How to use Genie Plus and Lightning Lane at the Disneyland Resort

Since the introduction of Disney’s Genie+ and Lightning Lane services in 2021, guests have been trying to navigate the Disneyland app to understand how to use this upgrade service. We’ve used it on two separate trips to help you understand the ‘New Fast P ass‘.

MASTERING GENIE+ at disneyland

Anaheim, California

HEY STRANGERS!

Whilst visiting the Disneyland Resort, you certainly want to enjoy as many of the 2 park’s attractions and shows as possible. With the old FastPass system out the window, we’re here to help you out when it comes to tackling Disney’s Genie+ and Lightning Lane.

We will discuss:

What to know before you start
What is Genie+ and what’s included
Pricing for Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes
How to get Genie+
How to book a Lightning Lane
What to do when your Lightning Lane is ready
Our Genie+ TOP TIPS
Is Genie+ worth it?

Before You Start

Tickets – In order to use the Disney Genie+ services, you will need valid theme park admission to Disneyland or Disney California Adventure as well as a valid park pass reservation.

The service will be available for whichever park you’re visiting and if you have a park-hopper ticket, you can make use of Genie+ in both theme parks on the same day for the same price as Genie+ in one park per day.

App – Genie+ operates through the Disneyland App, available on both iOS and Android. Only one person per group needs to have the app downloaded but this person will need to have everyone’s tickets uploaded to their account through the app.

Note: Disney Park’s app are temperamental and combined with Disney’s free Wifi, tends to log you out regularly, crash or not display your information. Be sure to open the app well before the ride Lightning Lane entry tap points to get your valid Lightning Lane ready to be scanned.

disney, disneyland, disney world, walt disney world, disneyland paris, disney fastpass, fastpass, fast pass, disney genie, genie plus, genie+, disney genie+, disney genie plus, is genie plus worth it, how to use genie plus, how to use genie+, is genie+ worth it, how much is genie plus, disneyland fastpass, disney genie guide, how to use genie plus, how genie plus works, disneyland app, disneyland guide, disney app, how to download genie plus,

What is Genie+ & What’s Included?

Introduced in late 2021 at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, Disney’s Genie+ service is an upgrade to your visit to the Disneyland Resort. For an additional fee, guests can select rides to use the ‘Lightning Lane’ on, meaning you will skip the standby queue and avoids most of the physical standing queue line.

What’s included with the Genie+ fee?

Lightning Lane – FastPass style service, helping you spend less time in physical queue lines.
Unlimited PhotoPass – Disney’s PhotoPass service with live photographers and on-ride photos are normally an up-charge. Genie+ gives you a full day of digital downloads of your vacation pictures.
PhotoPass Lenses – Using a similar system to Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, enhance your Disneyland selfies with fun and exciting AR filters featuring some of your favourite Disney characters!
Audio Tales – Located around the parks and found through the Disneyland App’s map feature, enjoy audio experiences, including behind-the-scenes information, not available to general day guests.

What rides are included with Genie+?

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Each guest may enjoy a Lightning Lane on each available ride once per day. Eg. once you use your Lightning Lane on Space Mountain you will not be able to book it again on the Genie+ service.

Pricing for Genie+ & Individual Lightning Lane

Genie+ and individual Lightning Lane use dynamic pricing each day based on expected crowd levels. Busier days will cost more and quieter days will be less. Disneyland’s price range for the Genie+ service ranges from $20 – $30 per person, per day.

The Individual Lightning Lanes change regularly depending on which rides are classed as ‘add-ons’ and crowd levels. When writing this on Saturday 25th March 2023, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is $25 per person and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is $20 per person. NOTE – You can only use Individual Lightning Lane’s once.

How To Get Genie+

Adding Genie+ to your theme park day can be done in two different ways:

Buying With Your Tickets – When you order your theme park tickets online through the Disneyland website or a thrid party ticket seller you will see the options to purchase Disneyland’s one-park-per-day or park-hopper tickets and the same options again with Genie+ added to it. The option to include Genie+ with your purchase typically increases the cost of your ticket by $20/$30 per ticket per day, depending on the ticket provider. Choosing this option will automatically add the Genie+ service to the Disneyland App when you upload your theme park tickets to your account, saving you time when arriving in the park and in some cases, saving you money. Genie+ changes it’s pricing depending on crown levels so you may technically save money adding it on before your visit.

Buying On The Day – Purchasing on the day gives you the opportunity to gauge the crowd levels and decide for yourself whether you’re willing to wait in the displayed wait times or if you would like to upgrade. To purchase on the day, you will need to physically enter one of the theme parks before being able to add on the service. Head through the gates of one of the parks, admire the view, have a happy cry because you’re at Disneyland, then pull over to one side and get out the Disneyland App:

Open the Disneyland App
On the home page, scroll to Disney Genie+ Service and select purchase (it will show you today’s price here).
You’ll be shown what’s included, at the bottom select ‘Get Disney Genie+ Service’.
Select which ticket/members of your party you want to add Genie+ to.
Proceed with payment options.

NOTE – Both purchasing options will only be activated once you enter one of the theme parks. You cannot make Lightning Lane selections before entering a park so, if you want to make the most of your upgrade, you’ll want to arrive early! Our top tips are coming up below so stay tuned…

How To Book A Lightning Lane

Open the Disneyland App
Press the three lines in the bottom right corner of the screen
Select Tip Board – Here you will see all of the attraction’s queue times, show times, and when the next Lightning Lane is available.
Select which park you’re visiting at the top by clicking ‘Change Park’
Scroll up and down to look through your options.
When you find a ride you wish to Lightning Lane, click the button showing ‘LL Disney Genie+ [Arrival Time] Book Experience’
Confirm your selection & which guests you would like to add to this Lightning Lane reservation
DONE! To check your current Lightning Lanes, click the Home icon on the bottom left corner of the Disneyland App

When can I book my next Lightning Lane?

Lightning Lane’s can be made either 2 hours after making your reservation OR once you scan into the reservation at the ride’s Lightning Lane entrance, whichever comes first.

Example 1: At 9am you reserve Indiana Jones Adventure for 2pm. You can make your next Lightning Lane reservation at 11am.

Example 2: At 9am you reserve It’s A Small World for 9:30am. You can make your next Lightning Lane as soon as you scan into your It’s A Small World reservation during the Lightning Lane 1 hour window of 9:30am – 10:30am.

How to book an Individual Lightning Lane?

For those rides, so special and popular that Disney has placed them behind their own pay gate, here’s how to make an Individual Lightning Lane:

Open the Disneyland App
Press the three lines in the bottom right corner of the screen
Select Tip Board
Select which park you’re visiting at the top by clicking ‘Change Park’
Scroll up and down to look through your options.
When you find an Individual Lightning Lane ride you wish to pay for, click the button showing ‘LL Individual Lightning Lane [Arrival Time] Purchase for $XX’
Confirm your selection & which guests you would like to add to this Lightning Lane reservation
Select your preferred payment menthod, you will see your total charge in USD and the purchase tax
DONE! To check your current Lightning Lanes, click the Home icon on the bottom left corner of the Disneyland App

What to do when your Lightning Lane is ready?

The wait is over, it’s time to head to the attraction’s Lightning Lane entrance.

Go to the attraction’s Lightning Lane entrance, usually located directly next to the ride’s standby line and identified with a large Lightning Lane sign and a clock.
Open the Disneyland App
On the App’s homepage, your Lightning Lane reservation will show a button – ‘Redeem’
Select redeem and your Lightning Lane passes will appear. Swipe across to see your party’s passes.
At the Lightning Lane entrance and scan your passes on your phone by inserting the phone into the scanner slot. Alternatively you can scan your theme park tickets or utilise a MagicBand+.

You will now bypass most of the standby line before merging ahead of the ride’s pre-show or load station. Some rides appear to skip more of the standby than others.

NOTE – You may arrive at the ride to find a large Lightning Lane queue. Don’t worry, Disney prioritises the Lightning Lanes when this happens so what appears to be a huge line may only take a few minutes.

Our Genie+ TOP TIPS

From our times using Genie+ we’ve got some useful tips to hopefully help you get on all of the rides you want!

ARRIVE EARLY – It’s a Disney trip, of course you don’t mind waking up early! Head to the parks and scan in to start booking Lightning Lanes.
BOOK & QUEUE – To maximise your ride count, early mornings normally mean low queue times. Book your first Lightning Lane and queue for a ride with a smaller queue time.
BOOK IN ADVANCE – Rides like Indiana Jones Adventure sell out faster than others. One of your first reservations should be one of these rides. It’s 9am and you book Indy for 6pm. Wait 2 hours, line up for some of the other rides with the early morning smaller lines and after 2 hours you can book your next ride!
STACK ‘EM UP – Once you’ve waiting the 2 hours, book a LL that starts soon! As soon as you use this new reservation you can quickly book your next one.
SCAN AND BOOK – As soon as you enter the Lightning Lane queue, scan your pass and immediately hop on the Disneyland App to book your next reservation.
NON-LIGHTNING LANE RIDES – Not all of Disneyland’s rides have Lightning Lane. Make the most of your time waiting for your next reservation and queue up for some of the non-LL rides, like Fantasyland’s classic dark rides.
TIME MOVE – Running late for a Lightning Lane reservation? Don’t worry, you secretly get about 15 minutes of grace period after your redemption window ends. Alternatively, you can now change your LL redemption time by going to your LL reservation on the home page of the App, select modify and it will offer you the next available time to move your reservation to!

Is Genie+ Worth It?

The Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane service can be complicated, difficult, restricting and expensive. However, when you’re only visiting the Disneyland Resort for a couple of days, it makes it tough to turn down when the attraction wait times exceed 60+ minutes.

We have visited the Disneyland parks twice since Genie+ was introduced and have felt we needed to upgrade to the service on both trips. We did feel we got value for money when we upgraded first thing in the morning but adding it to your day after lunch will leave you struggling to book any ride reservations that aren’t already several hours away.

We haven’t found a need to use individual Lightning Lanes yet as we had already ridden all of the ‘additional fee’ attractions like Rise of the Resistance and when one ride on these attractions costs the same as the entire Genie+ service alone, it’s difficult to justify the fee.

Now it’s your turn. We’ve told you everything we know about Disney’s new FastPass service, out top tips, best practices and as much information as we feel you’ll need to successfully pull off the military operation that it visiting a Disney theme park in the post-pandemic world!

If you found this blog useful, please consider commenting, liking and subscribing to our mailing list below. Also, we hope you’ll read some more blogs from the Disney theme parks or check out our theme park vlogs – link below!

Here’s a recap, from Disney…