Genie Pass is the newest addition to the Disneyland app. There’s the free Genie service and the paid Genie+ service, and I’ll go into detail about each option. My overall experience with the Disneyland Genie Pass was overwhelmingly positive, but it can be confusing if you’ve never used it before.

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Please note that this post is for Disneyland in California. The Genie Pass system works differently in Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Disneyland Genie Pass!

What is Disney Genie and Disney Genie+

Disney Genie is a complimentary service in the Disneyland app included with your theme park ticket. Genie lets you “tell” it the rides, shows, parades, attractions, characters, and restaurants you want to visit, then Genie gives you a personalized park itinerary.

You don’t have to use this itinerary, and you can always change your preferences for Genie to give you new itinerary options throughout the day. I found the itinerary feature helpful in planning out my day to make sure I saw and did everything I wanted to in each part of the parks, which kept me from having to backtrack.

Genie also gives you estimated wait times for rides for the entire day so you can know the best times to minimize the wait time in lines.

Disney Genie+ is a paid add-on to your park ticket that lets you Lightning Lane (formerly FastPass) some rides and have unlimited PhotoPass digital downloads. You can add Genie+ to specific days of your trip or every day.

How Much Does Genie+ Cost

The Genie service is free. It comes with your Disneyland ticket, and all of its features will automatically be in your Disneyland app.

Genie+ costs $20 a day per person. This gives you unlimited PhotoPass digital downloads (from the professional photographers and rides) and Lightning Lane access to these rides: 

Disneyland Park: Autopia, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones Adventure, “It’s a Small World,” Matterhorn Bobsleds, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Star Tours – The Adventures Continue.

California Adventure: Goofy’s Sky School, Grizzly River Run, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, Incredicoaster, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, Soarin’ Around the World, and Toy Story Midway Mania!

I think the cost of Genie+ is a bargain for what you get. Without Genie+, I’d have spent most of my three days at Disneyland standing in lines, and I wouldn’t have gotten any of the professional or ride photos because they’re too expensive ($15 per photo).

But if you need to save money on your Disney trip, you can take your own photos and videos and avoid some of the lines by arriving at the park early, staying late, and eating early or late to get on rides when most people are having lunch or dinner.

A La Carte Lightning Lane Purchases

You can purchase a la carte Lightning Lanes instead of Genie+ or in addition to Genie+. There are a la carte Lightning Lanes for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Radiator Springs Racers, and WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure.

It costs $10 per person to Lightning Lane Radiator Springs and Spider-Man, and $20 per person to Lightning Lane Rise of the Resistance. These three rides are not included in Genie+. So if you have Genie+, you’d still have to pay extra to Lightning Lane these three rides. If you don’t have Genie+, you can still pay to Lightning Lane these three rides.

To purchase an a la carte Lightning Lane, you have to be in the park, and you can only buy two a la carte Lightning Lanes per day per person for different rides. So you can’t Lightning Lane all three of these in one day, and you can’t Lightning Lane any of these three rides more than once per day.

If you have Genie+ and purchase an a la carte Lightning Lane, you can still reserve Lightning Lanes for the rides included with Genie+ like usual.

In my opinion, the a la carte Lightning Lane is worth it for Rise of the Resistance because its wait time rarely drops below two hours, and it’s prone to breaking down. I don’t think an a la carte Lightning Lane is worth it for Radiator Springs because it has a single rider line, which can let you skip the line.

I also don’t think an a la carte Lightning Lane is worth it for Spider-Man. I recommend getting to this ride first thing in the morning to keep from standing in line.

Lightning Lane Tips

The a la carte Lightning Lanes are straightforward. You buy the next available Lightning Lane time starting a 7 am, or when you arrive at the park, then you show up for your scheduled time.

The regular Lighting Lanes included with Genie+ require more planning and strategy. So here are the best tips to maximize your Lightning Lanes and minimize your wait times:

You can only reserve Lightning Lanes on the day of starting at 7 am. So, unlike the FastPass system, you can’t choose any Lightning Lanes in advance. But you can still plan ahead of time. Use the free Genie service to gauge expected wait times so that you don’t schedule a Lightning Lane for a time when there will already be a short wait time.

You can only Lightning Lane a ride once per day. So if you get to a ride and it has a low wait time, and you know you’ll want to ride it twice, stand in line when it’s a short wait and save your Lightning Lane for later in the day.

As long as you haven’t redeemed your Lightning Lane by scanning it at the ride entrance, you can cancel it at any time for any reason. So if you get to a ride and it has a short wait time, you can cancel and save your Lightning Lane for that ride for later in the day.

You can only make one Lightning Lane selection at a time for the next available time slot. So to get as many Lightning Lane reservations as possible in a day, reserve your next Lightning Lane as soon as you scan into your current Lightning Lane.

If you have a Lightning Lane with an arrival window of more than two hours from when you selected it, you can make another Lightning Lane reservation. So if the next available Lightning Lane for a popular ride like Space Mountain is three hours away, you’ll be able to Lightning Lane other rides while you wait for your Space Mountain time.

PhotoPass

Genie+ includes PhotoPass. I love Disneyland’s PhotoPass service, which gives you unlimited digital downloads for ride and professional photography photos. It’s almost impossible to take pictures of yourself and your group on the rides, which is why I love downloading every ride photo, no matter how crazy my hair or face is.

The professional photographers around the parks can get your pictures with the castle, Mickey and Walt statue, Millennium Falcon, and other iconic spots without the crowds (which you can’t do on your own). Plus, the professional photographers can add characters to your photos for an extra dose of Disney magic.

Is Genie+ Worth It?

In my opinion, Genie+ is well worth the extra cost. I’d have even paid more for it! 

Genie+ saved me hours of standing in line all three of my days in Disneyland, and I love getting unlimited photos from the rides and professional photographers.

But even if you don’t get Genie+, the complimentary Genie service in the Disneyland app can help you plan your day and cut down on wait times.

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This post about the Disneyland Genie Pass is not a sponsored post, and, as always, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this post about the Disneyland Genie Pass are entirely my own. Some of the links in this post about the Disneyland Genie Pass are affiliate links, and, at no cost to you, I may earn a small commission.