Genie+ and LL stupid question

[OBH]

Trying to wrap my head around the new system. Say I purchase Genie+, do I still need to purchase individual LL passes for specific rides/attractions or is everything covered in Genie+? I've read the threads and the Disneyland app and still can't figure that out. TIA

 

[Goofy4]

Me too. For 1 attraction at each park there is a Lightening Lane (not Genie+) attraction at Disneyland.

https://touringplans.com/disneyland-resort/lightning-lane

What Attractions Use Individual Lightning Lane?​

Disneyland Park

• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Disney California Adventure Park

• Radiator Springs Racers

 

[Aspencreek]

Genie+ covers all the LL passes as part of the purchase. The only additional cost would be if you buy ILL (Individual LL) for either Rise of the Resistance in DL or Radiator Springs Racers in DCA. Those buys are optional.

 

[OBH]

Thank you! I had FP down to a science, but this thing confuses the heck out of me.

 

[OBH]

So, theoretically, I could ride Rise and/or Radiator Springs with the basic Genie+?

 

[Goofy4]

Genie+ covers all the LL passes as part of the purchase. The only additional cost would be if you buy ILL (Individual LL) for either Rise of the Resistance in DL or Radiator Springs Racers in DCA. Those buys are optional.

So wait a second, Genie+ covers all LL, including the 2 ILL attractions?

 

[sophy1996]

No, Genie+ does not cover Rise or RSR. Those are an additional cost. Genie+ covers Lightning Lane (LL) rides, but not Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) rides. The only ILL rides at DLR are Rise and RSR.

 

[Wedgeout]

Genie+ purchase covers lightning lane attractions. Not the individual lightning lane ones. The individual lightning lane attractions can be purchased without the genie+ purchase.

 

[Alex336]

Not a stupid question! It's definitely confusing.

Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane are two different programs that cover different rides. At a base level:

- Genie+ is $20 (or more) per day. It's a flat charge and allows you to book "skip the line" access to a slew of rides, one at a time, while the reservations last.
- Individual Lightning Lanes ("ILL") are only for 1 to 2 rides per park. These are the most in-demand and "fanciest" of the rides. These rides are NOT included in Genie+. If you want "skip the line" access, you'll need to pay for them individually, and price varies based on how in demand that ride is that day. Even if you park hop, you only get to do a max of two ILLs per day overall. While reservations last.

For BOTH Genie+ and ILLs...
- For both Genie+ and ILL, you only get the "skip the line" access once per day. No repeats on the same day. (You can, however, use the regular ole standby queue if you want to ride more than once.)
- Also for both Genie+ and ILL, the "skip the line" access gets taken up in chronological order, beginning with park opening. You can buy both of your ILLs simultaneously, but Genie+ can only be booked one at a time.

For Genie+ specifically...
- Once you check in for a ride reservation, you then can then book your next reservation. You can only hold one Genie+ reservation (remember, this is separate from ILLs) one at a time, except for two exceptions:

- Exception 1: There's an extra little rule where if your next Genie+ reservation is 120+ minutes away, it'll allow you to layer on a second Genie+ reservation at the 120 minute mark. This stacking is the only time you can have more than one Genie+ reservation queued in your app at the same time.​

- Exception 2: If your ride goes out of order during your reservation time, you'll see an extra bonus Genie+ be in your app. You can use it on any of the rides listed on it at any time that day -- no need to schedule anything. Just walk up and show the attendant.​

- Because the reservations are in chronological order and you can only reserve one at a time, some rides' reservations may "sell out" before you can book one. If you play your cards right, though, you can still do a lot of them.

Hope this helps!

 

[OBH]

That helps a lot. Thank you!

Separate but equally important question: Do I need magic bands or will my app suffice?

 

[Alex336]

That helps a lot. Thank you!

Separate but equally important question: Do I need magic bands or will my app suffice?

No problem!

And nope, no need for Magic Bands. The app will have a little barcode you can scan for every Genie+/ILL check-in.

(If you ever go over to WDW in Florida, though, I do think Magic Bands are kind of fun there because they also act as your hotel room key and you can pay for things with them.)

 

[sophy1996]

You don’t need Magic Bands, but if you decide to get them, make sure they are Magic Band+. Earlier MBs don’t work at DLR.

 

[OBH]

We go to WDW fairly regularly and love using our magic bands there. They are so convenient, especially if you stay on property. We're not staying in one of the three DLR hotels for this trip, though, so I wondered. Thanks for all the good info!

 

[IslaLila]

The Disneyland Genie+ rides are:

• Autopia
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
• Haunted Mansion
• Indiana JonesTM Adventure
• “it's a small world”
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue

The DCA Genie+ rides are:

• Goofy's Sky School
• Grizzly River Run
• Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!
• Incredicoaster
• Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
• Soarin' Over California
• Toy Story Midway Mania!
• WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure

Like others said, Rise and RSR are extra cost (Individual Lightning Lane). IMO one of the dumbest things about the new system is the naming - "Lightning Lane" vs "Individual Lightning Lane". Personally I would pay for it for Rise, and do single rider for RSR. But overall, Genie+ is very, very similar to how FastPass+ worked at Disneyland so if you're familiar with that, it'll be easy.

 

[twodogs]

One important difference in G+ and FP+ is that you can only ride each ride ONCE per day with the LL or ILL$ (as stated above but didn't want this very important difference to get lost in the details). This devalues it a lot for us, compared to how we used FP+ in the past. So if you have done a ride with your LL in the morning, and if there are still LLs available to book later on for that same ride, you can't book it. You can ride stand by, of course. Also, for the ILL$ rides, you can book UP TO 2 per day, but they can't be for the same ride (ie: you can't buy ILL for RSR twice in the same day and forego your ILL$ for ROTR, for example).

Another extension of this is, if you book a LL for a ride and you don't use the LL before it expires (it expires after the one hour use window is up, + grace period), you are blocked from booking another LL for that ride for the rest of the day. You can cancel a LL before the window expires if you know you can't use it during that time, and then you can rebook another LL for that ride at another time. Just DON"T let it expire unused (you can also now modify a LL, which is a new and appreciated upgrade in the app).

 

[irlandaise]

Another extension of this is, if you book a LL for a ride and you don't use the LL before it expires (it expires after the one hour use window is up, + grace period), you are blocked from booking another LL for that ride for the rest of the day. You can cancel a LL before the window expires if you know you can't use it during that time, and then you can rebook another LL for that ride at another time. Just DON"T let it expire unused (you can also now modify a LL, which is a new and appreciated upgrade in the app).

Are there backsies on ILLs? Can you reschedule one, or cancel it and get your money back?

 

[twodogs]

Are there backsies on ILLs? Can you reschedule one, or cancel it and get your money back?

Not really. We had rides go down while we had an ILL$ and GS told us just to not use it if we could not, and it would be refunded automatically. But that didn’t happen and I had to use the chat after two weeks of no refund when we got home. You can not modify an ILL$ or cancel it.

 

[twodogs]

Well you might be able to go to a GS tent in the parks and cancel it and get a refund. GS in the esplanade told me just to wait for the automatic refund. Which never came….

 

[Lisa24jks]

Well you might be able to go to a GS tent in the parks and cancel it and get a refund. GS in the esplanade told me just to wait for the automatic refund. Which never came….

Oh yeah, definitely go to GS, IMO. We had an issue with ROTR earlier this year where it was was only ever up when we were on the complete opposite end of the park and never long enough for us to hike over there (esp with a disabled member of our party). We went to City Hall on the way out and the CM there refunded it for us.

 

[lynzi2004]

We had very good luck riding our favorites first thing in the morning standby by and then booking the LL for the afternoon when the line was long. That way we were able to ride our favorites 2-3x per day.