Hey Kristin!
Thanks for swinging by planDisney! I’ve been on several girls' trips to the Most Magical Place on Earth, and they are some of my favorite vacation memories. There’s something special about letting go of your reality for just a bit, laughing until you cry, being on your own schedule, and enjoying the theme parks and resorts as a group of proud Disney-lovin' adults. Let’s look at what’s possible when it comes to planning a day together using
Disney Genie Service and purchasing
Individual Lightning Lane Entry for your favorite attractions. These two different ways to use the Lightning Lane entrances are a great strategy for making the best use of your time in the theme parks.
First, the bare necessities – please be sure that your whole group is connected through
Friends and Family in My Disney Experience and that everyone has their own payment method saved to their account.
Each of your friends can purchase
Disney Genie+ Service individually beginning at midnight the night before your theme park plans. I often wait to purchase the morning of our adventures, but in time to make my first attraction selections at 7:00 A.M. You may each do this on your own time each day by selecting “Purchase” for Genie+ on the home screen of the My Disney Experience App and be sure to only select yourself when it says Confirm Party on the next screen. This way, you are each making the daily purchase using your own payment method, but you are all eligible to be connected as one party for the attraction selections.
To make your Genie+ attraction selections, one key person may then select everyone eligible in the party to make one group attraction selection for the same time arrival window. You can continue to do this throughout the day, and even customize or edit the party members for any given attraction if not everyone wishes to ride at that particular time.
For Individual Lightning Lane purchases, this works as one transaction where you select the exact attraction and time arrival to then complete your purchase in one workflow rather than an umbrella transaction like buying Disney Genie+ Service for the whole day. You can have one key member of your group be on point to make the purchases for everyone or it may be easier to purchase on your own device but be physically together to talk through which attraction and arrival window you will all select concurrently. You don’t need to have the exact same arrival window, just overlapping times so you can ride together.
If one person in your group ends up making these purchases, I have found some great mobile apps that help manage group travel expenses for a vacation. Be sure to research if a popular one is right for your girlfriends! It can be an easy, clear way to organize who-owes-what-to-whom over the course of your adventures like shared meals, drinks, and endless DOLE Whips®, but then streamlines payments to each other at the end of the trip. Even the best of friends can be hurt or misunderstood when payments and debts come into play, and you don’t want any trip memories soured by the stress of finances.
I hope this brings clarity to what’s possible within the My Disney Experience App to make the most of your day in the theme parks together, Kristin. You’re going to have so much fun with the girls - I wish I was joining in! I hope you can celebrate prioritizing the time to make memories and to just let loose for a bit.
Enjoy the special time together!
Amy