Disney Genie+ at the Disneyland Resort

Last Updated on August 25, 2023 by Happily Ever Park Hoppers

If you aren’t familiar with the Disney Genie feature from the Walt Disney World Resort, Disney Genie is a new technology to the Disneyland app that will be available at the Disneyland Resort starting December 8th, 2021!

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What is Disney Genie?

Disney Genie is a new technology being added to the current Disney mobile apps, My Disney Experience app at Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland app at Disneyland Resort.

Disney Genie is a complementary service. This new feature will create your “Best Day Ever” after you go in to the app and select what your family’s top wishes are during your Disney vacation. You can select your specific interests from all types of topics like attractions, food, shows, and parades. You can narrow it down even more to Star Wars, Pixar or Disney Princesses!

This innovative technology will create a daily itinerary for all of your plans including your Disney Resort hotel reservation, dining reservations and any other bookings. As the day goes on, Disney Genie will update your itinerary, letting you know what of your top rides has the shortest wait time, receive dining recommendations, help you navigate through the parks, and even join a virtual queue.

What is Disney Genie+?

So we know what Disney Genie is, then what is Disney Genie+? Along with all the great free features that Disney Genie has to offer, Disney Genie+ is a paid add-on that allows you to skip the standby line and use the new Lightning Lane. By purchasing this add-on, you will use Disney Genie+ to book your Lightning Lane selections, one attraction at a time. All throughout the day, you can book your selections one after the other. In each park, you will be able to use this add-on for pretty much all the rides except for the “Tier 1” rides. These Tier 1 rides can be purchased “a la carte”, with or without the Disney Genie+ add-on. Each Tier 1 ride is purchased individually. Meaning, you can purchase just a Lightning Lane booking for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and NOT have to pay the package price of Disney Genie+. And alternatively, you can purchase all of the daily options if you so choose. So you could buy the Disney Genie+ add-on and both a la carte attractions.

How much does Disney Genie+ Cost?

To purchase the Disney Genie+ service, the add-on package is $20 per person per day. The a la carte attractions vary in price depending on the ride and the day. The prices vary between $7 – $20. As of right now Disney has not shared any kind of Lightning Lane calendar pricing, just that throughout the year the prices may be more or less.

What are the Lightning Lane entrance options?

How far in advance can I make my Lightning Lane bookings?

Lightning Lane bookings; Disney Genie+ and individual selections, can be made the day of your visit, as soon as you enter a theme park.

If you are familiar with the former “MaxPass” system, you will find that Disney Genie+ is very similar. Upon entering a theme park. you can make your first Lightning Lane selection. You will be able to make additional Lightning Lane selections as soon as your tap into your initial selection; OR 120 minutes later whichever comes first. One after the other as you continue to tap in to your current selection, you can then get an additional Lightning Lane selection.

HOWEVER! It is possible to stack your Lightning Lane selections and have more than one selection booked at a time. If you make a selection at 8am for Space Mountain for a 9:05am, as soon as tap in to that ride, you can make your next selection. You make your next selection at 9:10am for Indiana Jones Adventure but the window is at 2pm, you will then be able to make another selection at 11:10am because it’s now been 120 minutes! At 11:10am you are able to score a Smugglers Run booking for 3pm. It is possible at 1:10pm to be able to book another selection. Say this time you want to hop over to Disney California Adventure Park, and you find a Lightning Lane window available for Incredicoaster at 6pm and book that as well. By 1:15pm you’ve got THREE Lightning Lane selections in your pocket! Now this may not be the case when you are there. Certain rides will “sell out” of the booking windows early in the day. But just know that you can make your next selection as soon as you tap in to your current ride OR 120 minutes later.

NOTE: If you purchase Disney Genie+ and both individual attraction selections, you can have three selections all at once as early as the park opens.

Do I need to purchase Disney Genie+?

The short answer: No. You don’t “need” to purchase Disney Genie+ to have a great Disney vacation. I have heard plenty of people talk about how much this would cost their family for X amount of days. However, avoiding long lines or skipping the standby lines can definitely enhance your Disney vacation. My suggestion would be to prioritize what attractions you want to ride. Since you must buy Disney Genie+ for each day, you don’t need to buy it for every single park or every single day.

Also, keep in mind that with a Park Hopper ticket you can take advantage of making Lightning Lane selections across both parks. So instead of paying for the add-on every single day, make a few morning selections and then hop to another park and make your next Lightning Lane selection in your next park. But (yes there is always a but) keep in mind that Lightning Lane windows are subject to availability and are “limited”. So just keep in mind that if you aren’t able to make as many Lightning Lane selections that you had hoped, you can always decide to buy another add-on for the next day.

One last note!

By purchasing Disney Genie+ you will also be able to take advantage of unlimited PhotoPass downloads. For my family, being able to have those photos from our magical trip are so important. And instead of looking around to find a random stranger to use your phone to take your family’s photo, you can an actual trained photographer take your picture. Having the PhotoPass also allows you to download those priceless ride photos! Now you wont have to take a picture of the TV monitor as you exit the ride (because you didn’t want to pay for the picture) and download it straight to your phone.

Spreading magic one post at a time

Kristin