Summary

The Disney Genie and Disney Genie+ services launched Dec. 8, 2021, at Disneyland (and had already been let out of the bottle at Walt Disney World Resort several weeks ahead). We frogs hopped right on it and tested these services out in Florida. However, we also know that things operate slightly differently at Disneyland. We're breaking it down with all of the deets on the Disney Genie, Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane services for the Happiest Place on Earth. (Psst ... you can save some green on Disneyland Genie+ tickets through Undercover Tourist!)

Hop To

• Launch Date
• What Is Disney Genie Service?
• Disney Genie+ Service at Disneyland
• How Do I Get Disney Genie+ Service?
• How Do I Use Disney Genie+ Service?
• Individual Lightning Lane Service
• Tips and Tricks

There are three major parts to the Disney Genie service, and they are all different despite having similar names or using similar ways to access rides:

1. The free Disney Genie service (the planning tool within the Disneyland app)
2. An optional paid Disney Genie+ service to make ride reservations to use skip the lines for the majority of popular attractions at the theme parks (replacing MaxPass)
3. The individual Lightning Lane service for high-demand rides that aren't included in Disney Genie+ service for an additional cost to skip the line

You can use all of them, some of them or none of them. But these represent the newest tools you might use to maximize your time at Disneyland.

We know it's a lot to digest, but that is what we are here for. We hear all the time from people who heard that guests now have to pay for Disneyland rides on top of park admission, and that is not true. Every ride and attraction at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure is still included in the cost of admission. You do not have to pay extra to ride any ride. But the lines leading up to the rides are also included in the cost of admission. If you want to pay to skip the standby line and use the Lightning Lane (what we used to call the FASTPASS return entrance), then you now have options to pay to access attractions faster. You know that saying, "time is money?" Disney Genie+ service is the epitome of that.

Radiator Springs Racers is often at least a 90-minute wait. If this is a must-do ride for you, then it may be worth it to you to purchase the Lightning Lane service for it. If you're a huge Star Wars fan but the Force isn't with you when you encounter long waits for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance on your trip of a lifetime, then buying an individual Lightning Lane selection for this ride certainly buys you more time in the theme park.

You're not paying to ride, but you might want to opt to get on the rides faster, and that's where the paid options come in. Disney Genie+ service offers Lightning Lane access to 19 attractions. If you compare the $20 (per person) cost against any other theme park's skip-the-line option, you'll find that Disneyland comes in way cheaper than all the others.

Keep in mind that the majority of rides at Disneyland do not offer Lightning Lane service. So if your family isn't ready for thrill rides or has members subject to height requirements, you'll find many experiences that don't even have Lightning Lane service and aren't included in Disney Genie+ service. Many rides only have a standby line, so Disney Genie+ service may not be worth the added cost for you. Check the Tip Board in the app to see the full list of rides and whether they offer just a standby line or both a standby line and Lightning Lane to help you make your decision about purchasing the Disney Genie+ service. When you customize the free Disney Genie tool, you can tell Genie to show you height requirements as well. We also have a hopful guide to Disneyland height requirements.

Our Guide to Disney Genie Service at Disneyland

We love to skip the lines, but we also love to save money, so we will be weighing the benefits of saving time versus spending more money in the parks. Once we get a feel for the Disney Genie, Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane services at Disneyland, we'll be forming new tips to help readers navigate this new terrain and help people decide if these new tools are toadally worth it to them and also how to get by without spending another penny to stay on budget. MaxPass was worth it to us. We'll see how Disney Genie+ service compares. Will fewer people be using this service than people who used the free FASTPASS service? If so, does that keep the standby lines more manageable than they used to be? Inquiring frogs want to know (and are determined to find out!).

Disney Genie service is available at both Disneyland Parks and Walt Disney World Parks, and we'll do our best to cover all of the details for using it at Disneyland here in your one-stop shop for Disney Genie service. There are some slight differences between the Disney Genie+ service at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, so we'll be focusing on the Disney Genie service at Disneyland (including Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane services) to keep things simpler for Disneyland visitors.

We frogs were MaxPass and FASTPASS masters at Disneyland. Disney Genie+ service is similar to MaxPass but there are a few differences that we will get into. We'll go through the process and our tips and tricks below.

And keep hopping back — we'll continue to update as we hop about the parks, learn more and strengthen our tips and strategies! Our Disney Genie Service FAQ is another great resource.

When Does Disney Genie Service Launch?

Big news! Disney Genie service at Disneyland launched Dec. 8, 2021!

What Exactly Is Disney Genie Service?

Disney Genie service is a new, FREE tool in the Disneyland app. It's kind of like an app within the app. You can use this new technology to guide you through the theme parks with tips to help you reduce time in lines, discover Disney magic and take the guesswork out of planning your day. Disney Genie service can alert you to short attraction lines or tell you when it's a good time to mobile order.

The Disney Genie service includes a personalized itinerary and recommendations feature that will map out your entire day. Just let Disney Genie know what you want to do under the "My Day" tab by selecting attractions, entertainment, dining and enchanting extras (such as building a lightsaber). You can personalize your day even more by selecting general interests you may have, such as thrill rides or entertainment. Change your mind? Disney Genie can handle that and readjust your itinerary to include what interests you while you are on the go. You can view your favorites and suggestions in one place on the "Tip Board" tab. You can also request to see height requirements and accessibility when planning out your day.

Disney Genie service allows for flexibility. If you like to be spontaneous and go with the flow, Disney Genie will update your itinerary as you go. It displays current and projected ride wait times and helps you pick the best time to ride (kind of like what your favorite frogs have been doing for years to help readers maximize time and follow proven park plans based on our extensive experience in the parks). You'll be able to mobile order food, join a restaurant walk-up list and make reservations for dining and rides through Disney Genie, just like you already do through the park apps, but all in one spot. If you don't like a suggestion, you can do a Swaperoo to swap recommendations. You can also remove specific attractions from your planning so they won't show up for the rest of the day. You ain't never had a friend like Disney Genie!

You can start planning your trip ahead of time with Disney Genie service, but you'll need to purchase tickets or Magic Key passes and link them to the Disneyland app first. Once you make your theme park reservations, you can start selecting your interests for each day of your visit. We recommend playing around with it at home before your visit so you can get comfortable with it and don't have to spend precious park time figuring it out.

To get started with the free Disney Genie service (you can do this part at home in advance of your visit):

• Tap the three horizontal lines on the bottom of the app and select "My Genie Day."
• Tap "Get Started Now."
• Select the date for which you would like to plan. The calendar shows all of your park reservation days.
• Select your party (if there are people linked to you that you don't want to plan for, deselect them).
• Follow the process to choose your must-do attractions, entertainment and restaurants.
• Select your top 10 Disney favorites, park interests and types of dining interests.
• Select if you want height requirements and accessibility (super helpful if you use a wheelchair or have other needs) to be displayed.
• Scroll down and tap "Get Genie+ for Today" if you want to purchase the service.
• If park hopping, scroll down to "Plan for Your Next Park" to select the next park and adjust your start and end time. Then go through and select your top picks for that park.

Doing this is not mandatory, but inputting your plans and interests makes it so that Disney Genie tailors its suggestions to fit in the attractions, shows and restaurants that most interest you that day.

That being said, don't rely solely on Disney Genie service to mobile order food or to find dining locations. Use mobile ordering the normal way so you can see all your choices. Disney Genie service only offers a sampling of choices. Also, keep an eye on your tip board. We started our day in one park, but it kept defaulting to the other park. At the top of the Tip Board, you can tap "Change Park."

One of the biggest improvements to Disney Genie service joining the Disneyland app is having the showtimes of the performances you want to see on the Tip Board. For example, Disney Genie brought an early showing of the parade to our attention. Since we always seem to miss the Dapper Dans, we selected them as under Entertainment and each performance was highlighted as it approached. At Disney California Adventure, it can let you know when Spider-Man is getting ready to jump over the buildings.

Disability Access Service (DAS) Changes

If you have someone in your party with disabilities that make it difficult to wait in a standard queue, you know that the Disability Access Service (DAS) can be a trip-saver, but having to wait in line to set it up and getting return times can be cumbersome when dealing with special needs. Disney Genie service will be able to smooth out the process for you.

Eligible guests visiting on or after Dec. 20, 2021, are now able to pre-register for DAS Advance via live video chat (there will be a chat button on the page) between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Pacific Time. Guests can pre-register up to 30 days in advance of a park visit but no less than two days before arrival. The DAS participants may book up to two one-hour return windows for select experiences.

Once in the park, DAS users may select attractions directly in the app and are not limited to the advanced select experiences. Tap the three horizontal lines on the bottom right of the screen to get to your page. Scroll to the bottom to see the DAS button to start selecting.

The advance registration and app options are available in addition to the existing, in-person DAS program. The individual Lightning Lane selections, such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, are not available through the DAS Advance system, but you can still use DAS at these attractions on the day of your visit. Visit Disney's Services for Guests with Disabilities pages at Disneyland.com for more details.

As the details roll in, we will be updating our hopful Overview of Disneyland's Disability Access Service (DAS). The people who use DAS can also use Disney Genie, Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane services to help streamline their day. The DAS return times can overlap with Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane services.

The Power of Disney Genie+ Service

For a daily cost, Disney Genie+ service allows guests to select attractions and bypass the standby line, utilizing the Lightning Lane entrances. It's time to update our lingo — FASTPASS and FastPass+ entrances have been rebranded! Selections are made one at a time for that day. You can make your first selection after entering the park that day.

So how does Disney Genie+ service compare to MaxPass at Disneyland? The overall system is very similar to the old format. It's the same price ($20 per person, per day) and still includes all of the PhotoPass downloads from the day. You can purchase tickets preloaded with Disney Genie+ or upgrade in the app on the day of your visit. Once you pay the fee, you can make Lightning Lane selections for Disney Genie+ rides. The list is pretty similar to the same rides that were available on FASTPASS, with a few differences.

One of the biggest differences is that you can make a Lightning Lane selection only one at a time. You may make your next selection once your current Lightning Lane arrival window has started or you have redeemed it (as well as if you cancel it). With MaxPass, it was easier to stack them up. There are a few exceptions we will get into.

How Do I Get Disney Genie+ Service?

• Before Your Visit — You can purchase Disney Genie+ as an add-on to a ticket. If you want to purchase in advance, buy a ticket with Disney Genie+. Undercover Tourist is now selling multi-day tickets with Disney Genie+ at Disneyland Resort! Ribbit!
• Same Day of Your Visit — Existing ticket holders and annual passholders may purchase through the Disneyland app after entering a theme park. This is also the route you would take if you only want to use Disney Genie+ service for certain days but not your entire trip, or as a last-minute decision.

Previously, Disneyland annual passholders could add MaxPass for a flat rate for the year. No Magic Key or annual passholder add-on for the year has been announced at this time.

How to Use Disney Genie+ Service at Disneyland

All of the Disney Genie services live within the Disneyland app at Disneyland. You'll want to update to the latest version of the Disneyland app before your visit. The top of the home page will show your plans. Tapping the "My Day" link in the top right corner takes you to the Disney Genie service homepage. Here, you can purchase Disney Genie+ service (if you have not done so already) and begin planning for your day.

Remember, Disney Genie+ selections can only be made once you've entered the park that day. Lightning Lane windows are offered as the next available times only. Each experience can only be used with Disney Genie+ once per day, so once you ride an attraction with Disney Genie+ service, you won't be able to book another Lightning Lane selection for that ride (but standby is always an option if you want to go again!). This differs from MaxPass and FASTPASS when we could book the same ride more than once after riding. If you arrive at the park before other members of your party, you'll want to save rides you want to ride together with Disney Genie+ for when they arrive.

Making selections. In the app, once you've chosen your attraction, you will select your party, which will automatically select anyone with a valid ticket and park pass reservation. You can edit your party members at this time if need be. Then, you can choose which attraction you would like to use for your first Disney Genie+ experience. The arrival windows will be for a one-hour period, so you can arrive to the Lightning Lane during that time.

Once your arrival window has started or you scan your Lightning Lane barcode (or park ticket) into the reader at the attraction's Lightning Lane entrance and the light turns green, you are free to book your next Disney Genie+ selection. Did you hear the news? MagicBands will be coming to Disneyland Resort in the future. Once those are active, you can also scan them at the Lightning Lane.

Cancel if you cannot make your window. Keep in mind that if you cannot make your Lightning Lane one-hour window, you need to cancel it if you want to book another for that same ride. If you let it expire, your opportunity to select that ride with Disney Genie+ will be spent. You can cancel an individual if the entire party does not wish to cancel.

Like MaxPass, there is a little wiggle room if you arrive five minutes early or five minutes late. If running late, there is a 15-minute grace period. If you're worried that you'll miss the window, we recommend trying to cancel and book a different time. We learned the hard way that if you miss your arrival window, the attraction is still used up for Disney Genie+ access. So even if you never scan into the ride, the system will not let you book it again. If you cancel instead, you can still make another selection for that ride later on (if available).

If you're in a long line to scan in at the Lightning Lane entrance (it happens) and your window is closing in on you, we recommend taking screenshots of your selections because the cast members know if the line is long and may work with you. That being said, don't push it. Try to arrive with enough time to scan in.

Take advantage of free PhotoPass Downloads. Disneyland guests can take advantage of included PhotoPass downloads from any day that Disney Genie+ is valid on the ticket. Our PhotoPass post has all the deets on how to use it. Here are the basics.

You can show your PhotoPass code to any PhotoPass photographer and the photos will automatically appear in your Disneyland app. Be sure to ask for Magic Shots! Certain rides have on-ride photos. You can enter the code on the photo into the app. There is a slight delay before images appear.

Some people used to get MaxPass just for the photos. If you don't care about the Lighting Lane benefits of Disney Genie+ service, then you can just have one member of the party get Disney Genie+ service for the PhotoPass downloads and share the images with everyone else. You'll have 45 days to download the images onto your phone and computer.

Individual Lightning Lane Service

Here is the newest and trickiest part of the new offerings: A few high-demand rides are excluded from the Disney Genie+ service. One is at Disneyland and two are at Disney California Adventure. For these, you can make a la carte reservations, kind of like FASTPASS, but for a fee for each line that you skip. What we want to make clear is that you can still access these rides without paying anything extra. You can use the standby line, virtual queue (if activated) or Single Rider line, depending on what each ride offers.

Have Boarding Groups eluded you and your slow phone? The good news is that both rides with virtual queues have moved to standby lines. The bad news is that waits can be long at times. If you want to free your time in the park to enjoy other things, now you can buy your way in. Is the line for Radiator Springs Racers prohibitively long? Are your kids too young for Single Rider? Now you can pay a one-time fee to skip the line for the most popular rides. Pricing for this option varies by date, attraction and park. As of now, prices for individual selections will range between $7 to $20. On Disney Genie launch day, during the week, Rise of the Resistance was $20 per person for individual Lightning Lane. Radiator Springs Racers and WEB SLINGERS could be $7 per person midweek and $12 on weekend or busier days.

Again, this cost is optional. If you have one day to spend at Disney California Adventure Park and the wait for your family's must-do ride is 90 minutes, you can assess what 90 minutes of your time are worth. Maybe getting those 90 minutes back means getting on three more rides or getting to take time to sit down and enjoy a nice table-service meal at Carthay Circle. Or maybe the wait is under an hour when you visit, so it's not worth it to pay to skip. If you're a frequent visitor, paying extra may not be in the budget since you can come back another time.

Our family members who are over age 7 always opt for the Single Rider line for Radiator Springs Racers. We know we will split up on the ride, and sometimes we get lucky and get to race each other! But if you all want to ride together (or your tadpoles are too young to split up), then you can either stand in line for no cost or skip the line for a fee. We tested the Lightning Lane and Single Rider line on the same weekday, and the Single Rider line was faster. This may not always be the case on weekends or holidays. It might be worth checking out before you purchase.

You can pay to use individual Lightning Lane service for up to two of these attractions once per day. Also, you can pay to upgrade for up to two different rides per person, per day. You may purchase them one at a time (and purchase even if you're hopping to another park). You can purchase one right after the other if you like and do not have to use the first one before buying a second.

Individual Lightning Lane "a la Carte" options are available to all guests with or without Disney Genie+. You can purchase via the Disney Genie service in the Disneyland app at Disneyland on the same day as your visit. Once again, standby lines remain as options for individual Lightning Lane attractions.

Individual Lighting Lane selections can sell out quickly for popular attractions such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. How early can you book? All guests must have entered a theme park entrance to begin booking, which was the case with MaxPass. They are released in order of first availability, which differs from Walt Disney World (where you can choose your window to ride). Here's a park hopping tip: In the morning, you can purchase your Lighting Lane for the second park you visit once you have entered your first park of the day. Even if it is only distributing for, say 10 a.m., when you tap "Lightning Lane" it will automatically give you the first available time after 1 p.m. when you can hop. That's a huge time saver, and you don't have to watch the app to look for a time window that works for you. 

You can purchase individual Lightning Lane selections within the Tip Board or "My Day" itinerary. We were toadally surprised to see you can overlap your Disney Genie+ and individual attraction selections without any issue! Individual attraction selections may overlap as well. When you book, a notice will alert you if you have overlapping plans during that time, but it won't stop you from reserving. Give yourself enough time to make all your reservations, allowing for breakdowns, delays and time to travel between attractions. There is only a 15-minute grace period if you're running late.

Individual Lightning Lane selections at Disneyland

• Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure — The standby line and Single Rider line remain free.
• WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure! at Disney California Adventure — This ride has a standby line. You can skip the stress of standing in a long outdoor line in the sun and simply pay to skip the line.
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland — This ride has a free standby line (which can get long). But now you have another way to join the Rebellion faster (for a fee). This is the ride most likely to sell out of Lightning Lane on busy days.

The individual pay-per-ride options are subject to change. You should note that this a la carte option and Disney Genie+ service offer different attractions. You can use both services together or separately (or not at all).

Tips and Tricks for Disney Genie Service

• For Disney Genie+ and purchased individual Lightning Lane services, you can only choose the next available timeframe for a show or attraction one at a time.
• When booking individual Lightning Lane selections, keep in mind that the person making the reservation will be the person paying. Everyone in the party will be automatically linked. If your party consists of individuals or groups who would need to pay separately, you'll want to edit the members of your party. The only caveat is that you could potentially end up in different time windows for your ride reservations, especially if it's a particularly busy day and times are getting booked quickly. If you want to ensure that everybody rides at the same time, then book together and have individuals send money via Venmo (or some other money-sharing app) to the purchaser.
• You can only make one Disney Genie+ selection at a time, but you can have overlapping Disney Genie+ selections. How? There is a two-hour window before you can make another selection. Because you can only choose the next available time window, the window can start as soon as five minutes later or hours away, depending on the ride and crowds. At noon, for instance, you might find that the next time window is at 7 p.m. To avoid being tethered to only one ride for seven hours, your ability to make Disney Genie+ selections is "frozen" for two hours. So, at 2 p.m., you could make another Disney Genie+ selection, despite not going on the 7 p.m. ride yet. At 4 p.m., you could make an additional selection, and so on.
• Your Disney Genie+ selections can overlap with your individual Lightning Lane attraction selections, so you can max out your day with more efficiency. Just make sure you don't miss your arrival windows.
• You can also ride Disney Genie+ attractions more than once by using the standby line and Disney Genie+.
• Park hopping? Disney Genie has got you covered. You can let the Disney Genie service know what time you plan on being at the next park. It will add suggestions throughout your day.
• If a ride breaks down in your Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane window, you may receive a Multiple Experiences pass, which allows you to use the pass for one of several select Lightning Lane attractions (if you tap it, it will show your options) before the end of the day. You can immediately make another Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane selection (including for the ride that you had booked when it broke down). Ka-chow!
• You can use Rider Switch with Disney Genie+ and individual Lightning Lane services. More details to come.
• You can use DAS and Disney Genie+ service and have overlapping windows.
• Park Hoppers: Tap the "Plan for Your Next Park" Button to select your next park. You can adjust your start and end time.
• When using the Tip Board, select "Change Park" at the top to toggle back and forth between theme parks.
• Pace yourself with the Lightning Lane selections, especially at Disney California Adventure. You'll want to access some of the rides that don't offer Lightning Lane (such as Pixar Pal-A-Round or Mater's Junkyard Jamboree) in the morning when wait times are low.

We're sure you have loads of questions about the Disney Genie service at Disneyland.. Ask away in the comments below, and keep hopping back to this post for updates as we discover more about Disney Genie service while we continue to use it.

Related: Your Frequently Asked Questions About Disney Genie Service

Keep hopping!