Hiya, Kristin!
I’m excited to see you are planning on filling your days at The Happiest Place on Earth with a lot of magic. That’s just what you get when you take advantage of the complimentary
Disney Genie service as well as the optional
Disney Genie+ add-on and à la carte
individual Lightning Lanes.
For
theme park tickets that don’t already have the Disney Genie+ entitlement included, you may only add on Genie+ one day at a time and after using the ticket to enter a park each day. The same prerequisite applies for purchasing individual Lightning Lanes, which can be purchased whether or not the ticket has Genie+ added. The good news is that if you enter a park before the scheduled park opening time, you may begin purchasing Genie+ and booking Lightning Lane return times even before the park opens. That includes when Guests are allowed entrance to
Main Street, U.S.A. or
Buena Vista Street for the so-called “rope drop” before park opening and
early entry as a Guest of one of the three
Disneyland Resort Hotels.
After you use your ticket to enter one of the theme parks, you can tap the “Purchase” button in the Genie+ section of the
Disneyland mobile app’s home screen. You can also find the purchase option from the “My Genie Day” and “Tip Board” screens found on the app’s ☰ feature menu. To purchase an individual Lightning Lane for attractions not included with Genie+, find the attraction you wish to experience on the Tip Board screen and tap the “LL Individual Lightning Lane” button if the offered time works with your plans. The Tip Board is also where you will go to book Genie+ Lightning Lane return times.
Tony’s Tip: If you have
Park Hopper tickets, you may also book Lightning Lane return times for the opposite park from where you have your starting
theme park reservation. The return times you reserve in the opposite park must be for 11:00 AM or later. You may book up to two à la carte Lightning Lane return times each day. And you may book one Genie+ Lightning Lane at a time. However, if the return time for a Genie+ Lightning Lane is for more than two hours later, you may book another attraction after 120 minutes. I recommend setting a timer on your phone to remind you to book that additional Lightning Lane to maximize the magic!
I hope you have a magical time, Kristin!
~Tony