Welcome to planDisney, Eleanor,
Aww! That is so sweet of you to want to remain with your friend for as long as possible during your visit to the Disneyland Resort. I would like to be a friend as kind as you.
Since each Disneyland Resort attraction that features a
Lightning Lane entrance has only one station where Cast Members can verify eligibility to utilize that entrance, all Guests experiencing the attraction through a Lightning Lane must have a valid return time for that entrance associated with their theme park admission. Fortunately, the Lightning Lane queues typically have much shorter wait times than the standby queues. So if you choose not to add the
Disney Genie+ service to your ticket or purchase
individual Lightning Lane return times for the few attractions not included with Genie+, you likely won’t be waiting long for your friend to experience those attractions.
Tony’s Tip: If you do choose to add Genie+ to your ticket, I recommend linking the theme park admission for both of your tickets to one or both of your accounts in the
Disneyland mobile app. That way, you can be sure to book Lightning Lane return times for both tickets at the same time. And it’s worth noting that there are many attractions that feature Lightning Lane that aren’t high-speed thrill rides. They include
Autopia,
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters,
Haunted Mansion, “
it’s a small world,”
Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!,
Toy Story Midway Mania!, and more. So there is still tremendous value in utilizing Genie+ even without the roller coasters. And when you do have downtime, Disney Genie+ also offers even more "
phenomenal cosmic powers," including stories and information packed into Audio Tales complimentary digital downloads all of your
Disney PhotoPass photos taken by PhotoPass photographers, and exclusive
Disney PhotoPass Lenses.
With or without Genie+, I hope you and your friend have a magical time at the Disneyland Resort, Eleanor!
~Tony