DATE ANNOUNCED —Two Popular Disneyland Rides Being Added to Genie Plus Service, One Of Them Surprised Us
The paid Genie Plus service has been the replacement of the now-retired FastPass system for a few years now since its introduction in 2021, allowing guests to book Lightning Lane return times and skip the line with limited wait time for select rides throughout the parks. Disneyland has announced that two popular Disneyland rides, one in Disneyland Park and one in Disney California Adventure, will soon be added to the rides offered via Disney Genie Plus.
Some of Disneyland's newer rides are initially offered via Individual Lightning Lane access, which is purchased at an additional cost per person, while they are in the highest demand and then offered as Genie Plus Lightning Lanes later on (as was the case for WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure in Avengers Campus).
Disney also made two big announcements about an improvement on the Disneyland reservations system for planners and a big child discount for next year.
Below, we will discuss the two new Genie Plus offerings being added to Disneyland soon, the date that one of them will be available, and the predicted impact that this will have. We were surprised to see one of these attractions added to Genie Plus! See the dates for when these two new additions will come online below.
New Disneyland Rides Added To Genie Plus
Two new rides will soon be added to Genie Plus, meaning that guests will be able to book Genie+ Lightning Lanes for these experiences on the Disneyland app.
Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway at Disneyland Park
At Disneyland Park, the recently added Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway in Toontown has been offering access via Individual Lightning Lane and standby line after initially utilizing a virtual queue. For this attraction, Individual Lightning Lane access typically costs between $15-20 per person.
Disney has announced that this attraction will join Disney Genie Plus starting today, October 11, 2023.
Currently, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway will often be available for instantaneous Individual Lightning Lane return times into the afternoon. We were not surprised to see the attraction added to the standard Genie Plus service based on the lack of demand for the Individual Lightning Lane. This is a great addition that adds real value to the service.
Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway will be added to Genie Plus, so this attraction will be available with the purchase of Genie Plus without the additional cost of Individual Lightning Lane access.
The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure at Disney California Adventure
The other ride that will be added to Genie Plus is The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure, the dark ride that takes you on a journey through key moments of The Little Mermaid movie.
While the addition of Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway to Genie Plus can be expected, we are a bit surprised by the addition of The Little Mermaid ride, as the line has always flowed smoothly for this attraction without a need to add Lightning Lanes to make it go by faster.
The ride utilizes an omnimover system that is constantly moving and fits lots of guests in even with high demand. The addition of Genie Plus here seems to be meant more to increase the perceived value of the Genie Plus service for those guests with one park per day tickets for Disney California Adventure than to solve an actual problem. We expect that this will be an immediate return Genie Plus pass where, like Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, you'll be able to pull a Genie Plus pass and then walk on within minutes. This will still be an easy addition to Genie Plus, just not one that I think any guest was begging for.
Disneyland's Genie Plus includes far fewer rides on Genie Plus that don't provide real value to the guest. This is completely different in Walt Disney World where shows like MuppetVision 3D and It's Tough To Be a Bug offer Genie Plus seemingly only to spread out the crowds and increase perceived value. We like the current value that Genie Plus provides at Disneyland and still strongly recommend the service at the resort for those pursuing a jam-packed day at the resort.
When Will the Two New Rides Be Added To Genie Plus?
Disneyland has shared that The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure will be added to Disneyland Genie Plus on November 19, 2023 and Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway was already added on October 11, 2023.
With these new offerings being added, Disney has shared that Genie+'s pre-arrival price and starting price for day-of purchases will rise, and day-of pricing for Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes will continue to vary.
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