Today I’m going to share what we learned about Genie+, both through research I did prior to our trip and through our experience. I figured I’d try and explain some of this, in case anyone has a trip coming up and is confused how it works, but also, so that it makes sense as I map out our upcoming days. So here we go.
What is Genie+?
Genie+ is Disney’s new form of fast passes. You pay a certain amount per person per day to use this service. Instead of booking your fast passes ahead of time, you now book them the day of. Just so there’s no confusion, they call it “Lightning Lane” now rather than fast passes, so that’s what you’ll see me call it from here on out.
How much does it cost?
Genie+ costs $15-29 per person per day. Pricing is based on the projected crowd levels. So slower days are going to be around $15/person/day, peak days are going to be $29/person/day, and it can vary in between. There is no way to know for sure how much it’s going to be ahead of time. They post how much it will be for the day at midnight the day of. While we were there it was $15-17, so this time of year is definitely a non-peak time. You can see trends of how much it cost each day on this website.
When can you purchase?
You can purchase starting at midnight the day of, however there’s really no need to stay up late to purchase right at midnight unless it’s a peak time. There is a limit on the number of Genie+ that can be purchased each day, but it’s not going to sell out unless it’s a peak time. I heard that this happened over the holidays when it was insanely crowded, but we had no issues purchasing when we woke up in the morning. I actually noticed on the days we didn’t purchase it, that it still gave us the option to purchase late in the day. Just make sure you purchase it before 7:00am, which is when you are able to make your first selection.
How do you book Lightning Lanes?
At 7:00am you’re able to book your first Lightning Lane of the day. Open the My Disney Experience app, click the hamburger icon at the bottom right, then go to the Tip Board to show all ride options. If you have a watch that counts seconds, pull down to refresh at 6:59:58 then make your first selection (there’s strategy to what to book first, I’ll go over it in a minute).
You can book your next LL once the first one is used OR 2 hours after park opening, whichever is first. It continues like this throughout the day. You can book every two hours or once all your LL are used.
Example: For Magic Kingdom, we booked Peter Pan first with an arrival time of 9:25-10:25. As soon as we scanned our magic bands to enter the Lightning Lane, we were able to book our next one. At 9:30, right after we scanned for Peter Pan, we booked Jungle Cruise. The first available time for Jungle cruise was 3:20pm. This meant that we were able to book our next ride 2 hours later at 11:30. It continued like this throughout the day.
TIP: set your alarm so you don’t forget! Two hours at Disney goes by super fast!
Another example: For Hollywood Studios, we booked Slinky Dog Dash first. The first available time was 1:25 (yes, it was already booked out to 1:25 only a few seconds past 7:00am!) Hollywood Studios opened at 8:30, which meant we were able to book our next LL at 10:30, two hours after park opening, then again at 12:30, and so on.
I hope all that makes sense! If it doesn’t, contact me and I’ll be happy to answer questions. Also, I’m sure there will be changes to this system, so I’ll try to update this page as changes come out.
Do you get to choose a time?
Not really. The available times start at park opening, and as they’re booked, the times get later and later. So you just take what you can get, then modify if needed.
Can you modify the time if it doesn’t work for you?
Yes! This is a recent change that makes it much easier to change your time. Let’s say you end up with a 9:25 LL for Peter Pan, but you’re not planning on getting there until the afternoon. Keep watching the app. As the times book up, the available time will get later and later. Then you can click on your booking, click “modify,” and select the new time. We used this feature a couple times throughout our stay.
Which rides book up fastest?
MK- Peter Pan and Jungle Cruise go the fastest. After that, probably Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain
HS – Slinky and Tower of Terror (I was surprised that Rock n Roller Coaster didn’t book faster). Then Mickey and Minnie, Rock n Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania.
Epcot – Remy and Frozen, followed by Test Track and Soarin’
Animal Kingdom – Na’vi River Journey, Safari, Everest (while we were there, nothing really booked fast, but on busy days, these would probably be the ones to go first)
Tip: Download the My Disney Experience app and track the Tip Board. It shows you the next available time for each attraction. Track this page leading up to your trip and come up with a game plan of what you’re going to book in which order.
What is Individual Lightning Lane?
Certain rides are not included in a regular Genie+ purchase. These are the more high profile rides at each park. You have to pay extra for these rides. We did not find it worth the extra money to pay extra for these rides. The price for these also varies based on anticipated crowd level. These include:
- 7 Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom ($12-$15/person)
- Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios ($20-$22/person)
- Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom ($12-$15/person)
- Guardians of the Galaxy at Epcot ($15-$17/person) (only if you can’t get in the virtual queue – more about that in my Epcot post)
What happens if a ride goes down during my LL time?
We had this happen a couple times on our last day. We booked Winnie the Pooh first, because this was one we didn’t get to do the first day and we wanted to make this a priority for Hannah since Pooh is her favorite. Our time was 9:05, but the ride was down for maintenance at park opening. Our LL was converted to a “Multiple Experience Pass,” which could be used at almost any ride (there were some exclusions).
A few things to note when this happens:
- We were able to book our next LL as soon as it converted to a Multiple Experience Pass. We did not have to wait until it was used.
- If you have push notifications set up for your My Disney Experience app, it will send you a notification when this happens.
- One rule of Genie+ is that you can only book a LL for a ride once. We were concerned that since we had already booked Pooh, that we wouldn’t be able to book it again, HOWEVER, we found that if your LL is converted to a Multiple Experience Pass due to the ride being down, you are still able to rebook that same ride later. Because of a strange series of rides going down and ending up with Multiple Experience Passes, we were able to ride Pooh twice and Big Thunder Mountain twice, using LL each time and saving a ton of time.
How to set up your day ahead of time
It will help you out a ton when you’re booking your first Lightning Lanes of the day. This is how you do it (you can only do this if you have booked your trip and made your park reservations).
- Open My Disney Experience app and click the hamburger icon in the bottom right
- Click on My Genie Day and then My Day on the top right
- It will say “Recommended Activity: Start here to plan your day.” Click the Get Started Now button.
- Click Start Now
- You’ll choose which day and which park you’re setting up, as well as who in your party will be using Genie+
- Choose which rides will be your top priority. Don’t pick everything you want to do. At first, only choose the ones that you want to book a LL for first. These will then show up at the top of your tip board when it’s time to book your LL. This helps for things like Peter Pan or Tower of Terror, which are further down on your alphabetical list. This keeps you from having to scroll and scroll when you’re trying to book a LL quickly.
I think that covers most of Genie+! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Molly is a great resource for all things Genie+. She stays up to date on all the changes, so make sure and check out her YouTube channel questions if you’d like more tips and tricks!
More from our 2023 Disney Vacation:
Day 1: Animal Kingdom
Day 2: Magic Kingdom
Day 3: Epcot
Day 4: Disney Springs and Art of Animation
Day 5: Hollywood Studios
Day 6: Magic Kingdom
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