Welcome to planDisney, Deborah! Thanks so much for coming to us with your question today.
Disney Genie+ service is my favorite time-saving tool to use at Walt Disney World Resort and I'm happy to walk you through exactly how it will work for your party of 10.
Let's take it piece by piece and start with the first part of your question: can you book
Lightning Lane return times for separate groups within your party of 10 if some people want to split up and ride different attractions? Yes! It is very easy to create subgroups with all of your linked friends and family so you can have different riding parties for different attractions, even if the return times overlap. To get to the second part of your question: does everyone booking return times need to purchase Disney Genie+ service for the day? Also yes, but it sounds like you've already got plans to do this! If you're splitting your party into groups of 4, 4, and 2, all of those people will need to have purchased Disney Genie+ service that day. As long as you are linked together in the
My Disney Experience app, this can all happen in one single transaction! Those smaller groups do not need to make individual purchases to book Lightning Lane return times in that group configuration.
So, to put it all succinctly for you, start the morning by purchasing Disney Genie+ service in one transaction for your whole party, and then a group captain can make reservations for each of the three groups by selecting party members when they're booking return times. These groups can change throughout the day if you want, and you can also come back together to ride attractions with your whole group! Disney Genie+ service is very flexible and easy to customize.
I hope this answers your question, Deborah, and please let us know if there's anything else we can do to help you plan your magical vacation.
Jessica