If your current tickets do not have park hoppers, you should be able to add that before your trip. Just go to the Disney Experience app, click the 3 dot menu option in the lower right corner, then click tickets. I believe you can upgrade from there. If not, you can call the Disney ticket line, or worst case, visit guest services at ant of the parks or Disney Springs after you arrive. The upgrade cost for hoppers is the same whether you do it on the first day or last day, so might as well get it done before anything else.
Genie,
Genie+, Lightning Lanes, and Individual Lightning Lanes. Way too many names. Alright what are they.
Genie: the name of the portion of the app that helps plan your day.
Genie+: a $15 per day upgrade that allows you to book the Lightning Lane pass.
Lightning Lane: essentially the same thing as a fast pass.
Individual Lightning Lane: Separate but similar to Genie+, it's a separate fee to book a Lightning Lane reserved for the most popular ride in each park.
How to use:
Genie: once you have tickets and park reservations, you can go to your day in the Genie section of the app and let it know what you think you want to do that day. On your actual day, it'll give you tips on where to go to avoid the crowds. It's usually not that helpful.
Genie+: this is a paid service, $15 per day per person, that gives you the right to book Lightning Lane passes. You can purchase any time after midnight the day you want to use it. You can purchase every day or just for some days, but it's only good for 1 day for that purchase.
Lightning Lane:. Once you've purchased the Genie+ add on, you are eligible to book Lightning Lanes. The first opportunity is 7am. All guests with a park reservation can book any Genie+ ride at 7am. If you have hopper tickets, you can pick a ride in a park that is not your reserved park and will be given a time after 2pm, the time park hopping starts. Otherwise, you'll be given next available time. Some rides go quickly, so even if you select something like Slinky Dog right when the passes become available at 7am, you might have a 6pm return time. Your next eligible booking window is 2 hours after the park opens and every 2 hours after your last selection, unless your most recent selection is within 2 hours, then you're eligible after checking in.
Individual Lightning Lane: Similar to Genie+ and Lightning Lane, these are paid passes good for 1 ride only and cost between 7 and 15 dollars per ride per person, depending on ride and day. At 7 am, only onsite guests are eligible to purchase the Individual Lightning Lane pass, these rides are Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Guardians of the Galaxy, Rise of the Resistance, and Flight of Passage, 1 ride per park during the summer. Previously it was 2 rides per park and may return to that in August. Offsite guests are eligible when the park the ride is in opens, assuming any passes remain. You do not have to purchase Genie+ to buy an individual Lightning Lane and you do not have to purchase an individual Lightning Lane just because you bought Genie+. They are completely separate purchases.
Another thing to throw in the mix, Guardians of the Galaxy does not currently have a standby lane. They do, however, have a virtual queue, which is the free pass into the ride. Twice per day, at 7am and 1pm, guests with an Epcot park reservation can attempt to join the virtual queue via the app. This is basically a lottery system and if you get in, you'll be notified later in the day when you're eligible to ride.
All of the passes mentioned have 1 hour return windows. With a 5 minute before and 15 minute after grace period for the Lightning Lanes.
I have a blog post here with more tips as well as screenshots. Some of the info might be a bit out of date, but the main points are mostly still applicable:
http://the360ofdisney.com/2022/02/28/disney-genie-tips-and-tricks/
Hopefully this clears things up. It's pretty wild compared to the old fast pass+ system. Good luck and enjoy your trip!
