Hey Howdy Hey Rochelle and welcome to planDisney!
It's so exciting to hear you will be visiting us here in the Vacation Kingdom of the World next year! Thank you so much for your question about
Genie+, as this transition from FastPass to Genie+ has come with a lot of questions. Sit tight and let's try and run through how it works.
With Genie+, this works similar to the old FastPass system in that through your
My Disney Experience app, you can reserve access to attractions with
Lightning Lane reservations with a similar reservation window. You can start booking your Lightning Lane reservations at 7:00 a.m. EST on the morning of your park day and you can book them every two hours, or after you redeemed your Lightning Lane reservation.
Genie+ will give you access to general Lightning Lane reservation privileges which cover many attractions in all four theme parks. However, Disney also has
Individual Lightning Lane purchases available for the really popular attractions such as
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios. I would make sure to check, as your travel dates get closer, Disney information online to see which attractions you can book with Lightning Lane from Genie+ and which ones may be separate and require Individual Lightning Lane purchases as these may change.
One really big benefit of Genie+ and the Individual Lightning Lane purchases is the flexibility. You can purchase Genie+ for certain days of your trip or every park day if you would like. Individual Lightning Lane purchases can be in combination with Genie+ or completely separate. Either way, these will help reduce the time you are waiting in lines and more time enjoying the parks!
I also wanted to let you know about some recent changes to
Disney's Disability Access Service (DAS). Disney has recently updated this process as well. You now can apply for
DAS Advanced Planning. With this process, you can requestion a virtual video chat with a Cast Member which takes place of the process once you get to the parks. As long as you are approved, you will be given a text-only number in which you can make two advanced DAS reservations that a Cast Member will help you secure for your days in the parks. You will also have your rolling one DAS reservation available as well.
With the traditional rolling one DAS reservation, Disney has also moved this option to the My Disney Experience app. So you can book this option either in the parks with the greeting Cast Member at each attraction or through your My Disney Experience app. So you will be able to do everything from DAS return windows and your Lightning Lane reservations all from your smart device on this trip if you like!
A lot of information to go over there! I hope this helped to clear things up a little as a lot has recently changed with DAS and transition to Genie+. If you have any further questions in planning for your next trip, please feel free to reach back out, we would be happy to help!
Happy planning,
Nick