New Lightning Lanes at Disney World! What You Need to Know

There is big news from the Disney Parks! Genie+ is being replaced with a new Lightning Lanes system at Disney World. The new system is going to allow guests to once again pre-plan their Lightning Lanes (like the former Fastpass+ system) prior to their trip. This is something Disney fans have been asking for and Disney listened!

What is changing?

Genie+ is being rebranded in both Walt Disney World and Disneyland as Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Individual Lightning Lanes will be Lightning Lane Single Pass. The renaming is all that is changing in Disneyland, in California. In Walt Disney World in Florida, there is much more! All changes will take effect beginning July 24, 2024.

Some things will still be available. Standby queues where they currently are will still be there. Virtual queues will still be in place for those in-high-demand attractions. Also, the free version of Genie will be available on your My Disney Experience app.

New Ways to Plan Your Trip!

Starting July 24 you will be able to:

• Plan Lightning Lane selections prior to your trip
• Select attractions and arrival windows prior to purchasing
• Make selections for the length of your trip or length of your ticket (as applicable)

Lightning Lane Single Pass

• Can purchase up to 2 per day, per guest
• Experience times can be selected at the time of purchase
• Can only purchase one per attraction
• If your ticket includes park-hopping, you can make selections at different parks
• Can purchase with or without Lightning Lane Multipass purchase

Lightning Lane Multi Pass

• Use Lightning Lane entrance at select experiences during a specified window (once per experience, per day)
• Up to 3 Lightning Lane experiences at one Theme park can be pre-planned in advance, at time of purchase
• Experiences at MK, Epcot, and HS are divided into 2 groups.  Guests can choose 1 from group 1 and 2 from group 2; or choose all 3 from group 2 during pre planning
• Once a selection has been redeemed, a new one can be booked from any group
• If admission includes Park Hoppers, guests may select experiences in any of the four Theme parks after their first selection of the day has been redeemed

When and How Do I Purchase the New Lightning Lane Passes?

• Each can be purchased in advance at 7 am Eastern.  Guests can pre-plan their experiences and return times at time of purchase.
• When you can purchase will depend on where you are staying on your trip

Disney Resort Guests

• Guests of eligible resorts can purchase and begin pre-planning up to seven days prior to their check-in date for the length of their stay (up to 14 days)
• Eligible Resorts include Disney Resort hotels, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels, and Shades of Green Resort

Guests staying off-site

• Guests with date based Disney Theme Park tickets can purchase and begin pre-planning up to three days prior to their ticket’s start date, for the duration of their ticket.
• Guests with other forms of admission (such as non-dated tickets, Annual Passes, and Main Entrance passes) can purchase up to three days in advance of each day of their visit.  Park reservations are required.

What attractions will be included?

Magic Kingdom

Epcot

Hollywood Studios

Animal Kingdom

New Lightning Lanes at Disney World will be a great improvement!

There has been a lot of opinions on Genie+ and ways that people like or don’t like that system. This will be another change that is sure to bring about more opinions. However, I do like that pre-planning can once again take place. It will alleviate some stress when taking a Disney World vacation.

I also love that, unlike the former Fastpass+ system, you can continue to hold 3 selections at a time. The motto seems to be “use one, book another”. So once you use your first selection of the day, you can immediately book another one.

Let me know in the comments what you think of the changes! And if you need help planning your Disney vacation for FREE, click here for a Free Vacation Quote! My services are completely free when you book your Disney vacation with me!