Get Ready! MAJOR CHANGES Will Hit Genie+ SOON in Disney World

The time is practically here for some MAJOR changes to hit Disney World!

We’ve all known and “loved” Disney Genie+ for the past few years at this point. It has been the skip-the-line ride reservation system at both Disney World and Disneyland and has been in place since 2021. In some senses, it feels like we were due for a MASSIVE change and Disney is definitely delivering on that front with a brand-new system (name and all) here next week. So these changes don’t trip you up, let’s talk about the differences so you’re ready to hit the ground running next week!

As we were saying, July 24th is the official day when Disney Genie+ becomes Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass! Also, this change isn’t exclusive to Disney World. Nope, it’s also happening over at Disneyland as well. (Keep it right here at AllEars because we’re going to give you coverage as it all happens.)

When the clock strikes on July 24th, you’ll be able to:

• Make your Lightning Lane plans BEFORE you get to Disney World
  • If you’re staying in a Disney World hotel, you’ll be able to book your first three Lightning Lane reservations seven days before your trip.
  • If you’re NOT staying in a Disney World hotel, you’ll be able to book your first three Lightning Lane reservations three days before your trip.
• In a single day, you’ll be able to book Lightning Lane reservations for multiple vacation days.

Lightning Lane Multi Pass

When it comes to Lightning Lane Multi Pass (it’s only available through the My Disney Experience app), it will allow you to select attractions in the parks by paying a base price for those multiple attractions (it’s very reminiscent of Genie+).

If you purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you will have the ability to make up to 3 Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections in one (1) park before your visit. As we said, if you’re staying in a Disney World hotel, you’ll be able to book your first three Lightning Lane reservations seven (7) days before your trip. All other guests, (so NOT staying in a Disney World hotel), you’ll be able to book your first three Lightning Lane reservations three (3) days before your trip.

Now when it comes to booking those Lightning Lanes, Disney has divided up most of the rides and attractions in Disney World into separate tiers for the Lightning Lane system.

Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios all have two-tiered groups of attractions (one higher tier and one lower tier). In the higher tier, can only pick one when booking your early Lightning Lanes:

• Magic Kingdom: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan’s Flight, Space Mountain, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
• EPCOT: Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Soarin’ Around the World
• Hollywood Studios: Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, and Slinky Dog Dash

In the next tier of rides and attractions at those three Disney World parks, you can choose 2 (or all 3 if you’d prefer) to fill out your three Multi Pass Lightning Lanes.

• Magic Kingdom: The Barnstormer, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Haunted Mansion, “it’s a small world”, Mad Tea Party, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tomorrowland Speedway, and Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• EPCOT: Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Mission: SPACE, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Spaceship Earth, and Turtle Talk with Crush
• Hollywood Studios: Alien Swirling Saucers, Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, Disney Junior Play & Dance!, For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Muppet*Vision 3D, Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Toy Story Mania!

Animal Kingdom is a different beast (pun intended) when it comes to the Lightning Lanes as they only have one tier of rides for Lightning Lane Multi Pass:

• Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, Feathered Friends in Flight!, Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!, It’s Tough to Be a Bug!, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Naʻvi River Journey.

We don’t have any updates when it comes to the potential pricing of this new system but for reference, the pricing for Genie+ is:

For Disney World:

• Genie+ starts at $15 per day, per ticket
  • The price does vary by park
  • Guests can either buy:
    • a single-park Genie+ option
    • or a multi-park option (which is to accommodate Park Hopping)

For Disneyland:

• Genie+ starts at $30 per day, per ticket

Also, when it comes to Disneyland, this entire system change is basically referred to as a name change only. Have a look at this from their site:

Now let’s talk about Lightning Lane Single Pass.

Lightning Lane Single Pass

As you know, currently you purchase your Individual Attraction Lightning Lane Selections through Disney Genie. With the new system (which is functionally identical) you will use Lightning Lane Single Pass.

This last tier of rides and attractions are grouped together as Lightning Lane Single Passes (meaning they can’t be selected as Lightning Lane Multi Passes):

• Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON Lightcycle / Run
• EPCOT: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Rise of the Resistance
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage

With that all out of the way, let’s talk about planning.

Planning with the new Lightning Lane system

Not to be a broken record, but as we said, guests staying in a Disney World hotel, will be able to purchase their Lightning Lane reservations seven (7) days before their trip and all other guests, will be able to purchase their three Lightning Lane passes three (3) days before their trip. Either way, you can make your purchases at 7AM.

Just to clarify, those staying at Disney World Resort Hotels, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels, and Shades of Green Resort are eligible for the 7-day advance planning.

Make sure you have your entire party loaded and linked in the My Disney Experience App before 7AM on the day you’re eligible to book your Lightning Lanes. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to do your homework on which attractions you’ll want to do beforehand.

On the 24th, we’ll be at Disney World testing out all of these changes, seeing how many reservations we can get, how it works if you’re a hotel guest and so many other scenarios!

We hope that all gives you more confidence when it comes to the new Disney Lightning Lane system. To be sure, there are going to be even more changes, tips, and hacks to sort through when this all starts on July 24th, so stay tuned to AllEars for all the updates!

Will Disney World FIX These Annoying Genie+ Problems With Lightning Lane Multi Pass?

Are you feeling ready to conquer this new Lightning Lane system? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Comments (2)