Since Disney World replaced Genie+ with Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass, we’ve been busy testing the entire new system out.

We’ve tried it while park hopping. We’ve discovered some of the best tricks for the new system. We’ve tried it in every park and we’ve used it for advance planning as both Disney World hotel guests and not. Now that we’ve put the new system through its paces, we’re going to say this: it’s so much easier to use than you think. Yes, really! We think this is a huge improvement over Genie+!

So if you’ve been a little worried about using the new Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass, we’re here to tell you that we think you’re going to like it better. Here’s why it’s easier.

Virtual Queue and Lightning Lane Single Pass

One of the things we tested out was having a virtual queue boarding group callback at the same time that we had a Lightning Lane Single Pass time. So we decided to test out if we could actually ride the same ride twice in a row, once with the virtual queue and another time with the Single Pass. And we did!

We grabbed both a virtual queue and a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and managed to ride it twice in a row (it took us about an hour to ride it twice like this). Now, there’s no guarantee that your virtual queue and Lightning Lane Single Pass times might line up just so, but if they do, it’s a nice way to enjoy a popular ride two times in a row.

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It’s more user-friendly

Our biggest complaint about Genie+ was about its user interface, which we felt was AWFUL. You had to do a lot of clicking just to find what you needed and it all just felt so clunky. Disney fixed that with the new system, meaning there are far fewer steps you need to make to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass, as well as make your ride selections.

This makes the experience with the new Lightning Lane system in the My Disney Experience app with the new system SO much easier.

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Park hopping is easier

One thing that surprised us was how easy it was to park hop while using Lightning Lane Multi Pass. For example, one of our reporters just bought the Multi Pass for Animal Kingdom and scanned into their first ride. Then they were allowed to book a Lightning Lane in another park, like Magic Kingdom, although that park’s Lightning Lane Multi Pass price was higher (and we weren’t charged extra over the initial price we paid for the less expensive park).

Note that you still need to have a ticket with the park hopper option if you’ll be using the new Lightning Lane system to park hop. Also, you cannot make selections in multiple parks when you make your advance selections. This only applies once you’ve actually scanned into your first ride at your first park.

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It’s almost TOO easy to modify selections

It wasn’t always easy to change your selections with Genie+, but it’s SO easy to do with Lightning Lane Multi Pass. In fact, it’s almost TOO easy. We spoke with Cast Members who told us some people were just modifying selections because it was so easy and then regretting it (they were probably just seeing if they could and ended up modifying thinking there would be more to the process, we guess).

Considering how complicated Genie+ was, this is a refreshing and much-needed change. So pro tip: if you’re in the app and playing around with modifying your selections, make sure you really DO want to modify those.

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Once you use your first selection, you can book any tier

Lightning Lane Multi Pass uses a tier system for rides for advance booking. Guests can book just one tier 1 ride plus two tier 2 rides or three tier 2 rides before their trip. However, this is JUST for advance booking. Once you use your first Lightning Lane, you can book a ride from either tier, even if the first one you used was a tier 2 ride and not a tier 1 ride.

We tested this out, and we knocked out almost all the tier 1 rides in Disney’s Hollywood Studio before the middle of the day.

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You may spend less time waiting

One thing we noticed quickly is that we don’t have to wait around so much between Lightning Lane selections. With Genie+, we sometimes felt like we had a lot of time between our Lightning Lane times — TOO much time. Well, Lightning Lane Multi Pass seems to have options that are closer together.

In other words, you can knock out a lot more rides a lot faster and not feel like you’re wasting time between rides. Note: this did vary by park and by reporter’s luck, but we found this to be the case when we tested this out on July 31st.

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If you’re a hotel guest, you get even more of a bonus

Because we tried Lightning Lane Multi Pass both as a Disney World hotel guest (which allowed us to book Lightning Lanes seven days in advance) and as a non-hotel guest (which only allowed us to book three days in advance), we determined that because you can book that first tier 1 ride ahead of time, you can then knock out a ton of the other tier 1 rides faster, so you can park hop.

This could be a big game changer in convincing more people to stay in Disney World hotels as opposed to not.

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As much as we’ve used the new Lightning Lane system, we’re here to tell you that it’s an improvement over the Genie+ system. Now, is it as good as FastPass+? Well, it’s very similar, except it’s no longer free. However, you can make all your selections on your phone through the app, so the convenience is nice. Stay tuned to DFB for more.

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Have you tried the new Lightning Lane system yet in Disney World? Let us know in the comments!