Disney Genie Is Here & Here’s What We Think

Yesterday was quite the day! After much anticipation and a lot of speculation, Disney finally let the Genie out of the bottle. Of course, we took some time to get to know this new Disney Genie and want to share some of our thoughts with you.

Disney Genie is a new vacation planning tool that is available through the My Disney Experience app. The tool itself is free to use, but guests wanting to enhance their experience can do so by paying for additional features. Known as Disney Genie+ Service, these additional features include Lightning Lane [a replacement for FastPass+ where guests can skip the line at popular attractions], audio tours and even photo filters. Of course, everyone likes skipping the line. . . . which is why there’s been so much focus on the features behind the paywall that is Disney Genie+. However, there’s quite a bit to be said for the free-to-use Disney Genie as well.

Let’s start off by talking a little bit about what Disney Genie is advertised to do!

In a nutshell, Disney Genie is an organization tool. It helps you organize your priorities when visiting Walt Disney World and build a personalized itinerary so that you can make the most out of your visit. It’s also supposed to make recommendations of attractions, dining locations and entertainment that you might enjoy based on your interests. All of this is, of course, organized in a comprehensive and easy to understand “Tip Board” and “My Day” tab.

Credit: Disney

So how does Disney Genie know what to recommend? That’s simple. . . . it asks!

Not long after summoning the Disney Genie and selecting everyone you’ll be traveling with, you’ll be asked to select your priorities and interests. The first step is by selecting the attractions, entertainment, dining and “enchanting extras” that interest you. Of course, you’ll need to do this for each individual theme park that you’re planning to visit. Then, you’ll be asked about your interests when visiting the theme parks. You can select things like Disney Princesses, Villains and/or Pixar. You can also choose things like Character Meet-and-Greets, Thrill Rides and/or Holiday Offerings. After selecting up to 10 of these interests, Disney Genie is ready to work it’s magic!

Now, while it would be absolutely magical if Disney Genie could figure out your priorities and interests on it’s own, we think that entering this information is a great way to ensure you’re getting suggestions and a plan that is meaningful to you. In fact, this is what we would recommend anyone do [write an outline of priorities and what it is you want to do] when visiting Walt Disney World; Disney Genie simply gives you a way to do that right in the My Disney Experience app. The key difference here is how that information is then presented to you in Disney Genie. Rather than being on a sheet of paper or a “note” somewhere in your phone, Disney Genie has the information organized for you to access easily and quickly.

Speaking of quick and easy, let’s talk a little bit about where to find Disney Genie’s suggestions.

Credit: Disney

There are 2 places where you can find Disney Genie’s suggestions in the My Disney Experience app. The first is super simple to find; simply open up the My Disney Experience app. If you have plans [tickets and reservations] to visit a park, your Disney Genie recommendations will appear at the top of your My Disney Experience home screen under “Today’s Plans”. Here, you’ll be able to find a few recommendations or click “My Day” at the top right of the screen to expand to a full view.

If you don’t have plans to visit one of the 4 Walt Disney World theme parks today, you can access both the “Tip Board” and “My Day” pages through the user menu. Finding the user menu is easy, simply click the 3 small lines at the bottom of the screen in the My Disney Experience app. “Tip Board” and “My Day” will be the first 2 blocks that you’ll see appear under your name. Selecting either of these will bring you where you’d like to be whether you are visiting the parks today or in the future.

Once you know where to find the “Tip Board” and “My Day” tabs in the My Disney Experience app, it’s time to understand what to do with the information you’ll find in each. Though they both contain similar information, there are some key differences that you should know about. . . . especially before relying on the Genie to guide you through your day.

In a nutshell, the “Tip Board” and “My Day” tabs both have information about attractions, entertainment and dining around the Walt Disney World theme parks. [Specifically, the theme park you’re planning to visit on a particular day.] Each tab will show you important information like the standby time for an attraction or the next available Mobile Order Pick-up window. The difference between these 2 tabs can be found in the attractions, entertainment and/or dining locations that are being suggested. In the “My Day” tab, you’ll find information specifically related to selections you’ve made when setting up Disney Genie for the park in question. On the other hand, the “Tip Board” may offer suggestions that weren’t part of what you selected earlier.

The way we see it, having these 2 tabs organized in this way can be super useful. Not only do guests using Disney Genie have a way to stay on target so that they can experience all of their “must do” attractions, entertainment and dining, but they also have a way to see what else is available at any given time too. Ultimately, this means having the opportunity to experience more of the parks.

The recommendations themselves aren’t the only thing that’s useful. Disney Genie has organized the information with height requirements, standby times, Lightning Lane return times, closures and even crowd forecasts. . . . . all in one place. This is, at least in our opinion, a huge upgrade. Previously, if you wanted to know this information there was a little bit of digging and research that needed to happen. Now, the information is right there and available to anyone who opens their My Disney Experience app. Very convenient!

All this information plus the promise of customized plans might make it seem like Disney Genie is a suitable alternative to years of experience and/or purchasing “touring plans”. . . . and that might end up being the case one day. Today’s not that day though. Like with all things new, Disney Genie is far from perfect and it will likely be a while before it can completely replace years of experience or guides; if at all. That said, there is no denying that it is a tool which will provide even first time guests with knowledge they otherwise wouldn’t have easy access to. . . . which is a good thing in our opinion.

We’ve covered some of the basics here today and given you a quick look at Disney Genie, but there’s one question we haven’t really answered yet. . . . . what do we think? Quite frankly, it’s too soon to really get a grasp on how useful Disney Genie is and how it will impact the experience guests have at the park. Sure! There are a lot of people out there “testing” this new service and sharing their experience, but being as how it’s day 2 of this new service . . . . . we think it’s going to take some time to tell what the real impacts and experience is going to be like. After all, we’re talking about tech here [which takes some time to work out] and people who are learning how to use Disney Genie for the first time. Initially though, both of us here at 2 Foolish Mortals like where this is going and the information that it provides to guests. When used correctly, we think that this might be a tool that changes the game when visiting Walt Disney World. Of course, only time will tell.