Disney Genie, Genie+, and Lightning Lane Frequently Asked Questions for Walt Disney World

[G00fyDad]

I look forward to your thoughts on it!

Is it your plan to buy it every day, for every park? Or will you be deciding as you go, depending on itinerary/weather/crowds?

I've had this trip booked and paid off since January. I pre-bought Genie+ way back then. The only problem is going to be my brother who was added onto the trip just after they switched the pre-booking Genie+. He will have to be up before 7am each day to purchase the plan. I was not sure if I would need it at the time but figured it would be better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I am kind of glad that I do have it now since TP has bumped the crowd predictions way up on the days we will be there.

Day TP Crowd Predict
Day 1 - 4 > 5 > 8 DS This will be DS and no parks so crowds are not a problem.
Day 2 - 4 > 5 > 7 MK
Day 3 - 4 > 5 > 7 HS
Day 4 - 2 > 3 > 4 AK
Day 5 - 2 > 3 > 4 MK
Day 6 - 3 > 1 > 5 EP
Day 7 through Day 9 - Clearwater Beach

 

[arich35]

Are you able to add people to a Genie+ selection? Say we have 10 people with us that have Genie+ and 6 of us book an attraction, can we add the other 4 after?

 

[nickys]

Are you able to add people to a Genie+ selection? Say we have 10 people with us that have Genie+ and 6 of us book an attraction, can we add the other 4 after?

No. They would have to book their own.

If you are in one big group and you want to ride together then you can book everyone at once if you’re linked as family and friends.

Or book as two or more separate groups if you’re doing different things. That would mean of course your “next booking times” would get out of sync, so if you wanted to join up again one group would likely have to wait until everyone was eligible to book. It’s much less flexible than FP+ for large groups.

 

[arich35]

No. They would have to book their own.

If you are in one big group and you want to ride together then you can book everyone at once if you’re linked as family and friends.

Or book as two or more separate groups if you’re doing different things. That would mean of course your “next booking times” would get out of sync, so if you wanted to join up again one group would likely have to wait until everyone was eligible to book. It’s much less flexible than FP+ for large groups.

Have you seen any reports of people being successful with getting Genie+ selections with large groups like that?

 

[nickys]

Have you seen any reports of people being successful with getting Genie+ selections with large groups like that?

Up to 10 is fine. Above that and you’d be best to split into two groups and coordinate G+ booking.

I think 12 is the maximum.

 

[TJK5]

I look forward to your thoughts on it!

Is it your plan to buy it every day, for every park? Or will you be deciding as you go, depending on itinerary/weather/crowds?

I just came back from a week at WDW and purchased Genie+ everyday for all four parks. After during my research on it and reading the comments, I was very skeptical. But after using it, I am a huge fan!
We booked our first Genie+ at 7:00am everyday for an early return time. We churned through them for early return times and also was able to strategically stack them as well. The key for us is that after we tapped into an attraction, we immediately made our next Genie+ reservation.
We also made Genie+ reservations for the park that we were hopping to, which allowed us to take an afternoon break.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

We had a mixed bag with G+. We did not buy it for Epcot. We bought it for HS and AK days, but only because we also hopped. It is most useful in MK.

It works better on slower days. On busier days/more folks buy it, then it gets bogged down. We even notied a difference between our 2 MKmornings. On one we were abletog et a ton. On the other, we were not able to get as much.

It did work well for MK the night there was a storm. BUT a big part of the reason was we had just hopped IN to MK about 6pm. During storm, 7DMT, Splash, BTMRR, Barnstormer, Jungle Cruise, Astro Orbiter, Dumbo were all down. So that wiped out most of the G+ passes we had stacked (during the storm). We were able to use G+ Space Mtn, then get immediate G+ Buzz, (then did CoP- during downpour), G+ VoLM, G+ HM, G+ PotC, and I forget what else. At end of night we still had 2 unused G+ passes. We did get on Splash, but BTMRR did not re-open.

It stormed during Epcot extra PM hours. Test Track was down. Not really a big plus for the extra cost of staying at a deluxe hotel. On an earlier trip, they were great, but in summer w/storms, not as much value.

 

[tomast]

If I got a individual Lighting Lane at 7 a.m. for for example RoR in DHS, can I rope drop Mickey Runaway Railway or does the LL selection force me to go to RoR as I cant choose hour so I lost my rope drop privilege??

 

[nickys]

If I got a individual Lighting Lane at 7 a.m. for for example RoR in DHS, can I rope drop Mickey Runaway Railway or does the LL selection force me to go to RoR as I cant choose hour so I lost my rope drop privilege??

Not quite sure what you mean.

For ILLs you can choose your return time… in theory at least. You need to get to the ride within the hour return window (plus leeway), but other than that you can do any ride you want at rope drop.

In the event you get an ILL return time right at park opening, you probably want to go there first to make sure you don’t miss your time slot.

 

[tomast]

Not quite sure what you mean.

For ILLs you can choose your return time… in theory at least. You need to get to the ride within the hour return window (plus leeway), but other than that you can do any ride you want at rope drop.

In the event you get an ILL return time right at park opening, you probably want to go there first to make sure you don’t miss your time slot.

Ohh I see now, it's similar to Fastpass, I got confused as I read that in Genie+ you can't choose the return hour and the app gives you the first available slot, so I thought that's how it work with ILLs

 

[nickys]

Ohh I see now, it's similar to Fastpass, I got confused as I read that in Genie+ you can't choose the return hour and the app gives you the first available slot, so I thought that's how it work with ILLs

Genie+ and ILLs are completely independent.
And you don’t need Genie+ to buy ILLs.

Also G+ return times can overlap with each other and with ILLs.

 

[lordsigma]

They seem to be pretty flexible with LLs. I hit a LL today over an hour late today and they accepted it. Im sure the busier it is the more stringent is they are about enforcing things - I got the impression that as long as it’s not super busy as long as you get to a LL your time or later they honor it.

 

[DisneyfanMA]

apologies as I'm sure I missed an answer to this somewhere:

Back in the summer they temporarily moved "EE, MMRR, Remy's, Frozen, and SM" to Genie+ leaving only a single ILL for purchase at each park. This seems to have helped inventory on Genie+ and makes the most sense as is. However keyword is "temporary". I believe the original announcement was "through late August"................................Is this still like this now, it appears so to me, and is there any changes scheduled? Hoping NO as I go in 25 days!

Thanks

 

[nickys]

apologies as I'm sure I missed an answer to this somewhere:

Back in the summer they temporarily moved "EE, MMRR, Remy's, Frozen, and SM" to Genie+ leaving only a single ILL for purchase at each park. This seems to have helped inventory on Genie+ and makes the most sense as is. However keyword is "temporary". I believe the original announcement was "through late August"................................Is this still like this now, it appears so to me, and is there any changes scheduled? Hoping NO as I go in 25 days!

Thanks

Still only 1 ILL ride per park currently.

 

[DisneyfanMA]

Still only 1 ILL ride per park currently.

Thanks. Thats good news for me.

No press announcements since the "through August 27" (I think it was)? Seems they realize they need the inventory in Genie+. Most of the parades and shows are not going to be booked and so to avoid angry customers who were shut out or barely got a genie + res, they need rides and things with actual lines that people use it for.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Still only 1 ILL ride per park currently.

Indeed.

And helpful to keep in mind that only one ride has VQ: Cosmic Rewind. Which is a 7 AM drop for those with an EPCOT reservation. And there is another 1 PM drop for those in the park at that time.

Cosmic Rewind is also the one ride in EPCOT that is ILL.

If you're at a Disney hotel, you can, at 7AM, grab a VQ for Cosmic, then pay for an ILL for Cosmic. Then, if you purchased Genie+, grab your first Lightning Lane (e.g., at Ratatouille).

 

[Vacationeer]

Thanks. Thats good news for me.

No press announcements since the "through August 27" (I think it was)? Seems they realize they need the inventory in Genie+. Most of the parades and shows are not going to be booked and so to avoid angry customers who were shut out or barely got a genie + res, they need rides and things with actual lines that people use it for.

August 7 was the last day of ‘temporarily’ including one of the ILLs in Genie+.

On August 3rd they announced it will continue, so there remains to be just one ILL per park and the rest available through G+

 

[Vacationeer]

Indeed.

And helpful to keep in mind that only one ride has VQ: Cosmic Rewind. Which is a 7 AM drop for those in Disney resorts. And at park opening for everyone else (which means you won't win the 7 AM "lottery"). And there is another 1 PM drop for those in the park at that time.

Cosmic Rewind is also the one ride in EPCOT that is ILL.

If you're at a Disney hotel, you can, at 7AM, grab a VQ for Cosmic, then pay for an ILL for Cosmic. Then, if you purchased Genie+, grab your first Lightning Lane (e.g., at Ratatouille).

I thought VQ was available to everyone at 7am, regardless if onsite or offsite, but you need an Epcot park reservation for that day?

ETA- it is the ILL purchase of GotG that requires being onsite for the 7am drop. Offsite needs to wait until park open.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I thought VQ was available to everyone at 7am, regardless if onsite or offsite, but you need an Epcot park reservation for that day?

ETA- it is the ILL purchase of GotG that requires being onsite for the 7am drop. Offsite needs to wait until park open.

Oops, got that mixed up.

Editing...

 

[Vacationeer]

The 1pm VQ drop for GotG is open to all who have tapped in to Epcot that day. As long as you have entered EP earlier that day you’d still be able to try for 1pm GotG VQ from outside Epcot (and only IF you were unable to get a VQ boarding group at the 7am drop).

Most Mondays have a 6pm drop for guests using Deluxe Extended Evening Hours. For that you must be staying onsite deluxe resort, and have either a park reservation or ability to hop via hoppers or annual pass. You do not need to be in Epcot to book, but you need to have swiped into the park you chose for your park reservation (ETA - if your Park Pass was not for EP; if you reserved EP for your park pass, you’re all set*). You ride again via the 6pm drop even if you have already taken a ride via the 7am or 1pm VQ.

*see post #81 & 82