Does Disney World Genie Plus Sell Out? All Dates It Has Sold Out & How to Avoid
Walt Disney World Genie Plus is the current iteration of the original FastPass system. Typically this paid FastPass service does not sell out at Walt Disney World though it has happened during the busiest seasons.
Recently the service has sold out during the busier spring period at the resort.
Below we’ll share the info on the recent sellouts, discuss how you can avoid Genie Plus selling out for your Walt Disney World trip, and discuss why the service selling out is actually a very positive sign about Disney’s current guest service approach.
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Walt Disney World Genie Plus SOLD OUT!
Genie Plus at Walt Disney World has recently sold out several times in the spring season. Recently the service sold out on April 6, 2023; April 5, 2023; and April 4, 2023 around or before 10 am ET on all days. The service was being sold for $35 per person per guest on April 4. This is one of the most crowded times of the year at Walt Disney World. Read our guide to when to visit Disney World and the best months to visit Disney World. The sell-out time was reported by Scott Gustin on Twitter.
Read more about Walt Disney World Genie Plus in our tips & strategy guide.
Previously Genie Plus sold out at Walt Disney World on February 19, 2023 for the first time. That sellout was followed by the service being sold-out on February 20, and March 15.
When the Genie Plus pass sells out at Walt Disney World, sales will not resume again until the following day.
How to AVOID Disney Genie Plus Sell Out
Guests at Walt Disney World can no longer pre-pay for Genie Plus for the entire length of stay of their vacation. Guests now have to add the service each day of their vacation. Guests can purchase Genie+ starting at 12:01 am on the day of their theme park visit.
There is no guaranteed way to ensure that Genie Plus does not sell out during your trip but you can work to ensure that you secure the service for your entire family. The earlier you go to purchase Genie Plus the more likely you are to secure the service for the day. This makes sense and actually lines up with the strategy of how to use the service. When you are using Genie Plus our strategies suggest that you start the day early in the morning anyways.
Note that the earliest that Genie Plus has ever sold out at Walt Disney World is around 10 AM. I don’t think that it is worth being concerned over Genie Plus selling out at Walt Disney World. If you follow our Genie Plus tips you’ll have no worries about the service selling out.
Walt Disney World Resort guests can make Genie Plus selections at 7 AM so on a day you are utilizing Genie Plus you should be up early anyways. The earlier you are to purchase Genie Plus the more likely you are to ensure that the service doesn’t sell out on you.
To Disney, the more new attractions and rides at Walt Disney World you build, the better the resort will be able to keep up with this demand.
Why Genie Plus Selling Out is a GOOD Thing
The fact that Disney chooses to mark Genie Plus as sold out means that they are working to maintain the value of the product. If Disney allowed all guests to continue to purchase the Genie Plus service the quality of the service would continue to degrade. With each additional family utilizing Genie Plus the exclusivity of the line-skipping option continues to go down. There has to be a cap of people that can access Genie Plus to preserve the short length of the Lightning Lanes.
When demand for the service increases, Disney has the option to keep selling the service or shut down sales. I am pleased to see that Disney continues to decide to shut down sales of Genie Plus to maintain the guest experience.
Interestingly the days that Genie Plus has sold out are often followed by another sell-out shortly afterward. You might think that Disney would increase the price of Genie Plus the days after the service has sold out. Time and again Disney has demonstrated that though they are willing to offer the FastPass service at a price, Genie+, they are not willing to completely elevate the cost of the service to be just for a select number of people. Though an option like the Universal Express Pass could be very popular at Disney, the company has chosen to keep the prices down to allow more families to access it.
Here’s an interesting chart on the pricing of Genie Plus at Walt Disney World vs the average wait times via ThrillData.
The relative price of Genie Plus to the rest of the Walt Disney World vacation is relatively small and most families will be open to paying the small additional amount to ensure that they are avoiding the lines and making use of the time that they have at the resort. Disney has clearly made a brand decision to keep prices down. Even with the recent high cost of the service hitting $35 per person, the cost is still lower than what Disney could charge. This is where Disney is still trying to preserve goodwill.
I believe that when Disney keeps a gap between the willingness of a guest to pay for an experience and the actual cost of an experience a guest will walk away from the experience generally happier and with a better taste in their mouth about the trip. The best sentiment about Disney is – wow, I had no idea that Lion King musical was that go. That was worth the price of admission on its own. Disney needs to keep the price of Genie Plus in a place that is still below the willingness to pay threshold of guests to ensure that that magical gap continues for guests at the parks.
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