Genie+ Breakdown

We get a lot of questions from clients on how Genie and Lightning Lanes work. Between Genie, Genie+, Lightning Lanes, and Individual Attraction Lightning Lanes it can get a little confusing.  But that's what we are here for, so sit back and let me show you what you get when you decide to purchase Genie+ for your day at Disney.

We've tested Genie+ at both Disney World and DisneyLand and you'd be surprised to know that they aren't the same.  I'll break down the differences as we go.

Disney Genie is a new feature that has been added to your Disney World and Disneyland Apps.  It's a feature that helps you set up and plan your priorities while at Disney.  You can go into the app and set preferences for what types of rides and characters you want to experience.  It's a pretty cool little system, but it takes some playing around with the app to understand it all.

Genie+ is the paid add-on for Disney Genie.  Genie+ costs $15 per person, per ticket day and gets you access to Lightning Lanes on your park visit.

Genie+ has to be purchased the day you will be entering the park.  You can purchase it as early as Midnight the day of.  Disney recently eliminated the ability to pre-purchase Genie+ for your trip.

Gone are the days of FastPasses, now it's all about the Lightning Lane (LL).  Genie+ allows you to be able to book time slots to use Lightning Lanes at MOST attractions.  I say most because at each Disney Park there will be 1 or 2 attractions that are not included in Genie+.  Of course these are the most popular rides that are separate as Individual Attraction Lightning Lanes (IALL).  These are purchased separately as an in-app purchase.  Each ride will cost between $7 and $15 per person.

Grabbing a Lightning Lane or Individual Attraction Lightning Lane is pretty simple.  In your Genie Tip Board it will show you an alphabetical list of all the rides.  You'll be able to see the current Wait Times for the regular, Standby Lines.

If Lightning Lanes are available for that ride it will be listed right underneath with the next available Lightning Lane. 

If it is an Individual Attraction Lightning Lane you will see the Purchase Price listed within the bar.  In the picture you can see the Web Slingers ride is $12 per person.  YOU DO NOT NEED TO PURCHASE GENIE+ TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE INDIVIDUAL ATTRACTION LIGHTNING LANES.

Attractions and Shows that do not use Lightning Lanes will have their next Show Time or current wait time listed.

Once all Lightning Lanes are gone for any particular ride or attraction the Lightning Lane will show as Currently Unavailable and be grayed out.

Once you've selected your Lightning Lane you have a one hour window to get to that ride.  So your 11:55am LL is good till 12:55pm.  You can arrive a few minutes early, but I would avoid arriving late.   Important note:  You can only get one LL for each ride per day.  So once you have ridden Haunted Mansion using LL, you have to use the standby line if you want to go again.

Now that I've described the basics of Genie+ and Lightning Lane, now I'll break down the differences.

Walt Disney World Genie+

In Disney World you are able to grab your very first Lightning Lane at 7am.  If you are staying on Disney property you can also purchase up to two Individual Attraction Lightning Lanes at 7am as well.  If you are staying off property you'll have to wait till park open to grab those Individual Attraction Lightning Lanes.  It's  generally a good idea to grab your first Lightning Lane at 7am as many of the popular rides will be snatched up first.

The confusion for most guests is WHEN CAN I BOOK MY NEXT LIGHTNING LANE?  You are able to grab another Lightning Lane every two hours AFTER OFFICIAL PARK OPENING.  So if Magic Kingdom opened at 8:30am you are able to grab that LL at 10:30am, then again at 12:30pm, 2:30pm, etc...

You can also grab a new Lightning Lane every time you use one.  So if I get a LL for Pirates at 9:30am, I am able to get another one as soon as I scan into the line at Pirates. 

If you are using Genie+ to it's fullest you can easily have 3 Lightning Lanes reserved throughout most of the day, this is known as "stacking'.  You won't be allowed to book two different LL's for the exact same time slot.  There can be some overlap, but it can't be the same exact hour.

If you are using Parkhopper you can book Lightning Lanes at other parks, but keep in mind travel time from one park to the other before you grab LLs at different parks.

Disneyland Genie+

Genie+ functions in many of the same ways over in California, but there are some significant differences.  Disneyland's Genie+ is $20 per person per day, but also include Photopass.  So you are able to get all those photo ops and ride pics included with your Genie+ purchase.

In Disneyland you can grab your first Lightning Lane once you have entered the park.  And you can grab that Individual Attraction Lightning Lane then as well.

​BUT Disneyland only allows you to have ONE Lightning Lane at a time.  So it works more like a grab-and-go.  You grab that next one as soon as you've used the previous one and keep going!

General Tips and Tricks for Genie+

Using Genie+ doesn't mean you'll skip all the lines, but it can certainly help you shorten the amount of time you'll spend in those lines.

I will often keep an eye on standby wait times and use my Lightning Lanes around them.  So I'll grab a Peter Pan's Flight LL that starts in an hour, but try and ride a few nearby rides that will fit in that time.

Lightning Lanes will show you the NEXT available LL time.  If it's a ride you don't want to miss, or wait a long time for, it's a good idea to grab that LL time slot.  But beware of grabbing LLs that are soon that are on the opposite side of the park.  It's NO fun to have be constantly running across the whole park just to use a Lightning Lane.

The rides that are currently available to Genie+ can change, so keep an eye out for current lists of what rides are on Genie+ and which are Individual Attraction Lightning Lanes.

New rides tend to use the Virtual Queue system, but after a while will migrate over to Individual Attraction Lightning Lanes and eventually regular Lightning Lanes on Genie+. Remy's Ratatouille is a great example of a ride that started as a virtual queue, then became an  Individual Attraction Lightning Lane and now is part of Genie+.

Now that you've learned the ins and outs of Genie+, Lightning Lane, and Individual Attraction Lightning Lanes, you can take a deep breath and relax.  Besides, if you are booking with Mouse O'Clock Travel we are always glad to answer any questions or clear up any confusions you may have.

Angie and I are here to help ease your Disney worries and make that trip all the more magical!
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It's Mouse O'Clock!