Hey there, Mary, and welcome to planDisney! My main goal on my Disney Vacations is to avoid as many lines as possible! Restaurant lines, Attraction lines, Rope-drop lines — I avoid them all! Especially if my vacation is during the height of the Central Florida summer! I’d be more than happy to let you in on some of my line avoidance strategies.
Mary, Disney’s Genie+ Service is the new replacement for the FastPass+ program. With Genie+ Guests are able to reserve an attraction return window and access the attraction through the Lightning Lane Queue entrance. Utilizing Lightning Lane entrance usually means that you have a shorter wait time than the standby queue. So if your goal is to effectively navigate the wait times, Genie+ is probably a necessity for your upcoming vacation.
Disney’s Genie+ Service is available as a same-day upgrade service. Meaning that each morning of your Theme Park days, you can purchase the service for yourself and your vacation party. The service is only valid for that day of purchase, and a new purchase is required for each subsequent park day. Guests can begin purchasing their Genie+ add-on beginning at 12:01 a.m. EST each morning. The service is available on a first-come, first-served basis. So I suggest that you purchase the service as soon as availability opens, but it’s not required. However, if you’re planning to purchase Genie+, I recommend that you complete your purchase before 7 a.m. EST on your Theme Park mornings - preferably around 6 a.m.; because all resort Guests are able to make their first Genie+ attraction reservation beginning at 7 a.m. EST. The popular attractions fill quickly, so I suggest having a strong plan in place and setting multiple alarms!
Mary, the
Individual Lightning Lane service is also available to Guests during their vacations. While this service is very similar to Genie+, it is reserved for the most popular attraction(s) in each Theme Park - think
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Similar to above, Individual Lightning Lane purchases start at 7 a.m. the day of your Theme Park visit, but only for Guests staying in a Disney Resorts Collection hotel. Guest staying off-property can purchase their first Individual Lightning Lane Entrance at the Theme Park opening time. Further, Individual Lightning Lane purchases are available for all Guests - with or without the Disney Genie+ service.
I know that’s a lot of information, but I hope it helps, Mary! If you have more questions while planning your Disney Vacation,
stop back by and let me know!
You’ve got a friend in me,
PG