HUGE changes at Disney World

Get ready to enjoy your park day a lot more 👍

Good news if you liked the old FastPass+ system

I don’t know about you, but Disney’s Genie+ system gives me a headache. Especially the way it works at Disney World.

For Disney World guests who want primo Lightning Lane times, and want to buy Individual Lightning Lane for attractions like Rise of the Resistance, and want to get in the virtual queue for Tron, it’s been essential to be on the app at precisely 7:00am every single day - or risk getting none of these.

The rest of the day is a constant game to fill in more Lightning Lanes, with complicated rules about when you can get them. Way too much time spent on the app instead of enjoying the parks, if you ask me.

It’s also A LOT to be figuring out while also trying to navigate through theme park crowds and all the other challenges that come up.

Needless to say, this system has not been popular from Day One. But this week Disney finally decided to make some changes!

Sorry to say, they will not be rolling back prices, and you will still be spending some time on the app. But soon you can book Lightning Lanes and purchase Individual Lightning Lanes from the comfort of your own home.

Nobody wants to be fooling with this stuff at 7am on their park day, worrying about whether they’ll win the Lightning Lane lottery. Having the chance to lock these attraction times in early will give a lot more certainty to your park touring plans.

Here are a few details about the system updates. For the most up-to-date info, check out the Disney World site here.

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Are you going to Universal instead? Lucky you - the Universal Express Pass system hasn’t changed for years. Here’s all you need to know 👍

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Disney Genie+ name changes

Just when you think you’ve got it down, Disney changes the language! Here are the new terms for Disney’s skip-the-line service at Disney World and Disneyland.

Was: “Disney Genie+” Now: “Lightning Lane Multi Pass”

Was: “Individual Lightning Lane” Now: “Lightning Lane Single Pass”

What is this lingo?? Here’s a primer. (Which is slightly outdated now, thanks Disney!)

You can pre-book your Lightning Lanes up to 7 days before your visit

This is a big change, but isn’t really new. If you visited Disney World before 2020, you’ll remember the old FastPass+ system, which allowed guests to make FastPass selections well in advance of their visit.

How is this different from the old FastPass+ system?

The biggest difference is that Lightning Lane Multi Pass (seriously, that is WAY too long of a name, let’s just call it LLMP) is not free. FastPass and FastPass+ were free systems available to all Disney World guests. LLMP costs anywhere from about $20-$40 per day per guest, depending on date and how many parks are included.

The other difference is how far in advance you can make your Lightning Lane reservations. The new system allows on-site hotel guests to book up to 7 days in advance, off-site guests up to 3 days ahead. In the pre-pandemic days you could plan 30 days or more ahead.

One other notable update is the Disney app. In spite of plenty of challenges, the app’s functionality has improved a lot in the last few years. Now Disney says you can book all your Lightning Lanes and LL Single Passes (also not free) in one transaction.

Advance book up to 3 Lightning Lanes and 1 LL Single Pass for each day

Similar to the old FastPass+, guests can book up to 3 Lightning Lanes in advance for each day. This is 3 in the same park.

Once you use a Lightning Lane, you can choose another one for later, in any park (as long as you have a park-hopper ticket, of course).

Also, and maybe even more crucially, you can pre-purchase your Lightning Lane Single Passes ahead of your visit. These are skip-the-line passes for the most popular attractions and can be hard to come by.

Starts July 24th

If you’ve got a trip coming up this summer, you’ll probably get to use this new system. Disney is rolling it out on July 24, 2024.

This means both the ability to pre-book, and all the system changes, start on 7/24.

Will the price change?

There doesn’t seem to be any indication that this update is going to raise the cost of LLMP. Pricing is already variable so my guess is you won’t notice a difference.

🏰 At Disneyland only the Genie+ name is changing

As is often the case, Disneyland’s system will remain slightly different than at Disney World. Disneyland is not adding the capability to book Lightning Lane in advance.

But Disneyland guests will say hello to the new jargon. Expect to see Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass in the Disneyland app. No more “Genie+”.

So, should you pay for all this?

Here’s my post to help you answer this question. The ability to book Lightning Lanes in advance may tip the scales for you.

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