Disney Genie+, which can be accessed through the Disneyland app, offers access to 20 attractions at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. This is a paid version of the popular Disneyland FastPass program that has since been retired.
In this guide, we will cover how to purchase Disneyland Genie+, explore its offerings, and share tips for getting the most out of the service! Is Disneyland Genie Plus worth it?
You can read all details on Disney Genie at Walt Disney Word in our guide.>
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Disneyland Genie+ Lightning Lanes
Lighting Lanes are Disneyland’s Fast Pass/MaxPass successor and work very similarly to the old program. The former program allowed guests to book return times to popular rides at the park, essentially skipping the line on a ride with little to no wait time.
This new Genie+ program works in the same fashion by booking return windows on the Disneyland app and using the Disneyland app as your ticket to skip the line, except you can only use Genie+ Lightning Lanes once for each attraction per day. For example, you can use Disney Genie+ to access a Lighting Lane for Haunted Mansion on your Disney day, but only time. If you would like to ride Haunted Mansion again, you will need to wait in line without using a Lighting Lane.
You can start making reservations when you scan into the park on the day of your visit. To select a return time, go to the Disneyland app main menu, select “Tip Board,” and scroll down to see the next available LL return time for eligible rides. As Genie+ Lightning Lane return times fill up, the return time available on the app will be pushed to later and later in the day.
Keep this in mind if you'd like to secure Lightning Lane for a ride early in the day. This shouldn't stop you from taking advantage of the shorter morning standby times, but Lightning Lane times do fill up quickly.
When you approach your ride with a Lightning Lane reservation, open your Disneyland app to scan it, and then you'll be off to your adventure! You can also use MagicBand+ to scan into Genie+ Lightning Lane entrances.
How Much Does Genie+ Cost?
Genie+ can be purchased on the day you are planning on using it (with a valid park reservation). You can access this through the Disneyland app by going to the home page on the left and selecting “Disney Genie+ Service.” This one purchase will cover both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, and the only way to access Lightning Lanes is to purchase Disney Genie+ for each member of your group.
Pricing is generally $25 per person but is subject to change depending on how crowded the park is. During busy times around the holidays (especially in December-early January) and spring break season, it can rise to $30. Less busy times at the park are late January and late April, so Disneyland's Genie+ prices might drop during those parts of the year.
One person can manage the Lightning Lane reservations on their phone for the entire party. However, you do want to make sure that the person who is making the reservations has a portable charger in case their phone runs out of battery. Check out our Disneyland packing list for a comprehensive list of everything you need to bring to the park!
What is the difference between Genie+ Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes?
Genie+ Lightning Lanes
Genie+ Lightning Lanes offer a shorter wait time for popular attractions, and these are included in the Genie+ purchase for no additional charge. You are only able to reserve one attraction at a time, but as soon as your selected arrival window for a ride has started or been redeemed, you can secure an arrival window for another ride. Also, you can reserve your next ride if it has an arrival window two hours or more from when your current selection was made.
Example:
- 9:00 AM: Guest enters Disneyland, purchases Genie+ and books a Lighting Lane 9:20-10:20 AM window for Haunted Mansion.
- 9:20 AM: Guest redeems the Haunted Mansion Lightning Lane, and before they ride Haunted Mansion, immediately books Splash Mountain for a return window of 9:25-10:25 AM.
- 9:40 AM: Guest finishes riding Haunted Mansion, heads over to Splash Mountain and redeems the Lightning Lane. Guest immediately books a return window of 9:45-10:45 AM for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
You can experience multiple attractions very quickly as long as Lighting Lanes are redeemed as soon as they are scanned on the app and return times for Genie+ Lighting Lane rides are short. Starting your Disney day as early as possible is key to stacking numerous rides one after another. The earlier you start booking Lighting Lanes, the more rides you will be able to enjoy using this paid service.
Note: Some rides may sell out of Lighting Lanes for the day. It’s best to use Lighting Lanes early in the day for the more popular rides or on rides that are most important to you. Be sure to check out our top 10 rides you cannot miss on your Disneyland trip!
To maximize your Disney Genie+ experience, purchase a park hopping ticket so you can access both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure’s Lighting Lanes.
You can have a Genie+ Lightning Lane and Individual Lightning Lane (which we'll discuss more below) reserved at the same time. These are the attractions at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure that currently offer Genie+ Lightning Lanes:
Disneyland
- Autopia
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Haunted Mansion
- Indiana Jones Adventure
- “it's a small world”
- Matterhorn Bobsleds
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
- Space Mountain
- Splash Mountain
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Disney California Adventure
- Goofy's Sky School
- Grizzly River Run
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!
- Incredicoaster
- Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
- Soarin' Over California
- Toy Story Midway Mania!
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
Individual Lightning Lanes
Individual Lightning Lanes are offered for the attractions at Disneyland and California Adventure that are in the highest demand, and they are not included with the purchase of Genie+. These can be purchased at an additional cost (usually ranging anywhere from $15-25 depending on time of year and crowd levels).
There is a limit of 2 attractions per day when purchasing these. Here are the rides that offer Individual Lightning Lanes:
Disneyland
- Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway
- Rise of the Resistance
Disney California Adventure
- Radiator Springs Racers
Tips and Tricks to Maximize Your Disneyland Genie+ Experience
- Make sure to have the latest version of the Disneyland app and your notification and location services turned on.
- Since you will be using your phone throughout the day, also make sure to bring extra portable battery chargers as the Disneyland app uses a ton of juice!
- Be sure your park tickets are linked to your Disneyland app account.
- Without your park tickets linked, you won’t be able to use Disney Genie+. In the Disneyland app, scan your ticket barcode or enter the ID number of your ticket to link.
- You can link your park tickets on the Disneyland app by printing out the paper electronic tickets and scanning the barcode, or using your phone to capture the barcode from your computer. You can also manually enter in the Ticket ID to link the tickets to your account.
- Always check the Disneyland app to check Lightning Lane attraction entry availability before buying.
- If you are arriving to the parks later in day, some rides may not be available for Disney Genie+ and may have already reached their Lighting Lane capacity.
- To make the most of your Disney Genie+ purchase, get to the parks EARLY, an hour before opening!
- Arriving to the parks early will maximize your Disney Genie+ purchase. Try to select the more popular rides early in the day (for example, Guardians of the Galaxy) so your Lighting Lane wait times are short.
- Having a park hopper ticket, so you can use this service at both parks, will give you the most bang for your buck!
- There are a total of 19 rides that have Lighting Lanes with Disney Genie+. Disneyland has 12 of the Lighting Lanes rides, so if you have a single park day ticket, you get more Lighting Lane ride opportunities at Disneyland versus Disney California Adventure.
- Always book the next Lighting Lane as soon as you redeem one, before you get on the ride.
- Once your Lighting Lane is scanned on the Disneyland app, select the next ride you would like to go on! The earlier you select your next Lighting Lake, the more rides you can conquer!
- Have a list of rides you would like to accomplish that day, both with Lighting Lanes and without. On the downtime between your Lighting Lane times, go on the other rides that have stand-by lanes only!
- Having a plan for the day your whole group has agreed on will really help in having a smooth, relaxed Disney day. Select one person in your group to be in charge of booking the Lighting Lanes for your group. Link your tickets to that one account, so everyone in the group can be on a ride at the same time. One person will select all the rides, and if a plan is in place, it will be easy to select each ride. Make sure to treat this wonderful person to a churro, or two!
- Purchase any Disneyland Individual Lighting Lanes (Radiator Springs Racers, Web Slingers, Rise of the Resistance) early in the day as these rides may sell out.
- These individual Lighting Lanes can sell out, especially the very popular Rise of the Resistance.
- Mobile order your meals with pickup times during the downtime in between Lighting Lane rides.
- Mobile ordering meals is key to skipping the lines.. at dining locations! Many dining locations and even quick service eateries offer mobile ordering. Try to mobile order your meals early in the day, and pick up your food while waiting for your next Lighting Lane time slot to open up!
- Don’t forget to take advantage of the unlimited PhotoPass downloads that come with Disney Genie+! Open up the Disneyland app, go to the teardrop icon at the bottom of the page, and at the top use the pull down bar to select “PhotoPass” to locate where all the PhotoPass photographers are!
- Your photos are automatically linked to your Disney account. You can download them straight to your phone or computer!
Disneyland Genie+ PhotoPass Perks and AudioTales
PhotoPass Unlimited Downloads and Lenses
In addition to Disneyland's Genie+ Lightning Lanes, the service also allows guests to access unlimited PhotoPass downloads, and they can share these with friends and family at no additional cost.
Also, Genie+ offers PhotoPass lenses for guests to explore while on their Disneyland trip, with some only available in exclusive parts of the park. These are fun filters that enhance you and your surroundings, inspired by favorite characters and movies! To access the augmented reality camera, open the Disneyland app, then tap on the “More” menu at the bottom right of the screen and select “Disney PhotoPass Lenses.”
AudioTales
Another perk of Genie+ is that you get access to AudioTales! These offer behind the scenes info, fun facts, and stories that are specific to locations throughout the two parks. These are a few minutes long each, and you'll learn about attractions, dining locations, and more! To access these, go to the Disneyland app map and search for the headphones icon.
Multiple Experience Passes
If your Lighting Lane ride breaks down, you will be automatically issued a Multiple Experience Pass for that reservation on the Disneyland app. A Multiple Experience Park pass is issued when a ride temporarily stops working during the time a guest would have redeemed their Lighting Lane. They can be used any time until park closing and are valid in either park if you have a Park Hopper ticket.
If your reserved Genie+ Lightning Lane ride breaks down and you get a Multiple Experiences Pass, make sure to use this wisely. For higher-tier attractions (think Space Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, etc.), you will be able to use this pass for any attraction at the two parks except Rise of the Resistance and Peter Pan Adventure. If a lower-tier ride breaks down, options will be more limited. If you happen to get a Multiple Experiences Pass, it's a great opportunity to ride your favorites more than once!
Example:
- You went on Haunted Mansion using a Lighting Lane
- Chose a Lighting Lane for Autopia
- Autopia broke down and you were issued a Multiple Experience Pass
- Without having to choose a return time, you redeem your Multiple Experience Pass to ride Haunted Mansion again!
Is Disneyland Genie+ Worth It?
Disneyland's Genie+ is worth it to avoid long standby waits during your visit, and there is definitely a reason why they are offered for popular attractions. During busy parts of the year, each of these could have an hour or more wait. Standby waits, especially in the California heat, can sometimes be so exhausting that you're not able to enjoy the ride by the time you get on it. To avoid spending half of your day waiting in lines, you should consider Genie+ as an option.
The Lightning Lane system also runs remarkably smoothly. The first time I went to Disneyland after Genie+ had been introduced, I was shocked at how short the wait was, and my party was on and off the rides in absolutely no time!
Can you Park Hop with Disneyland's Genie+?
You can park hop between Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure with Genie+, but you can't make Lightning Lane reservations before park hopping is allowed at 11am. When return times have passed 11am, you can book a Lightning Lane for a ride in another park.
Guests With Disabilities
Guests who qualify for the existing Disability Access Service (DAS) program will be relieved to know that everything has remained unchanged with the exception of additional options to book return times! Disneyland’s Disability Access Service is for guests who have disabilities and who are unable to wait in a standard line. Instead of waiting in line, the guest and their party can use a DAS pass to schedule a return time to ride attractions without having to wait in the standard line.
With the new free Disney Genie service, guests will now be able to book their return times on the Disneyland app instead of going to Guests Services to issue one. Guests will also be able to pre-enroll for the DAS service before they arrive which is a great time saver.
Guests can utilize live video chat to register for the program with a cast member up to 30 days in advance of their visit. During the video chat, guests can also select two experiences per day using the new DAS advance planning option.
Regular Genie Service (Without Genie+)
Disney Genie+ is not required for your Disney day, and guests are still able to wait for lines for all rides at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure without needing to purchase Disney Genie+.
Disney Genie is a free service on the Disneyland app which helps guests at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure customize their day. The Disney Genie app services include:
- Personalized itinerary planning on the “My Day” tab.
- Ability to chat with a Cast Member if you have questions during your Disney day.
- A continually updated tip board that shows you estimated wait times for your chosen attractions and allows you to join a virtual queue and make an individual Lightning Lane purchase.
- A custom tip board for dining. You can mobile order food, make dining reservations, check into a restaurant, and join a dining walk-up list. Reservations for some dining locations can be made virtually on the Disneyland app with Disney Genie.
These features are so helpful for park guests, especially newcomers that find touring the parks intimidating on a first visit- now you can ask Disney to do it for you, if you wish!
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