Credit: Cesira Alvarado via UnsplashChristmas is bringing in big crowds to Walt Disney World, and Disney is adjusting its prices accordingly.
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Prices for Disney Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane services have risen today as we approach Christmas in Walt Disney World. Prices for Multi-Park and Magic Kingdom options sit at $29 for today, a $4 increase since yesterday. Each one of the four theme parks has seen an increase over yesterday’s prices, with Disney’s Hollywood Studios set to $26, Disney’s Animal Kingdom at $18, and EPCOT at $21. These price increases are reflected on the Disney Genie page on the My Disney Experience app, which all guests have access to.
CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Bob Chapek, first introduced guests to its new Genie system in late 2021, forever changing how fans interact and experience the iconic Disney theme parks. Both Disneyland and Walt Disney World offer Disney Genie, Genie+, and Lightning Lane, with other international Disney resorts like Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland offering up their own services. During Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve, the Walt Disney World Resort will become incredibly busy, with Disney adjusting prices for these services.
The Walt Disney World Resort is always crowded, but Christmas and New Year’s Eve are always the most crowded weeks of the year. Disney can change and adjust the price of Genie+ day by day, meaning guests never truly know how much money they will need to spend in order to make the most of their vacation, assuming they want to use the service in the first place.
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Disney’s Genie service is a free tool that guests can use to help plan out their day at the parks. Disney Genie+ is a paid service that guests can add to their day at Walt Disney World, allowing them to make Lightning Lane reservations. This system replaced Disney’s previous FastPass+ system, a service that was free to guests. The shift from a free service to a paid one caused a lot of controversy within the Disney theme park community, with many fans absolutely despising the new system.
We’ve covered fan reactions to Disney Genie, Genie+, and Lightning Lane extensively here at Inside the Magic, and while it’s a useful tool, we will always miss running into the Disney theme parks to grab a physical paper FastPass.
We’ve seen Disney raise the price of Genie+ significantly in the last year. Ahead of Thanksgiving week, Disney raised the price of Genie+ back to the highest price point we have ever seen. The multi-park option reached $35 per guest, as did the Magic Kingdom option. Disney Genie+ hit $35 earlier this year, and this price point remains the highest we have seen so far.
Do you like Disney’s Genie service? Do you miss the original FastPass?