Hiya, Monica!
Welcome to planDisney! I am so glad that you stopped by with your Genie+ question. And it's a great one. I have to admit that until recently, I too was slightly confused by Disney Genie,
Genie+, and Individual Lighting Lanes. But Hakuna Matata, friend. I am happy to report that after booking my first two selections I felt very confident in using this amazing service. And by the end of day one, I felt like a pro! I used this service throughout my visit to The Most Magical Place on Earth last week, and I must say that I will absolutely be using this service for all of my upcoming adventures.
Let's start with that first
Lightning Lane Selection which is one of the great benefits of Genie+. You are correct! You can choose your first Lightning Lane at 7 AM ET. So set your alarm! It also helps to have a plan. And by this, I do not mean having an entire schedule set for your whole day (though I've been known to do this..more than once..). What I recommend is having your top choice and a backup selected by you and your travel party before the reservation window opens. Time slots for popular attractions (here's to you Slinky Dog Dash) fill up very quickly during early park hours. And by quickly, I mean within minutes. If you open the
My Disney Experience mobile app and spend those first twenty minutes trying to decide what to pick, you may find your options limited during the first few hours a park is open. Once you pick your attraction you will be given the next available time to ride. If the return window does not work for your itinerary, you can release the attraction, refresh the booking screen and look for an option that better fits your plans. I did this several times during my visit, and you will be surprised what may show up as available that was not an option moments before. After your selection is finalized, you are all set! Head to the parks, if you are not already there, and enjoy your favorite attractions until it is time to head to your selected ride or experience. You can reserve your next Lightning Lane as soon as you scan your MagicBand, Admission Card, or Magic Mobile Pass at the attraction entrance. I often found myself having a new experience booked before I even started the current one.
Now, let's talk about what happens if your must-do experience gives you a return time later in the day. This happens. Often! But I assure you, all is not lost. I'll use Disney's Hollywood Studios and my most recent stay as an example. The beloved Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is a favorite of mine. The return time I was given was 2 PM. Yikes! Because this was a top priority attraction for me, I kept the time despite it being later in the day. But this doesn't mean you can only use standby until that afternoon's return. If your Lightning Lane selection is more than two hours from when the park opens, you can pick another before that return time. Here's how it works. After reserving the later return time, head to the parks and enjoy your time. Two hours after the park opens you can choose another experience, even if you haven't used the first one. If the park opens at 8 AM, set a reminder on your phone for 10 AM and pick another Lightning Lane. After you use this selection you can continue to pick and use one additional option at a time until your originally booked attraction.
I know that this is a lot of information! Genie and Genie+ are very user-friendly and I am confident that you will be booking Lightning Lanes with ease in no time at all. In the meantime, stop back anytime with all of your Genie+ questions or any Disney vacation planning inquiries!
We'll see ya real soon!
Tammy