disney tourist blog 120 minute rule

Reminder: Disney World’s Genie+ system changes tomorrow. Here’s what to know

Heading to Disney World anytime on or after Wednesday, July 24? You might not be aware that a certain genie is going back into its bottle and we're not referencing Aladdin.

Last month, the amusement park announced its Genie+ system was being replaced by two new systems starting in July, with those changes about to kick off.

Implemented back in 2021 , the Genie system served as an in-park planning tool and attraction reservation system. With the addition of Genie+, guests could reserve times to experience attractions for an additional cost, replacing the free Disney FastPass system.

Here's what these changes are and how they can impact your upcoming Disney vacation starting tomorrow.

What is Disney's Lightning Lane?

Disney's Lightning Lane entry lets parkgoers bypass the standby queue and join a separate queue for select attraction and entertainment experiences. There will be two new systems starting on Wednesday, July 24 — the Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass.

The Lightning Lane Multi Pass will include the same rides currently covered by Genie+ . A la carte Lightning Lane Single Passes will be available for the most popular attractions at each park, like Individual Lightning Lanes .

How does Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and Single Day differ from Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes?

Guests staying at Disney World’s resort hotels can make selections up to seven days in advance, all at once, for up to 14 days of their stay. Other guests can make selections up to three days in advance. So, no more waking up at 7 a.m. to book the Slinky Dog Dash Roller Coaster or Star Wars Smugglers Run!

Parkgoers will also be able to see prices and select attraction times before purchasing passes “so you know what you’re getting.” Currently, guests have to purchase Genie+ before they can see availability. Disney World’s app and website will be updated for easier planning and purchasing.

How many pre-arrival selections can be made with Lightning Lane Multi-Pass or Lightning Lane Single Pass?

Guests can make up to three advance Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections for each day of their trip. Once they arrive at the park and complete their first experience, they can book additional experiences pending availability.

Lightning Lane Single Passes remain limited to two per day, like Individual Lightning Lanes are currently.

How much is the Lightning Lane at Disney World?

Disney Lightning Lane pricing varies by date and park. There will be no price increase related to these changes.

According to Walt Disney World officials , guests can expect similar pricing to Genie+ when Lightning Lane Multi-Pass launches.

How do I purchase the Lightning Lane Single and Multi-Pass?

Before you purchase a Lightning Lane pass , Disney World officials say you’ll need to do 3 things:

First, download the latest version of the My Disney Experience app .
Connect everyone in your travel group on your Family & Friends list in the My Disney Experience app — so you’ll be able to purchase Lightning Lane passes and make plans for everyone eligible.
Gather your group’s wish list for attractions and experiences. You can save your group’s top picks in the My Disney Experience app using the “My Day” feature.

When you’re ready to purchase Lightning Lane passes, here’s what to do:

Open the My Disney Experience app , then tap the Lightning Lane Passes section on the home screen.
Select a date and theme park.
If you select a Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can choose up to 3 Lightning Lane Multi Pass experiences and arrival windows in advance.
If you select a Lightning Lane Single Pass, you can choose an arrival window in advance.
Follow all prompts to complete your purchase — and receive a confirmation.
From the confirmation screen, you can tap “Plan Another Day” to purchase another pass — or tap “View My Day” for details about your Lightning Lane selections.

Can Lightning Lane Single and Multi-Pass both be purchased together?

Yes. You can purchase all Lightning Lane passes for your travel party for the same day in a single transaction.

However, the FAQ section of the site notes that Lightning Lane Multi Pass holders can only choose from a variety of eligible multi pass attractions and experiences. For single pass attractions, Lightning Lane entry is only available with the purchase of a Lightning Lane Single Pass.

Can I modify my Lighting Lane Single and Multi-Pass plans?

Yes. Officials advise those to tap the Lightning Lane Passes section on the My Disney Experience home screen to find your plans. Then, you can:

Change your selected park and/or date in advance (subject to availability) — up until the moment you redeem your first Lightning Lane selection of the day.
Change each selected experience and/or arrival window in advance (subject to availability)—up until the start of the arrival window

See Lightning Lane attractions in all Disney World parks

All of the Lightning Lane experiences and options are subject to change without notice and are subject to availability, according to Disney's website. Here's what attractions are available under the different pass tiers:

Magic Kingdom:

Choose up to one experience from this group:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan’s Flight
Space Mountain
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

Choose your other 2 experiences — or all 3 — from this group:

The Barnstormer
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Haunted Mansion
“it’s a small world”
Mad Tea Party
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mickey’s PhilharMagic
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Pirates of the Caribbean
Tomorrowland Speedway
Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid

Single Pass Attractions (Not available with the Multi Pass)

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
TRON Lightcycle / Run
Frozen Ever After
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Soarin' Around the World

Choose your other 2 experiences—or all 3—from this group:

Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
Journey into Imagination with Figment
Living with the Land
Mission: SPACE
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Spaceship Earth
Turtle Talk with Crush
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

Hollywood Studios:

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
Slinky Dog Dash
Alien Swirling Saucers
Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
Disney Junior Play & Dance!
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Muppet*Vision 3D
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™
Toy Story Mania!
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Animal Kingdom:

Choose all 3 experiences from this group:

Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
Feathered Friends in Flight!
Festival of the Lion King
Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... and Beyond!
It’s Tough to Be a Bug!
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Naʻvi River Journey
Avatar Flight of Passage

Can I make ride selections for multiple Disney parks?

Disney's website shares that once you redeem a selection on the day of your park visit, you can use the My Disney Experience app to choose another multi pass experience in any Walt Disney World theme park, as long as you have a valid ticket with the Park Hopper option or an Annual Pass.

The ability to visit another park is subject to the park’s capacity limitations.

Can I book the same rides multiple times in a day? Is the '120' rule still a thing at Disney?

Disney Tourist Blog shares that, just as with Genie+, you won’t be able to book the same Lightning Lane more than once per day.

Frequent parkgoers and Genie+ might recall the infamous "120 rule" which is where you can only make a new selection every 120 minutes or after you have redeemed the previous Genie+ selection, whichever comes first. With the changes to Lighting Lane, the rule is now gone.

Will Disney Genie still be available?

The free Disney Genie planning tool will still be available for all guests to help plan their trips. The paid Genie+ service is the one changing.

Contributing reporting: Eve Chen, USA TODAY

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The CONFUSING 120-Minute Rule You Cannot Forget When Using Disney Genie+

We totally understand… Disney Genie+ is confusing.

There are plenty of rules and technicalities to using the system, not to mention several different buttons, pages, and features in the My Disney Experience app that you’ll need to navigate. But by far, the most confusing thing about the system is the 120-minute rule . Let’s explain.

What is the 120-Minute Rule?

What IS the 120-minute rule, exactly? Well, there are certain conditions for using and booking Lightning Lanes through Disney Genie+. For instance, all guests can book their first Genie+ Lightning Lane of the day at 7AM.

One of the rules of using Genie+ is that you can only book one Lightning Lane at a time. Because of this, there are three conditions for booking ANOTHER Lightning Lane after you’ve already made your first selection. You can book a second, third, fourth, etc. Lightning Lane when:

You have passed through all the scan points at your existing Lightning Lane reservation.
You have missed the return window on an existing Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation and didn’t scan in during that time.
Two hours (120 minutes) have passed since you last booked a Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation.

It’s that third condition that we’re talking about today! This rule often comes into play when you’re trying to book a more popular ride whose Lightning Lane windows are further out in the day. For instance, if you book a Lightning Lane for Slinky Dog Dash at 11AM, but your return time isn’t until 6PM, you won’t have to wait 7 hours without making any more reservations — you can book a new one at 1PM (two hours after you booked Slinky).

The one time when this rule changes slightly is when you’re making your first Lightning Lane of the day before the park opens. Genie+ booking opens at 7AM, but the two-hour countdown doesn’t start until park opening time. So going back to that Slinky Dog Dash example — if you booked a 6PM return time, but made the booking at 7AM, you’d have to wait until two hours after Hollywood Studios opened before you could make another reservation. If the park opens at 9AM, that means you’d get to make your next selection at 11AM.

Does it sound confusing to remember all those booking times? Don’t worry! Disney World thankfully updated the My Disney Experience app a while back so that it now shows your next booking time at the top of the Tip Board. If you’ve activated the two-hour rule, it’ll show a time.

The main purpose of this rule is to make sure that visitors can continue to use Genie+ throughout the day, even if they decide to book a ride return time that’s much later in the evening. Otherwise, you might only get to use Genie+ once or twice, and that would be a bummer if you paid for it.

A Few Technicalities

One thing you’ll need to keep in mind if you activate the 120-minute rule is that you’ll be stuck in it until you use all your existing Lightning Lanes. You’ll have to keep repeating the “book every two hours” process until you’ve used your latest Lightning Lane. Once you scan into that one, you can once again go back to booking times that are sooner and then making a new selection immediately after scanning in.

However, there’s a nice trick you should know as well! When using Genie+, you’re allowed to modify selections after you’ve already booked them. And thankfully, modifying doesn’t restart your two-hour booking window. So if you book Slinky Dog Dash at 11AM for a 6PM return window, but then you change that Lightning Lane to a different ride or find an earlier time for Slinky Dog at 11:30AM, your two-hour “cooldown” time will still end at 1PM. (Given that you don’t change your Lightning Lane time to so early that you can go and ride immediately.)

Confused yet? Don’t worry, we’re going to help you out with some tips!

How to Use the 120-Minute Rule to Your Advantage

So can the 120-minute rule be used in a positive way? We think so! One of the most popular strategies when using this rule is to do something called “stacking.”

Stacking is where you intentionally book Lightning Lanes for later in the day so that you can use them and do several attractions back to back. This usually works best with attractions and rides that are more popular, and can be pretty effective if you plan properly.

Stacking is great for a day when you’re planning to sleep in or a day when you’re hopping to a second park in the afternoon (you can “stack” Lightning Lanes for your second park). If you’re planning on stacking on a rope drop day, you can use your morning time in the parks to get whichever rides done that you won’t make Lightning Lane reservations for.

All in all, the 120-minute rule can be very confusing and complicated, but it can be useful in some purposes. It’s ultimately up to you whether or not you want to use it, and there are pros and cons either way.

Stay tuned to AllEars for more Genie+ tips and all the advice you need for your upcoming trip!

8 Sneaky Genie+ Tips You Need to Know for Disney World — Click Here!

Join the allears.net newsletter to get the free list of the 14 best times to use genie+ at disney world click here to get started.

Have you used the 120-minute rule in Disney World? Tell us in the comments!

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Disney Genie Frequently Asked Questions (Disney World version)

A common complaint about Disney’s Genie+ line-skipping system is that it’s not as simple as those that many other parks use. Never fear, TouringPlans is here! We’ve spent hours in the parks testing and using Genie and we’ve got answers to your questions. (Last updated March 18, 2024)

All those complainers are right. Genie is more complicated than the systems in many other parks, enough that we have several articles on it. So I’m going to start with a question that’s very basic:

What is Disney Genie?

Disney Genie is a service in the My Disney Experience app that guests use to help plan their day touring the parks. There are three components to Genie:

Genie: a free itinerary planner, reservation tracker, and wait time board
Genie+: a paid service that allows you to skip [most of] the line at several rides throughout the parks by making Lightning Lane reservations
Individual Lightning Lane: individual upcharge purchases to skip the lines at one attraction per purchase

If you’re only planning on using the free features of Genie, almost nothing in this article will apply to you. You’ll probably find Customize the Genie Tip Board for Convenience and Speed a more valuable use of your time.

If you are planning on using the upcharge features of Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes, this article focuses on the nitty-gritty questions. If you’re looking for a basic walkthrough, you might prefer Step-By-Step Guide: How to Use Genie+ and Lightning Lane at Disney World . There’s a link to this article at the end of that one, so you can come back here when you’re ready.

If you’re continuing on here, you’ll find that the questions have been divided into three big groups:

questions about buying the upcharge features
questions about making reservations with them
questions about using them in the parks.

I’ll just take time for one more basic one here first:

Why is Genie+ so complicated?

Whoa, we could write a whole article just on that one topic. The fast answer is: it’s meant for a lot more people to be able to use it than other parks’ line-skipping systems. “Go to the special queue for every attraction” is easy to say – but that simplicity limits availability because the more people you sell it to, the less well it works. With Genie+, there aren’t enough “skips” for everyone to get one for each attraction. So instead there’s a complex process to let all the users divvy up the “skips” on any given day.

How do we know it’s meant for more people to be able to use it? Well, Genie+ is much cheaper than many other systems that are simpler to use. (For comparison, Universal’s Express Pass can cost up to $389 per day compared to a usual price of $25-39 for Genie+.) Second, Genie+ appears to be more generally available than some comparable line-skipping systems. While Genie+ can sell out (it did so for the first time on February 19, 2023), it usually only does during the busiest times such as Easter and Christmas.

Taking these two tidbits together, one could conclude that Disney has chosen a system that lets a lot of people skip a few lines each, in preference to a system that lets fewer people skip every line. While this is only my personal speculation, it’s not inconsistent with the fact that Disney minimized the “have and have not” effect by maintaining Fastpass as a free system long past the point where every other park’s line-skipping system had an upcharge.

Questions About Buying Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes

How much does genie+ cost how much do individual lightning lanes cost.

The price of Genie+ varies depending on the day you buy it. The lowest price is $15, and so far the highest we’ve seen is $39. These prices are per person and do not include tax. As of June 27th, 2023, you’re able to buy Genie+ as an “All Parks” option, or only for a single park , with different pricing for each park and for the All Parks option. The Magic Kingdom price and the All Parks price are the same.

The price of Individual Lightning Lanes varies from $10 to (currently) $25 per person, per attraction (and again without tax). Recently, prices for individual rides have been seen at

Rise of the Resistance – $15 to $25
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – $14 to $17
Avatar Flight of Passage – $11 to $16
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – $10 to $12
TRON Lightcycle / Run – $20

Is there any way to know the price of Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes in advance?

Not for sure, no. But as a general rule, higher ticket prices and higher crowds will mean higher prices for both. Disney publishes ticket prices well in advance and raises them only once or twice a year. They probably update their crowd predictions more often, so don’t rely too heavily on ticket price as an indicator of Genie+ price.

When can you buy Genie+?

Genie+ can be purchased at 12:01 a.m. of the day you plan to use it. If your ticket requires park reservations, then you’ll need to have a park reservation in place to buy. There is currently no way to buy Genie+ in advance – you can’t pay for it on Tuesday to use it in the parks on Wednesday. But, Disney has made noises to the effect that advance purchase of Genie+ may be rolled out at some point in the future.

Can you buy Genie+ for two separate parks?

Yes. As of June 27th, 2023, you can buy Genie+ on a per-park basis. So you can, say, buy Genie+ for EPCOT and for Animal Kingdom. You’ll then be able to make Lightning Lane reservations at either of those parks, but only those parks.

Buying the All Parks option is always (to date) the least expensive way to use Genie+ in more than one park. But if you buy a single park first, there’s no “bridging” the price by paying the difference between your first park and the All Parks option. You’ll have to pay the whole price of the All Parks Genie+ even if you’ve already bought Genie+ for a single park. The takeaway: if you think you’re going to buy Genie+ for two parks, spring for the All Parks option from the get-go.

Do you need to be in the park to buy an Individual Lightning Lane?

No, you don’t need to be in the park. Guests of the Disney World resort hotels can begin booking Individual Lightning Lanes at 7 a.m., before the parks are even open.

Do you need to buy Genie+ to make an Individual Lightning Lane reservation?

No. Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes are independent of each other. You don’t need to buy Genie+ to use Individual Lightning Lanes. And you don’t need to buy Individual Lightning Lanes to use Genie+.

Do you need to include everyone in your party when you buy Genie+? Do you need to include your whole party for an Individual Lightning Lane reservation?

No. For each purchase you’ll have the opportunity to select which members of your group should be included.

If you’ve already purchased Genie+, you’ll have the chance to select which members of your group to include each time you make a Lightning Lane reservation.

Can kids or teens buy Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes?

Yes. Minors who are old enough to have their own My Disney Experience accounts can purchase Genie+ or ILLs, but they’ll need to enter payment info during checkout instead of using a stored payment method. See more details: How Can Kids and Teens Pay for Things at Disney World?

Can you get a refund for Genie+ if you don’t use it?

No, Genie+ is non-refundable. This is true even if you buy it and don’t enter the parks.

Can you get a refund for an Individual Lightning Lane if you don’t use it?

No, Individual Lightning Lanes are not refundable. But, if the ride is down during your reservation window and you aren’t able to use your ILL before the park closes, you can get a refund. This may happen automatically, or you may need to contact Disney.

If you buy Genie+ and then you don’t go to the park, will it use a day of your ticket?

No, your admission is not considered “used” until the moment you scan into the parks. We did not ask specifically about the similar question for an Individual Lightning Lane, but we presume the answer is the same.

Are Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes worth it?

That’s a complicated question that depends on your personal feelings about value, when you’re visiting the parks, and how you plan to tour them. You’ll need to do some more research to decide if you think Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes will be worth it for you, but here are some articles to help you with that. These links will all open in a new tab. One thing you should know – it’s pretty easy to save an hour or more with Genie+ unless you’ll only be in the parks for a very short time. This is true even if you know almost nothing about the system or how to use it most effectively.

What Does Genie+ Availability Look Like?
How Much Time Can I Save with Genie+ at WDW?
Best Individual Lightning Lanes to Purchase

Questions About Reserving Lightning Lanes or Individual Lightning Lanes

Which rides are eligible for genie+ which rides use individual lightning lane reservations.

The list of Genie+ and ILL rides changes as new attractions are added to the parks, and depending on how heavy Disney is expecting crowds to be. The official listings from Disney are here:

Magic Kingdom | EPCOT | Hollywood Studios | Animal Kingdom

In practice, almost all attractions that use a queue (as opposed to self-paced exhibits) offer Lightning Lane. There are a few attractions that don’t offer it, but these tend to be attractions where you’re least likely to need it.

What time can you begin making Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane reservations?

For Genie+ Lightning Lanes, everyone can begin making reservations at 7 a.m. Only one reservation can be made before the parks open.

For Individual Lightning Lanes

Onsite guests of Disney hotels can begin making Individual Lightning Lane reservations at 7 a.m.
At park opening, all guests are able to make Individual Lightning Lane reservations for that park’s attractions.

Practically speaking, this means that for very popular rides offsite guests may not be able to get ILL reservations.

Which hotels can make Individual Lightning Lane reservations at 7 am?

All hotels that are owned and operated by Disney World can make Individual Lightning Lane reservations. In general, that means if your hotel has “Disney’s” in the name, you’re good to go; to be confident check the official list of Disney hotels here . Guests of the Disney World Swan, Dolphin, Swan Reserve, and Shades of Green can also make 7 am Individual Lightning Lane reservations.

Can I make two Individual Lightning Lane reservations at the same time?

Yes. For Genie+ Lightning Lanes, there are limits on how often you can make them. For Individual Lightning Lanes, there are limits on the total number of reservations you can make; no more than two. But you can make both Individual Lightning Lane reservations that you are allowed at the same time , or at least, as fast as your fingers can work the phone. That means you can make ILLs for two different rides at 7 a.m. if you are staying onsite, or at park opening if you’re staying offsite.

It’s after 7 a.m., why can’t I see the Lightning Lane return times on the Tip Board?

Between 7 and 7:30 a.m., return times aren’t displayed for either Genie+ Lightning Lanes or Individual Lightning Lanes. It still matters when you book – the early bird gets the worm – but the times change so quickly that it’s not possible for Disney to display them accurately on the Tip Board.

Can you make a Lightning Lane reservation in more than one park?

Yes. You’ll need to have purchased the “All Parks” version of Genie+. Alternatively, you can purchase Genie+ for two individual parks, but this is never a good value compared to the All Parks option.

Do you have to include your whole group when you make a Lightning Lane reservation?

No, you can select to make a reservation for only some members of your party. For Genie+ Lightning Lanes, you can also cancel only some members of your group if you booked them by mistake.

Is there a limit on how many people can be in my party when I reserve a Genie+ Lightning Lane?

Yes. At most 12 people can be included in the party on a single Lightning Lane reservation. If your group has more than 12 people in it, you will need to make two separate reservations.

Are Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes available during Early Park Entry, Extended Evening Hours, and events such as Halloween and Christmas parties?

No, they are not. Lightning Lanes are only available during regular park hours that are included in the admission ticket for everyone. Users of Disney’s Disability Assistance System (DAS) may have access to the special queues outside of regular hours.

Can you get overlapping return windows for Lightning Lanes and/or Individual Lightning Lanes?

Yes, you can. It’s up to you to keep track of the return times and make sure you can use everything you book before reserving it; Genie won’t stop you from making “impossible” plans.

Are there limits on how many Lightning Lane reservations you can make?

For Individual Lightning Lanes, guests are limited to 2 Individual Lightning Lane purchases per day.

With Genie+ Lightning Lanes, guests may not reserve the same ride twice in one day, and there are limits on how frequently you can reserve. If you reserve a Lightning Lane but then do not ride and let it expire, that counts as “using” it.

How often can you make a Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation?

When you make a reservation, it will block any further Genie+ reservations until either

•The reservation is “gone” – you either use it or cancel it, or it expires

•Two hours have passed since either a) you made the reservation or b) the park your reservation was in opened, whichever is later.

You can also see at the top of the Tip Board when you’ll be eligible again. (If different members of your group have different reservations, you’ll only see the eligibility for the MDE profile that is logged in.) For a more thorough explanation and practical examples, see When Can I Book My Next Genie+ Lightning Lane?

How many Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations can you make in one day?

This answer is going to vary based on when you visit the parks, what you prefer to see, and how long you plan to be there. It’s important to understand that the answer is based on availability – since you can’t book everything at the same time, it’s going to depend on how long you need to wait between each of your reservations, and how fast reservations for other attractions are running out.

Disney’s official answer is 2 to 3 attractions. In practical testing we find that’s a conservative estimate and 3 to 5 is not difficult over a whole day under usual conditions. With some planning, it’s often possible to get even more if you’re spending a full day in the parks.

Can you have more than one Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation at a time?

Yes. The Genie 120-minute rule says that you can always make a new reservation if two hours have passed since you made the last one, or two hours since park opening if you made the reservation before the park opened. If you’re holding a reservation when the 120-minute rule kicks in, then after you make a new Lightning Lane reservation you will have two at a time. Depending on when your return windows are and when the 120-minute rule applies, you can have 2, 3, 4, or more Genie+ reservations at the same time. Intentionally making Genie+ reservations so that you hold multiple reservations at the same time is called stacking.

Can you cancel a Lightning Lane reservation?

Individual Lightning Lane reservations can’t be canceled. However, if the ride is down during your reservation window and you aren’t able to use it later then you can have it refunded after the park closes. Often this will happen automatically.

To cancel a Genie+ reservation, click on the reservation and select Cancel. You can choose to cancel only some members of your party, or all of them. You can cancel a reservation once the return time window has started, and if you do you will be able to rebook the same ride later if times are available.

Can you modify a Lightning Lane reservation?

Individual Lightning Lane reservations can’t be modified.

Genie+ Lightning Lanes can be modified to change the time, or to change to a different attraction in the same park. If you want to change to an attraction in a different park, you’ll need to cancel and rebook.

If you modify a Lightning Lane reservation, does it change the time when you can book a new one?

Maybe. Remember that there are two times that govern when you can make a new reservation: when your return window opens, and the time that you made it. The Genie 120-minute rule says that you can make a new reservation at most 2 hours from when you made the last one, and this countdown timer doesn’t change if you modify the reservation. If you made it at, say, 11 a.m., then your two hours will be up at 1 p.m. even if you modify the reservation at noon.

If the start of your return window was within two hours of when you made the reservation, either before or after modifying it, then the time you can book again might change. And, if the reservation you modified wasn’t the one blocking your eligibility, then modifying it definitely won’t have an effect. For practical examples, see When Can I Book My Next Genie+ Lightning Lane? .

Can you modify a Lightning Lane reservation to an attraction in a different park?

At this time, you can only modify your reservation to a different attraction in the same park.

If you modify a Lightning Lane reservation to a different attraction, can you still reserve the original attraction again later?

Yes. If you modify a reservation to change the attraction, it won’t use up your “once a day” on the original attraction. You’ll still be able to book again later.

Can you modify a Lightning Lane once the return window has opened?

Yes, we tested this and found that you can.

Can you modify a Lightning Lane that has expired?

No. Although the reservation may still appear on your My Day tab for several minutes after it expires, you will not be able to modify it. (We think the fact that it still shows on My Day might be related to the grace period, but we’re not sure.)

Can you modify a Lightning Lane for only some of your group?

Yes, when you modify a Lightning Lane reservation you will have the opportunity to change the reservation for only some of the group. For those you select to change, you can modify either the time or the attraction. Their “when can you book” windows will follow the same rules as if you had modified everyone.

Questions About Using Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes

Will i still have to wait in line with a lightning lane reservation.

Yes. The Lightning Lane is a special queue that lets you enter the attraction much faster than those waiting in the regular (standby) line. But there can still be a wait in the Lightning Lane because other people will have the same return window as you. Most of the time, the wait in a Lightning Lane queue is 5 to 10 minutes or less.

What happens if I’m late for a Lightning Lane reservation?

This is always at the discretion of a Cast Member, but for rides there is generally a 15-minute grace period at the end of the window. For shows, you’ll usually be allowed in as long as space is available and the show hasn’t started yet.

What happens if I don’t use a Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation?

As soon as the window has expired, you will be able to make a new Genie+ reservation. However, you will not be able to make a new reservation for the same ride as your expired reservation. If you know that you’re not going to use a reservation, and you want to be able to reserve for that attraction at a different time, it’s better to modify the reservation or cancel it before it expires.

Is there a grace period for Lightning Lane reservations?

Typically, guests are able to tap in 5 minutes ahead of time or 15 minutes after the window has closed. Note that Disney has a history of removing policies like grace periods if users begin viewing them as loopholes to exploit.

What happens if the ride is down during my reservation time?

For an Individual Lightning Lane reservation, you will be able to use the reservation at a time of your choosing later in the day. If you are not able to use the reservation then it will be refunded, although you may need to contact Disney to get this processed.

For a Genie+ reservation, your reservation will convert to an “any time Lightning Lane” (also called a “Select Experiences Lightning Lane”) that can be used for a variety of other attractions at a time of your choosing.

Can someone else use my Lightning Lane reservation?

According to Disney, no, but in practice, yes.

Disney says that Lightning Lanes aren’t transferrable, but when you scan in using a ticket card, MagicBand, or MagicMobile, Cast Members do not check your ID. If someone in your group went back to the resort for a nap and left their MagicBand with you, you can use it to tap in for their Lightning Lanes, and we know that it’s not uncommon for family members to do this kind of “I’m going to grab a snack, you use mine” transfer. Note that this only works if the ticket owner has entered the park – you can’t just bring Mom’s MagicBand to the park while she’s having a pool day and expect to make and use Lightning Lane reservations with it.

What’s the best strategy for using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes?

There are a few commonly used strategies with Genie+.

⭐ “Stacking” refers to making a number of Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations in the future, packing them into a relatively small time period and then knocking them off to ride a large number of headliners within a couple of hours. Read more about it with some practical examples: Genie+: All About Stacking . Stacking is a “greedy” approach that considers maximizing the average amount of time saved on each ride.

⭐ “Catch and Release” refers to the practice of booking Lightning Lanes that are available with short return windows. This is a “ greedy ” approach that considers minimizing the amount of wait time between Lightning Lane redemption. Unfortunately, the total time savings with Catch and Release can be poor.

⭐ If Stacking doesn’t suit your touring style, our “Simple Strategy” is an improvement on Catch and Release which considers maximizing the amount of time you’ll save in the line compared to the time you’ll need to wait before your next booking. (That’s easier than it sounds). Simple Strategy usually generates a hybrid between Catch and Release and Stacking approaches – you can read a practical example here: Genie+ Simple Strategy Example Day At Each Park

Can you use Genie+ with DAS?

The two systems are completely independent – you can use both at the same time . Especially if crowds are low, you may find that Genie+ doesn’t have as much value to you.

Can you use Lightning Lanes with Rider Switch?

Yes, you can. Everyone who will ride needs to have a Lightning Lane for the attraction; depending on the ride you may all be asked to tap in before the Rider Switch pass can be issued. More details are here: Rider Switch at Disney World: Guide and FAQ .

Did we miss your question? Let us know in the comments!

Jennifer Heymont

Jennifer has a background in math and biology, so she ended up in Data Science where she gets to do both. She lives just north of Boston with her husband, kids, and assorted animal members of the family. Although it took three visits for the Disney bug to "take", she now really wishes she lived a lot closer to the Parks.

31 thoughts on “ Disney Genie Frequently Asked Questions (Disney World version) ”

Hello! My husband and I have been using TP for several years and really enjoy the service. Thank you for continually upgrading it and providing a good value. We are annual passholders. Now that there is no restriction on when you can park hop, how has that changed the availability of genie plus reservations for the park that you’re hopping to when you still must have a park pass reservation as an annual passholder? Here’s our scenario: we are rope dropping Hollywood Studios, and then hopping to Epcot. We want to use G plus in Epcot and make our first G plus reservation for an attraction there at 7 AM (staying on property). At what time could we expect for that LL opportunity to be available to us? It used to restrict the availability for after 2pm. Will Disney allow us as pass holders with a park pass reservation at Hollywood studios to make our first G+ reservation for an Epcot attraction; if yes, at what time will the earliest conceivable return time be for it? Thanks for any insight you can provide! Rachel

Hi Rachel, this is a really good question! When I’m confident of the answer I’m going to add it to the article. I’m going to try to find someone to test this in the next couple of weeks, but here is what I believe the answer is right now.

In the scenario you describe, you will be able to buy Genie+ for EPCOT (i.e., you will not have to buy the all parks option). You will be able to make reservations beginning at 7 am. And, you will be able to make them for times that begin at park opening; if you shoot for a Remy reservation and have the fastest fingers, then your reservation will be at 9 am when the park opens.

Here’s the interesting case: G+ at Animal Kingdom with a park reservation somewhere else. AK often opens at 8 am, even before Early Entry begins at other parks. In the scenario you describe, it’s possible for you to enter HS and still get to EPCOT on the dot of regular opening. But in the AK case, you could not make an 8 am LL if the other parks open at 9, even if you tap in and walk straight back out. (OK, technically it’s possible if they start letting you through the tapstiles at 8 am for an 8:30 EE time, but work with me here.) I don’t know if G+ would prohibit you from making this “impossible” LL or not. My guess is no because it causes more friction than it’s worth for Disney, and doesn’t apply to enough cases to damage other G+ users. But I am curious to see what would happen.

Note that at least at one point, you could not get a VQ for Guardians in the 7 am drop if your park reservation was not in EPCOT (don’t know if that matters to you). I believe that is still true, but I’ll check on it for you.

If I buy an individual lightning lane for say mine train and the ride is down during that timeframe, is the replacement pass I get only good for other rides in MK(including Tron?) or could it be used in another park for say flight of passage or rise?

Hi Carol, only Genie+ Lightning Lanes offer you the opportunity to ride another attraction. If you buy an ILL for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and the ride is down during your window, then you may return at any time during the day while it is operating but you can only use the pass for this ride. If you’re not able to ride before the park closes – either because it never came back up or simply because it didn’t work with your schedule any more – then you can get a refund. Usually this is automatic, but on occasion people report that they had to request it.

Thank you for all this info! I’ve used Genie+ during two trips over the last two years and yet I never noticed the Genie+ LL could be modified

You’re welcome! To be fair, they added the modification over a year after it was first released … it’s always changing and it’s hard to keep up.

Hi – This website is such a great resource. Thanks for all you do. We are headed to Disney World on Wednesday March 20th for a short 4-day trip. Wednesday the 20th is a travel day for us, but we will be checked into our hotel by 2:30/3:00pm and will likely enter the parks that day on a park hopper ticket. I am considering buying some ILL passes for that day, later in the evening to ensure we can make our ride window. Do you know, if we buy ILL passes, but then ultimately decide not to go into the parks at all on our first travel day, will the ILL purchase cause our tickets to be counted as used for that day? I recognize if we buy ILL passes and then choose to not enter the park, we will lose the money spent on the ILL passes.

Many thanks – Todd

Hi Todd – I’ve asked a similar question (about purchasing Genie+ at midnight but then not going to the parks) of Disney customer service and they responded that no, it doesn’t. Admission is only used at the moment you scan into the park. While Genie+ is not exactly the same as your ILL question, I’d feel pretty confident of assuming that it works the same way. If you’re not confident enough with that answer, I’d suggest simply going to Disney World’s main site and using the Chat with a Cast Member feature to ask about your specific case.

If you think about it, these answers are not too surprising. Disney is a place where families go to vacation and kids … get sick at the last minute. Plans change. It doesn’t benefit anyone, including Disney, for them to end up with frustrated and unhappy customers who purchased an ILL at 7 am and then had to forgo their park visit because little Jimmy announced they weren’t feeling too great on the way to the bus stop.

If you decided not to use them but got very lucky, you could even get back the money you spent on ILLs – we once had a case where the ride was down during our ILL window and one of my kids didn’t want to wait. It eventually came back up and the rest of us rode, but their ILL was automatically refunded at the end of the day.

Have a great trip!

Hi! I have a question about multiple people using the same MDE acccount. My family is going in May and all the park tickets were purchased together under my stepmom’s account, so everyone is linked on there. When we are in the parks can multiple people be on her account looking for Genie+ LL’s at the same time, on different phones? Such as, 3 of us are each on our own phones, logged in to her account, refreshing the tip board to look for a new LL to book? Thanks!

Hi Megan, yes, that will work just fine. Some of my family members do not have their own MDE accounts and they use mine in exactly this way. The one thing you will need to be careful of is that if you are all looking at the same time and someone tries to book Slinky Dog and someone else tries to book Toy Story Mania, you won’t get both. Whoever made it to the button first, that’s the reservation you’ll have. But, if you decide you want the other one, the Modify button is your friend. 🙂

Hi, if we are not arriving to Epcot until after 4 pm, how do we get an Individual Lighting Lane reservation for Guardians after 4 pm? Since times aren’t shown on the app between 7 and 730, I don’t want to end up with a time before we can arrive. And if I wait until after 730 am to book, will there still be spots left for Guardians of the Galaxy? This is for a Friday. Thanks!

Hi Rachel, when you tap to get a Lightning Lane between 7 and 7:30, you’ll see times then. They are just not shown on the Tip Board because they change too fast to be useful. Be aware that if it’s early in the day, even when you select the hour that you’d like to make your time it may change a bit – but it always moves later, not earlier (except in the unlikely case that all the later ones are gone) and it sounds like that’s not a problem for you. Once you are shown a specific time with the Edit Party screen, that time will be held for you for 10 minutes so you can complete the booking.

Hi! If i’m buying ILL at 7am for for example seven dwarfs, how do return windows options work? If I buy it 7am would I by able to pick a return between 9:30 and 11?

Hi Monica, if you buy at 7 am you’ll be able to pick a return between 9:30 and 11 as long as it’s available. Usually this isn’t an issue but in the very busiest times of the year around Christmas and Easter sometimes certain slots can sell out very quickly.

Hi! We’ll stay at the Pop Century Resort (we are definetly taking advantage of the early entrance) at what time do usually 7am first Genie+ LL return window is? For example if my first picks are Navi river, jungle cruise, frozen and Star Wars?

Hi Monica, it’s hard to predict the return windows because it depends a lot on exactly when you’re visiting. My best advice is to watch the times for a couple of days beforehand (you can see them even if you didn’t buy Genie+) and you will quickly get a sense of which ones move quickly and which ones are slower. Just remember that you won’t be able to see the times on the board between 7 and 7:30 (you’ll see it when you book), so you’ll want to take that knowledge of which one you need to get first and just make your pick when it’s your actual day. Remember that Rise of the Resistance is an ILL, so you’ll need to do that separately.

Hello The new ticket special that Disney is offering is for tickets that do not require a park reservation. Do you know how they will allow Genie + purchases for that?

Hi Becky, Our TA team was informed (by Disney) that if you have valid admission that doesn’t require a park reservation then you won’t need one in order to buy Genie+ or make Lightning Lane reservations. You will be able to do everything “as if you had a reservation” even though you don’t. But be aware that if you’ve used, say, the EPCOT day on those tickets, then you no longer have valid admission for EPCOT even if you have days left on the ticket and valid admission for some of the other parks.

Hi, question on Individual Lightning Lane bookings…we are going this coming Sunday through Tuesday. We will have Park Hopper and will start our days at MK, HS, then Epcot–chose Epcot for one of our days b/c I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get Guardians otherwise. But I might’ve been confused on that strategy. My question is this–can we book our second ILL reservation at 7 am after we book our first one? I.e. could we book an ILL for Guardians on Tuesday at 7am for mid-day, and then go ahead and book an ILL for later in the day (after 2:00) at AK for Flight of Passage? Or can we not book a second ILL until the normal Genie+ rules–either two hours or once we check into our first ILL?

Ie. in my example, if we book an ILL at 7am for Guardians at, say 11:00, and ideally want to buy an ILL for Flight of Passage for later in the day, can we book that ILL early in the morning or do we have to wait two hours? And if we have to wait two hours, all ILL for Flight of Passage will likely be gone, right? At that point, I assume we just hope that they open more reservations mid-day? I.e. keep checking and hope for the best?

Hi Jimmy, yes, you can book both ILLs at 7 a.m. You don’t need to ride one before you can get the next. The limitation on Genie+ LLs is (as you might guess) to keep them from booking up all at once. With ILLs, this is accomplished by limiting people to at most two per day, but you can make both of them at 7 a.m. Here’s a post from planDisney that confirms exactly that https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/book-genie-ill-time-tassuming-not-overlap-491333/

This is a great question though! I’m going to add it to the article. Thanks for asking, and have a great trip!

Thanks so much Jennifer!! I really appreciate it! I think this is going to change our strategy–we’re going to start at Animal Kingdom on our last day, knowing we can buy an ILL that morning for Guardians for later in the day, so we’ll park hop to Epcot….I had convinced everyone that we needed to start at Epcot that morning to make sure we could ride Guardians, but sounds like that’s not the case–thanks so much!!

Hi Jennifer! We’re planning for a trip next year – and assuming the Genie+ system doesn’t change before then – I have some questions! We’re a group of six – me, my brother, his wife and young son, and our parents. In all likelihood only my brother and I will be able to use the Genie+ booking system. Say we purchased G+ for all six of us, and we’re all already linked through the app, and one day decide me and my brother wanted to book Space Mountain, which I do from my account, could he then book the others in the group onto a different ride at the same time excluding himself from the booking from his account? Or does the person making the booking have to be included in the booking? Basically if the grandparents and the grandchild who don’t know how to use Genie+ and dont have it on their phones want to go off and do a different ride, can my brother or I book those rides from them without including one of us in the booking?

Hi Suzanna, you’re all set – you can do exactly what you’re proposing. I’ve booked Genie+ from my hotel room for people who wanted to ride something, and excluded myself from the group. You’ll always have the opportunity to edit the group when you’re booking to add or exclude anyone, but in the case you’re describing where you are already booked at Space Mountain you’ll find that it’s easy to book the others and exclude yourselves because you won’t show in the list of eligible guests.

You can book only for certain members of a group, and you can also cancel only for certain members of a group. When you want to know this: if you’re trying for a very popular LL that will book up to the afternoon quickly. There are only a few of these, but let’s say Slinky Dog. You’ll find it easier to zoom through the booking with everyone selected – fast fingers will get you an earlier time there, and unselecting people takes time. Once it’s done, cancel for those members of the group who don’t want to ride Slinky and book them somewhere else.

Awesome! Thank you for the answer – I’d looked everyone for this, and couldn’t find an answer one way or the other. Given the recent announcements however, who knows what the situation will be by next August, Genie+ and otherwise!

I have park hopper tickets and park reservations linked to my Disney Experience account for March 2023. When setting up “My Day” I obviously had to choose the park I had my reservation (Magic Kingdom), but then I was able to select “Plan for Your Next Park” and I chose my hop to park (EPCOT). This now populates “My Day” with both parks and puts EPCOT at the top of the list. (Not Ideal) I then went in and decided I didn’t want to park hop to EPCOT but rather Hollywood Studios, so I edited my selections and chose Hollywood Studios for a 2PM park hop arrival. This doesn’t reset “My Day” but now adds Hollywood Studios to the list along with EPCOT and Magic Kingdom. If I do the same by adding Animal Kingdom, I’ll now have all 4 parks listed in “My Day” with the last added park at the top of the list. I’m not sure what to expect from my tip board for that day because the day hasn’t arrived yet, but if anyone knows of a way to reset “My Day” back to just a single park I’d love to hear it.

You may find the answers you’re looking for here: https://touringplans.com/blog/how-to-setup-customize-genie-tip-board/

I would try going to the top of the My Day tab (*not* the Tip Board) and tapping Edit Selections. I know for sure it will let you redo your whole setup for your reservation park. I’ve never tried to see what it does to your hopping parks, but if it’s a total do-over as it appears to be for the one park then it should clear everything.

If I have a park reservation for Magic Kingdom but am planning to hop to Animal Kingdom later that day and I am making and stacking lightning lanes ONLY for Animal Kingdom after 2pm, which parks opening time am I using to gauge when I can make my 2nd (and subsequent) lightening lanes? For example, the day in question is a Sunday which shows that MK opens at 9am but AK opens at 8am. Is it the park that I have reservation for OR the park in which I am making lightening lanes? Would my second lightening lane time be 10am or 11am?

Hi Kimberly, when you make a Lightning Lane reservation before park opening, it always behaves as if you had tapped into the park that the ride is in and made it right at park opening. (I know that you can’t actually do this because that isn’t where your reservation is, but I find it is the best way to remember which park governs the 120-minute rule.)

So if you are making LL reservations for Animal Kingdom, then that is the park whose opening matters. In your specific example, you would be able to make a new reservation at 10 a.m.

You can take a look at the worked example here as well: https://touringplans.com/blog/when-can-you-book-next-genie-lightning-lane/

Hello – We have 4 adults in our party, scheduled March 4- 11, 2023. Say we are all logged into Genie+ at 7am. Can we make multiple Lightning Lane Reservations at the same time for the whole group?

Hi Shelly – If you’re asking what I think you’re asking, then no. Let’s take Slinky Dog and assume you’re going on a high crowd day where they may sell out very quickly.

If you have 4 people trying for a Slinky reservation at 7 a.m. with the same party, you may be more likely to end up with a reservation for Slinky than if only one person tried.

If you have 2 people trying for Slinky and 2 people trying for Toy Story Mania, each with the whole group of 4, then you’ll end up with a reservation for everyone for *either* Slinky or Toy Story Mania, but not both.

The time that it is helpful to have multiple people try to book the same party in different experiences is when you are trying to get a Genie+ LL and an Individual LL both at 7 a.m., or G+ LL and a Boarding Group. Those are cases where the systems are independent (in terms of whether holding one blocks you from another one), but if you try to have one person book one after the other, you might miss out on one.

Disney Genie+ 120 Minute Rule

Sojourney Travel

Written By Dannielle Puckett, Travel Advisor | Disney Specialist

While we are very excited to have the option to skip the standby line at Disney World, we have found that Genie+ can definitely have a little bit of a learning curve.

There’s a lot of confusion about when attractions can be booked.

Disney officially states that “You can select the next available arrival window for select Lightning Lane entrances at attractions and entertainment all day long.” They also mention that, “Once you’ve redeemed your initial selection (or the arrival window has passed), you can use the app to check your My Day itinerary or Tip Board to see when you’re eligible to make another selection. You can make selections all day up to regular park closing.”

What they don’t mention is that the next available arrival window for some rides might actually be late in the day.

You see, anyone who has purchased Genie+ and has a park reservation at any given park, can make their first selection for that park at 7am . The most popular rides will be chosen at that time. As guests grab these selections, the available arrival window moves further and further back. If you are slow to grab yours, it might even be at the end of the night. Oh no! My return time isn’t until 8pm! Does that mean that I can’t make any more selections until I use it at 8pm?

Good news! This is where the 120 MINUTE RULE will save you! Even though you are only supposed to be able to book one reservation at a time, you can actually hold a second reservation if your first reservation is more than 120 minutes away . Now, it’s important to realize that the 120 MINUTE RULE starts when the park opens, not at 7am .

So, you can actually book a second attraction after any of the following:

As soon as you tap into your first selection. (If the attraction has two tap points, you will need to tap both.)
120 minutes after you made your first selection (Remember if you made your first selection before park opening, the 120 minute clock doesn’t start ticking until after the park has opened.)
After your reservation window has passed. (Don’t let this happen, because that means that you miss your window, and you can’t re-book the attraction. It’s best to cancel it if you can’t make it.)

Now, let’s look at a real scenario. It’s your Hollywood Studios day. The park opens at 9am, and your “must have” ride is Slinky Dog Dash. You set your alarm and reserve a Slinky Dog Dash selection as fast as you can. Alas, your return time is 3pm. When can you book a second?

You can book a second reservation 120 minutes after the park has opened. (i.e. If the park opens at 9am, you can book your second at 11am.) If you try to book too soon, you will get a message like this, alerting you that you aren’t eligible and letting you know when you will be eligible. So, if in doubt… Genie will tell you.

If you plan on going to the park at opening… you will need to use the stand-by line for attractions until 11am.

Now, here’s something really cool about the 120 minute rule. Once the 120 minutes has passed, that 3pm reservation you have will no longer impact any of your future selections for other attractions. It’s like it’s not even there. You can even utilize the 120 minute rule again when you book your 11am selection, giving you another return time late in the day. We call this “stacking reservations” . You can even overlap reservation times when utilizing the 120 Minute Rule. Whether or not this is a smart thing to do, would depend on the way you want to tour the parks.

Let’s look at another scenario.

Maybe you were able to get your first Genie+ selection of the day for a return time that is close to the park opening time. That’s GREAT! Now you can just go into the park and speed through reservations, booking the next available selection time immediately after you tap into each. Imagine this is going great, but at some point in the day you realize that one of the attractions you want to do is returning times that are late in the day. Well then, you may end up needing to utilize the 120 minute rule after all.

We don’t want you to “lose” 120 minutes of your day though, so you will need to be strategic about it. A great time to book would be over a lunch break, or lunch and a show, or maybe during your mid-day resort nap, or even utilize an Individual Attraction Selection during this time.

I hope this has helped you understand the 120 MINUTE RULE and when to use it. There are a lot of scenarios that can come into play. Basically, if you can’t wrap your head around it, just try to make a reservation every time you scan into a ride and every time two hours has passed from the last time you were able to book an attraction. Genie will let you know if you are eligible.

Lastly, in response to the Genie+ confusion, Disney has set up guest service locations throughout the parks. Just look for the blue umbrellas. There will be a friendly cast member there, ready to help!

CLICK HERE for more Genie+ tips!

Need more help? Contact us today!

Already booked, but now you wish you had used a travel agent? We can still take over your booking 🙂

Contact your Sojourney Travel advisor for more assistance.

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Dannielle Puckett, Travel Advisor | Disney Specialist

Dannielle has been a lover of travel her whole life. From family ski trips in Canada and the US, to adventurous deep sea fishing and lobstering in the Florida Keys, her love for travel never stops. Since having children of her own, she has fallen in love with the magic and wonder that Walt Disney World Resort vacations bring her family. She is always planning trips for herself, family, and friends and now is excited to help YOU plan your next Disney or Universal Vacation.

Attention to detail is her specialty, and she loves finding magical moments everywhere in her trips.

Dannielle is a blessed wife and mother to four amazing children.

Contact Dannielle

https://www.facebook.com/sojourneytravelbydannielle

(470) 327-8344

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How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Disney World

Walt Disney World’s Genie+ line-skipping service has loads of distinctive wrinkles. One about which we hear many questions is the 120 minute rule, which might decide eligibility in your subsequent Lightning Lane journey reservation. This submit explains that coverage, when it applies & doesn’t, and the way it impacts the picks you need to make. ( Up to date February 22, 2024 .)

We’ve addressed the 120 minute rule in a number of information posts and itineraries, together with our Information to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ . Nevertheless, this continues to be an enormous supply of confusion, so we’re going to clarify the 120 minute rule particularly right here with added particulars, examples and screenshots. That ought to (hopefully) reply a number of questions whereas giving rise to a few dozen extra. That appears to be how issues are going with Genie+ (it’s not your fault–there’s lots to know and that is overwhelming!).

Since Walt Disney World first introduced the paid FastPass choice, we’ve been referencing the 120 minute rule in our information posts–even earlier than Disney itself acknowledged that the 120 minute rule was a characteristic of Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. That’s not as a result of I’m clairvoyant ( I wouldn’t be utilizing my powers for Disney planning functions if I had been! ), however as a result of the 120 minute rule is definitely nothing new.

February 22, 2024 Replace: We’ve got an fascinating on-the-ground replace shared by a number of readers within the feedback to this and different posts. Earlier than we get to that, let’s begin with the official guidelines for utilizing Lightning Lane entrances provided by Disney Genie+ service. Walt Disney World signifies that, on common, Visitors can enter 2 to three sights or experiences per day utilizing Lightning Lane entrances, if the primary choice is made early within the day.

There are a bunch of guidelines for Genie+ on the official DisneyWorld.com web page , however right here’s the pertinent pull quote for the needs of this submit: “Disney Genie+ service Lightning Lane picks can solely be made one after the other. You have to redeem an current Disney Genie+ service Lightning Lane choice or wait 2 hours—whichever comes first—earlier than making one other Lightning Lane entrance choice by Disney Genie+ service. Please word: the 2-hour wait to make one other choice begins when the park opens, even when you made your first reserving at 7:00 AM.”

Along with that, planDisney (an official useful resource by the corporate) answered this query yesterday (Feb. 21): “ Can I e-book one other lighting lane with genie plus as soon as I faucet right into a reservation? ” with kind of the identical response: “I’m joyful to share that Visitors with Disney Genie+ service are eligible to order their subsequent Lightning Lane entry both as soon as they’ve redeemed their present Lightning Lane by ‘tapping in’ to the attraction or 2 hours have handed for the reason that reservation was made, whichever comes first.”

Regardless of the official coverage being fairly clear–and reiterated within the final day–we’ve acquired a number of studies from readers that solely the 120 minute rule is “working” and tapping into the prevailing Genie+ Lightning Lane choice doesn’t open the flexibility to e-book a brand new journey reservation. For no matter it’s price, we’ve acquired questions/feedback about this since at the very least late final 12 months, however by the point I had the possibility to check, I couldn’t replicate the issue–redeeming an current journey reservation did allow me to make a brand new one.

Truthfully, I chalked it as much as person error since I didn’t encounter the difficulty. Particularly provided that Walt Disney World’s official insurance policies had not modified and there weren’t widespread studies of this Lightning Lane choice limitation. Nevertheless, within the final month, I’ve been listening to this increasingly more. It’s to the purpose that persevering with to consider it’s person error–particularly given Disney’s lack of transparency about Genie+ insurance policies up to now and intermittent IT points–would pressure credulity. There aren’t immediately this many Walt Disney World visitors making the identical mistake and sharing their frustrations on-line.

Sadly, the final time I examined Genie+ was in late January, and I’m not going to have one other event to take action till early-to-mid March 2024. By then, it wouldn’t shock me within the least if this downside as soon as once more “magically” resolves itself. Or if Walt Disney World gives definitive clarification by way of a coverage change.

Primarily based on the studies of when this has been taking place, my very robust suspicion is that Walt Disney World is ‘disabling’ the redeem to unlock extra Lightning Lanes ‘characteristic’ as a method to throttle energy customers and protect journey reservation stock throughout busier occasions. In wanting by once we’ve acquired feedback of this nature, they’ve largely come throughout peak dates: final 12 months’s vacation season and this 12 months round MLK Weekend and now Presidents’ Week/Mid-Winter Break.

Whereas I can not independently verify what’s taking place or the motivation for Disney (probably) doing this, that’s what I think is going on. That additionally implies that after I check this subsequent month, I gained’t expertise the identical downside–however different customers will every week or so later when visiting for one of many peak weeks of Spring Break.

Quite than assuming that my (potential future) expertise is absolutely consultant of what has been taking place persistently for the previous couple of months–and everybody experiencing the difficulty is solely screwing up–I’m prepared to at the very least permit for the likelihood that Walt Disney World is quietly limiting customers on busy days with out making it the official, revealed coverage. In actual fact, I’d guess on that being the case.

I’d love to listen to from readers who’ve just lately been to Walt Disney World and had been ready–or unable–to make subsequent Lightning Lane picks after redeeming the prior one. Please additionally embrace your journey dates and parks visited, so we will get an concept of how crowd ranges overlap (or don’t) with this situation. Hopefully we get sufficient crowdsourced knowledge factors that we will draw additional conclusions.

What’s what else you need to know in regards to the 120 minute rule, from its historical past to sensible functions and in-park examples…

The 120 minute rule is definitely nicely established and has been a outstanding characteristic of legacy FastPass techniques for the reason that starting. That features Walt Disney World’s paper FastPass, plus the identical paper and digital techniques in California, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

Mainly, each FastPass system ever has used the 120 minute–besides two. The much less notable exception is MaxPass at Disneyland, which used a 90 minute rule. There was really some query as as to whether Genie+ would comply with in its footsteps, however our understanding is that didn’t happen because of the decrease attraction counts at Walt Disney World’s parks as in comparison with Disneyland. Shortening the window might end in journey reservation stock points because of the lack of sights. (Identical cause there are not any re-rides with Genie+ at Walt Disney World.)

For many of you studying this, the extra outstanding exception to the 120 minute rule is FastPass+ (see under) . Sarcastically, that is the outlier even when it’s the system with which the overwhelming majority of “fashionable” Walt Disney World followers are acquainted.

FastPass+ didn’t have this rule as a result of it was booked prematurely, making it basically completely different from all of Disney’s different line skipping techniques. The entire relaxation are same-day and work very equally to Genie+.

With that background established, let’s flip to the 120 minute rule.

No matter whether or not you’re staying off-site or on-site, you possibly can e-book your first Genie+ choice at 7 am on the day of your go to. The best way Genie+ journey reservations work is you could e-book one after the other, and may both make one other choice after two hours (120 minutes) or when you faucet into your earlier Genie+ choice (each tapstiles at sights which have two)–whichever comes first.

The 120 minute rule exists in order that visitors selecting extra common sights aren’t unduly penalized for that, and don’t get shut out of Lightning Lane reservations later within the day.

The above screenshot ought to assist illustrate why this rule is required. As you possibly can see from my telephone’s timestamp, this was taken at 7:18 am, by which period Slinky Canine Sprint had a return time of 6:05 pm. By 9 am, its return time could be inside an hour of park closing. If you happen to booked a Slinky Canine Sprint journey reservation earlier than 9 am and there was no 120 minute rule, that will be your solely Lightning Lane number of the day. (It could principally turn out to be a de facto Particular person Lightning Lane expertise with out the 120 minute rule.)

The clock on the 120 minute rule begins ticking at park opening, which means that you simply can not make one other Genie+ choice at 9 am (e.g. 120 minutes from 7 am).

If the park opens at 9 am, you’d be capable to make your subsequent Genie+ journey reservation at 11 am or upon tapping into the Lightning Lane in your first Genie+ journey reservation, whichever happens first. That is in all probability complicated, so let’s use an illustrative instance…

Throughout My Day Utilizing Genie+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios , my first Lightning Lane journey reservation was Slinky Canine Sprint. As defined in that submit, we strongly advocate reserving this primary–proper at 7 am.

The screenshot above exhibits my Lightning Lane arrival window of 10:45 am to 11:45 am for Slinky Canine Sprint.

On today, Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened at 9 am. This might probably make the 120 minute rule or my precise arrival relevant, relying upon whether or not I entered the Slinky Canine Sprint Lightning Lane earlier than or after 11 am.

The second a part of that is mirrored within the Genie+ system, which signifies I’ll be eligible for an additional Lightning Lane choice beginning at 11 am (see above) . Nevertheless, on journey reservations that probably “overlap” the 2 guidelines, it doesn’t point out that both might apply. (In all probability as a result of that will be too complicated!)

Since I entered the Lightning Lane for Slinky Canine Sprint at 10:40 am (5 minutes earlier than my window formally opened–a completely different wrinkle to the convoluted system!) and tapped into each checkpoints by 10:41 am, I used to be then eligible to e-book one other Lightning Lane journey reservation at that time.

As you possibly can see within the screenshot above, I booked the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at 10:47 am–13 minutes earlier than the Genie+ system indicated I used to be eligible. Once more, this occurred as a result of I tapped into each checkpoints of Slinky Canine Sprint. Had I not returned to SDD till 11:05 am, the 120 minute rule would’ve kicked in, and I might’ve been eligible for an additional Lightning Lane journey reservation by way of Genie+ at 11 am.

In response to my Genie+ day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a number of of you query how I ended up “stacking” the above Lightning Lane reservations for Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and Toy Story Mania.

The 120 minute rule is the reason. I booked Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run upon tapping into the Tower of Terror Lightning Lane at 12:10 pm. Since that Smugglers Run journey reservation didn’t begin till 6:05 pm, I used to be eligible to e-book one other Lightning Lane reservation at 2:10 pm (two hours after 12:10 pm). At 2:10 pm, I booked the Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster reservation for five:25 pm. Since that was greater than 120 minutes away, my subsequent window opened at 4:10 pm, at which level I booked Toy Story Mania for six:35 pm.

That is how I ended up with “stacked” Lightning Lane journey reservations for the late afternoon and early night at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I used to be in a position to do the identical factor once more at Magic Kingdom as soon as I had used up my DHS late afternoon stockpile, basically buying and selling one warchest of Lightning Lane journey reservations for an additional.

Anybody who has expertise with the legacy FastPass techniques can possible attest to how frequent it’s/was to unintentionally be an “night FastPass hoarder.” If you happen to prioritize grabbing Lightning Lane reservations for common rides early within the day, that is in all probability how your reservation lineup will look because the return occasions shall be kicked out additional into the longer term.

In contrast to FastPass+, Genie+ doesn’t care when you overlap journey reservations–identical to the legacy FastPass system, it’s “dumb” in that regard. This implies the onus is on you to be aware about not making conflicting picks, which must be fairly simple since the entire return occasions are displayed on “My Day” within the app. If you happen to’re involved a few time being too near an current Lightning Lane reservation, both select a unique attraction or wait 5-10 minutes for the return time clock to maneuver ahead and provide you with extra of a buffer between them. Nothing says you need to make one other reservation the moment you’re eligible!

In contrast, you would go along with much less common sights which have shorter wait occasions and get extra fast return occasions, utilizing these back-to-back-to-back. Sarah prefers this technique, and you possibly can see her leverage it to nice success throughout her day utilizing Genie+ at Magic Kingdom . (This method solely actually works on the fort parks–I don’t assume it’s a good suggestion at second gates or past.)

Now that you simply (hopefully) perceive the fundamentals of how the 120 minute rule works, this could open up a variety of strategic prospects. One is Sarah’s “Small Ball” Technique mentioned above. One other is the “Park Hopper Protocol,” through which you begin at one park and knock out as a lot as potential by way of standby, whereas accumulating Lightning Lane journey reservations for a second park within the afternoon and night. (Animal Kingdom to DHS or Epcot are improbable for this.)

In the end, I hope this has helped you perceive the 120 minute rule and never made it extra complicated, however it’s laborious to convey a few of this by way of weblog posts. Sadly, Walt Disney World doesn’t assist make this simpler to know, as there’s no handy method to see if you’re eligible for an additional Genie+ reservation (a significant design flaw, when you ask me–however they didn’t).

You merely attempt to e-book one other Lightning Lane reservation, and both succeed or get the error message in the direction of the highest of the submit–however even that is perhaps incorrect, as tapping into a previous choice (as was the case with me and Slinky Canine Sprint!) will set off eligibility even earlier than Genie+ signifies you’re eligible.

Up to now, the 120 minute rule wasn’t this complicated as a result of paper FastPasses plainly said on the underside if you’d be eligible in your subsequent choice–and that was it. Genie+ not solely gives much less readability, however is variable. On prime of that, the person interface has quite a lot of different choices, making it appear to be you possibly can e-book Lightning Lane journey reservations if you really can’t, utilizing unclear language and meaningless warnings, and organizing issues in unintuitive methods. However these complaints and issues are largely past the scope of this submit.

If you happen to nonetheless don’t perceive all of this, we’d advocate merely attempting to make a journey reservation by way of Genie+ each two hours or after tapping into each checkpoints at each Lightning Lane. It’ll work when you’re eligible and gives you an error message if not. At this level, that’s the “finest” method of understanding when you possibly can e-book one other Genie+ Lightning Lane choice. That is all powerful to maintain observe of, and it’s higher to be protected than sorry!

Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Find out about lodges on our Walt Disney World Motels Critiques web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Critiques . To save cash on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Suggestions for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys submit takes a singular take a look at intelligent objects to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Trip Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the perfect place to start out is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for every thing you might want to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

Did this aid you perceive the Genie+ system’s 120 minute rule? Ideas on technique for making Lightning Lane journey reservations in mild of this rule and the flexibility to stack picks for later within the day? Do you agree or disagree with my evaluation? Any questions we may help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!

Genie+ Stacking – The Hack To Get More Done With Genie+

Whether you’re in Disney World or Disneyland, one of the most frustrating aspects of any visit to the theme parks is all the waiting in line. Fortunately, Disney has the solution: Genie+ and the Lightning Lanes. Unfortunately, it’s going to cost you.

While we can’t do anything about the price of Genie+ (aside from offer some sweet discount Disney tickets ), we can help you make the most it with a popular Disney travel hack: Genie+ stacking with the 120 Minute Rule. Let’s break it down.

Disney Lightning Lane & Genie+ Basics

Taking the place of MaxPass, FastPass+ and FastPass, Disney Genie+ and the Lightning Lanes allow guests to bypass the standby lines at some of the Disney Parks’ most popular attractions – for a price. While those out on the west coast are already familiar with idea of paid line-skipping, thanks to MaxPass, this is the first time the concept has made its way to Central Florida .

For at least $25 a day per person in Disneyland or $15 a day or more in Walt Disney World, Disney Genie+ isn’t a cheap addition to your family vacation. However, when the service is used effectively – like with the stacking strategy below – and reservations are available, it can be a smart way to save time.

Alternatively, (or “in addition,” depending on how much you want to spend), guests can also purchase access to Individual Lightning Lane Attractions, typically the parks’ most in-demand rides. Priced per attraction based on guest demand that day, they’re a particularly expensive way to skip the lines.

Can you have more than one Genie+ reservation at a time?

Yes! While you can’t book more than one Genie+ reservation at once, you can hold multiple Genie+ reservations at a time by utilizing the 120 Minute Rule. This is called Genie+ stacking. You are also able to have both a Genie+ reservation and an Individual Lightning Lane entrance at the same time.

Stack & Hack Your Disney Vacation with Genie+ & the 120 Minute Rule

So, what exactly is the 120 Minute Rule and how do you use it to your advantage? After making a Genie+ reservation, you need to wait until one of a few things happens (whichever comes first):

You tap in for your return time – both touchpoints, if there are two
Your window passes or – you can check in for your reservation up to 15 minutes after your return time ends
It is two hours after the park opened – or two hours since you booked your last time slot

This last bullet point is called the 120 Minute Rule.

The Genie+ 120 Minute Rule, Disney’s Ride Reservation Loophole

Guests can book their very first return time starting at 7 AM, even if they’re nowhere near the park. Since you’ll want to reserve the most popular rides first for Genie Plus stacking, this should give you a return time that is later on in the day, as reservations are limited and only available for the next open time slot.

However, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck in the standby lines until your return time rolls around. You just need to wait for either two hours after the theme park opens or, if you’re making a reservation during park hours, two hours after reserving your last attraction. This cooling-off period helps keep the most in-demand rides from getting snapped up all at once.

For example, if you booked your first time slot at 7 AM and the park opens at 10 AM, you can’t reserve another ride until noon. Then, assuming you make that reservation at 12:02 PM, you’ll be able to secure your next return time starting at 2:02 PM.

Stacking Genie+ Reservations with the 120 Minute Rule

Disney Genie+ stacking utilizes the 120 Minute Rule accumulate several Lightning Lane reservations during the day and backload them into the afternoon and evening. Let’s look at how this works in practice. Since visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios works well with stacking Genie+ reservations, we’ll use that as our example.

At 7 AM, you reserve a Lightning Lane return time for Slinky Dog Dash for 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM.
Hollywood Studios opens at 8 AM, starting the 120-minute countdown.
You can make your next reservation at 10 AM. You secure a 5:45 PM to 6:45 PM window for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, starting the 120-minute countdown again.
At noon, you book a time slot for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run for 7:15 PM to 8:15 PM, starting the 120-minute countdown once more.
At 2 PM, you reserve a time for Toy Story Mania for 6 PM to 7 PM, again starting the 120-minute countdown.
At 4 PM, you make a reservation for Alien Swirling Saucers for 6:45 PM to 7:45 PM, starting the 120-minute countdown.
But, this time you won’t need it. You arrive for your Slinky Dog Dash window at 4:30 PM, freeing you up to make your next return time only 30 minutes later.

This is Genie+ stacking at its most basic. Previously, guests could also exploit another Genie+ quirk which allowed visitors to have numerous rolling reservations. However, that loophole has since been closed.

Genie+ Stacking: Who, What, Where & When

Though it takes a bit of planning and attention, the Genie Plus 120 Minute Rule is a simple, highly effective strategy. That being said, it isn’t for everyone, or even every park.

A Disney Hack Best for Park Hoppers & Lazy Days with a Late Start

So, who should try stacking Genie Plus reservations? This Disney travel hack works well with a few different scenarios. Since you start by booking the most popular ride first and work your way down the list, you tend to end up with a clump of reservations in the afternoon and evening.

This basically backloads your fun and, if you like, your time in the parks, ultimately freeing up your morning to do other things. Rather than those who plan to spend all day in the same park, Genie Plus stacking is great for folks with Park Hopper tickets or reservations for brunch or a character breakfast . It’s also works well with a morning at Disney Springs or Downtown Disney or lazing by the hotel pool .

Now, go on. Reserve that ride from the shores of Stormalong Bay at Disney’s Yacht Club and Beach Club resorts. Book that return time during your tee time for a round of golf or mini-golf . Make that reservation while dining with Mickey or the princesses. Plan out that afternoon visit to Magic Kingdom while spending the morning sampling the Epcot festival du jour – or, if you’re on the west coast, Disneyland and California Adventure .

As for which rides you should choose for Genie Plus stacking, you have several options depending on which park you visit. Keep in mind that reservations are based on availability and attractions are subject to change.

Walt Disney World Genie+ Rides List

Mickey and Minnie Runaway Railway Entrance

There are over 40 different attractions available with the Disney Genie+ service at Walt Disney World, with most of them found at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. In fact, these are really the only two parks that we’d recommend you splurge on Genie+ for.

As for Epcot and Animal Kingdom, there are definitely some rides you can’t miss. However, you should be able to see most of them by taking advantage of Early Theme Park Entry or Extended Evening Hours, paying for an Individual Attraction Selection or simply using the standby line.

*Please note that a few rides which are typically offered as Individual Attraction Selections – Space Mountain, Frozen Ever After and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – will instead be available as part of the Disney Genie+ service from February 25, 2022 and August 7, 2022.

**Expedition Everest will be closed for refurbishment from January 4 through mid-April 2022.

Lightning Lane & Genie+ Magic Kingdom Attractions

Individual Lightning Lane Selections

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 38” (97 centimeters) or taller

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lanes

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 40” (102 centimeters) or taller
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Haunted Mansion
“it’s a small world”
Jungle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
Meet Ariel at Her Grotto
Meet Cinderella and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall
Meet Mickey at Town Square Theater
Meet Princess Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall
Mickey’s PhilharMagic
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Peter Pan’s Flight
Pirates of the Caribbean
Space Mountain – 44” (112 centimeters) or taller
The Barnstormer – 35” (89 centimeters) or taller
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Tomorrowland Speedway – 32” (82 centimeters) or taller
Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid

Lightning Lane & Genie+ Epcot Attractions

Fountain and signage for Remy's Adventure Ride

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – 42” (107 centimeters) or taller

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lanes

Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
Frozen Ever After
Journey into Imagination with Figment
Living with the Land
Mission: SPACE – 40” (102 centimeters) or taller
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Soarin’ Around the World – 40” (102 centimeters) or taller
Spaceship Earth
Test Track – 40” (102 centimeters) or taller
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Turtle Talk with Crush

Lightning Lane & Genie+ Hollywood Studios Attractions

Star Wars : Rise of the Resistance – 40” (102 centimeters) or taller
Alien Swirling Saucers – 32” (82 centimeters) or taller
Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
Disney Junior Play & Dance!
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Meet Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Millennium Falcon : Smugglers Run – 38” (97 centimeters) or taller
Muppet*Vision 3D
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 48” (122 centimeters) or taller
Slinky Dog Dash – 38” (97 centimeters) or taller
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue – 40” (102 centimeters) or taller
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 40” (102 centimeters) or taller
Toy Story Mania!

Lightning Lane & Genie+ Animal Kingdom Attractions

Individual Lightning Lane Selection

Avatar Flight of Passage – 44” (113 centimeters) or taller
DINOSAUR – 40” (102 centimeters) or taller
Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain** – 44” (112cm) or taller
Feathered Friends in Flight!
Festival of the Lion King
Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!
It’s Tough to Be a Bug!
Kali River Rapids – 38” (97 centimeters) or taller
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost
Naʻvi River Journey
The Animation Experience at Conservation Station

Disneyland Genie+ Rides List

Disney Lightning Lane access is available with Genie+ at nearly 20 rides throughout Disneyland. Since folks on the west coast are already familiar with the 120 Minute Rule due to the former FastPass and MaxPass, stacking Genie+ reservations for the following rides should be relatively simple:

Lightning Lane & Genie+ Disneyland Park Attractions

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Star Wars : Rise of the Resistance – 40″ (102 cm) or taller
Autopia – 32″ (81 cm) or taller and accompanied by another rider 54″ or taller, 54″ (137 cm) or taller to ride alone
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 40″ (102 cm) or taller
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Indiana Jones Adventure – 46″ (117 cm) or taller
“it’s a small world”
Matterhorn Bobsleds – 42″ (107 cm) or taller
Millennium Falcon : Smugglers Run – 38″ (97 cm) or taller
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
Space Mountain – 40″ (102 cm) or taller
Splash Mountain – 40″ (102 cm) or taller
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue – 40″ (102 cm) or taller

Lightning Lane & Genie+ California Adventure Park Attractions

Lightning McQueen and Sally Carrera Riding In Front of Red and Rocks at Sunset

Radiator Springs Racers – 40″ (102 cm) or taller

Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane

Goofy’s Sky School – 42″ (107 cm) or taller
Grizzly River Run – 42″ (107 cm) or taller
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! – 40″ (102 cm) or taller
Incredicoaster – 48″ (122 cm) or taller
Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Soarin’ Around the World – 40″ (102 cm) or taller
Toy Story Midway Mania!
WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure

Tips & Tricks for Using the 120 Minute Rule to Stack Genie+ Reservations

Rise of the Resistance Disneyland entrance

Ready to leverage this Disney Genie+ loophole? Keep reading for our top suggestions on how to make the most of the 120 Minute Rule and stack your way to a great vacation.

Don’t Miss the 7 AM Start Time for Making Genie+ Reservations

For the best shot at the most in-demand rides and a chance to cram a ton of Disney Lightning Lane reservations into your day, you need to be on the app and ready to reserve your first attraction right at 7 AM. Some Genie+ rides, particularly those at Hollywood Studios in Disney World, are incredibly popular and reservations can fill up quickly. So, if you know you want to experience attractions like Slinky Dog Dash, you’ll need to be up early.

Set Alarms for Each 120-Minute Cooling-Off Period

We’ll admit that this next suggestion may seem a bit over the top, it’s the easiest way to stay on top of those 120 minutes and make sure you get the earliest return time possible. So, if you want to book as many Genie+ reservations as you can, it’s time to fire up your alarm app.

Set an alarm for a bit before 7 AM, allowing enough time to get on the app and buy Genie+ before the reservation rumble begins. Then, set additional apps for a few minutes before each 120-minute window ends.

For example, if the park you’re going to opens at 8:30 AM, you will be able to make your next Lightning Lane reservation at 10:30 AM, and so on. If you’re extra organized, you can even label each alarm with the ride you would ideally want to reserve next.

Prioritize the Most Popular Rides, Along with Your Favorites

As we mentioned, some ride reservations can be extremely popular, sometimes selling out in seconds. Accordingly, you’ll want to book a return time for those attractions first, then work your way through the other rides on your to-do list.

Keep in mind that even if you make your first Genie+ reservation right away at 7 AM, given some attractions’ popularity, your return times likely won’t be until later that afternoon. Don’t worry – you can still make another ride reservation for earlier in the day.

Remember You Can Overlap Ride Return Times

While FastPass+ was fussy about ride reservations with overlapping return times, Genie+ isn’t picky. In other words, there’s nothing to stop you from making booking Space Mountain for 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM and Splash Mountain for 6:35 PM to 7:35 PM.

Of course, this is used to our benefit with stacking because it allows us to pile several reservations close together in a short period of time. Having said that, you do still need to be mindful of your return windows and the time it will take you to get from ride to ride.

If you’re worried a timeframe won’t fit your schedule, simply pick a different attraction or check back in a few minutes to snap up the next available opening.

Utilize Early & Late Admission Offerings and Individual Lightning Lane Selections

Genie+ isn’t the only tool available to you when it comes to accomplishing all the attractions on your list. Individual Lightning Lane Selections are an easy, albeit expensive, way to tackle Disney’s most popular rides.

Additionally, if you are staying at one of the Disney hotels (or, for Disneyland guests, have a valid 3+ day ticket), you can also take advantage of perks like Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Hours for guests of the Disney World hotels and Extra Magic Hour and Magic Morning for those staying at the Disneyland hotels . Since the parks tend to be less busy during these exclusive periods, it can be possible to do rides without much of a wait.

Have you tried stacking Genie+ reservations with the 120 Minute Rule? Let us know in the comments! Wish Genie+ wasn’t so expensive? We can help! Save some dough and make the most of your day with our Disney discount tickets .

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Tag: 120 minute rule

Most recent, two important rules will change on july 24th in disney world.

By Robin Burks 2 Comments

Are you ready for the big changes coming to Disney World on July 24th?

Cinderella Castle

Disney recently announced that Genie+ is basically going away to be replaced with Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass . However, this is way more than just a name change. A lot MORE is changing with the Lightning Lane system , too. We’re going to go through two rule changes that you’ll need to know about the new system and how they could affect your next trip.

[Read more…]

We’re Breaking Down the Most CONFUSING Disney Genie+ RULE

By Samantha Kendall Leave a Comment

Genie+ has been around for a while now in Disney World, and we’ve gotten to know the system pretty well.

But, if you’re not in the parks every day like we are, it can still be pretty darn confusing . There are times you need to remember, rules you have to follow, and certain tricks you might not know . We’re breaking down one of the most confusing Genie+ rules so you can be prepared!

How to AVOID the BIGGEST Genie+ Mistakes in Disney World.

By Kelly Oliveros 7 Comments

It may not be what you want to hear, but it’s time to face the facts — FastPass+ is GONE and Disney Genie+ is now the service guests need to use to skip the standby lines in the parks.

Disney Genie

There’s a bit of a learning curve when it comes to Genie+ given its different format and specific rules. With that learning curve can come a LOT of mistakes. If you don’t come in fully prepared, you could make some of these big Genie+ mistakes while you’re in the park and they could cost you precious time or cause some big frustrations. Today we’re breaking down the Genie+ mistakes EVERYONE makes and how to avoid them so your next trip can be the best one yet!

Genie+ News, Chicken Ice Cream, and 2 Unexpected Disney World Updates!

By Jess Landers 1 Comment

Disney World is full of surprises !

Balloons on Main Street, U.S.A.

A confusing Genie+ rule was made official , we know some key details about the reimagined Finding Nemo musical as well as the return of Minnie Vans , and we tried some very odd ice cream — that we actually liked! Find out all the unexpected Disney World news right here.

Disney’s Confusing 120-Minute Genie+ Rule Is Now OFFICIAL

By Sara McOmber 17 Comments

Disney Genie+ is the new way to skip the lines in Disney World. For $15 per person per day , you can skip the standby line and head straight onto certain attractions in the parks. To really get your money’s worth from the system, we recommend doing some research before your trip to learn the ins and outs of Genie+ .

Expedition Everest Lightning Lane

We’re in Disney World parks every day, so we’ve done all kinds of research and experiments with Genie+ . From our experiences, we’ve learned a LOT about the program , including some rules that guests need to follow in order to really take advantage of Genie+. Now, Disney has made a few of those rules official! [Read more…]

The Big Disney Genie+ Rule That EVERYONE Gets Wrong!

By Zac Panza 33 Comments

Ah, Disney Genie. We’ve covered the good , the messy , and the confusing when it comes to Disney’s new planning service & paid FastPass+ replacement system.

We have uncovered a LOT of tips and tricks for this new service . There are a lot of rules to keep in mind when using Genie+, the paid FastPass+ replacement portion of this service. But there’s one rule in particular that a LOT of guests tend to get wrong. Misunderstanding this rule and not appreciating its full implications can cause a lot of headaches for you during your trip. So today we’re breaking down the BIG Disney Genie+ rule that everyone gets wrong so YOU can make sure you get it right!

The 5 Most Unexpected Disney World Announcements From the Week

Hey there, DFB friends! What a week it has been with the Disney Genie .

October 19th was the debut of the Disney Genie service in Disney World and it’s been a bit of a whirlwind while we figure out all the bells and whistles of this new service. There was also some unexpected news and experiences around Disney World this week, so let’s get into it!

5 Things at Disney World I…Still Don’t Understand

By Janelle Sheetz 1 Comment

Even if you’ve got a slew of Disney World experiences under your belt, there are probably still a few things about the parks that don’t make a whole lot of sense!

Hiya Mickey!

That’s why we’re gonna examine five common issues that, even to this day, still confuse some self-proclaimed Disney World experts — even US!

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Guide to Advance Dining Reservations for Restaurants at Disney World

Booking Advance Dining Reservations for popular restaurants at Walt Disney World is not easy. This ADR guide will help, with our best tips & tricks for scoring spots at the most difficult WDW dining options. Fair warning: this can be one of the most frustrating parts of planning your vacation, as the toughest ADRs book up over 60 days out. ( Updated December 29, 2023 .)

For Walt Disney World first-timers, it might come as a surprise that making Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) is such a challenge. After all, there are literally hundreds of table service restaurants that are bookable two months ahead of time at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, and the two dozen-plus resorts at Walt Disney World.

On top of that, knowledge is a big barrier to entry. Many travelers are unaware that it’s even possible to make ADRs a couple of months prior to their trips, or the ins and outs of booking reservations. Then there are the Walt Disney World diehards like us who know precisely how it’s done, but do not know where they want to eat so far ahead of time. ( The ADR window used to be 180 days–I don’t even know where I want to eat tomorrow, nevermind 6 months from now! ) Nevertheless, ADR availability tends to fill up fast for the most in-demand restaurants.

We’ve been documenting the challenges with making Advance Dining Reservations for years, as this has always been a hot topic among Walt Disney World fans. Last year’s What’s Up With ADR Availability? explained the dynamic, which has morphed over time and become a matter of staffing shortages and reduced capacity as a result (among other things).

However, this is hardly new. There have been controversies around booking, hoarding, and trading ADRs as long as I can remember. (Don’t Google “Howie’s Angels” unless you want to go down a fascinating-but-weird rabbit hole!) Over the years, Walt Disney World has made a number of changes to discourage the practice, yet it still persists to this day.

Turning to the latest updates on Advance Dining Reservations, let’s start with two pieces of good news. The first is that Walt Disney World has streamlined the search feature, and it’s now much easier to find ADRs for the entire day. Not only is search simpler, but it’s smoother. In the past, we found ourselves having to toy around with our times to try to get seemingly “hidden” results to display–searching by half-hour instead of by meal service and so forth. That’s not really the case any longer–what you see is what you get. We simply search all-day and typically see all results.

That alone makes finding Advance Dining Reservations for popular restaurants much easier. Of course, nothing with Walt Disney World vacation planning is truly simple, so there’s still a good chance you’ll need tips & tricks to find those tough ADRs. But this definitely makes it a lot easier for the ‘borderline’ restaurants that are somewhat but not super popular. Regardless, we’ve found ourselves spending a lot less time searching for restaurant reservations since the debut of this improved search function!

Part of the reason we’re wasting less time searching for ADRs is because availability has improved and reservations are now less competitive than they were in 2022 during the height of pent-up demand, staffing shortages, and reduced restaurant capacity. Thankfully, ADR availability has been improving for a while.

However, the extent of options we’re seeing is pretty remarkable. Restaurants like Chef Mickey’s, Story Book Dining at Artist Point, Akershus, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Topolino’s Terrace, California Grill, Space 220, and others all have availability in 2024. Of course, this still varies by party size and seating time. If you’re trying to find a table for 6 at Story Book Dining, you’re still going to have a tough time.

ADRs becoming much easier to book likely plays a big role in Walt Disney World bringing back the Disney Dining Plan in 2024 . That’s more good news for planners and fans of that pre-paid meal service, but also, will once again make Advance Dining Reservations more competitive–especially for larger parties and during peak travel dates. Even now, ADR availability is tighter than it was back in 2019–it’s just better than it was the last 2 years.

It’ll also get worse when Free Dining inevitably returns in 2024 . Trust us, we’ve been down this road and it’s what always happens during Free Dining. Even when the promotion falls during a time of year when the parks aren’t particularly busy, demand for ADRs is incredibly high due to the Free Dining. Accordingly, you’ll need to make reservations early or luck-out last minute.

Fortunately, there are ways to “beat” or “outsmart” the competition, and we’ll cover the top 10 methods here to maximize your chances of scoring the exact restaurants you want at precisely the right time!

10. Search Different Days – When searching for ADR availability, you’re given a calendar and can search a variety of different dates. It’s probably pointing out the obvious, but availability is not static across the calendar. Less obvious is which days of the week tend to have better availability.

In our experience, restaurants at resorts or Disney Springs are more difficult to book on weekends–since those aren’t gated, you’re competing with locals. Conversely, we’ve found that weekends are often less competitive in the parks (except EPCOT), especially now that Saturday and Sunday are the two least-busy days. (See Best & Worst Days to Visit Every Park at Walt Disney World for more insight on that.)

This recommendation goes even beyond that, though. Don’t just search for different days all at once. Do the searching itself on different dates if you’re not having success. Some restaurants–especially third party ones–don’t load all of their reservation availability into the system right away 60+ days in advance.

It’s not uncommon to suddenly see a ton more reservation availability ~30 days, ~2 weeks, ~7 days, etc., ahead of time. This isn’t due to cancellations–it’s the restaurants releasing more reservations. (From what we’ve been told by managers, at least some restaurants do this once their server and staff scheduling is set, which makes complete sense.)

9. Use the Refresh Method – This is less useful with the new search function, but one strategy worth trying if you’re not having success finding availability is to toggle back and forth between a meal service and all-day in order to refresh the ADR availability. This is particularly useful on ADR drop days, when reservations are being loaded into the system or scooped up and released by other guests.

This is actually how we’ve scored competitive Candlelight Processional dining packages. I just bounce back and forth between times, until eventually getting what we want at Biergarten. It’s also great for last minute availability, either on the night before or morning of your desired dining reservations.

This is less about the My Disney Experience system being bugged and more because refreshing allows you to see cancellations or reservations that are released from holds by other guests in real-time. On both the ADR drop days and last-minute, there’s a lot of reservation constantly entering and exiting the system. So persistence pays off!

8. Change Your Party Size – Since reopening, Walt Disney World has hidden availability for smaller or odd-numbered parties as part of its never ending quest for yield management and revenue maximization. The theory behind this is that a party of 1 only utilizes half the capacity of a table for 2, and is statistically likely spend less. Given the ongoing imbalance between capacity and demand, Disney would thus rather turn those parties of 1 away. Same idea applies for a party of 3, although we’ve seen this less in practice.

The solution to this for odd-numbered parties is to search for your party size, and the size of the table to which you’ll be assigned. Meaning that a party of 3 should search for 4, a party of 5 should search for 6, and so on. During the mobile check-in process (or sometimes before), you can modify the reservation downward to reflect your actual party size. Just be sure to only search for +1 your actual number–going any higher (or lower) is a recipe for problems.

7. Use A Notification Service – There are several ADR finder services, some of which are free and some of which are paid. These dining reservation finders notify you when an ADR you want becomes available. It’s then up to you to act fast and get it reserved.

We previously recommended a free service for this, but it got shut down when the new search function rolled out. An additional wrinkle to those changes was that they required logging into a My Disney Experience account to see reservation availability. Some ADR finders still work, but it’s our understanding that Walt Disney World is working to shut down all of them.

With that in mind, our strong recommendation would be to not pay for a reservation finder far ahead of your trip or for a year-long subscription. Basically, don’t spend anything you wouldn’t be upset about losing if the service goes belly-up overnight. (Personally, I’m not fond of ADR finders as they strike me as unfair, but it would be a dereliction of duty to not at least mention their existence.)

6. Multiple Devices, Computer Priority – Before your ADR window opens, my strong advice is to login to disneyworld.com on your computer and the My Disney Experience app. Sure, this all goes down at the crack of dawn, so there might be the strong temptation to do this all while lying in bed. But there are few better ways to cut your teeth on the Walt Disney World planning machine than by setting up a veritable command center, ready for every contingency.

If you’re really serious, go into private browsing, login, and open a new tab for every single restaurant you want. From there, start making your ADRs in highest priority order. If something goes wrong–and let’s be real, this is Disney IT, so something probably will–switch over to the My Disney Experience app or a different device and keep rolling.

5. Stay On-Site – Anyone can book ADRs for Walt Disney World table service restaurants up to 60 days in advance. However, on-site guests can make ADRs for the duration of their trip (up to 10 days) starting 60 days prior to their resort check-in date.

This is what’s commonly referred to as the “60+10 rule” among Walt Disney World fans. It’s called that rather than the “70 rule” because it isn’t necessarily 70 days. If your trip is 5 days, you’ll be able to book for the duration of it at the 60 day mark (so in your case, 60+5), but you wouldn’t be able to book 5 days beyond your checkout date. In other words, it’s more accurately the “60 plus up-to-10 rule” but that name isn’t quite as catchy or succinct.

In any case, the 60+10 rule makes it easier to make all of your ADRs all at once rather than day-by-day. More importantly, the head start can be hugely advantageous in booking the most difficult-to-score Advance Dining Reservations, such as Chef Mickey’s, Story Book Dining at Artist Point or Akershus, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Space 220, Topolino’s Terrace (breakfast), California Grill, and others. By the time the 60 day mark rolls around, many of those will already be gone!

4. Book “Backwards” – This works in tandem with the length of stay Advance Dining Reservation perk. If you make your ADRs in chronological order (meaning day 1, 2, 3, etc.), it’s possible you’ll miss out on the toughest reservations if you want something with really low capacity or you’re visiting during peak season dates.

As such, the best approach is to make your ADRs in order of difficulty, and to the greatest extent possible, backfill your vacation with those hardest-to-book Advance Dining Reservations. For example, if I were doing a weeklong trip and wanted to dine at Story Book Dining at Artist Point, Space 220 Restaurant, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Turf Club Bar & Grill, and Skipper Canteen, I’d do Artist Point first for day 7, Space 220 second on day 6, Be Our Guest next on day 5, and the last two whenever.

This is not a hard and fast rule, so don’t build your itinerary or trip plans with Advance Dining Reservation difficulty at the heart of your plans. If it works out to be more convenient to do Story Book Dining on night 5 instead of 7, you’re probably fine. Just don’t expect to get it on the first night. (This only applies to those staying on-site, since off-site guests must reserve day by day.)

3. Look Early – It wasn’t too long ago ( a little over a decade! ) that the only way to make ADRs was by telephoning Walt Disney World bright and early at 7 am, hoping you had just the right call cadence to get through to an operator. From there, it was a rush to get through your list as quickly as possible, hoping you scored seasoned, speedy Call Center Cast Member. While that’s still an option, it’s a terrible one. No one reading this internet-based weblog should be doing that.

Instead, use the Walt Disney World website or My Disney Experience app. Officially, here are Advance Dining Reservation drop times according to Walt Disney World:

Reservation availability for select Walt Disney World restaurants typically begins each day at approximately 5:45 AM (Eastern).
Please be aware that if you cancel a restaurant reservation, your previously scheduled reservation time will immediately be made available to another Guest.
All newly introduced dining events—such as special dining experiences and dessert parties—can typically be booked beginning at 7:00 AM on the day their offers become available.

Unofficially, I’ve gotta give those times a bit of side-eye. While it’s possible that some normal ADRs will be preloaded into the system at or before 5:45 am, you’re far more likely to have success most days at 6 am. Conversely, if you wait until 7 am for a newly-introduced dining option… you will miss out! Instead, you’ll want to be online by 5 am for new releases–and sometimes even that is too late. (Other times, it’s far too early–ADR release days are very hit or miss!)

2. Look Last Minute – I’ll be honest with you: it is exceedingly rare for us to follow any of our own advice here. The big exception is newly-introduced dining, which we almost always reserve. Beyond that, I’ll book (or sometimes just browse) at the 60+10 window when we’re eligible for that. Otherwise, we usually do not make ADRs over a month in advance.

Fortunately, many restaurants are not dropping all of their ADR availability ~60 days ahead of time. This is happening in part due to staffing–restaurants release a conservative number of reservations two months out, and then open up more as the dates draw nearer if Cast Member scheduling allows.

On top of that, many Walt Disney World visitors hoard ADRs, and cancel their unwanted ones the night before or even a couple of hours prior to their meals to avoid being penalized. (Some of these people likely are not hoarders, but have their plans change–this happens to us all the time.) Walt Disney World’s newly-relaxed ADR cancellation policy has made this more of a challenge, but it still works.

The most common times that we check for Advance Dining Reservations are between 9 pm and 11 pm the night before, as well as around 10 am and 2 pm same-day. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen nothing for many restaurants ~30 days in advance, only to find numerous options for lunch and dinner released the morning of or one day in advance. This is my manual version of an ADR finder!

1. Walk-Up Waitlist – This is perhaps the only Walt Disney World planning site that is vehemently anti-spreadsheet and cautions against over-preparing. We feel strongly about that as fans of Walt Disney World and enjoyers of fun. There’s also the practical reality that everything about planning for Walt Disney World is overly stressful and complicated. Sometimes, it’s refreshing to just wing it and go with the flow. (See our Being Spontaneous at Walt Disney World for a longer diatribe, including the importance of ‘planned spontaneity.’)

We’re also at least somewhat anti-ADR , or at least bemoan the practice of planning where you want to eat months in advance. That’s why one of the biggest improvements of the last several years is the addition of the Walk-Up Waitlist in My Disney Experience. This is one of the few technology initiatives in the last several years that reduces stress rather than adds to it. We regularly see options like Be Our Guest Restaurant, Le Cellier, Garden Grill, Topolino’s Terrace, ‘Ohana, and other hard-to-book Advance Dining Reservations.

This has only increased since Walt Disney World relaxed its cancellation policy to 2 hours. As a result of this, many more guests are cancelling last-minute, and that availability goes into the Walk-Up Waitlist rather than back into the reservation pool (since it’s not far enough in advance).

One thing to note here is that the restaurants have to do all of this manually, and sometimes can’t keep up with no-shows, cancellations, and modifications. As such, if there’s a restaurant that’s really important, consider actually walking up to the podium and seeing if there’s walk-up availability. Not as convenient as the app and your chances of success are low, but it can be worth a shot. We’ve had luck with this from time to time!

BONUS: Use an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner – If you’re overwhelmed by all of this–or even if you understand it all but find it daunting–consider outsourcing your ADR-making. One of several great things about using an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner–the term for a travel agent specializing in Disney who is an ‘accredited’ graduate of the company’s college of knowledge–is that many of them will make ADRs for you and assist with itineraries.

If you want to take advantage of this service, we’d recommend requesting a FREE no obligation quote from an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner . (Note that you’ll need them to book your entire vacation, not just ADRs.) They will happy to assist you with the planning process, help you choose the most economical dates, best add-ons, and so forth. Notably, they also monitor reservations and can retroactively apply new discounts if a better deal is released to save you more money.

BONUS: Alternative ADRs – In my experience, Walt Disney World’s popular table service restaurants aren’t always best. To the contrary, many of the most coveted Advance Dining Reservations are a product of hype and FOMO, coast on their legacy, or have non-culinary appeal, like characters or location. Some are thus able to “get away with” serving uninspired cuisine, as they’ll book up regardless. Ask any longtime Walt Disney World fan and they can name at least a couple of restaurants that they believe fall into this category.

For easier alternatives, see our a List of Underrated Restaurants & Hidden Dining Gems at Walt Disney World . Every single one of these serves up great food despite being easier ADRs. Despite their comparative “unpopularity,” you’re more likely to have a great meal at these restaurants. Honestly, that list just scratches the surface. Ask any Walt Disney World fan about their favorite under-the-radar restaurants. While they might swear you to secrecy for fear of these sleeper picks being popular, most will share their favorites. (Hey, it’s better than the alternative–closing completely, the dreaded menu overhaul, or character dining experience transformation!)

Honestly, this last ‘bonus’ pick is my favorite recommendation of anything on this list, and the big reason why Advance Dining Reservation planning has been one of this blog’s blind spots over the years. We should probably fix that, and this post is a small step in doing exactly that. After all, it’s easy for us as longtime fans to say “don’t worry too much about ADRs!” We’ve dined at almost every single Walt Disney World restaurant, most numerous times.

If it’s your first visit to Walt Disney World, you’re an infrequent visitor, or planning a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, you understandably have a greater sense of urgency. You also want to hit the highlights, do the popular dining, and form your own opinions about what’s under or overrated.

In fairness, many of the most popular ADRs are fantastic–there are no better character dining experiences than Topolino’s Terrace for breakfast or Story Book Dining at Artist Point for dinner. To that end, hopefully this list helps you make the most of your ADR drop day, and you’re able to score every hard-to-book reservation that’s on your wishlist!

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews . To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

If you’ve visited or booked ADRs for Walt Disney World in the last few months, what has been your experience? Have you had success at the last-minute (0-3 days in advance)? Had challenges at the 60 day mark? Notice any differences in the dynamic as compared to pre-closure? Think staffing shortages explain most of what’s happening with fluctuations and limitations in Advance Dining Reservations? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

Written by Tom Bricker

I’m planning my first Disney vacation as an adult and I used a Disney travel agent, but I think I got a dud. I do NOT trust her to remember to book our dining reservations. She’s supposed to make it easy, but I’ve had to remind her about everything.

I can’t imagine knowing when I want to eat and at what time! I’m doing a rough guide of the parks going to do each one twice and will just go with the flow. That said as it’s just two adults character dining isn’t on our radar.

Hi Tom – we booked a split stay in 3 different WDW hotels and booked our park tickets separately. Will it still be possible to use the 60+10 day rule? According to my disney experience I’ll only be able to book 60 days in advance. Am I missing something or is this because we didn’t book a package?

Instead of going thru list of all restaurants, up to the right Question box, type name of restaurant and click Enter. Walla…..and there it is!! Make your reservation.

We made our dining reservations 60 days out thru My Disney Experience also APH. Cinderella’s Royal Table and Hoop Dee Doo charge credit immediately. We decided to do Hoop DD twice during our stay this Jan., 2 different charges on credit card for shows, same seating area, called Disney dining. only 1 was discounted the other reservation was not. Cast member had to do that manually.

Did our ADR’s a few weeks back- we headed to Orlando in early February. I warned my wife about your review of Ohana but she insisted on booking it since we have never been lol. On a positive note we were able to get space 220 for first time and the syfy place- also first time. Finally we will try Morimotos on arrival evening

I’m not sure if this question is obvious, but I can’t seem to figure out how you book an ADR at a resort (that’s not your resort) restaurant. My ADR window is in a couple days, and I’d love to know by then!

Thank you so much for this guide!

My wife and I woke up at 2:45am this morning (we’re on the US west coast) and did as instructed… 2 laptops and 2 phones, all ready to go.

As promised, when our reservations opened up, the ADR sites on the laptops went into an error state. Quitting and restarting them didn’t help. Panic set it. Went to the phone backups and lo! they worked like a charm.

Another interesting experience that others have mentioned is that it’s definitely true that not all reservations roll out at exactly the same time. We landed ok (but not great) 8pm dinner reservations for Space220 and California Grill early on because they were the only ones availlble and then proceeded with the rest of our reservations. At the end, on a whim we went back to check them again and surprise! 6:30 reservations were available for both!

So yeah, do your prep work, have a backup and just like negotiating a job salary or buying a car… never take the first offer.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

If you’re not totally satisfied with what you got, check back a day or so in advance–or even same-day, as better times might become available.

Question about a split stay: Will I be able to book the 60+10 for the entire trip or will I have to book the first three days of my trip and then the next 4 days. Both are room only reservations at two different wdw resorts

Hi, Danielle, When we stayed at two different WDW resorts in Sept 2022, we were not able to make advance dining reservations for the entire stay based on the check-in date of the 1st hotel. It was nice to switch hotels but that was the downside.

Al, Thanks so much for the info. I was hoping I could do them all at once but at least now I can plan ahead. Thanks again!

I just want to know why they are called “Advanced Dining Reservations” and not “reservations” as they are at every other restaurant in this country. Is ADV more magical?

The most frustrating part of booking a reservation is that you put in your date & time and they tell you if there’s availability at that time (or in that range). Usually, it’s “Sorry…” If there was a calendar where you could click on a date and they showed all availabilty on that date, it was be so much easier and less frustrating.

Hello Joe, I put in date, but clicked on “Anytime”….all times available popped up. See if that works for you as well.

Never give up! Last summer, I made dining reservations 60+ days out from our September visit. I wanted reservations at the California Grill for my daughter’s birthday. The ONLY thing available was one late afternoon reservation, so I took it. even though we might have problems given our flight arrival. For the next 2 months, I would check every day or two, but nothing was available. Apparently I had gotten the very last reservation for the evening we wanted. The day before we left, I logged in one last time. Lo and behold, there was a time later in the evening! I grabbed it. Once I had the confirmation, I cancelled the earlier reservation. I assume someone had cancelled at the last minute, freeing the better time for us. So, it pays to keep trying.

“Don’t Google “Howie’s Angels” unless you want to go down a fascinating-but-weird rabbit hole!”

You knew darn well I was going to! Wow, what a…fustercluck.

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IMAGES

How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Disney World
What is the 120 minute rule at Disney World?
What’s the New 120 Minute Rule in Disney World and Why Should You Care
What is the 120 minute rule at Disney World?
What's the New 120 Minute Rule in Disney World and Why Should You Care
Tips for "Stacking" Genie+ Ride Reservations

COMMENTS

How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Disney World
Walt Disney World's Genie+ line-skipping service has a lot of unique wrinkles. One about which we hear many questions is the 120 minute rule, which can determine eligibility for your next Lightning Lane ride reservation. This post explains that policy, when it applies & doesn't, and how it impacts the selections you should make.
Genie+ at Disney World FAQ
That just barely scratches the surface. For full details, see How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Walt Disney World. In the morning, when does the clock start ticking on the 120 minute rule? There's a lot of confusion as to whether the clock starts running at 7 am (or whenever your first ride reservation is made), or at park opening.
How to Modify Lightning Lane Ride Reservations: A ...
Modifying does not reset the clock on the 120 minute rule. Again, this is huge. In the example above, I could've kept modifying my Jingle Cruise Genie+ LL until 10:59 am and still booked my next selection at 11 am. Each time you cancel and rebook, that does restart the 120 minute clock. Modifying does not lose your existing Genie+ LL selection.
The Confusing 120 Minute Disney Genie+ Rule You NEED to Know
The Confusing 120 Minute Disney Genie+ Rule You NEED to Know. The new Disney Genie service launched in Disney World today with several different components. When you purchase the paid add-on service, Disney Genie+, you can skip the Standby Lines via Lightning Lanes (or what used to be FastPass Lanes) of select qualifying rides and attractions ...
Disney's Confusing 120-Minute Genie+ Rule Is Now OFFICIAL
One of the most important (and potentially confusing) rules with Genie+ is the 120-minute rule. This rule has to do with WHEN you can make Genie+ Lightning Lane selections. Once you've purchased Genie+, you can make these selections throughout the day. They're like reservations to skip the line at the attractions you choose. Lightning Lane ...
How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Disney World
The post How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Disney World appeared first on Disney Tourist Blog. Post navigation. DFB Video: Latest Disney News: Festival of the Arts Dates, Disney Genie, & Character Meet & Greets Start Soon. 9 Disney Costumes You Can Still Get (Last Minute!) at Target.
What's the New 120 Minute Rule in Disney World and ...
With Genie+, you'll pay that set $15 per ticket, per day to select return times for Lightning Lanes at many attractions across the parks. But, when using Genie+, there's an important rule you'll want to be aware of. You can purchase Genie+ in advance of your trip by adding it onto a ticket or a vacation package for the entire length of ...
Disney World Genie+: What to know before new changes on July 24
Disney Tourist Blog ... parkgoers and Genie+ might recall the infamous "120 rule" which is where you can only make a new selection every 120 minutes or after you have redeemed the previous Genie+ ...
What's the New 120 Minute Rule in Disney World ...
With Genie+, you'll pay that set $15 per ticket, per day to select return times for Lightning Lanes at many attractions across the parks. But, when using Genie+, there's an important rule you'll want to be aware of. You can purchase Genie+ in advance of your trip by adding it onto a ticket or a vacation package for the entire length of ...
Genie+ and the 120 minute rule
Made with Squarespace. (512) 910-8857. [email protected]. The 120-minute rule is an important aspect of Disney's Genie+ program that allows guests to "stack" Lightning Lane reservations at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. In this blog post, we will explain what the 120-minute rule is, how it works, and why it's important to understand ...
The CONFUSING 120-Minute Rule You Cannot Forget When Using Disney
A Few Technicalities. One thing you'll need to keep in mind if you activate the 120-minute rule is that you'll be stuck in it until you use all your existing Lightning Lanes. You'll have to keep repeating the "book every two hours" process until you've used your latest Lightning Lane. Once you scan into that one, you can once again ...
Lightning Lane Multi-Pass at Disney World FAQ
According to Walt Disney World, guests can expect similar pricing to Genie+ when Lightning Lane Multi-Pass launches. The key words there, in our view, are when it launches. Summer is not peak season, so we wouldn't expect a price increase right away given demand. October through December are when to watch for higher rates.
Disney World Makes "120-Minute Rule" Official for Disney Genie+
Most notably, Disney has made the "120-minute rule" official. We've discussed the 120-minute rule extensively in our reports from using the Disney Genie+ service, but this is the first time that we're aware that Disney is formally acknowledging the rule as part of the Disney Genie+ service. In addition to the 120-minute rule being ...
FAQ Disney World Genie+ & Lightning Lane
The Genie 120-minute rule says that you can make a new reservation at most 2 hours from when you made the last one, and this countdown timer doesn't change if you modify the reservation. If you made it at, say, 11 a.m., then your two hours will be up at 1 p.m. even if you modify the reservation at noon.
Disney Genie 120 Minute Rule
Genie will tell you. If you plan on going to the park at opening… you will need to use the stand-by line for attractions until 11am. Now, here's something really cool about the 120 minute rule. Once the 120 minutes has passed, that 3pm reservation you have will no longer impact any of your future selections for other attractions.
UPDATE: The good news is that the...
UPDATE: The good news is that the 120 minute rule still applies, and normal stacking is possible. The bad news is that Walt Disney World ended advanced level hacks. We explain here...
When You Should Not Buy Genie+ at Disney World
You talk about how Disney closed the loophole to prevent one from, say, making a reservation (before a 9:00 park opening) for 11:05 and then making another one at 11:00, based on the 120-minute rule, followed quickly by another reservation once you tap into your ride at 11:05.
How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Disney World
Fb Twitter Pinterest Walt Disney World's Genie+ line-skipping service has loads of distinctive wrinkles. One about which we hear many questions is the 120 minute rule, which might decide eligibility in your subsequent Lightning Lane journey reservation. This submit explains that coverage, when it applies & doesn't, and the way it impacts the picks you
Genie+ Stacking
Let's look at how this works in practice. Since visiting Disney's Hollywood Studios works well with stacking Genie+ reservations, we'll use that as our example. At 7 AM, you reserve a Lightning Lane return time for Slinky Dog Dash for 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM. Hollywood Studios opens at 8 AM, starting the 120-minute countdown.
The most important, need-to-know...
The most important, need-to-know Genie+ policy, which Walt Disney World still doesn't actively advertise, for some reason…
1-Day Hollywood Studios Itinerary Using Genie+ & Lightning Lanes
Anyway, on with our 1-Day Disney's Hollywood Studios Itinerary with Genie+ ( note that this assumes an 8:30 am opening time for DHS; if the park opens at 9 am during your visit, simply adjust these times by 30 minutes )…. 7:00:00 am - Book Slinky Dog Dash via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 3:10 pm to 4:10 pm.
120 minute rule
Filed Under: disney parks, Featured, Walt Disney World Tagged With: 120 minute rule, 120 minutes, Disney, disney genie, disney news, disney parks, Disney World, genie, Genie 120 Minute Rule, pay-per-ride, Walt Disney World. The 5 Most Unexpected Disney World Announcements From the Week. By Jess Landers 1 Comment
Guide to Advance Dining Reservations for ...
Booking Advance Dining Reservations for popular restaurants at Walt Disney World is not easy. This ADR guide will help, with our best tips & tricks for scoring spots at the most difficult WDW dining options. Fair warning: this can be one of the most frustrating parts of planning your vacation, as the toughest ADRs book up over 60 days out.

Reminder: Disney World’s Genie+ system changes tomorrow. Here’s what to know

What is Disney's Lightning Lane?

How does Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and Single Day differ from Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes?

How many pre-arrival selections can be made with Lightning Lane Multi-Pass or Lightning Lane Single Pass?

How much is the Lightning Lane at Disney World?

How do I purchase the Lightning Lane Single and Multi-Pass?

Can Lightning Lane Single and Multi-Pass both be purchased together?

Can I modify my Lighting Lane Single and Multi-Pass plans?

See Lightning Lane attractions in all Disney World parks

Magic Kingdom:

Hollywood Studios:

Animal Kingdom:

Can I make ride selections for multiple Disney parks?

Can I book the same rides multiple times in a day? Is the '120' rule still a thing at Disney?

Will Disney Genie still be available?

Accommodations

The CONFUSING 120-Minute Rule You Cannot Forget When Using Disney Genie+

What is the 120-Minute Rule?

A Few Technicalities

How to Use the 120-Minute Rule to Your Advantage

8 Sneaky Genie+ Tips You Need to Know for Disney World — Click Here!

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Disney Genie Frequently Asked Questions (Disney World version)

What is Disney Genie?

Why is Genie+ so complicated?

Questions About Buying Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes

Is there any way to know the price of Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes in advance?

When can you buy Genie+?

Can you buy Genie+ for two separate parks?

Do you need to be in the park to buy an Individual Lightning Lane?

Do you need to buy Genie+ to make an Individual Lightning Lane reservation?

Do you need to include everyone in your party when you buy Genie+? Do you need to include your whole party for an Individual Lightning Lane reservation?

Can kids or teens buy Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes?

Can you get a refund for Genie+ if you don’t use it?

Can you get a refund for an Individual Lightning Lane if you don’t use it?

If you buy Genie+ and then you don’t go to the park, will it use a day of your ticket?

Are Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes worth it?

Questions About Reserving Lightning Lanes or Individual Lightning Lanes

What time can you begin making Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane reservations?

Which hotels can make Individual Lightning Lane reservations at 7 am?

Can I make two Individual Lightning Lane reservations at the same time?

It’s after 7 a.m., why can’t I see the Lightning Lane return times on the Tip Board?

Can you make a Lightning Lane reservation in more than one park?

Do you have to include your whole group when you make a Lightning Lane reservation?

Is there a limit on how many people can be in my party when I reserve a Genie+ Lightning Lane?

Are Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes available during Early Park Entry, Extended Evening Hours, and events such as Halloween and Christmas parties?

Can you get overlapping return windows for Lightning Lanes and/or Individual Lightning Lanes?

Are there limits on how many Lightning Lane reservations you can make?

How often can you make a Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation?

How many Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations can you make in one day?

Can you have more than one Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation at a time?

Can you cancel a Lightning Lane reservation?

Can you modify a Lightning Lane reservation?

If you modify a Lightning Lane reservation, does it change the time when you can book a new one?

Can you modify a Lightning Lane reservation to an attraction in a different park?

If you modify a Lightning Lane reservation to a different attraction, can you still reserve the original attraction again later?

Can you modify a Lightning Lane once the return window has opened?

Can you modify a Lightning Lane that has expired?

Can you modify a Lightning Lane for only some of your group?

Questions About Using Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes

What happens if I’m late for a Lightning Lane reservation?

What happens if I don’t use a Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation?

Is there a grace period for Lightning Lane reservations?

What happens if the ride is down during my reservation time?

Can someone else use my Lightning Lane reservation?

What’s the best strategy for using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes?

Can you use Genie+ with DAS?

Can you use Lightning Lanes with Rider Switch?

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Disney Genie+ 120 Minute Rule

How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Disney World

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