Welcome, Addy! Thanks so much for stopping by planDisney. It sounds like you are the planner in your family and love getting those Disneyland details in place. A big family trip to the Happiest Place on Earth will bring lots of magical memories, and your group is lucky to follow a leader like you! You'll make sure there are no Lost Boys (or girls!), and you won't need the tick-tock of the crocodile to get everyone to those Lightning Lanes on time!
Before we get ahead of ourselves daydreaming of merry little thoughts, let me break out my bag of pixie dust here. Watch your step as we board
Peter Pan's Flight and sail off to Never Land to find an answer to your question! I'm so happy to hear you plan to add
Genie+ to your tickets and take advantage of
Rider Switch. You will love flying through those Lightning Lanes, saving magical minutes during your park day, and also getting to enjoy some attractions that your Michael, John, or Wendy Darling may not be ready for. The easiest way to think about it is that everyone who is planning to use the Lightning Lanes during your visit will need to have Genie+ added to their ticket. I recommend taking a look at all of the
attractions included with Genie+ to see if there are any your 3-year-old might enjoy. Currently, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, "it's a small world", Toy Story Midway Mania!, and even WEBSLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure are all included with Genie+ and cater to the younger set ... or those adults that never want to grow up!
With Hook on our tail, let's sail over London and head down to the Mermaid Lagoon. I'll adjust the sails to make sure we arrive just in time for your visit! One thing I want to mention is that there are a few attractions that have Individual Lightning Lanes. These are not included with Genie+ and can be purchased à la carte. As of today, there are two attractions with Individual Lightning Lanes:
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Disneyland Park and
Radiator Springs Racers in Disney California Adventure Park. If your party is planning to ride either of these, you would only need to purchase the Individual Lightning Lane for your kiddo if they plan to ride as well. Otherwise, you can just use Rider Switch as usual!
While Hook and Pan battle it out in Pirate's Cove, I'll walk you quickly through how Rider Switch works. Essentially, your party will break into two groups - a riding group and a waiting group. The riding group will wait in either the Lightning Lane or standby queue, depending on which is offered while the waiting group will sit tight in a designated area. Once the riding group has enjoyed the attraction, they will swap with the waiting group. If it's a Lightning Lane attraction, the waiting group will likely enter that queue and scan their tickets as usual. If it's not, a Cast Member will direct you on how to board the attraction without waiting in the standby queue. A few fun things for your kiddo to do while they wait is to think wonderful thoughts and look for shadows...I mean hidden Mickeys!
Addy, our enchanted pirate ship is coming in for a landing and Tinker Bell is ready to recharge her wings! If you have any more questions, you know where to find us here at
planDisney!
In faith, trust, and pixie dust,
Tara