1Disney Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane service suffered a massive meltdown at Walt Disney World Resort this week, infuriating thousands of guests who shelled out hundreds for the pricey paid FastPass.
Disney Genie+ & Individual Lightning Lane
Disney Genie+ debuted at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort in 2021, replacing the formerly free FastPass+ at the Central Florida Disney theme parks and FastPass in Southern California.
Starting at midnight on the day of their Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom visit, Walt Disney World Resort guests can purchase Disney Genie+ service on the My Disney Experience app. Using the Disney Genie planning tool, guests can make reservations for up to three attractions. Depending on crowd levels and other seasonal variables, it costs between $14.99 and $34.99 per guest per day.
Though Disney Genie+ service covers most Walt Disney World Resort attractions, Individual Lightning Lanes are sold separately for the most popular rides, costing between $10 and $25 per guest per attraction. These include Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Avatar Flight of Passage, TRON Lightcycle / Run, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
Walt Disney World Resort Meltdown
Numerous Walt Disney World Resort guests reported malfunctions with Disney Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane this week. In a post on Reddit, user u/MasterKluch asked other guests if they’d experienced issues booking Lightning Lane selections throughout Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
“Genie+ down again?” the guest began. “Seems like it’s not working…? Anyone else having issues right now?”
“Yep! I’m super frustrated,” u/hairdoot said. “We are AP holders so we don’t usually do genie plus but out of the three times we’ve done it in the past couple weeks, it has been down two. And I really didn’t want to spend the day babysitting my phone and waiting for it to come back online!!”
“I had issues with it almost every day this past week,” u/fluffernuttersndwich wrote. “Wasn’t able to make any selections until about 7:10 every day. Annoying.”
“Same,” u/Crashtag replied.
A few hours later, guests could successfully make Disney Genie+ selections. But the service broke around 7 a.m. when guests can begin making reservations.
“Managed to make my selection about 15 minutes ago,” u/CorwinofAmber0 confirmed. “Was down from 7 though.”
This isn’t the first major Disney Genie+ malfunction at Walt Disney World Resort. Just last month, Inside the Magic reported a similar error, which left guests unable to reserve Lightning Lanes until almost noon.
Have you experienced difficulties with Disney Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lane selections? Share your story with Inside the Magic in the comments.
Please note that the story outlined in this article is based on personal Disney Parks Guest experiences. No two Guest experiences are alike, and this article does not necessarily align with Inside the Magic’s personal views on Disney Park operations.