How Lightning Lane Multi Pass Might Change Your Park Experience Compared to Genie+
In less than a month, Genie+ will be gone at Disney World. If you consider yourself to be a Genie+, ace, you might be feeling a little adrift. Or maybe you were frustrated by Genie+ and you’re wondering if Lightning Lane Multi Pass will be better?
I’ve used all 3 versions of Disney World’s line-skipping systems, and I’ll share my thoughts about how the change from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi Pass might affect your touring strategy. Don’t agree with me when you’re done reading? Think I left something out? Feel free to weigh in with a comment!
The FastPass Past
We can’t get a good take on how the newest system stacks up without knowing how the older systems worked, right? Here’s a refresher. You can skip ahead if you’re old like me and have been going to Disney World for a while.
OG FastPass (a.k.a. FastPass-)
Born 1999. Died 2014. This original version of FastPass had one thing really going for it: simplicity. You went to a kiosk near the ride, put in your ticket, and got a paper “FastPass” with a return time on it. When your return time came, you went to the FastPass queue and rode with a short wait.
Return times advanced throughout the day; displays throughout the park told you the current return times for rides that offered FastPass — which was pretty much only the headliners! You could get a new FastPass after you used the one you had, or when two hours had passed, whichever came first. FastPass was free to use.
FastPass+
Born 2014. Died 2020. As far as names go, FastPass+ was almost as simple as FastPass. But the tech and the workflow were way different. FastPass+ was all digital, with your reservations attached to your online profile in My Disney Experience. And you redeemed them by tapping your MagicBand or ticket card at tapstiles that were installed at attraction entrances.
You could reserve up to three FastPasses before your trip — 60 days in advance for onsite guests, 30 days in advance for those staying offsite. Since these FastPasses were digital, you could change your return times and selections. And after you had used all the ones you reserved in advance, you could get more FastPasses one at a time.
To make sure there were enough FastPasses to go around, many new attractions were added to the FastPass+ system. There were limits on how fast you could use them; your return windows couldn’t overlap. And a tiered system for your initial reservations made sure everyone got a share of the “winners”.
Genie+
Born 2021. Died 2024. Fifteen years after Universal made all their line-skipping pay-to-play, Disney retired the free FastPass. Genie+, the shortest-lived of the line-skipping lineup, introduced a price tag. The FastPass queue became the Lightning Lane. FastPasses became Lightning Lane Reservations. And bloggers who get penalized for using too many syllables in a sentence became annoyed at having to write Lightning Lane reservation (7 syllables) instead of FastPass (2 syllables).
In addition to the extra syllables, Disney split off some rides to an extra upcharge system. Most [formerly] FastPass+ attractions could be reserved through a one-time purchase of Genie+. But Lightning Lane reservations for the most popular rides in each park were one-off purchases.
Genie+ still allowed you to reserve in advance before entering the park. But not 60 days in advance – only a couple of hours, starting at 7 am. And not three at a time – just one at a time. Like the OG FastPass system, you could get a new Genie+ LL reservation when you used the one you had, or when 2 hours had passed; whichever was first.
The Multi Pass Future
On June 25, 2024, Disney announced a new version of their line-skipping system that will go into effect on July 24. The new system, known as Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass, will replace Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes at Disney World.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass is much more like FastPass+ than it is like Genie+.
- Book days in advance. The need to wake up early on your vacation and play fast-finger is removed or reduced.
- Like FastPass+, Multi Pass gives onsite guests a booking advantage.
- Book up to three experiences before arriving in the parks, instead of one with Genie+.
- The tiered booking that ensured there was “enough to go around” has returned.
- Like FastPass+, there’s no 120-minute rule for same-day bookings.
It’s not all the same. When FastPass+ was first introduced, the smartphone was just 7 years young and hardly ubiquitous. You didn’t need a phone to use FastPass+. Today, Multi Pass is only in the My Disney Experience app.
FastPass+ came out four years before Disney switched to date-based multi-day tickets in 2018. As a result, off-site guests using FastPass+ were never able to book any day that was more than 30 days away. With Multi Pass, off-site guests with date-based tickets can book for the length of their ticket on the first day they are eligible.
With FastPass+, you had to use all three of your initial selections before you could refill, one at a time. With Multi Pass, you only need to use the first reservation before you can get a new one, and you can always have three.
Finally, Multi Pass costs money and FastPass+ was free. This means that guests outside of the US and Canada can’t purchase Multi Pass before they enter the United States. This also applies to the Genie+ system … but since guests had no reason to buy it before arriving for their vacation, it was not a disadvantage.
How Moving From Genie+ to Multi Pass Will Affect Lightning Lane Strategies
Not everybody was strategic with Genie+. Plenty of people just picked something that looked good at each opportunity. But for those who put some effort into maximizing their time savings with Genie+, three strategies dominate. Seeing how these could change is key to knowing how they might affect your day in the park.
Stacking
With stacking, you make Lightning Lane reservations throughout the day. Each time, your priority choice will be a) later in the day and b) something that saves a lot of time. You end up with a set of closely grouped return times, and can use Lightning Lanes to spend a couple of hours doing a lot of attractions.
With Genie+, diligent stacking could let you arrive in the late afternoon and run off a series of six or more Lightning Lane reservations. With Multi Pass, you’ll only be able to have a stack of three. But you should be able to create a desirable stack that starts much earlier in the day; even shortly after the parks open. (There could be some edge cases where you’ll be able to exceed the limit. But generally – three is the number, and the number shall be three.)
We don’t know yet whether Multi Pass will allow you to have overlapping return time windows. My strong guess is that it will not. If it doesn’t, then stacks will not only have fewer return times, but spread over a longer window end-to-end.
Small Ball / Catch and Release / Use It Or Lose It
This multi-named strategy gives priority to reservations that could be used quickly. Since Genie+ return times for popular rides climb as the day goes on, playing small ball means that after a while, nothing you can use quickly saves much time. It would be a mistake to discount the value of saving 10 minutes over and over; quantity over quality can really add up. But with Multi Pass, you could be more likely to find a close return time on a very popular attraction.
Hybrid Strategies
Most hybrid strategies rank selections by comparing the time you’ll save with the time until you can make a new reservation. In the park, hybrids usually result in playing small ball for a while, then switching to stacking. The stack is smaller than you get from dedicated stacking, but time savings over the day can be similar.
Hybrid approaches will change a lot under Multi Pass. This is because return times for high-demand attractions will be both more and less available. They’ll be more available because the system doesn’t keep pushing return times later. If I’m picking Peter Pan’s Flight and see both 2 pm and 4 pm, I can reserve 4 pm and leave the 2 pm spot for you. This is not possible with Genie+. But, return times for every hour will be less available because some of the capacity will be gone before the park opens.
With Genie+, hybrid usually meant a one-way switch from small ball to stacking, and maybe a bit more small ball at the end of the day. With Multi Pass, there’s more possibility to switch back and forth more than once through the day. And since you can hold three reservations at a time, you can even play small ball with one while you hold two more valuable ones that are stacked for later.
TL;DR on Strategies
Looking across all the strategies:
- Big stacks are gone, but you can create and access stacks earlier in the day.
- Small ball is less likely to run out of “big wins” early in the day under Multi Pass.
- Hybrids won’t see a clean division between a small ball phase and a stacking phase.
How Lightning Lane Multi Pass Could Change Your Touring
Are you ready for the conversation? Let’s take a look at how your park experience could change with Multi Pass instead of Genie+. I’ll start with the one that affects everyone, whether it “fits” them or not.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass and those who love spontaneity
Possibly my greatest Disney achievement occurred in 2011. One of my kids lost their breakfast while walking to the park entrance, and we turned around and got back in the car before scanning off the last day of a 10-day ticket en route to the world’s shortest park day ever. Multi Pass isn’t as friendly to those who love to decide which park to visit on the morning of, or the night before. If that’s you, will it even be worth it? Will there be anything “good” left at all?
I think the answer is yes. I’ve seen the data and in a few days you will too. Especially in the Magic Kingdom, plenty of useful attractions didn’t sell out in advance under FastPass+. And my own experience was that I often got same-day reservations for rides that were “sold out” in advance.
Disney has grown adept at holding back inventory for last-minute planners. Combine that with the fact that not everyone will be buying Lightning Lane Multi Pass, or won’t buy it for every day of their ticket. And some who buy it will still change their parks and plans on the fly. There’s no question that the selection will be much better if you’re booking 7 days in advance, or even 3. But you’ll also be able to make your selections before paying; you’ll have the chance to decide if it’s a good value or not.
What about same-day availability in the parks?
Once you’re in the parks and touring, you’ll be able to get new reservations. Will there be anything good here? Again, I think the answer is yes. This was my experience when using FastPass+, where every visitor was able to book three attractions in advance. Limiting guests to one Multi Pass per ride per day should help keep the pool full. And although we don’t have details on this yet, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that like FastPass+, your Multi Pass reservations can’t overlap. That will also slow down the burn rate in the parks.
One thing to keep in mind is that as soon as you use your first one and rebook, tiers are out the window. So consider making your first Multi Pass Lightning Lane reservation for something that you can use fast once you arrive in the park. That will give you the best selection of times and attractions that are still available.
What about international guests?
Oh, this one is a sticky wicket. Guests outside of the US and Canada are obviously at a disadvantage when it comes to advance booking. For the savvy there may be tech-based solutions, though many won’t know about them. But it’s worth noting that it’s not uncommon for visitors crossing the ocean to stay for two weeks, a timeframe that exceeds what many Americans can devote to a single vacation.
Americans will be able to book up to 21 days in advance if their stay is long enough. But most won’t have stays that long. For Brits with longer trips, by a few days in, there should be plenty to reserve for the latter half of your visit. I’d guess it will be on par with what Americans coming for 5 days and staying off-site will be selecting from, and better toward the end.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass and those who love to plan
It feels obvious that for those who love to plan, we are winning here with this booking three attractions in advance thing, right? We all agree?
I feel like this is a good time to talk about TouringPlans customers. It’s no secret that it took us a while to roll out support for Genie+ in custom touring plans. And it’s also no secret that it took a while to get it working smoothly. The similarity between Lightning Lane Multi Pass and FastPass+ is a win for us that is a big win for you.
We’ll be able to lean on a lot of our old machinery to bring support for Lightning Lane Multi Pass online in customized plans quickly. And with Genie+, we’re forced to dictate your first reservation and hope you get the time we forecast. How much nicer is it for us to say “This would be a good place for a Lightning Lane”, and leave the choice up to you? In the parks, subscribers will be able to make changes and get new recommendations as they go, just like always.
If you like to spend only part of the day in the parks
“Part of the day” covers a lot of ground here. It could mean only in the morning, only in the afternoon or evening, or even both, with an afternoon break.
⭐ If you’re only visiting in the morning to early afternoon, Multi Pass is likely better for you than Genie+. With Genie+, return times for headliners quickly grow past the point when you might be leaving the park. With Multi Pass, you can enter with a stack already in place, then small ball a few more until it’s time to go. You could benefit from more availability of headliners at earlier times.
⭐ If you’re heading to the park in the late afternoon or evening, Genie+ is likely worse for you. The key change is that you’ve lost the ability to stack more than three in advance. And your small stack will be subject to tiering to boot!
On the plus side, you’ll put that smaller stack together without spending the day on your phone. If your “only afternoon” day is because it’s your arrival day, you might be happy to dispense with the need to combine that chore with your travel.
⭐ If you take afternoon breaks, you could be winning big with Multi Pass. With Genie+, stacking for the evening meant sacrifices in the morning. A hybrid strategy meant you played small ball and ended up with a small stack. And focusing on a big evening stack meant you gave up using Lightning Lanes in the morning.
With Multi Pass, you can enter with a small stack for the morning, play small ball for a tiny while, and also create a small stack for the evening. And setting up that small stack may be easier – you don’t have to wait as return times to advance to where you want them to be. Plus, no tiering for the evening stack! This approach is brand new with Multi Pass; FastPass+ let you set up the small morning stack, but because you refilled one at a time the evening stack wasn’t a thing.
If you tour from rope drop to close
Full disclosure, my family is the furthest thing from Dumbo or Die commandos. But we’ve done rope drop to close on occasion. Do you live for the excitement of arriving with the dawn and staying until the last firework fades? Then Multi Pass could make you feel like you’re more on your phone than ever.
Three passes at a time means there’s probably always one you regard as low value. You’ll need to decide how much time you want to spend refreshing the list to see if there’s something better to change it to. If you choose, you could feel like you’re constantly optimizing your whole hand, playing small ball with some picks and stacking others. But the upside is that more availability across the day gives you more opportunity to snag something great as you burn and churn.
What’s your usual park strategy? How do you think it will change with Lightning Lane Multi Pass? Let us know in the comments!
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I think my biggest pet peeves with the new system is only possible to book each ride once. My kids are little and always love to ride Winnie the Pooh. I remember some days at DW where FP were available right now for a big part of day. I don’t think it’s removing a lot of values for other people.
Jennifer,
What I would like to see is how making Multi-Pass reservations in advance will affect using the Touring Plan plans. If I have a plan built and optimized on my PC or in Lines, and I want to add the times I got for my first three selections, how will this work with the plan? Do I just evaluate, or can I re-optimize? Does your Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Touring Plan in the Lines App need updating?
Hi Charles, there is no question that the guide will need updating (it already may, sometimes the communication between the dev team and the blog team is a little … slack … when changes are made). But to answer your question – nothing is final until we’ve actually put it in code, but we anticipate that when you make the plan initially it will suggest useful places to reduce your wait with a Lightning Lane. After you book your times, you can add them in and reoptimize or evaluate, whichever is your preference. This is how it worked with FP+, and unless we run into something we didn’t anticipate it seems reasonable that we’ll choose the same workflow again.
One additional note – at this point it is possible to add those times as DAS return times. If you’re in the parks on the 24th and the app isn’t showing the new system yet, this would be my recommendation for a workaround.
Fantastic article. I can’t believe I’m excited to pay for fast pass, but I am. I think you’re absolutely right that they will not allow overlap times because otherwise there’s very little else limiting the system on the day. With the old fastpass system I would tap in and that would clear that ride off so I could shift the later rides earlier into that window Do you think we will be able to do that? ie shift rides times. Bigger question is if we can we change which ride on a LL once we’re in the park. How are they gonna stop us from just changing both of our low tier rides to high tier rides. I think they will have to specify you can only change to rides in the same tier even on the day.
I think you will be able to modify the rides day-of as you suggest. But – it doesn’t matter as much here. In the old system, you had to use all three before you could book a new one. Here you don’t, so moving the later ones earlier so that you can book sooner is unnecessary.
It matters because of the likely restriction of LL overlapping in time. It would block you from churning a 4th one within hours of the morning of your 3 stacked LL. But if you can shift the later two once checking into your first (as you could do with FP) then that will open up a time you wouldn’t be able to book before. The bigger mystery to me is how they will handle Tier 1 and 2 on the day. I agree with Philip that they could allow you to change your first two tier 2 from to tier1 rides- but that will drastically change the day of inventory they want available for others. I’m thinking they may not allow switching Tier2 to Tier1 once booked. Then is that going to complicate additional choices? i.e. if you book at Tier 2 as your forth (churning) does that prevent you from switching that to a tier1 if one becomes available. I’m enough of a nerd to be looking forward to the details and really appreciate this analysis.
Thank you- though the reason it matters is if there is a block on overlapping times. That means it could be 3 hours (assuming you go precisely matching times) in the morning that you can’t have any new LL booked in if you stack them. In my experience with FP, if I stacked them in the AM we were looking at almost 4 hours of time excluded from a 4th FP (that is true if you book after the first or the third). But if I shift the last two after I tap in on the first- that made the window open for booking earlier. I think if I was churning in the morning- that would be useful. That means I might get 4 or more rides in within that original 3 ride blocked out time if I keep tapping and shifting early. Probably only helpful in MK, but still the sort of fun my nerd mind leans to.
We won’t fully know, but my thinking is “day of” becomes wide open – no tiering, no restrictions. So if you drop your Tier 2 selections you would be able to replace them with Tier 1 ones. Or if you don’t even pick your Tier 2 ones (only pick your tier 1 one) you can then pick 2 others, whatever tier, day of, starting at 7am. BUT you will be limited to what is left. So the benefit of pre-selecting them is more inventory but you have the tiering limitation. Day of, maybe all of the most popular rides are already gone (probably not, but at least some times will be). Will be interesting to see how it functions and what strategies people start using.
Great article! Our trip spans “the switch” so I appreciate the help thinking through these strategies. We may not know exact details about availability or advancement of return times, but these are pretty good guesses as far as possible trends. Thank you! I’m happy about these changes, I just wish there was time to see how the system plays out before we arrive.
Nice Monty Python reference! 😀
Gotta sneak ’em in where you can. 😉
Love the article and will be excited to see what the new system does to overall wait times in the park. For those of us traveling late July and early August with current customized touring plans, how should we reflect the new LL system in our plans?
Hi Michael, I hate to give such a wishy-washy answer, but we don’t currently have a timeline on when support for the new system will come online. We hope it will be quick as we can dust off a lot of existing machinery (we’re sure Disney did a bit of the same), but we’re still assessing. Sorry!
I’m going 9-8 to 9-14 so I wasn’t planning on using G+ and this probably won’t change anything. The only thing that might change my mind is how the whole Tiana’s Bayou Adventure thing is going.
Yeah, I would guess that they’re hoping to have Tiana’s Bayou Adventure off VQ by then, but we shall see …
First off, props for the use of the phrase “three is the number, and the number shall be three.” Second, excellent article covering all the different strategies with the various line skipping types.
One benefit for LLMP vs FP+ is that you can pick your next (4th) after only using 1 vs all 3 preselections. This is good if there is a ride you want to do at night (say, Tiana’s) or just want to plan a mid day break, vs feeling “forced” to book all three for as early as you can. So I like this.
Does also bring back the benefit to people with longer stays as can look book harder to get LLMP further out in your trip. Will be interesting to see how availability is on day 7 vs day 7+7 or whatever for key attractions. I do wonder if we start seeing the return of people gaming the system to make it look like their actual trip is longer than reality.
As a planner I am excited for this change – as someone with a trip the 2nd week of August I wish their was more time to gather data before I have to book lol.
Thanks for the great article!
Hi Philip, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Yes, people with longer stays can book farther out – the max is 21 days in advance if you have a 14 day trip. But as far as gaming the system, Disney has made that harder – you can do it but you will need to pay. There are two problems. The first is that the booking window is so short now. The 2nd is that Disney changed the cancellation policy for resort-only reservations to require 5 days in advance or else you lose your deposit. (This was in February 2023, same month they announced advance LL booking would be coming in the future. Hmm … )