Walt Disney World has announced a major change to the existing Genie+ service, the line-skipping service offered at the parks. Disney had previously announced that they were working on a way for guests to be able to make their Lightning Lane reservations in advance so that they could plan more efficiently before their vacation.
Now, the new change and renaming of the Genie+ service will be going into effect starting this summer.
Keep reading for details on the upcoming change to introduce pre-arrival lightning lane bookings for everything you need to know, the starting date of this change, and our thoughts on this change. Most notably why I think this is a POSITIVE change!
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Disney Changes Name of Genie+ Service
Disney just announced a major overhaul of the Genie+ system which is predominantly going to affect how the system works at Walt Disney World.
The name of Genie+ is now changing to Lightning Lane Multi Pass and the Individual Lightning Lane service will now be renamed Lightning Lane Single Pass.
The name of the service is changing at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. However, that is the only major change coming to Disneyland. The rest of the changes are focusing primarily on Walt Disney World and readers that remember FastPass+ may see some similarities in these newly announced changes! See our commentary on how this name change adds even more confusion around Genie Plus at Disneyland.
I know our readers get weary of the constant changes to these services at the theme parks but I think this change is a POSITIVE one and one guests are really going to appreciate!
CLICK HERE to read our full guide to the new Lightning Lane Multi Pass system and how to use it!
Disney Brings Back Best Elements of FastPass+
The return of advance ride reservations have been hinted previously from Walt Disney World so we have been anxiously awaiting this news. I was surprised though to see how much this new change feels more like a walk backwards (in the best way!) to the best features of the prior FastPass+ system.
FastPass+ was an extremely popular service at Walt Disney World and guests loved the ability to plan their ride reservations in advance. But it wasn't just the advance planning of rides that Walt Disney World guests loved, they appreciated knowing that access to shorter lines for their favorite rides were guaranteed in their park days. That same guarantee has not been part of the Walt Disney World experience since the removal of FastPass+ in the theme parks.
It's no secret that Genie+ has had significant growing pains at Walt Disney World. Since there are less available attractions per park to use the service on, the experience of using Genie+ is not always a great one. Available times at Walt Disney World would run out quickly by midday or return times for rides would often be far later than what was reasonable to plan in a single day. You might book your first reservation first thing in the morning and have trouble securing a ride with a reservation time that wasn't until late evening leaving a big gap of time to fill.
Moving back to advance bookings with the new Lightning Lane Multi Pass is a great way to address that particular struggle at Walt Disney World. And now that Disney has cracked down on the overuse and abuse of disability services that used the Lightning Lanes, this service will likely work far more effectively than ever before.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass
The biggest change in this overhaul to the Genie+ service at Walt Disney World, now called Lightning Lane Multi Pass, is the introduction of advance booking for Lightning Lane reservations.
As a quick refresher, Lightning Lane is the name of the quicker line to access rides that is offered as an additional paid service. The standby line is free for all guests to access. Wait times in the Lightning Lane average around 20 minutes but can be more or less depending on the day. They are always far shorter than the standby line.
The service essentially is remaining the same aside from the new ability to make ride reservations in advance. This is extremely similar to how FastPass+ worked at Walt Disney World before Genie+ was introduced.
When guests purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass prior to their visit, they can make up to 3 Lightning Lane selections in advance for each day. You will be able to choose from a variety of available times. This means you can effectively visit Walt Disney World knowing you have at least three Lightning Lane reservations available for each park day. This is one of the things that guests missed most about FastPass+ so the return of this advance booking will likely be a welcome change.
Once guests enter the park, they will be able to make additional Lightning Lane selections once they use one of their selections on the My Experience App. This experience will mirror how Genie+ works now with just this added twist of the advance reservations.
Lightning Lane Single Pass
The Individual Lightning Lane service is changing to Lightning Lane Single Pass. It will really work the same way it does now but now guests will have the option to make this purchase in advance of their visit.
Lightning Lane Single Pass works differently than the Lightning Lane Multi Pass option as it is a cost per ride service, not a flat cost with access to multiple rides. Only a few rides in the theme parks have this higher cost service and they tend to be the newest and most popular attractions like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, TRON Lightcycle / Run, etc.
How Far In Advance Can You Book Lightning Lanes Now?
The available window of when you can book a Lightning Lane reservation will depend on if you are staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel or not.
Guests staying at a Walt Disney World resort hotel can book their Lightning Lane passes up to seven days in advance for their entire stay of up to 14 days.
All other guests can book their Lightning Lane passes up to three days in advance starting at 7AM.
I appreciate how short the window is to book these Lightning Lane reservations. This way guests can reasonably plan ahead without feeling like they need to plan every single day months in advance. Since dining reservations open 60 days in advance, guests can have their dining planned and other bookable experiences before fitting in their Lightning Lane reservations for each day. I think this is a big improvement over the prior FastPass+ program which required far more advance ride reservation booking.
It appears that pricing for this new offering will remain similar. Note in the screenshot above that the Magic Kingdom Multi Pass is listed as $27 and the TRON Lightcycle Single Pass is listed as $20 per guest. They do say pricing for illustration purposes only but it is likely close.
When Does Lightning Lane Multi Pass Start?
Lightning Lane Multi Pass will go into effect at Walt Disney World and Disneyland on July 24. Aside from the name change, the service at Disneyland will work exactly the same and the major changes we outlined above will only directly impact how guests visit Walt Disney World.
The standard Genie service will still be available on both the My Experience App and the Disneyland app.
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