How To Summon The Genie
Without Summoning your inner demons!
Disney’s Genie service, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane Purchases. Any idea what these are? How to use them? It’s a lot of information to take in and put in to action on your vacation. Today, I’m sharing the information I use to help my clients navigate this!
If you have an upcoming trip to Disney, this may seem very daunting but, I assure you, with this advice, a little practice and patience, you will NAIL it! Your friends and family will then be asking YOU for help!
*As always, this is an ever changing world and Disney’s Genie and Genie+ have already had several updates and changes since their debut. The advice and information outlined here is current as of the date of this post, but make sure to check Disney’s website for any updates or changes, or reach out to me directly. Any of my clients will receive real time updates should anything change that may affect their trips.
Okay… are you ready to dive in?
What is Disney’s Genie?
First a short lesson - What is Genie, Genie +, and Lightning Lane?
Disney's Genie is a free planning tool located within the My Disney Experience App
Disney's Genie+ is a paid enhancement on this tool to allow you access to make Lightning Lane Reservations in the system for select rides in each park.
Lightning Lane - A Lightning Lane is the line at an attraction or experience that bypasses the regular standby line. You will make a reservation via Genie+ to receive a time to utilize this line and skip the regular line.
Individual Lightning Lane Purchase - Certain prime attractions (currently one in each park) have an a la carte option to pay for an individual Lightning Lane reservation. These prices do vary based on park attendance and season. Typically between $5-$15 per person per ride. These rides are also NOT included with Genie+ so you can either purchase the LL separately or will need to wait in a standby line, or get a Virtual Queue Boarding Group (currently only for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT) to ride.
Disney’s Genie Service
Once you’ve linked your tickets and travel party in the app you will be able to use the Free Genie Service. This will let you view attraction wait times, forecasted wait times, and ride details. As well as view dining options, menus, make reservations (when available), and even mobile order from select Quick Service restaurants.
If you want to book Lightning Lanes (skip the regular lines) you will need to purchase Genie+ each park day. For Walt Disney World this is a $15 per person, per day charge and you can no longer buy this in advance.
You can purchase as early as midnight the night before your visit. I would advise purchasing prior to 7am ET on your park day for the best selections. I recommend having a credit card linked in your Disney account so that you can make this as easy on yourself as possible.
Guests can start making Lightning Lane selections starting at 7am ET each day.
Select attractions use a paid Lightning Lane selection. These can be purchased without purchasing Genie+ Service and start booking at 7am for on-site guests and at park opening for off-site guests.
Yes, you can have a LL with Genie+ and a Paid LL Selection at the same time. They are not connected and you can overlap them.
Take these steps to book your first Lightning Lane Reservation
Log in to the MDE App prior to 7am ET. Make sure Genie+ has been purchased and your tickets and travel party are linked.
At 7am ET pull down on the phone screen with your finger to refresh.
Book your first Lightning Lane - based off your priorities and my recommendations of what will sell out first (see image below)
Wait until you use this Lightning Lane Reservation OR 2 hours after park opening to book your NEXT Lightning Lane.
Example - You book an 11:30am Slinky Dog LL at 7am. You can book your next LL at 10:30am ET if the park opens at 8:30am ET that day. Then once you use your Slinky Dog LL you can book another LL. The app will show you what time you can book another LL, but always check after scanning into a reservation.
Follow These Steps to Book An Individual Paid Lightning Lane
Log in to the MDE app prior to 7am ET.
Make sure your credit card is linked up. Double check billing address and name on card, as any discrepancies can cause issues.
At 7am ET pull down on the phone screen with your finger to refresh.
Have your first Individual Paid Lightning Lane attraction ready to book.
Book these BEFORE you book any Genie+ eligible Lightning Lane reservations (if you plan to also use Genie +).
You can book two Paid LLs per day.
Park Hopping and Tips and Tricks
If you are looking for a Lightning Lane in the park you will hop to next, you must wait until the times are showing past 2pm ET when Park Hopping begins (this is a recent change!)
For Paid Individual Lightning Lane purchases you CAN choose which time you'd like to return.
You can continue to make Lightning Lane reservations through the day. The app will tell you what time you can make your next reservation, but the basics are you can book another LL once you have either used one of your LLs OR every 2 hours - whichever comes first. This would start 2 hours after park opening (as outlined in the example above).
You are limited to what is available but if you keep refreshing through the day, more options do usually become available. Not for all rides, but it can happen, so don’t fret if you don’t get your first choice right away.
There are the basics. I highly recommend downloading the app before your trip and making sure everything is linked and set up. You should get familiar with where to find the Tip Board and how to navigate the app as it will save you a lot of time getting over that learning curve when time is of the essence.
Remember, you can skip this all together and just wait in a standby line for almost ALL attractions (Guardians is the exception). However, I think Genie+ can really help groups and families with a limited time in the parks, or on those once a year or once in a lifetime trip get the most out of their time and money.
If you have questions please let me know. I’m happy to help. As always, when you book your trip through me, one-on-one training and materials are at no additional cost to you. I would absolutely love to help you plan your next adventure!
Until then, I hope this was helpful!
xoxo, Molly
