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Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
Everything we know about Disney World's new Lightning Lane line-skipping passes
By Chelsea Zukowski,
2024-06-27
Big, long overdue changes are coming to Disney World’s skip-the-line pass program Genie Plus. It’s a move being heralded by fans as the return of the parks’ FastPass program — sort of.
Starting July 24, Genie Plus will be rebranded to Lightning Lane Multi Pass, with individual line-skipping passes dubbed Lightning Lane Single Pass. The Multi Pass is still a paid program but with a few major changes that Disney hopes will make planning a park vacation a little easier.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass
You can select up to three ride passes in a theme park ahead of your visit when you buy the Multi Pass. You can also choose from available ride times.
After you use a pass in the park, you can select another ride pass in the My Disney Experience app.
You can book passes for multiple vacation days at the same time. Like Genie Plus, the Multi Pass purchase will include free downloads of PhotoPass photos and videos.
Lightning Lane Single Pass
These passes will work basically the same as they do now, but you’ll be able to plan and purchase them in advance.
How far in advance can you book Lightning Lane passes?
Disney resort hotel guests can book their passes up to seven days in advance for their entire stay (up to 14 days). Annual passholders and other guests can book their passes up to three days in advance.
How do I book Lightning Lane passes?
You can buy Multi Pass, Single Pass or both in the My Disney Experience app. Disney said the app is being updated to feature fewer steps and quicker options like buying a Multi Pass and a Single Pass in one go.
“Lightning Lane passes will blend features from our current services and the previously offered FastPass+ service, giving guests the choice to plan ahead and removing the assle of planning during their vacation,” Disney shared in an announcement .
What about the free Genie service?
The free trip-planning Genie service will still be around — for now — in the My Disney Experience app.
The move to ditch Genie Plus and mix the better parts of Fast Pass with the Lightning Lane system is a bold but welcomed one for many Disney parks fans. Since Genie Plus was rolled out in 2021, veteran park hoppers and vacationers alike have maligned the program as overwhelming and confusing and another part of the nickel-and-diming Disney has been doing since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the current Genie Plus system, guests might spend hours or days poring over online guides and explainer videos trying to understand when and how to buy line-skipping passes. Right now, you have to wait until midnight the day of your visit to buy Genie Plus and you don’t know how much it will be until you open the app, thanks to demand- and park-based pricing.
That means a Genie Plus purchase can be as low as $15 per person or as high as $39 per person during busier seasons.
Of course, not all rides are included in Genie Plus. Instead, anyone who wants to skip the line at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance or the new Tron Lightcycle/Run has to buy an individual Lightning Lane pass.
“We enjoy hearing from guests about all the things they love, as well as how we can make their experience even better the next time,” Disney said. “At Walt Disney World, guests have told us they would prefer to have the option to do more of their planning before their theme park day.”
This story was first published at our sibling publication Orlando Weekly .
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