Everything Genie, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane - Please Read Posts 1-7

[musicman85]

The posts on page 1 of this thread will assist you with these questions and provide a lot of other information too.

Thank you so much! I didn't know where to look and I spent the last 30 minutes reading information online and was so confused!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank you so much! I didn't know where to look and I spent the last 30 minutes reading information online and was so confused!

Happy to help! We have created a number of 'Everything....' posts and pinned them at the top of this board to hopefully help people out. You're so right that there is a lot of information out there and it's hard to keep everything straight. Hope these posts are helpful to you and others.

 

[FlynnRiderSwitch]

GENIE+

Acronym: G+

Basic Information:
- Genie+ is available at a cost of $15/person/day.

- If unable to purchase online, call 1-407-939-4357.

- Genie+ is independent of Individual Lightning Lane (ILL$) attractions. You do not need to purchase Genie+ to purchase ILL$. You do not need to purchase ILL$ to purchase Genie+.

- Genie+ can be added for select days. To do this, G+ must be added anytime from 12:00:00AM forward, the day you wish to add it.

- per Disney, sales of Genie+ can sell out for a day BUT, to date that has never been reported as happening, even when all 4 parks have reached maximum capacity for park reservations

- There are known glitches when an AP wishes to purchase G+. They do not always happen. Please see Genie+ for Annual Passholders post for explanation and workarounds if you encounter challenges.

- Purchasing Genie+ must be added each day a guest wishes to purchase it. Purchasing in advance for length of stay is no longer available.

- Guests at Disney resorts and guests not staying at Disney resorts can make their first Genie+ LL booking at 7:00 am.

- All guests (onsite and offsite) are eligible to book their first LL at 7:00 am. This can be done from any location, as long as you have a park reservation and park ticket for the day.

- Between 7:00 - 7:30AM, to see return times for attractions, click the attraction you’re considering booking. Return time will then be displayed.

- Genie+ is part of the MyDisneyExperience (MDE) app. Look for the purple band with white lettering which says, 'Get Disney Genie+ for Today'.

- Genie+ is one of two ways to get access to Lightning Lanes (LL) (formerly known as Fast Pass Lane). Second way is Individual Lightning Lane purchases. (see next post)

- Genie+ gives access to Lightning Lanes (LL) for all attractions except one popular attraction in each park.

- Genie+ allows guests only one Lightning Lane (LL) access per attraction, per day. (e.g. Using LL for Haunted Mansion (HM) means additional HM rides can be accessed via standby line only.)

- Booking is done through the Tip Board portion of the app. Each attraction shows the next available LL time. You can only book the next available time.
View attachment 641056

- Before booking, you can refresh the Tip Board to see if the next available time changes.

- TIME CAN CHANGE AFTER FIRST CLICK OF BOOKING: After clicking on Book Experience, the time may now show something different from what was showing when you clicked on Book Experience (typically a later time), so BE ATTENTIVE before clicking Confirm.

- Once confirmed, the selection cannot be modified to a different time. In order to make any change, you must cancel the booking and do a new booking for the next available time or a different attraction.

- BOOKING ELIGIBILITY: You become eligible to book another LL EITHER (1) after 2 hours (2 hours after park opening if the booking was done before park opening), OR (2) after double-tapping into the MOST RECENTLY BOOKED LL, whichever comes first.

- If you try to book an LL when you are not eligible, the app will tell you what time you are next eligible.

- If an attraction goes down during the time which you hold a Genie+ LL booking for, you will be automatically given an 'Anytime LL' pass that is good for most non-ILL$ G+ attractions from that time until park closing.

- If you park hop, you can use G+ at the park you hop to. It is for the entire day it is purchased for, not for an individual park.

- LL normally has a 5 min before booking and 15 min after booking grace period but, this is not guaranteed.

- You will find your booked LL selections listed in the My Day section.

Additional post: Genie+ Strategies

Did Genie + change the start times for guests staying offsite? We went in Feb 2022 and stayed at Wyndham BC and could not book any Genie + till 9am. I know some offsite hotels are allowed at the 7am time but not Wyndham BC

 

[elgerber]

Did Genie + change the start times for guests staying offsite? We went in Feb 2022 and stayed at Wyndham BC and could not book any Genie + till 9am. I know some offsite hotels are allowed at the 7am time but not Wyndham BC

You have always been able to book a Genie+ at 7, no matter where you stay. The only restriction is the ILL$, those are not until park open for offsite. Nothing has changed.

 

[TwingleMum]

I'm sorry I read through the posts on $ILL and I'm still confused. We are a party of 3. Staying on property. DH has an AP. My DS and I do not. 1). Can I purchase a $ILL for ROTR at 7am if the first park I will be at is MK. For example: I arrive Friday. My DH & DS will arrive after 1 pm on Saturday. I want to go to MK in morning on Saturday before DH & DS arrive.. DS is a HUGE SW guy and hasn't been to GE yet or done ROTR. Sooo can I buy $ILL for ROTR for all of us even thought I will be going to MK?? DH & DS will have park ressies for DHS. DS & I will have park hoppers. I don't see examples of how you can pick whatever time you want for a $ILL. Are they listed like when you do ADRs??? And that would be on the TIP Board??? Thanks for the help. and 2) if we decide to get Genie+ one day do AP holders get to make selections earlier?? I read they can make selections earlier than onsite guests????

 

[Tom_E_D]

If I have a LL return time secured and the ride is closed due to weather/lightning, would I receive an "anytime" LL to use, or do I just lose out on that LL reservation? I believe if a ride is down for maintenance that is the case, but wasn't sure if it also applies for weather shut-downs.

Also, if you do receive an "anytime" LL, can you book another LL right, or do you have to use that new "anytime" LL first? Thanks!

Yes, you do get an anytime LL if a ride closes due to weather.

Yes, you can book another ride right away.

No, you don’t have to use the anytime LL first.

I think you can book another G+ LL right away only if the ride that closed due to weather was your most-recently-booked G+ LL. If it was not your most-recently-booked one, the anytime LL is your only compensation. I rationalize it as Disney realizing it would be unfair to make you wait until 120 minutes after you last booked if you could have booked another right away after tapping into the now-closed ride. But tapping into the now-closed ride would have entitled you to book another right away only if it was your most-recently-booked one. But, regardless of the rationale, I seem to remember reading posts from people who were or were not able to book another right away depending on if it was their most-recently-booked one or not. Admittedly, I haven't been in that situation myself and can't find or cite those posts as evidence. I'm going by memory and how I understand the rules to work.

 

[Tom_E_D]

I'm sorry I read through the posts on $ILL and I'm still confused. We are a party of 3. Staying on property. DH has an AP. My DS and I do not. 1). Can I purchase a $ILL for ROTR at 7am if the first park I will be at is MK. For example: I arrive Friday. My DH & DS will arrive after 1 pm on Saturday. I want to go to MK in morning on Saturday before DH & DS arrive.. DS is a HUGE SW guy and hasn't been to GE yet or done ROTR. Sooo can I buy $ILL for ROTR for all of us even thought I will be going to MK?? DH & DS will have park ressies for DHS. DS & I will have park hoppers. I don't see examples of how you can pick whatever time you want for a $ILL. Are they listed like when you do ADRs??? And that would be on the TIP Board??? Thanks for the help. and 2) if we decide to get Genie+ one day do AP holders get to make selections earlier?? I read they can make selections earlier than onsite guests????

If you have tickets that allow park hopping (including APs), and are staying onsite, you can book ILLs at any park (up to two total) at 7:00. You will only be able to book times at or after 2:00 for the parks at which you do not have a park reservation.

This article shows how the screens look (scroll down to read the section on ILLs): https://touringplans.com/blog/step-...genie-and-lightning-lane-at-disney-world/#ill

To the best of my knowledge, AP holders do not have any advantages when it comes to booking Genie +.

 

[TwingleMum]

If you have tickets that allow park hopping (including APs), and are staying onsite, you can book ILLs at any park (up to two total) at 7:00. You will only be able to book times at or after 2:00 for the parks at which you do not have a park reservation.

This article shows how the screens look (scroll down to read the section on ILLs): https://touringplans.com/blog/step-...genie-and-lightning-lane-at-disney-world/#ill

To the best of my knowledge, AP holders do not have any advantages when it comes to booking Genie +.

Thank you !!! Thats great clarification

 

[Lisa P.]

Staying on property ... DH has an AP... DS & I will have park hoppers ... DH & DS will have park ressies for DHS ... the first park I will be at is MK ... Sooo can I buy $ILL for ROTR for all of us even thought I will be going to MK??

Since you're staying on property, you may make the purchase of an $ILL at or after 7 am.
Since you will be hopping to DHS, you'll need to reserve an $ILL ride time for after 2 pm.

if we decide to get Genie+ one day do AP holders get to make selections earlier?? I read they can make selections earlier than onsite guests????

No, at one time, people were able to buy Genie+ in advance but everyone with Genie+ has always been able to make their first selections at the same time.
$ILL may be purchased by onsite guests at 7 am and by offsite day guests after the selected park officially opens.

Perhaps the AP holders you've read about had DAS (disability access), which (like Genie+) allows the DAS holder to wait for their LL return time without actually physically waiting in the standby queue. DAS holders may request up to 2 advance DAS selections per park day, if they request them between 2-30 days in advance (or 3-30 days ahead?). DAS advance options are limited and not all attractions are eligible for advance DAS. This is a different pool than Genie+. It would be easy to confuse these.

 

[dorchrislen]

Is there a marked difference between the wait in line when using a paid ILL vs. the standby for FoP, SDMT, or RotR?

Or the wait in line when using a paid ILL vs. VQ for GoG:CR?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Is there a marked difference between the wait in line when using a paid ILL vs. the standby for FoP, SDMT, or RotR?

Or the wait in line when using a paid ILL vs. VQ for GoG:CR?

The difference can vary greatly depending on standby time but in general you will save time. How much can vary from probably 20 mins to hours if the standby line is long. It also depends on how busy the parks are as that affects the standby time.

My guess is that the difference in September is much less than it would be at a time like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I would recommend looking up the attractions you’re asking about on Thrill Data as it has a lot of stats on Disney rides and attractions.

 

[dorchrislen]

The difference can vary greatly depending on standby time but in general you will save time. How much can vary from probably 20 mins to hours if the standby line is long. It also depends on how busy the parks are as that affects the standby time.

My guess is that the difference in September is much less than it would be at a time like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I would recommend looking up the attractions you’re asking about on Thrill Data as it has a lot of stats on Disney rides and attractions.

Thanks scrappinginontario, your expert input is always so appreciated!

 

[Tom_E_D]

Is there a marked difference between the wait in line when using a paid ILL vs. the standby for FoP, SDMT, or RotR?

Or the wait in line when using a paid ILL vs. VQ for GoG:CR?

Here is an article discussing the time savings.

 

[dorchrislen]

Here is an article discussing the time savings.
View attachment 708845

Excellent reference, thanks!

 

[lauris87]

Question about Genie Plus. I’m going with a large group. If my mom makes a genie plus ride reservation for me….But later, I want to change it …can I change it, or does my mom have to change it?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Question about Genie Plus. I’m going with a large group. If my mom makes a genie plus ride reservation for me….But later, I want to change it …can I change it, or does my mom have to change it?

You will be able to cancel it and book something else. LL rides cannot be ‘changed’.

You will also need to ensure you’re in an eligible timeframe to book if you wish to do so.

 

[Boardwalk III]

Have a specific question about morning touring at AK. Heading down next week from Boston for short trip with a friend. We plan to hit AK for early resort entry on Fri 10/21, morning only. I want to get her an ILL$ for FOP (I need to pass). It looks like we’ll be taking an Uber around 7 AM from VGF to be there for 7:30 opening. If I can’t get on MDE app right at 7 AM do you think there will still be FOP ILL$’s for morning times around 7:30?

Also, am I correct in remembering that you can buy an ILL$ without buying G+ for the day? If that’s the case we may try to do our other top items without it (between 7:30 AM and 12 noon).

Without G+, what order would you attempt these, for morning completion, to minimize wait times?

- Safari
- Kali River Rapids
- Festival of Lion King
- Navi (not a must do)
- FOP (only if we get an ILL$ for her)

Many thanks!

 

[TommyR]

Are there any restrictions with Genie+ when hopping to a third park for the day?

Say I'm in AK. I book a LL for after 2pm in MK and at 2pm hop to MK. After I go on that ride, is there any problem booking a LL in Epcot and then hopping there?

 

[CJK]

Are there any restrictions with Genie+ when hopping to a third park for the day?

Say I'm in AK. I book a LL for after 2pm in MK and at 2pm hop to MK. After I go on that ride, is there any problem booking a LL in Epcot and then hopping there?

No, that would be fine!

 

[snikki]

Are there still drops at specific times through out the day? What time are these drops?