Goodbye Genie+, Hello Lightning Lane Multi Pass
Beginning July 24, guests at Disney World will have a whole new way to access the Lightning Lane — including the ability to purchase and reserve in advance. No more 7 a.m. wake-up calls on vacation to grab that coveted Lightning Lane reservation! Guests with an onsite stay at Disney World can make up to three Lightning Lane reservations beginning 7 days in advance, and all guests can reserve beginning 3 days in advance. Disneyland guests will also see a change to Genie+ – but on the West Coast, it will just be a change to the name.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass
If you’re familiar with Disney’s current system, here’s what you need to know. The Lightning Lane Multi Pass is the new name for Genie+, the package deal that allows you to select Lightning Lane reservations for any of the included attractions. The Lightning Lane Single Pass is the new name for the Individual Lightning Lane, the purchased a la carte reservation for a single attraction.
At Disney World, there will be changes to how guests purchase and reserve Lightning Lanes. At Disneyland, only the names are changing. The selection of attractions included in each group is also not changing. So for instance, TRON Lightcycle / Run was an Individual Lightning Lane attraction; now it will be a Lightning Lane Single Pass attraction.
Advance Purchase and Reservation for Lightning Lane at Disney World
At Disney World, guests with a booked onsite stay at a Disney World Resort hotel, as well as those staying at the Disney World Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve, and Shades of Green, will be able to purchase both Multi Pass and Single Pass options up to 7 days in advance. And not just for one day — for the entire length of their stay up to 14 days. During the purchase process for Lightning Lane Multi Pass, guests will select up to three attractions and times for their visit to the park. These can be modified later.
Guests staying elsewhere in Orlando will be able to buy Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass options beginning 3 days in advance of their ticket start date, for the entire valid use period and number of days on their ticket. They will also be able to select up to three attractions and times while purchasing Multi Pass, and modify them later before arriving in the park.
Whether on or offsite, guests will find that the purchasing experience is streamlined (according to Disney), with the ability to purchase both Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass selections in a single transaction. When making selections for the Lightning Lane Multi Pass, guests will choose one attraction from Group A (generally headliners) and two attractions – or all three! – from Group B. See the Multi Pass page on the Disney World site for more details about included attractions and the selection process.
Using Lightning Lane Reservations Made With Multi Pass
Using your Lightning Lane reservation is the same as ever – tap in at the front of the ride using your Key to the World Card, MagicBand, or MagicMobile. After using one of their pre-selected Multi Pass reservations, guests will be able to make more reservations, depending on availability.
Questions? We’ve Got A Few Answers
Questions about when you can buy Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass
⭐ Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass – and their purchasing workflows – will go into effect on July 24. Genie+ service and Individual Lightning Lanes will remain available until then. If you are already at Disney World on July 24, you will be able to book for the remainder of your stay beginning on July 24, but not before.
⭐ Guests with tickets that require park reservations will be able to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass up to 3 days in advance of their park reservation(s), one day at a time. If the guest is staying at a Disney World Resort, the 7-day booking rules take precedence and they can book for any day on which they have made a reservation during their trip, up to 14 days.
⭐ International guests (except for Canadians) will not be able to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Single Pass prior to arriving in the United States. This is likely related to international laws, and may change in the future — but probably not any time soon. Although Disney originally announced this prohibition for all international travelers, on June 28 an update indicated that guests traveling from Canada would also be able to book in advance.
⭐ Purchasing and booking for Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass begins at 7 a.m. on the day you are eligible.
Questions about pricing and the purchasing workflow for Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass
⭐ Per-park pricing will remain, and the price will be based on the park where you choose your attractions during purchase. However, the “All Parks” option will be removed. Other parks are automatically included, but you’ll need to redeem passes before you can book in another park.
⭐ You will be able to see your first three attractions and times with Lightning Lane Multi Pass, as well as any Single Pass selections, before you pay.
⭐ Lightning Lane Multi Pass is non-refundable, but you can change the park or the day after you purchase. If your new park or date costs more, you’ll need to pay the difference in price.
⭐ Based on the sample purchasing workflows above, we expect that the prices for Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass will remain the same as Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane, at least in the short term. But, those are examples only, so that could turn out to be wrong.
⭐ During the purchasing process, you’ll need to make the same Multi Pass selections for everyone in your party. Afterward, you can modify them for individuals, even before you arrive.
⭐ Attractions will still only be offered through Lightning Lane Single Pass or Lightning Lane Multi Pass, but not both.
⭐ You will still only be able to purchase Lightning Lane Single Pass for two attractions per day.
Questions about using Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass once you’re in the park
⭐ Your initial Multi Pass Lightning Lane selections have to be in the same park. But once you’ve redeemed at least one, you’ll be able to make selections in another park, and you’ll be able to select attractions from any tier.
⭐ When redeeming your Multi Pass Lightning Lane reservations, you can book a new one as soon as you use one. You’ll always be able to hold up to three at a time.
⭐ You can only access a Multi Pass attraction using the Lightning Lane once per day.
⭐ Meet & Greets are currently not listed as available attractions for Lightning Lane Multi Pass. But a lot could change in the next month – or even after launch – and this is one thing I would keep an eye on.
⭐ There’s no word of changes to the free Disney Genie service. The Tip Board and My Day tab will remain in place.
⭐ These changes to Lightning Lanes do not affect the operation of Virtual Queues.
This is all super-new and information is still coming out. We’ll continue to update as it comes in! Curious how we think this might affect your park experience at Disney World? See How Lightning Lane Multi Pass Might Change Your Park Experience Compared to Genie+
Are you excited for this change? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
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Do you know how this will work with those who have park hopper tickets that still require a park reservation? Am I required to make my initial three advance selections for the park my reservation is for, or can I make them for the park I plan to hop to later? I wasn’t sure how this works with the current lightning lane system (thinking it would likely work the same). I can’t seem to find a good answer for either system on the internet. Hopefully this week will have some answers as it rolls out… best of luck to those whose vacations are caught in the transition shuffle @___@
Nope – it’s on our list of things to test, but as far as I know nobody has any information yet.
Will there be any early times available for guests staying off-site? It seems like the Tier A rides particularly will be fully booked by the time 3 days before your trip rolls around. It would be a shame if nobody staying off site got to go on any Tier A rides early in the morning or plan them ahead of time at all. I’m going early January with a group of 15 (kids and adults) and we’re all staying off-site. We have to change our plans drastically to account for this if Disney does not open up slots specifically for people staying off site instead of relegating us to the afternoon leftover slots. This is doubly true now that you can’t rebook until you use your pass. If you get stuck with afternoon slots for multiple rides you can’t use the system you paid for all day.
If you are staying off site, and you live in the IS or Canada… you get to book your reservations 3 days out. Stop complaining! At least YOU get a 3 day head start. Those of us who don’t live in the US or Canada have to wait until we are IN the US (or Canada) which almost always isn’t until our 1st day in the parks… or in the case of Australians, late at night of early hours of the morning the night before! We aren’t getting ANY early access for booking at this stage. Even when staying on property.
It’s easy to look at it and think this will be the case but we don’t think that’s likely.
1 – Under FastPass+, there were very few rides that were booked before offsite guests had access. Since that was free to everyone, we anticipate there will be even more availability for LLMP because not everyone will buy it.
2 – It is clear that Disney releases capacity for these rides over time, not all at once on the earliest booking date. There are solid reasons to expect that there will be availability both for off-site guests when they book, and also that there will be some same-day availability for those using it in the parks.
It may come to be the worst case as you’ve laid out here. But if your trip isn’t until January, I would wait until you see it in action before drawing any doom conclusions.
If we’ve created custom Touring Plans, will the updates you’re making be reflected when we re-optimize our plans? We are anxious about our plans and how to adjust them. Will be there 8/23.
Thank you!!!!
I can’t give a solid answer as to exactly how it will work right now as we’re still planning the transition. But we do expect that plans will go from one system to the other as smoothly as possible. You shouldn’t have to re-enter any of your attractions, breaks, etc. But you will probably have to make some adjustments if you had planned to use Genie+, to tell the system that you still want to use LLMP, make your advance selections, etc.
I’m traveling with family on two different reservations. Is the only way we’ll be able to book MPLL’s together is if one person books & pays for them in a single transaction? I wish there was an option for people to buy MPLL at midnight and then at 7 am the person booking could select LL’s entire eligible party.
Hi Kelly, we don’t know yet. In the FastPass+ era, off-site guests could be included in FastPass+ bookings made 60 days out by family members who were staying onsite, which is kind of like the situation you describe. Something similar could be put in place with Multi Pass, and we just don’t have that level of detail now. And with Genie+, the only thing needed for you to make a reservation for another guest in your Family & Friends list was that they had also purchased Genie+, so it’s possible that Multi Pass will work the same for that aspect.
One thing that is for sure is that if that does exist initially, Disney will remove it if their concern for the niceties of people in situations like yours becomes a loophole that leads to widespread abuse.
I am using military tickets which require park reservations, however I will be staying at Shades of Green hotel. Will I be able to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass up to 7 days in advance of my park reservation(s) for the entire length of my stay?
My understanding is yes, based on the materials I’ve seen. However Disney did not explicitly make an example of this case as they did for Annual Passholders, and obviously nobody can offer their own experience yet. I would suggest you confirm with Shades of Green or with Disney directly. And if you don’t mind, let me know what they say!
In the system of choosing one Tier 1 ride and 2 tier 2 rides in advance, are there restrictions on booking from the tiers after you have used your first LL and are ready to book again? Can you only select from the tier you have used an LL for, or could you select anything that’s available at that time?
You can select anything, and in any park.
One thing I haven’t seen addressed is if the return times cannot overlap for at least the initial choices. I think with the Fast Pass system the choices could not. Not sure it’s day of selections will be different and you could have overlapping times with new rides picked.
Agreed. I don’t think we’ll know until we know, but at least part of the reason for the non-overlapping return times of FP+ was that you had to use all three before you could get another one, so it was a way to make sure everything didn’t get gone at one time. The current system is a little friendlier because you can book them as you use them, but there is still of a bit of incentive on Disney’s part to keep people from racing through them. So we’ll have to see.
Hello! I was just wondering when you anticipate that the touringplans site will update to allow future trips to be planned with the new LL rules? I’m definitely eager to use touringplans to plan out my park days with anticipated LL use!
Good news! We don’t have a definite date yet, but the system is similar enough to the old Fastpass+ (for the purpose of booking and working with touring plans) that we don’t think it should take long after the new rules go into effect. We will also be updating premium Touring Plans to recommend based on the new advance booking options.
So, The initial 3 selections have to be the same for all members of the party, which can then be modified after purchase. Does this same rule apply for the additional selections as the initial ones are used? For example, we’ve used our first selection and now will book our 4th one. Does it again have to be the same for all and then modified?
We will not know until they roll it out. But, based on how it has worked in other systems I would say no – you will be able to edit your party when you’re booking.
I would assume that many blindsided international guests are going to set up a VPN and try to go around this limitation. Is that likely to succeed? Will Disney still “see” your non-U.S. payment card and billing address and tell you nice try? Or will it work like a charm since you would be using that payment method anyway if you were already inside the U.S., and Disney won’t know where you are at any particular time?
Nobody will know until we can try, but I would bet money that a VPN will be successful. It seems apparent that the Disney World app only cares where [it thinks that] the phone is while it’s being used to make the booking.
Purely in the interest of science (without the intention of using this, of course), I turned my phone location services off (so the app couldn’t use that for my location) and used a VPN inside the US. I tried to purchase an ILL for today and it said “Current Location not supported – You must be inside the US or Canada to purchase and enable this feature” so somehow it still knows I’m not there yet… or at least because my location services are “off” can’t be sure I’m there yet.
Excellent! (Well, not the result, but I love it when people do a good live test when possible – kudos to you.) It’s interesting that it said “US or Canada”. Also interesting that you couldn’t purchase even in the current system, and supports the idea that it’s some legal restriction in play that was just invisible under the current system.
Since all the passes be made same for whole travel party, how does this work with young children that are not tall enough to ride certain selections? Will it let you select from your avail travel party, or just everyone in it automatically gets all 3? I have a 3 yr old, who won’t be able to ride all the selections we would make, and I’m afraid that her not “scanning in” will hold us up from making another pass immediately. Also if its paid per person, will it force me to pay for her even though she may not be able to ride? One more, for individual, does it have to be whole party too?? Or can individual just be made for 1 person in family?
Hi Christine – none of these answers are final until we see it in action. But, based on how previous systems have worked, the answers to your questions are:
1 – You will be able to buy the pass for only some members of your party, should you choose.
2 – Although you will need to select the same attraction for all members of your party when you book, you can change your daughter’s attraction away to something that they can ride after the purchase is completed. The restriction to get the same thing for everyone while you are purchasing is just to make the purchasing process rapid since Disney holds the times while you are paying.
I cannot imagine « international laws » being the reason : if that was the case international guest would not be able to book anything in advance.
I suspect an IT limitation of some sorts… something not developed for international websites probably
Hi Anne, from the IT side Disney has probably hauled out and polished off some old code they had lying around from the Fastpass+ era, and that was more than capable of supporting international bookings. If they wrote it from scratch, they certainly wouldn’t leave that out. Not to mention that it’s not a website – this is all transacted in the My Disney Experience app. No, it is something about international law or similar; foreign travelers’ money is just as green as ours and Disney has absolutely no reason to discourage them from spending it.
Ok, that’s really weird then.
I travel from UK 2nd of August and check in 6th for 7 nights. Does this mean on the 30th of July @ 7am US time I can book for the full 7 days of my trip or is it just one day at a time (ignoring the confusion over whether UK guests can book before entering the US which i have seen conflicting news on).
I’m a little confused!
Apparently, those of us who are international guests don’t get to book in advance…. At all. Not 7 days prior when staying on property, not 3 days prior when staying off property. And I think that is RUBBISH!
Hello Robbo, since you have an onsite stay, you will be able to book on the 2nd, the instant your plane touches down on the tarmac in Orlando (or wherever you are arriving in the US) and you can get a cell signal on your phone. At that time, you will be able to book for all 7 nights of your stay that begins on the 6th. You will need to book them in 7 separate transactions, one for each day, because you still purchase each day separately. But you will be able to do all 7 days on the 2nd, one right after the other.
Was initially excited but have changed my mind if international guests can’t purchase in advanced. I couldn’t find that on disney’s site but must have missed it. Does anyone have a screen shot of where it is?
Yes. I am a Disney travel planner in Brazil, and this is very clear in the material they present to us. Really, really disappointing. Specially because most guests from here arrive one or two days before going to the park and Disney was always the first parks they chose. Now, who wants to have the 3 to 7 days benefit, will probably start with other parks. Really bad news.
So booking in the UK we have been screwed
Yes – again. And we generally pay a fortune to get there and have to stay 2 weeks to make the most of our trip. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone in UK said, just for one year, that no-one would go. Bet they’d want us then
Try coming from Australia. It’s a far shorter flight for you than it is for us. International guests need to be able to book these rides , just the same as US guests. By the time we arrive. There won’t be any rides left to choose. Especially the popular rides.
I wonder if you know if I book my 3 reservations and on the 7 days in advance and on the actual date in the park I want to modify the time, you can today with Genie+ will this be allowed? Being able to modify time was so perfect.
Yes, Disney says that you will be able to modify the times once you make your selections. This should include modification in the parks.
That’s good news thank you.
I wonder if people in a 7 night deluxe will grab that one night value or value and pay for it with no intention of using it just to get a jump on the access to good “fast passes”. Or will they not be in such demand? I guess it all depends on demand and if things run out at 7:02 AM and do you have to really move park days around based on what’s available like we used to do with ADRs.
Hi Stephanie – it could be, but they’ll definitely have to pay for it. Disney has said that if they cancel before the regular public booking window opens, all Multi Pass reservations that were based on that booking go away too.
But they can only book for the length of their stay. If they only stay one night… they can only book for one day.
So if you are moving resorts you can only do the first half and then need to do the second half after the check in day to the second resort? I doubt it. I bet you can book 14 days from a one night in a resort…..
This is quite likely to be the behavior with split stays. It’s already known to be this way for dining with the 60+10 rule; if you have a split stay it only lets you book the length of the first stay until you are 60 days in front of the 2nd.
Does the 7 day in advance go from the first day of park admission or the date of hotel check-in? I do not have park tickets for my first day on-site so curious how that works?
Hi Susan, it’s 7 days in advance of your check-in date to the hotel.
I have it backwards. I have tickets that start on August 25, but my hotel stay starts on August 26. When can I start booking?
Hey Jenn! Do the Good Neighbor Hotels have 3 or 7 day windows for prepurchasing?
Disney Springs Hotels, Good Neighbor Hotels, Bonnet Creek, etc. have 3-day windows. If you’re unsure, the link in the article goes to Disney’s full list of eligible hotels (we link instead of putting them here in case there are changes; we always want you to have the most up to date information). But a good rule of thumb is that if it says “Disney’s” at the front of the name, like “Disney’s All-Star Music Resort”, then it is eligible, plus the Swan/Dolphin/Swan Reserve and Shades of Green.
my vacation is July 22-29 can I book my lighting pass beginning the 17th (for 24- 29)or on July 24th book my remainder of the week. I am so confused .
We have an answer! On the 22nd through the 23rd, you will only be able to buy Genie+ and ILL as you currently can. Beginning on the 24th, you will see the option to buy Multi Pass and Single Pass. At that point, you will be able to book for the remainder of your trip. You will still buy the passes for separate days, so if you are buying for 3 days you will need to buy them separately. But, you will be able to buy all three of those days starting on the 24th.
The whole system is going to crash with EVERYONE booking all their rides on the 24th? This is a complete shamozzle.
On July 22 & 23 you can buy and use Genie+ as we currently know it.
On the morning of July 24th, you can buy your LLs for that day and future days under the new system.
Andy… And by then, all the popular rides will be gone. And not just on your day one… but for about the first 7 days! Disney MUST fix this so that international guests are not disadvantaged this way.
Hey Kathy!
I’m wondering the same…. but everything i read says that everything will open on the 24th, meaning guest who have vacation for the 24th will have to book theirs the same day as opening. We will be trying to book with not only people who are staying the same week as us, but also guests staying later as well. There will be about 3 weeks worth of guests all trying to book at the same time. Here’s to hoping the App can handle all the traffic!!
The biggest issue here for me is the inability for international resort guests to purchase whilst outside the US… as others have said I will now be disadvantaged over even non-resort guests and spend a lot of time on my first day trying to rapidly plan our holiday days.
Yes, many are going to be [rightfully] frustrated by this. We’ll discuss it a bit more in an article on Friday.
This limitation has to be related to compliance with international law, as Disney has no business incentive to prevent folks outside the USA from buying LLs. I assure you that Disney wouldn’t care if you use a VPN to get around this policy!
I am certainly no expert on US Law, so possibly, however, they seem to be happy and able to take my bookings (and money) for Dining Experiences 60 days before my check-in whilst I am still in the UK… so not sure why the law would apply to one and not the other situation.
it should be noted us UK guests still retain an advantage over our US friends.
We have 14 day tickets (18 day window) so beyond the first 3 or 4 days we will have nearly unlimited choice vs the average US guest.
I arrive in the US on Saturday 10th August for 14 nights and plan to do the Disney theme parks the first week, starting on 11th. Any resort-staying US-based person will have been able to book 7 days in advance of me and 3 days for non-resort guests. So the whole of my first week will have been open to booking for some from Sunday 4th and the rest Thursday 8th surely? I may, of course be wrong, but as I see it, effectively my first 3 days will have been open to everyone and the rest of that first week to resort-staying guests. For the second week, I am effectively on-par with US-based resort-staying guests (i.e. able to book 7 days early for the whole of my stay). It also means that when I arrive on 10th, weary-eyed from a 10-hour flight & airport transfer, towing 2 excited young children, I will need to spend some time immediately trying to book rides. I have to say that even ignoring the international fiasco, I would much prefer the current Genie+ system since I wouldn’t have to pre-plan our days. We plan to do the Disney parks the first week, however, if we decide that 6 days straight-out is too hard-going we may change our plans and have a pool-day.
Great if this work for all guests!!
Information today is suggesting that this will not be accessible outside of the US. Seeing as most of the long stay visitors are from outside the country this makes no sense whatsoever! I travel from the UK and am paying a lot for a 15 night stay. It will be a pretty poor show on Disney’s part if guests spending more actually get less.
Yes, the article has been updated to confirm this (it takes a while for updates to make their way to the version that is visible to users.) I would certainly be miffed if I were in your shoes, but I think it may not be quite as bad as it feels right now. We’ll have another article up on Friday that talks about this a bit more and why it might not be quite as damaging as it feels like.
This limitation has to be related to compliance with international law, as Disney has no business incentive to prevent folks outside the USA from buying LLs. I assure you that Disney wouldn’t care if you use a VPN to get around this policy!
I’m wondering how the tier system will affect additional selections, especially when park hopping. If I book Remy in Epcot along with 2 lower tier rides, and plan to hop to Hollywood Studios later, does that mean I can’t book Slinky Dog until I’ve ridden Remy? What if I had redeemed a lower tier ride first?
Based on what we have heard so far, you should be able to book Slinky Dog as soon as you have ridden your first ride. Tiers and park won’t matter. With FastPass+ (a former system that was similar), you needed to use all three reservations before you could book more, so this is a big difference for Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
I’m from outside the US. This means I can only make reservations when I arrive? I’ll be in the US one day before my first park. I won’t be able to book anything at that point.
Yes, you will only be able to make reservations when you arrive in the US. However, I wouldn’t panic just yet. Disney has grown skillful at holding back inventory for guests who book later, or didn’t know about things until they arrived in the parks. We’ll have to wait and see.
Where is Len Testa saying, “I knew it! I said this months ago on Disney Dish! Called it!!”
I’d be gloating everywhere.
I’ve been told by a travel agent that this is not available for Canadian or international travellers and can only be purchased while in the US. I am hoping this is incorrect; but quite a disadvantage if true, as many international travellers will only arrive the day before they visit a theme park, so even day guests will be able to pre-book before Disney resort guests.
I will be very surprised if this is true. But then, Disney has surprised me before.
Disney has confirmed youbmust be in US to book. As DVC Canadians with 5 trips in 2024 we are livid.
Yes, I have also now confirmed this elsewhere. I am still surprised, but I suspect it must be something related to international law. I’ll add it to the article, and thanks for following up.
It is true, official information:
International guests will not be able to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Single Pass prior to arriving in the United States. This is likely related to international laws, and may change in the future — but probably not any time soon.
I just confirmed this information as well with DVC staff. I was told to submit a formal complaint through the DVC contact page.
Old Fastpass except we have to pay for it.
And it’s not the best of use as a planning tool for visitors getting to Disney from other countries. It’s sad. And I loved FP+
Well it only took forever
About time 7 am rush for Genie plus was so stressful.
Looks like old Fast pass
Is it still app based? Can the advanced ones be done through My Disney Experience on a computer?
Hi Carol, yes, it looks like it is still app-based; even the advance purchase ones the website says that you’ll need to download the My Disney Experience app. But, stuff could change between now and July 24. Our best advice is to keep an eye open.
Daring today, aren’t we Mr. Disney
That being said, it was the best system (in my opinion) getting to make advanced Fast Pass and then get to redeem more in the park. Why this wasn’t where they started, who knows. Maybe it was all a ploy to go from free to paid Fast Pass and make us grateful for it
We don’t know either. Sometimes I think it’s a ploy to keep us bloggers in business. 😉 That said, I’m glad they changed the names. It was incredibly difficult to write about it (although I’m not sure these are as much better as they could be … )