Hi there, Christina!
Thanks for your question! It looks like your visit is very soon, so let's jump right in and get a plan for your tickets.
If you'd like to purchase access to
Lightning Lanes for attractions, but don't plan to use that service for every day of your park tickets, that's totally fine! Just buy
regular theme park tickets and when you get to the screen that says "Add Convenience to Your Day" do
not check the box to add Disney Genie+ Service. Adding Disney Genie+ while buying tickets means it applies to every day that your ticket is valid, but you want to buy the service once you enter the park each morning because then it's only valid for that day. That way you can pick and choose which days you want to have access to Lightning Lanes.
Once you have entered the parks you can open the
Disneyland Mobile App to buy Disney Genie+ for the day. On the home screen (tap the house icon) you'll see a purple banner toward the top that says "Disney Genie+ Service" with a "Purchase" button. Tap that, then scroll down on the next screen to the "Get Disney Genie+ Service" button. Then you'll select the tickets that you want to purchase the service for and complete the process. Pretty easy!
You can make buying Disney Genie+ Service each morning even easier by
storing a preferred payment method in your MyDisney account. Then you can use the app to
place mobile food orders and purchase merchandise at some locations, too!
Don't forget that on the days you do have Disney Genie+ Service you also get digital downloads of pictures taken by Disney PhotoPass Photographers and your attraction photos! You can link photos by having the photographers scan your park ticket in the app. For attraction photos, I like to take a quick picture of the photo ID on the image preview at the ride exit so I can link it in the photos section of the app. Is my hair always crazy in the photos from Radiator Springs Racers? Yes. Do I download the photo anyway? Also yes.
Speaking of racing, two attractions have
separate Lightning Lanes that you purchase individually. You do not need to have Disney Genie+ Service to buy these Lighting Lanes, so if you want to purchase one for Radiator Springs Racers or Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance on a day you aren't using Genie you're welcome to do that!
You're almost at the starting line for your trip, Christina! Get those tickets and make your
theme park reservations so that you can enjoy the ride!
Keep moving forward!
Amanda