Pricing starts at $25 for the entire day. For example, on Saturday, October 22nd, the cost was $30 for the day.

This price includes “Lightning Lane” access to almost every popular ride with the exception of Rise of the Resistance and Cars. Webslinger, which used to be a separate fee, is now included in the Disney Genie Plus ride options.

If you own a Magic Key, Disney generously (said sarcastically) now gives 25% off, which means your discount really is just paying the same price you always have and possibly even more depending on how busy it is at the park.

We had maybe one or two visits of the discounted 25% off, but in typical Disney fashion, I knew a price increase was coming. My next prediction is a parking price increase since that was also discounted for Magic Key holders.

Is Rise of the Resistance, Webslinger, and Cars worth the additional cost?

Update* Webslinger is now included as part of Genie Plus to sweeten the new cost increase. Guests can also still purchase an individual lightning lane for the Webslinger ride.

If you want to ride Rise of the Resistance or Cars, you have to pay an additional fee. Personally, I think you’re better off just waiting in line. Disneyland is known for inflating its wait times. With Rise of the resistance, for example, the wait time has been listed as 90-120 minutes. I actually only waited 45 minutes. The same has been reported by numerous guests in several Disney groups I belong to on Facebook. Most guests are really only waiting 45-60 minutes.

Is Genie Plus Worth the $25 fee per day?

I went to the park on December 16th (see my attempt at Disneybounding above), which allowed plenty of time for Disneyland to work out the initial kinks after launching the service. So is Genie Plus worth the additional $25 fee? Here is the simple answer. If you arrive early to the park and are a small party of 2-3 or if you do not visit Disneyland or Disneyworld often, then yes the Disney Genie Plus is 100% worth the cost. If you are a large family, will be going to the park for multiple days, or arrive at Disneyland after 12pm, then it is likely not worth the cost.

Disney’s Genie Plus may not be worth it for large families.

Let’s be honest, Disneyland and Disneyworld are not cheap. A family can quickly spend over a thousand dollars just for entrance to the park. Trying to purchase the Genie Plus for an entire family is going to cost you around $100 a day if you’re a family of 5 so it is something you definitely want to factor into your budget. When it comes to Disneyland, spending a few days at the park is plenty of time to go on all of your favorite rides. At Disneyworld, since the park is comprised of 4 other parks, it may be worth considering.

Genie Plus is best for small parties and guests only visiting for a short duration.

Now if you are a party of two or only plan on visiting for one day, then Genie Plus is absolutely worth it. I own an Imagine Key for Southern California residents. This pass is incredibly affordable so if I plan on heading to the park early, I definitely prefer using Genie Plus and avoiding the long lines.

I remember when I use to run back and forth to grab fast passes or be at one side of the park and have to run to the other side to get onto my next ride. With the new Genie Plus, we didn’t even have to plan our rides, we just went wherever the day took us.

Get to the Park Early

Update* If you want to take advantage of Genie Plus, get to the park as early as possible and no later than 10am. If you arrive to the park at 1pm, you will likely only be able to go on 2-3 rides with Genie Plus. As the afternoon approaches, the return times are exponentially longer.

For example, last week I arrived at 1pm and rides such as Indy and Space Mountain did not have return times until 8pm. By the time 2 hours have passed to make your next lightning lane selection, the wait times are as late as 11pm. This makes Genie Plus a complete waste of money and you will not be able to go on your favorite rides.

Additionally, because of Genie Plus, the regular lines for rides are insanely long. They let about 2 regular line people in for every 20 lightning lane people. If you really love going on rides, get to Disney early or you’ll spend your entire day in lines.

If you do arrive at the park nice and early, you will be able to hop on rides and book your subsequent ride fairly quickly. Those who arrive to the park early and use Genie Plus will be able to easily enjoy 10-15 rides throughout the day.

I used to love going to the park late in the day and would have been happy just to at least get on my 4-5 favorite rides, but not anymore. I have to strategically plan to go to Disney early on certain days to go on rides, and the other days to when I arrive late we just grab some snacks and enjoy things like the shows.

Gone are the days when we could arrive late and go on rides. For this reason, I really miss the old paper fast passes. Disney also loses the $20 I would have gladly paid on each visit as I will now only pay for this if I get to the park early, which is not very often.

Genie Plus Before 10am

Here is what you can expect if you do get to the park bright and early. The longest we waited to get into the lightning lane was 10 minutes for It’s a Small World. This means you can book one ride after the next and there is no 2-3 hour wait in between.

Throughout the day we went on Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones, Small World, Toy Story, and the Incredicoaster. We did all of these rides and still had plenty of time to enjoy eating at the Festival of Holidays. If our mission was just to go on as many rides as possible we could have easily gone on every single ride available in only a few hours.

Lightening Lane Wait Times Have Increased

Previously the lightning Lane wait times were fairly short. That has changed however and guests, even in the lightning lanes who have paid for Genie + can still expect to wait around 30 minutes. I really do not know why, but Genie Plus has managed to make all wait times for regular and lightning lanes longer. When we had paper ticket fast passes, I don’t ever remember having these issues even during the busiest times of the year.

Genie Plus has a confusing start on the app.

My only complaint about the new Disney Genie Plus is the design of the app which is not very user-friendly. I’m very tech-savvy and everything about Disney plus was confusing from how to actually purchase it, to how to book your next ride. The app keeps putting you through a million annoying prompts just to finally get to what you’re looking for.

Just to purchase the Disney Genie Plus option, they have a very small banner that is hardly noticeable. When you are trying to find what rides are available, it is not very clear. Then to check the times in each park you have to change the park, which is also difficult to figure out.

To get into Genie Plus, you need to go to the menu icon in the app, not the home icon. Then click “Tip Board” and you will see all of the return times for the rides.

Have you tried using Disney Genie Plus yet? Did you think it was worth it?