Hey there, Jaime! Thanks so much for stopping by planDisney with your question. You must be very excited to visit the Happiest Place on Earth this week!
Jaime, if you didn’t add
Disney Genie+ at the time you bought your tickets, you can still add it once you arrive. However, you need to wait until you have entered the theme park. So, as you go through the turnstile, keep your mobile phone handy, open the
Disneyland mobile app, go to “My Genie Day” and click on the link to add Genie+ service to your day. You can add it for all the Guests linked to your account.
My family and I have saved many hours of time not having to wait in queues, by using Genie+. Adding Genie+ gives you access to
19 Lightning Lanes across the two theme parks and the queues move very quickly. You’ll be given a return window when you make a Lightning Lane selection.
You can make your first selection as soon as you add Genie+ service upon entry to the parks. I would pick one of the attractions that tends to book up quickly, like Space Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, or Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Disneyland Park, or Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! at Disney California Adventure Park. Those Lightning Lane windows will be harder to get as the day progresses.
Keep in mind, you can be holding more than one Lightning Lane selection at a time! You can make your next selection either after you scan in for your current Lightning Lane selection, or 120 minutes after you made that selection, even if you haven’t redeemed it yet. Example: if at 8:00 a.m. you book a Matterhorn Bobsleds Lightning Lane for 11:00 a.m., you can make your next Lightning Lane selection at 10:00 a.m. even though you haven’t redeemed the Matterhorn Bobsleds one yet. I like to set an alarm on my phone to alert me when to make my next reservation!
As if saving time in queues wasn’t enough, Genie+ has another phenomenal cosmic power – it gives you complimentary access to
Disney PhotoPass that day too, which is a terrific value. You can get your photos taken by
Disney PhotoPass Photographers and download those as well as the attraction photos. Bonus tip – ask the photographer about taking a Magic Shot, which will include a special effect or character in your photo! My family has dozens of these and they always make us laugh when we flip through prior trip photos on our phones.
Jaime, are you excited to board this magic carpet ride? I hope so!
Kamini