Disney World is revamping its Genie Plus skip-the-line service, enabling theme park guests to pay for the attractions they would like to reserve up to seven days in advance if they're staying at a Disney hotel.
Currently, Disney requires guests to make Genie Plus purchases the same day they are attending the park.
Genie Plus will be renamed Lightning Lane Multi Pass. It is also renaming its Individual Lightning Lane service to Lightning Lane Single Pass.
With Lightning Lane Multi Pass, guests can make up to three selections at a theme park prior to their visit. For Disney's most popular park attractions, guests can also reserve Lightning Lane Single Pass attractions in advance.
"We enjoy hearing from guests about all the things they love, as well as how we can make their experience even better the next time," Disney said in a post on the Disney Parks Blog. "At Walt Disney World, guests have told us they would prefer to have the option to do more of their planning before their theme park day."
An illustration of the booking flow for Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass.
Genie Plus enables guests to access a separate queue, which usually results in a shorter wait than they would experience in the attraction's main queue. The price varies by day and park. The service can be purchased for multiple parks.
Prior to Genie Plus, Disney had employed FastPass, which was a free service that enabled guests to reserve experience times in advance.
When the new system launches July 24, guests will be able to see the experiences and times available prior to purchasing Lightning Lane Multi Pass. They will be able to make three Lightning Lane selections in advance, choosing from available times.
Customers staying at a Disney resort will have first dibs on selections: they can plan Lightning Lane passes up to a week before their visit and for their entire stay, up to 14 days. Other guests can plan up to three days in advance. Selections can be modified, subject to availability.
Similar to the old FastPass system, guests will be able to select one attraction from a group of popular attractions, and two from a secondary grouping of available attractions.
For instance, in the Magic Kingdom, the first group of attractions includes Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan's Flight, Space Mountain and Tiana's Bayou Adventure; the second group includes Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mickey's Philharmagic and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. On the day of their visit, they can make additional selections via the My Disney Experience app.
Guests with Park Hopper tickets (enabling them to visit more than one theme park per day) can make Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections in advance only for one park. Additional selections can be made at any park subject to availability.
Disney said its app will be updated, making it easier, and faster, to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass. Guests will be able to make the purchases in one transaction, a new feature.
While Lightning Lane Single Pass has a new name from its current iteration, it will function much like it does today, Disney said. Guests can purchase the service to secure a time to ride the most popular attractions at Disney World.
Currently, Individual Lightning Lane is offered for the Magic Kingdom's Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Tron Lightcycle/Run, Epcot's Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Hollywood Studios' Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Animal Kingdom's Avatar Flight of Passage.
Currently, guests staying at a Disney hotel can purchase their first Individual Lightning Lane at 7 a.m. Other guests can make a purchase when the park opens. Starting July 24, guests staying at Disney hotels will be able to purchase Lightning Lane Single Pass up to seven days in advance. Other guests will be able to make a purchase three days in advance.
Prices will continue to vary by date and theme park.