Is Disney Trying To SABOTAGE Your Vacation?

Planning a Disney World vacation certainly isn’t for the faint of heart — and Disney doesn’t seem to be making it any easier with all these changes!

Cinderella Castle

Just as we had all finally gotten the hang of Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection, Disney went and switched things around. Now that Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass are officially here, we can’t help but wonder — is Disney actually trying to sabotage your vacation?

Genie+ is no more, and Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass have officially rolled out at Disney World. And, while we do have pretty positive thoughts on the new system, we do think it’s going to take a bit of time to get used to — just like the original Genie+. You might be thinking that because of these changes, Disney is trying to sabotage your vacation — but we actually think it’s the opposite.

Goodbye Genie+

To catch you up on the changes, as of July 24th, Disney World has officially switched over to Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Passes. Under the new system, you can:

Make Lightning Lane plans BEFORE you’re in the parks
Choose experiences and times prior to purchasing so you know what you’re getting with your purchase
Book Lightning Lane passes for MULTIPLE vacation days, all at once

Lightning Lanes in Walt Disney World

Genie+ is now called Lightning Lane Multi Pass. This is an optional, PAID service available on the My Disney Experience app. Lightning Lane Multi Pass users are able to bypass standby lines and utilize the Lightning Lane (previously known as the FastPass line) at select attractions in the parks by paying a single fee for multiple attractions.

When purchasing Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can make up to THREE Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections in a park ahead of your visit. Additionally, you must choose from a list of available times as you make your attraction selections, and you can continue to hold up to three Lighting Lane Multi Pass selections at a time.

©Disney

If you’re staying at a Disney World hotel (and select other hotels), you will be able to purchase and select your first three Lightning Lane Multi Passes up to seven days in advance of your check-in day for your entire stay (up to 14 days). If you are not staying in a Disney World hotel, you can purchase and select your first three Lightning Lane Multi Passes three days in advance.

Starting now, Disney is also using a tiered system for ride selections. (Remember how we said this sounded like FastPass+? Well, this might sound familiar!) Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios all use this tiered system to group their rides, and from those initial three advance selections, you can choose one experience from a higher-tiered group and two experiences (or all three) from a lower-tiered group. Tiers do not apply at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. You can see the full list of ride tiers here.

©Disney

With Lightning Lane Single Pass, you can pay a fee to utilize the Lightning Lane for an individual, in-demand attraction. The only major change here is that you can make your purchase before your trip in order to plan in advance! Just like the Multi Pass, you can select your first THREE Lightning Lane Single Passes up to seven days in advance if you’re staying at a Disney World hotel. All other guests can purchase and select their first three Lightning Lane Single Passes three days in advance.

Lightning Lane changes are HERE!

So, here’s why we think these changes are actually better: the new Lightning Lane system in My Disney Experience is incredibly easy to use — even if you don’t really know what you’re doing. One of the biggest complaints people had about Genie+ was that it wasn’t user-friendly, especially for folks who had never used it before. You can see how easy it is to make your initial choices in this video:

Today is the day, people! 🧞‍♂️Genie+ is OUT and the new Lightning Lane Multipass is HERE! Here’s a quick look at us booking our day in Magic Kingdom today.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was an option to choose here, but we did get a notification that it was unavailable for the day. pic.twitter.com/stPlnG9z8p

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) July 24, 2024

And, it gets even better, because Disney has also made park hopping much easier with the new system. When the changes rolled out, we were able to select a Lightning Lane for Magic Kingdom while still in Animal Kingdom, despite there being no official “multi-park” option — and we didn’t have to pay the price difference, either. Keep in mind you do need a valid Park Hopper ticket or Annual Pass for this to apply on your trip, though!

Lightning Lane

Even modifying your current Lightning Lane selections is easier and we were able to secure earlier times when we refreshed than when we booked at 7AM — so that’s something to keep in mind as well! Of course, as with all new things there may still be a learning curve — but that’s what we’re here for! We have a full FAQ that you can read in this post here.

How To Use the NEW Lightning Lane System at Disney World

We’re running a number of experiments with the new Lightning Lane Multi Pass system to answer ALL of your questions. Don’t want to miss a thing? Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to catch all of the latest. You can also follow along on our social channels like Instagram and Facebook.

In the meantime, we’ve put together some guides for you!

Make sure you stay tuned to Disney Food Blog for the latest updates and news!

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WE KNOW DISNEY.
YOU CAN, TOO.

Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.

Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!

What do you think of the changes? Tell us in the comments.