Hello Claire,
Thanks for stopping by planDisney with your question. It won't be long before you are strolling down Main Street U.S.A. to get a photo in front of Cinderella Castle! Any trip to
Walt Disney World is magical, but there is something extra special about sharing the experience with extended family. The memories you share will last a lifetime!
Adding Genie+ to your tickets will certainly help you be able to experience more attractions with less time waiting in line. Whether you are staying at a Walt Disney World Resort or not, you'll be able to make your first Lightning Lane Selection for both your family and your sister's family at 7:00 AM.
Individual Lightning Lane purchase for the most popular attractions in the parks are a slightly different story. Only resort guests can purchase and reserve Individual Lightning Lanes at 7:00 AM. Everyone else can make those purchases when the park they are going to opens for the day. Luckily, right now there are only four attractions that fall under that category:
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance,
Remy's Ratatouille Adventure,
Avatar Flight of Passage, and
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
If you don't already have the
My Disney Experience app on your mobile device, I recommend getting that soon. You'll be able to check the "Tip Board" for each park to see which Individual Lightning Lanes sell out before park opening. Last time I visited, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was the only one that was actually gone before park opening. So that is an attraction that you'll need to be prepared to wait in the standby line for if you all want to ride together. The wait times get quite long and don't really let up throughout the day, so you'll probably want to head to that first if it's a "must do." The other challenge is that resort guests will be in line 30 minutes before regular guests, so by the time you all arrive at the park, the standby line could already be quite long. As amazing as this attraction is, if you skip this ride you will get to experience more throughout your day at
Disney's Hollywood Studios.
For the Individual Lightning Lane attractions in the other parks, it's very possible that you will be able to make those purchases even after the park opens. Periodically check the Tip Boards for each park to see when they sell out. Again, you can also try hopping into the lines for those at the beginning of the day, knowing that you'll be saving time on other attractions using Genie+ to make Lightning Lane selections.
Hope this helps. Have a magical vacation!
Diane