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Credit: ITMOkay, let’s discuss buying Lightning Lane…
You don’t actually need to buy the Disney Genie+ service if all you want to do is skip the line (using the old fashion FastPass+ line) for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, for example. We (the general Disney lovers) may not have read the fine print well enough to understand that the Genie+ service is separate from Premium Lightning Lane access purchase.
Get Premium Lightning Lane Attraction Access WITHOUT Buying Genie+
The branding for Disney Genie and Genie+ service told us that Genie+ would allow us to choose Lightning Lane AKA “LL” passes, one after another all day for our Disney Park Pass reservations. There would also be a selection of premium Lightning Lane choices that would be available for purchase inside the new app upgrade.
When Genie and Genie+ service launched on October 19, 2021, there was confusion, failed tech, and division amongst Guests that it would provide everything it promised. But one point of confusion, even after a full day of use, seems to be a sticking point.
At this time the Disney Genie+ service is $15 per person per day for most attractions with specific rides requiring Individual Lightning Lane access. These rides currently are: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom, Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at EPCOT, Expedition Everest and Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It should be noted too that costs vary on these attractions from day to day so it is worth checking before your Disney vacation!
That being said…
You do not have to buy the full Genie+ service for yourself or your party to buy a single premium Lightning Lane access. Simply search for and click on the attraction you’d like to purchase in the My Disney Experience App. Then, click on the “LL” Lightning Lane logo. You’ll be directed to the Genie Tip Board where the “Individual Lightning Lane” button will be, displaying the purchase price for the day.
In this case, we were looking to buy the premium access for Minnie and Mickey’s Runaway Railway, which was available for $8.00 per person.
If you have a valid ticket and Park Pass Reservation for this Park, you would simply click the eligible party and check out.
This could be mean huge money savings for a family or group of friends visiting, for example, EPCOT. If the goal is to sample food and drinks around the world and take in only a few attractions, the party could save a lot of money not purchasing Genie+. When waking in the morning, the party could decide they only wanted to ride Frozen Ever After, they would only pay the approximate $9 per rider, saving $6 over the Genie+ price in addition to the Premium access price.
There was much discussion over the issue today on social media after the first full day of Genie+ use had passed. But after some clarification, we’re hoping that this saves you some cash!
Which rides would you consider buying over the full Genie+ price? Leave us a comment below.