Hey Howdy Hey LoriAnn and welcome to planDisney!
Genie+ has been such a great addition to navigating the parks this year. With the ability to access Lightning Lanes to get quicker access to attractions allows you to spend more time enjoying the parks rather than standing in line. Such a time saver! I will say, over this past year, there have been some tweaks to its usage and some confusion on the specifics. Not to worry LoriAnn, you've got a friend in me to give you the rundown of its usage. Let's break down the details!
Now, with Genie+, you can purchase this option on the day of your valid theme park ticket and
theme park reservation. You can start to make your first
Lightning Lane selection starting at 7:00 a.m. EST on this day for the available attractions. You are then able to make your next selection 2 hours after the park officially opens or after you tap into your first attraction, whichever comes first. I will let you know there has been a new addition on the
My Disney Experience app to let you know when you will be able to make your next Lightning Lane selection which is super helpful! Disney has updated their site with a few
"How To" videos on some of the ways to utilize Genie+ which may be helpful as well. Individual Lightning Lanes work a little differently.
With
Individual Lightning Lanes, these are purchased times for super popular attractions such as
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT. With these, you can select which time throughout the day you would like to experience this attraction which gives you more flexibility compared to Genie+. These are available for purchase for those staying onsite at a Disney Resorts Collection hotel or qualifying resorts starting at 7:00 a.m. EST and all others can purchase when the park officially opens. The plot continues to thicken with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind because of the Virtual Queue option.
You will still have an option to get your ticket to help the Guardians save the galaxy at 7:00 a.m. with the
Virtual Queue option. The Virtual Queue is used mostly on new attractions and is a way to wait in line virtually rather than the first come, first serve regular queue option. This is only available with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind right now and might be a way for you to get your pass at 7:00 a.m. rather than waiting for the park to open with the Individual Lightning Lane option. On the home screen of your My Disney Experience app, you should see the Virtual Queue option with a button to "Join Virtual Queue". Tap on the button, customize your party and at 7:00 a.m. EST, you will be able to get your boarding pass for this attraction and be called to the queue at the projected time on the app.
My Advice for getting the attractions you want is at 7:00 a.m., get your Virtual Queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, next get your Lightning Lane return window for Remy's Ratatouille Adventure and have the Individual Lightning Lane as an alternate for Guardians if you cannot get the Virtual Queue. Good luck and let us know if you have any further questions.
Have a Magical Day,
Nick