Ever since Disney Genie+ launched back in October, 2021, we’ve had to learn a new way of doing things.
The system is very different from its predecessor, FastPass+, and there have been new rules, new fees, and new tech features to figure out. One of the most confusing rules is the 120-minute rule, and guests seem to keep forgetting one important part of it.
So, as a refresher, Genie+ selections can be made one at a time, unless you make use of the 120-minute rule. The rule states that you must wait at least two hours between booking Genie+ reservations if the first one you booked has not yet been used.
So what does that mean? Well, if you make a Genie+ selection at 9AM for a 2PM-3PM return time, you won’t necessarily have to wait 5 hours before using your first Lightning Lane. Instead, you’ll only have to wait 120 minutes (in our example case, you wait until 11AM), and then you can make a second one. Your second Lightning Lane can be made for earlier, later, or even at the same time period as your first.
If you go another two hours and still haven’t checked into any of your Genie+ reservations, you can go ahead and make a third, and so on. So in general, you can make a second Genie+ selection after you do one of the following:
- Scan into all the checkpoints at your first Genie+ Lightning Lane
- 120 minutes have passed since you made your last Genie+ reservation
- You miss your Genie+ window and can book another
However, there’s one important thing to remember about this rule that guests often forget — the timeline changes if you make your first Genie+ reservation before the park opens! All guests can make Genie+ selections starting at 7AM on the day of their visit, and if you book your first selection anytime between that and when the park opens, then the 120-minute countdown begins at park opening time.
What does this mean? Well, say that you make a Genie+ reservation for Jungle Cruise at 7AM, but can’t get a time window until 1PM-2PM. If Magic Kingdom opens at 9AM that day, you’ll have to wait until 11AM to make another. Make sense?
So next time you’re in the parks, remember that rule! The 120-minute countdown begins immediately UNLESS you’re booking before park opening time.
We’ll keep you updated with any more Genie+ news, tips, or advice, so stay tuned to AllEars for the latest. We’ll keep you posted with all the news!
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I was in WDW in March and had genie+ and it would only allow me to have two rides at a time. When I went to a cast member and asked them about it 2 different cast members told me that is all you are allowed at a time. So spent the money and was only allowed to use it twice a day because my times where so late and this was me waking up at 6:45 to be ready at 7. The app also kept telling me I didn’t have a genie+ for my ticket so every day I had to go to the desk or be on hold with tech to add me back. It was very frustrating to deal with especially when I paid extra money for this.
Disney just seems to make it more complicated to go and have fun. Remember when a vacation was about not being on your phone all the time?
Exactly
If you can stack Lightning lane times and essentially get multiple rides in the lightning lane, why don’t they just charge for it and then let you pick 3 rides weeks in advance like they used to with fast pass? They could still do only one from the most popular rides and two from the rest like they did with fast pass. Then when those 3 rides are completed you could choose another. Why do they have to make it so you have to focus on the time and your phone rather than focusing on having fun? Making it user UNfriendly is what is wrong here.
What used to be a lot of fun has turned into attendees spending hours scheduling their park reservations, their rides, their dining reservations — all the while keeping track of all the Disney “rules” — why would anyone want to put themselves through all that, and at even greater expense? It’s just sad.
Do not like the lighting lanes. Universal still has the fast pass and helps you see more. The lighting lane option had us running all over the park and made it more difficult to see our favorite attractions. You pay tip dollar to stay at Disney resorts and buy tickets. This is definitely not a welcome addition
I was able to stack 5 lightning lanes like this for a Friday evening recently when our departing flight was delayed 4 hours and we arrived at Disney much later than anticipated.
The issue I ran into was I have am a passholder. My daughter who came on the trip had a ticket with genie+ already purchased. Because of this the system would not give me the option of purchasing genie+ before 7 AM. Its like it thought I already had genie+. While it wasn’t such a big deal at Magic Kingdom it definitely cost us at Epcot. The 1 minute I had to spend buying genie+ caused the return time for test track to go from 8 Am when I clicked on it to 4:55 in less than one minute. There were a few times that popped up earlier but they went very quickly, and I did not think I could cancel the current slot and get the earlier time booked quick enough. I also had no chance of booking slinky dog dash with the 45 seconds it took to buy genie+. This quirk needs to be fixed. I felt penalized as a passholder. There is no reason I shouldn’t be able to purchase genie+ the day before. Who wants to get up at midnight in their hotel room with children and wake everyone up to buy genie+ at midnight. Clearly, this system was developed by someone without children.
Overall, I was disappointed with genie+. The one positive feature is being able to book overlapping times as it doesn’t take an hour to use a lighting lane. That is a nice feature.
Just got back from a week in WDW and Genie+ was a GREAT addition to our trip. I have used all of the iterations of what is now known as a lightning lane, and while the 120 minute rule can prove frustrating, I overall had a great experience with Genie+ and it made the rest of my experience even better. Fast pass kiosks were chaotic and an eye sore. The 60-day plan was great for Disney know it alls, but left newbies behind. I found that as long as I had somewhat of a game plan for 7 am, we were able to mostly do everything we wanted to do each day. A few things had to be picked up later In the week, or on hopping days, but as always, I was left only wishing we had more time to do ever more things.
Great, you enjoy spending more money!
I used Genie + in Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. I’m not a big a fan. For one thing Disney Park Passes are so expensive to begin with that I think it is ridiculous to charge extra for the Genie + service on top of that. It seems like Disney’s goal is to make a family Disney trip essentially unaffordable!!!! My other issue with Genie + is that because you can only make one reservation at a time, or use the 120 minute rule it caused us to have to run back and forth to opposite ends of the parks based on when and which rides we could get time slots for. Genie + pretty much made our day all about trying to book rides instead of just being able to enjoy our time in the park. Overall Disney just isn’t what it used to be. It used to be such a magical place, everything was so clean and everyone was so kind. It used to feel like Disney’s goal was to give every guest a magical experience. Now it feels like all they want to do is make money! I miss the old Disney ways!!!