The system is now actually three systems, and anyone who thought planning with it before was too much trouble will certainly not want to have anything to do with it now, especially given that someone once described Disney's IT as "powered by a Windows 95 machine held together by duct tape." While the more optimistic among us have hope that the system might be improved, I won't hold my breath.
Hopefully I can break this down simply enough for the average person to know if this purchase is worth it.
Genie
Genie is what Disney is calling their new planning system. If you watch this video (it's an hour and a half documentary about queuing, so kudos if you actually watch the whole thing) you will learn that when it comes to going to Disney, the planners will always come out ahead of the non-planners. This is a disadvantage for those who might face a language barrier when it comes to planning, and those who just aren't that into planning. So Disney said, what if we came up with some AI that could even the planning field? To which the AI said: You should go on Prince Charming's Regal Carrousel first (cue gasps from everyone who knows that's a terrible first ride pick). So not exactly a resounding success. Genie isn't totally useless, if you do decide to use Genie+, you can hack it so that you'll be able to make your selections faster.
Genie+
Genie+
The old Fastpass+ system had tiers at certain parks and the new system does too. While the fast lane is referred to as a Lightning Lane for both tiers, we will call the two tiers Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane. Let's start with Genie+.
Genie+ is 15$ per day, per ticket. This can really add up over multiple days, especially for bigger families. While you can add it to the entirety of your trip in advance, you're only able to add it on a day by day basis after midnight the day before you are planning to use it. As long as you have it added before 7am on the day you want it (you can add it at any time during the day you want it, but to make best use of it you'll want to get it before 7am), you don't need to stay up late. You do, however, need to get up early, since your first selection will be made at 7am.
Much like the old Fastpass+ system, Genie+ is not just an add-on that allows you to hit the fast lane of any ride at any time. First, only certain rides are included. Then, you are allowed to make one selection at 7am. This selection gives you a return time for when you are allowed to use the Lightning Lane for that ride. When that selection is used, you can make your second selection. If your first selection is later in the day, you'll be able to make a second selection 2 hours after the park opens (but you can only have 2 selections max -a loophole to stack up selections was closed shortly after it debuted). If the ride you're interested in no longer has selections available, it's possible more may drop during the day, but for most rides, it's too bad. This was an issue with the old Fastpass+ system, but that was free. So even though there may be 17 rides you could possibly use your Genie+ on, I would not count on being able to use it on all 17 rides, especially on the busiest days. Using the old Fastpass+ system, we did a max of 5 selections in one day. I'm thinking that it will be similar for Genie+. Furthermore, you're only allowed to use Genie+ to access the Lightning Lane once per ride —the system will not allow you to book the same Genie+ selection twice in one day.
Individual Lightning Lane
At each park, there are two rides which are not included in Genie+ and require a fee per ride. This fee depends on the park/day/ride and can be anywhere from 7-15$ per person, per ride. You can only book each ride once per day, and only 2 rides per day, so even if you were to hop to another park after riding both rides, you would not be able to book an ILL at the second park. These also sell out, depending on the ride and how busy it is. The same reservation system is in effect: you can book your selection at 7 am on the day of (at park opening if you're staying off site) and you will be given a return time to use at some point during the day.
It's worth noting that unlike the old Fastpass+ system, there is nothing to prevent you from booking your Genie+ selection, your ILL and your dining all at the same time. Tread carefully, because while your Genie+ selection can be cancelled and replaced (with whatever is available), your ILL cannot, and your dining usually requires a fee to cancel with less than 24 hours notice. Also, if you miss your window, it's considered used, meaning you can't book the same selection again, and 1 of your 2 ILLs is gone.
If you're still with me at this point, you may still be wondering if it's worth the cost. Have no fear, because a blog that loves crunching numbers has crunched all the numbers and created four posts (one per park) to see how much time you would have saved using the old Fastpass+ system. TL;DR: with careful planning (especially on the low crowd days) you can avoid these purchases. On higher crowd days, you'll probably benefit from using Genie+ at Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. When I did my own number crunching for my own trip based on these posts, I figured I could save up to an hour in line with it (if not more), but I can't decide for you if that's worth the cost.
Whether or not you decide to go with Genie+/ILL, it's still worth planning your day. I'm going to plug Touring Plans again. I'm not affiliated, but I would not plan a trip without them. Not only does their crowd calendar offer invaluable information about what days are the best time to visit the parks, the information that they have collected on the wait times of rides in the parks will help you plan your day at each park and lower the amount of time you spend waiting in line. Once you sign up, you'll have access to a variety of premade touring plans that they have made that you can adapt to your needs, or you can make your very own plan from scratch. I also love that their website gives details about every single ride and show, so you can make good decisions about which rides you and the people you are traveling with will enjoy. I also recommend watching YouTube videos of the rides you are thinking of going on -I show them to my kids to see if they are interested or if they think it will be too scary. I could have saved myself a lot of angst if I had done that before taking my daughter on the now-defunct Great Movie Ride! You can also enter in breaks (for the love of everything, please plan breaks!) and dining plans into your touring plan. Then, when you're at the park, you can check off the things that you've done on their mobile app, recalculate if you've gotten off track, and ensure that you are visiting each ride at the best time to avoid waits. Seriously, they've done the number crunching and their app will tell you at any given time of day how long you're likely to wait in line. If you put in all the things you want to do into a touring plan and hit "optimize," you will now have a plan that will help you avoid waits AND you will know if it's even possible to do all the things you want to do. If this doesn't convince you to get a subscription nothing will.
Many people will think that this level of planning is too much, and they would prefer to be more spontaneous on their days of the park. Personally, I like having a plan rather than wandering around seeing which rides have the shortest wait times (which we will sometimes do after we've finished our touring plan early). Following a touring plan doesn't have to mean following the touring plan to the letter: you can still be flexible and spontaneous. However, the parks are big and have a lot to offer and YOU CAN'T DO IT ALL. Having a touring plan means that you will a) prioritize the things you do want to do b) waste less time wandering around deciding what to do c) have a plan that will maximize your time riding the rides instead of waiting in line. You can also leave holes in your schedule for "planned spontaneity."
Touring Plans will also tell you which rides/shows you should try to get a Genie+ selection for once you've added everything into your touring plan (they even give you a spot to enter your Genie+ reservations). This is important because not every ride that offers a Genie+ needs a Genie+.
I know that this is a lot of planning (I've heard that people think a multi-day European tour requires less planning than a Disneyworld trip) but hopefully I've taken some of the mystery out of it!
Here are the other posts on Disneyworld planning:
1 - When to go to Disney: what age is a good age? What time of year is good to go?
2 - Where to stay at Disney: breaking down the pros and cons of off vs. onsite
3 - Advance Dining Reservations: because hour long waits for lunch/dinner are for non-planners
4 - Genie+: getting on the rides faster
5 - What to take to Disney: including discussions about strollers, magic bands and memory maker
1 - When to go to Disney: what age is a good age? What time of year is good to go?
2 - Where to stay at Disney: breaking down the pros and cons of off vs. onsite
3 - Advance Dining Reservations: because hour long waits for lunch/dinner are for non-planners
4 - Genie+: getting on the rides faster
5 - What to take to Disney: including discussions about strollers, magic bands and memory maker
Updated Nov 30 2021
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