We Have BAD NEWS About Disney World’s New Genie+ Changes

Disney4me · June 27, 2024

Confused about the Lightning Lane changes coming to Disney World? You’re not alone.

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New Lightning Lane changes are coming

We’ve done our best to answer your BIGGEST questions about the updates and later found out that a new, tiered system would be introduced for attractions. Though we’re still learning all the details, the new Lightning Lane passes seem like they’ll give visitors the chance to make better plans ahead of their trip. But, there’s one major problem…

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As of July 24th, Genie+ will be known as Lightning Lane Multi-Pass, and Individual Lightning Lanes will be called Lightning Lane Single Pass. In addition to these changes, Disney has announced that beginning July 24th, you can:

Make Lightning Lane plans before you get to the parks, for added confidence.
Choose your experiences and times before purchasing, so you know what you’re getting.
Book Lightning Lane passes for multiple vacation days, all in a single day.

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Lightning Lane changes are coming!

Disney World hotel guests (and guests of other select hotels) will be able to plan Lightning Lane passes up to 7 days in advance for their entire stay (up to 14 days). All other guests can plan up to 3 days in advance. But, Disney has included the caveat that you must be in the United States to purchase Lightning Lane passes.

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©Disney

When we asked a Disney World Cast Member about this directly, we were told, “Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass features will be available to Guests from other countries, they will be able to begin their pre-arrival planning on the My Disney Experience Mobile App after they reach the United States.”

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Lightning Lane

So, international visitors won’t be able to purchase Lightning Lane passes or take advantage of the early planning until they arrive in the United States, even if the 7-day planning window begins before that. Essentially, you must be in the US to purchase Lightning Lane passes and begin pre-planning your ride selections ahead of your trip.

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Kali River Rapids Lightning Lane sign in Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Of course, we’re still learning the details of the new Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass as Disney shares them and it’s possible this could change in the future. There are still likely plenty of kinks to work out with the new system, and hopefully, Disney will update it so that our international friends are able to take advantage of the early planning!

In addition to the advanced planning changes, Disney has introduced (or reintroduced, shall we say) a tiered system for rides. It looks like out of those 3 advance selections, you’ll be able to choose one experience from a higher-tiered group and two experiences (or all three) from a lower-tiered group. You can check out which rides are part of which tiers right here.

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Lightning Lane at Expedition Everest

Since we’re still figuring out all the details, we’ll be bringing you all the latest updates you need to know about these new Lightning Lane changes along with letting you know how it all works once they officially roll out, so stay tuned to Disney Food Blog for more.