Disney overhauls Genie+ system to let you sleep in and still skip long lines
Do you like sleeping in past 6:55 a.m. and not living on your phone while on vacation? If so, Disney has some good news for you.
One of the biggest complaints about Disney World's Genie+ system, which replaced the prior FastPass+ reduce-your-time-in-line program in 2022 (and added a cost; the old system was free), was that to really maximize the service, the planner for the family ended up being on their phone quite a bit selecting and modifying attraction reservations beginning each day at 7 a.m. while on "vacation."
Disney heard that feedback and announced last year that changes were coming — and now we know what those changes will be.
Beginning July 24, Disney Genie+ is getting a major makeover.
Guests who want to use the lines with shorter wait times will be able to plan some of their day's attractions before their visit. Genie+ as we know it, which lets you access shorter wait times for multiple attractions throughout the day, will be rebranded to Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Individual Lightning Lane attractions, which are often the newest attractions not included in the multi-attraction pass, like Tron Lightcycle / Run and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, will be called Lightning Lane Single Pass.
Here's everything you need to know about how Disney's Lightning Lane passes will work for visits beginning July 24 and onward.
How to book for multiple days ahead of your visit
Beginning July 24, guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel can purchase Lightning Lane passes up to seven days in advance at 7 a.m. ET for the entire length of their stay (up to 14 days). This includes the Walt Disney World Swan, Dolphin and Swan Reserve hotels and Shades of Green, in addition to Disney's official hotels. Previously, this happened starting at midnight on each day of your trip. All other guests with date-based tickets can plan up to three days in advance for the length of their ticket, beginning at 7 a.m. ET. Guests with annual passes who don't have a Disney hotel stay can plan one day at a time, up to three days before their visit.
You can purchase a Lightning Lane Multi Pass, a Lightning Lane Single Pass or both. The My Disney Experience app will have a streamlined process for bundling these purchases into one transaction instead of having to make them separately. It's not necessary to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass to buy Lightning Lane Single Pass selections and vice versa.
In some ways, this is highly reminiscent of FastPass+, the predecessor to Disney Genie+. With FastPass+, you could make three prearrival attraction selections either 60 days out (for on-site hotel guests) or 30 days out (for all other guests). This tighter booking window feels like a step up from FastPass+ because you will likely have a better idea of your other vacation plans, such as dining reservations and other activities, when your booking window opens.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass
With the introduction of Lightning Lane Multi Pass, guests can purchase and make up to three Lightning Lane selections for one park per day in advance of their visit. Not only can you choose which attractions you want to ride, but you can also choose the time you'd like to do so.
On the day of your visit, you can make additional Lightning Lane selections throughout the day after you use one. If you have Park Hopper tickets, you can make subsequent selections for any of Disney World's four theme parks. All of this is done using the My Disney Experience app.
This is a huge departure from Disney Genie+, which only allowed you to choose the next available window, though many people used this as a strategy for "stacking" Lightning Lanes to use later in the day. Now that you can choose three ride times before your visit, you can opt for times later in the day if you are a late riser or for early in the morning if you prefer to arrive when the parks open. If your plans change after you make your selections, you will still have the option to modify your arrival window.
The process for preselecting rides also resembles FastPass+ for those who remember how that worked prior to the pandemic.
Lightning Lane selections will fall into two groups. You can make one from the first group, which includes premier attractions like Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Peter Pan's Flight at Magic Kingdom and Remy's Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After at Epcot. Your other two selections will include all other available attractions in your chosen park
The pricing structure will not change and will still vary by date and park. The service currently starts at $15 per person per day, and occasionally reaches $39 per person per day during the busiest seasons, like the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons and spring break.
Lightning Lane Single Pass
Lightning Lane Single Pass (formerly Individual Lightning Lane) will work much like it did prior to the change, allowing you to choose a time to ride Disney's newest and most in-demand attractions, but now you can make that purchase and choose your arrival window ahead of time.
Currently, the only rides that will require a Lightning Lane Single Pass purchase are Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Avatar Flight of Passage, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Tron Lightcycle / Run and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
The attractions included in Lightning Lane Single Pass are not included in Lightning Lane Multi Pass and require a separate purchase if you want to skip the normal queue (which, for some of these rides, is a virtual queue). You can purchase up to two of these selections per day, the same limit as right now.
Pricing varies by day and attraction and typically ranges between $7 and $25 per person per attraction.
Bottom line
This is the latest in a string of changes to make Disney World visits less stressful.
Early last year, Disney brought back free self-parking for on-site hotel guests and added complimentary on-ride digital photo downloads with the purchase of Genie+ (which will stick around with the new system). Late last year, Disney reintroduced all-day park-hopping and nixed the theme park reservation requirement for most guests.
The free planning portion of Disney Genie will remain, which is a handy tool when you want to check wait times, get itinerary suggestions or play with fun photo filters.
It's worth noting that these changes only apply to Walt Disney World. Disneyland will adopt the new naming conventions for Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass beginning July 24, but the way you purchase and make selections at Disneyland will remain the same.
While this update does require a little more planning before you arrive, it should make your in-the-park time (and sleep schedule) more enjoyable while you are on your vacation. We are glad to see Disney eliminating some of the barriers that made it harder to enjoy the magic of a Disney World vacation and making the planning process simpler and more fun.
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